How true are the words of the apostle, “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”James 3:16. One person in an institution or in a church who gives loose rein to unkind thoughts by speaking evil of the brethren, may stir up the worst passions of the human heart, and spread abroad a leaven of evil that will work in all who come into association with him. In this way the enemy of all righteousness gains the victory, and the result of his work is to make of no effect the Saviour′s prayer when He pleaded that His disciples “might be one as He is one with the Father”(John 17:21) (The Review and Herald, March 12, 1895).
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17 (see EGW comment on John 13:34). The Right Kind of Sensitiveness—Those who criticize and condemn one another are breaking God′s commandments, and are an offense to Him. They neither love God nor their fellow beings. Brethren and sisters, let us clear away the rubbish of criticism and suspicion and complaint, and do not wear your nerves on the outside. Some are so sensitive that they cannot be reasoned with. Be very sensitive in regard to what it means to keep the law of God, and in regard to whether you are keeping or breaking the law. It is this that God wants us to be sensitive about (The General Conference Bulletin, April 1, 1903).
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7, 8. Annoyances Vanish When Jesus Draws Near—“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”James 4:7. How precious to the tempted soul is this positive promise. Now if the one in trouble and temptation keeps his eye fixed on Jesus, and draws nigh to God, talking of His goodness and mercy, Jesus draws nigh to him, and his annoyances that he thought almost unbearable vanish (Letter 43, 1892).
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Breaking Satan′s Power—The soul that loves God, loves to draw strength from Him by constant communion with Him. When it becomes the habit of the soul to converse with God, the power of the evil one is broken; for Satan cannot abide near the soul that draws nigh unto God (The Review and Herald, December 3, 1889).
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8 (James 5:16; see EGW comment on Hebrews 1:14). Safe in God′s Presence—“Draw nigh to God.” What is the result of this? We cannot draw nigh to God and behold His loveliness and compassion without realizing our defects and being filled with a desire to rise higher. “And he will draw nigh to you.” The Lord will draw nigh to him who confesses to his brethren the wrongs he has done them, and then comes to God in humility and contrition.
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He who feels his own danger is on the watch lest he shall grieve the Holy Spirit and then draw away from God because he knows that He is not pleased with his course of action. How much better and safer it is to draw nigh to God, that the pure light shining from His Word may heal the wounds that sin has made in the soul. The closer we are to God, the safer we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God (Letter 40, 1901).
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(John 17:21-23.) Answering the Prayer of Christ—If we draw nigh to God, individually, then don′t you see what the result will be? Can′t you see that we will draw nigh to one another? We cannot draw nigh to God, and come to the same cross, without our hearts being blended together in perfect unity, answering the prayer of Christ “that they may be one”(John 17:21) as He is one with the Father. And therefore we should seek in spirit, in understanding, in faith, that we may be one, that God may be glorified in us as He is glorified in the Son; and that God shall love us as He loves the Son (Manuscript 7, 1890).
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Draw Nigh By Prayer—“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”James 4:8. Draw nigh to Him by prayer, by contemplation, by reading His Word. When He draws nigh to you, He lifts up for you a standard against the enemy. Let us take courage; for the enemy cannot pass this standard (Manuscript 92, 1901).
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