Check the connections!

James 4:7-10  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Over the past month, I decided to purposely disconnect from all social media and I must say, despite the craziness in the world — I found myself more at peace, by simply disconnecting.

And speaking of being disconnected, one missionary tells of his experience about being assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering this problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.

When a new missionary came to take over his station, he proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started. As he was talking, the young missionary picked up the hood only to find that the only trouble was a loose cable. He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and the engine roared to life.

For two years, needless trouble had become routine — but the power was there all along — and the only thing that was needed was a better connection!

So it is for us as believers, we can walk through this life stumbling and struggling … having a loose connection with God — or we can determine to be steadfastly connected to Him — and His unlimited power.

As James clearly says, “Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you,” so we have the choice to be as close or as distant as we want to the King of Kings!   God’s decision to be intimate with us was already made when He displayed His love for us through the sacrifice of His Son!   Now it’s in our hands … what kind of relationship do we want?

So let’s resolve to spend some time under the hood, double checking those connections, and making whatever adjustments necessary to get better connected to God — and His omnipotent power. Amazingly, if you go through the self-inspection process — you’ll begin going through personal revival — and true revival begins one person at a time — perhaps it’ll be you this weekend!

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.

How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.

[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]

The world seems to be turning inside out, upside down! And while hearing the collapse of society may lead many to anger and resentment ... let's remember that life and death are in the power of the tongue! Remember that blessing and cursing should never come out of the same vessel! [ James 3:10 ] So despite how crazy the world is ... let's choose to bless this world!

Pompeii was a flourishing city in Southern Italy until 79 AD. Suddenly, for two days Mt. Vesuvius erupted and completely destroyed Pompeii in all its pomp. The city was covered in meters of ash and pumice for 1700 years until it was accidentally discovered in 1748.

Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but ...

Worthy Devotions - A daily Christian Devotional Worthy Devotions is a daily devotional ministry delivering inspiring, uplifting, and encouraging messages straight from Israel. Sign up for our short, yet powerful devotions today!

We’ve been encouraged by numerous phone calls, texts, and emails in the past few days, telling us that people are praying and fasting for the United States and for Israel as we begin this new year.

This week could be historic.  As tensions in the Middle East continue unabated, the threat of war is a reality for many in the region.  This coming Tuesday, the determination of which party controls the United States Senate will take place as the people of Georgia will vote for two senators.  And finally, on Wednesday, the United States Congress is set to certify the electors of who will be the President of the United States.

Some experts believe that acute stress can provoke changes in the heart that may lead to death. In one study, fifteen cases were identified in which people died after a physical assault, even though the injuries alone were not enough to kill them. Eleven of the fifteen showed a type of heart-cell death, similar to a reaction in experimental animals that feel helpless to anticipate or avoid danger.

During the 1990’s in an NCAA Division II national championship cross-country race in California, a bizarre twist of events took place. Mike Delcavo and 127 of the best runners in the country were battling for glory over the 10,000 meter course. About three miles into the race, Delvaco was somewhere in the middle of the pack, when he realized that the runners had made a wrong turn. So he yelled out, “You’re going the wrong way,” but they didn’t listen. Only 4 others followed Mike when he turned in the right direction…and suddenly, he found himself in the lead.