Closer to God

DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD.

Jam 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Time with God. From what I gather from Christians in general, about one percent (mostly 50 year olds plus) give between one and two hours per day in prayer. About three percent thirty to sixty minutes, twenty percent five to thirty minutes, and the rest naught to five minutes but intend to give more. If this is true, then most of us need to meditate on just how much our Father means to us. How much time do you give to God in your everyday activities? Worshipping God is not just a morning at church once a week....it's a life time commitment. It's a marriage. It's becoming one with Him.

Who is first? Jesus said anyone who puts their loved ones before or above Him, do not belong to Him. Lu 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. How many of us do just this? By merely spending more time with our husbands/wives, brothers/sisters, children/parents, etc etc, we are guilty of putting our Lord second, and in some cases even way down the list behind our social activities. To work out where YOU have put Jesus, simply credit your daily hours to whoever, and see where Jesus slots in.

Our Lord wants to be with us always, 24/7, but we have to initiate it by meditating on Him first, either in prayer or thought. When we are in this state, He is with us. The more time we give toHim, the more we have Him with us. Our God wants to be with us, but if we have our minds and hearts somewhere else, then how can He? Supposing your partner wanted to spend quality time with you, but you were too tied up with your football or computer games all the time. What do you think they would do? Most would find someone else to talk to, and if it happened too many times, then they would most likely leave you for someone else who would love them more than their hobbies. You see, it requires a two way communication for a relationship...not one way, and it is the same with our Lord God. So it is US that must draw near to God first in order for Him to draw near to us.

God and sin. We cannot attract God's attention why we are sinning as our Father in heaven is blind to sin. He cannot look upon sin. When you sin you become invisible to Him. Remember what happened when Adam sinned? Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? See? God could not see Adam because he ate of the tree of knowledge which was a sin. So if you desire The Almighty's presence you better not be sinning. When we deny our flesh, it is telling God..." Hey Lord, I'm serious about You, I WANT YOU LORD, and he sees us and hears us and draws nearer.

Blaming God. Some times things go wrong for us and we just can't help crying out to the Lord to blame Him. "What did I do to deserve this God"? Is it always God's fault? No! And if you blame Him for something He did not do, then it won't help your relationship much I can tell you. Remember the Israelites in the desert who blamed God for all their trials? And how they were never satisfied with what they had, and moaned and groaned night and day? They were not even interested in drawing near to God. All they were interested in was taking, but not giving. Sorry, it don't work like that, and thank you Lord that it don't. What more could God do for them if they showed no appreciation? He wanted to get closer to them, but they repulsed Him by their sinful ways and ungratefulness.

Obeying God.
There are many rewards in obedience, but the most rewarding is the joy of the presence of God. Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: By obedience we are acting out our faith, proof to God that we believe in Him as the Most High. When God knows, through obedience we draw near Him, only then can He draw near us. Jam 4:7 Therefore submit yourselves to God Submission allows God to then make inroads into our understanding of His will, thus allowing us to draw closer.

Gods will. We have to remember who we want to be near. If we want to be near Satan...then we do Satan's will, if we want to be close to God, we do His will. To desire God's will, is to Love what He Loves. Love what He is. Love what He stands for. And hate what He hates. Our will should be His will. It should be perfectly clear to all by the scriptures that God's will is for us to be like Him. Be holy and perfect. Mt 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. And...Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: When we put His will before our will, it attracts God's attention, and He rewards us for this by revealing truths that are out of reach to those who, even though they believe, rely on their own opinion of what is best for them. I have heard it many times from the likes of Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland and the like..."just have faith and ask for what ever you want and it will be given to you." Such vain imaginations gain no favour from God. One only needs to pray His will in your life and trust He will give you what you need. NOT WHAT YOU WANT. Is it all about Jesus? Or is it all about you? If you are in God's will...you are already close to God.

Being tested. The time will no doubt come when trials will come before us. These are tests put before us for God to see how we are travelling so to speak. Don't be sad about this, but be joyful because it shows God is interested in your progress. If you are not being tested from time to time, then I would be worried about that. Lu 8:13 And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up. These mean well, but are not prepared to go the full journey with the Lord. Put in the hard yards so to speak. Sounds tough, but God has to know what we are made of before He will draw nearer. The ultimate test of course was with Abraham and his son Isaac, where God told him to sacrifice him. We don't expect these kinds of tests, but we should expect some trials to test our faith. Dan 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. So be wise, and be happy that God considers you worthy of testing. If your faith is strong, then God will help you through it.

Deny the world Remember what Jesus said...Mt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And we cannot serve God and the world. How can anyone expect to draw near to God when they have a love for the worldly things. Jesus is NOT of the world, and we should imitate Him if we want to get closer to Him. God will draw near to us only through our obedience to Him. Through our fear of Him we obey, but that is NOT the only reason, but just the beginning. From there God gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding, that allows us to see the nature of God, which in turn allows us to fall in love with Him. We fall in love with WHAT He is, and what is He? He is creator...He is love...He is just...He is Mercy...He is righteous...He is Holy...He is grace...He is wise...He is patient...He is tolerant...He is truth...He is light...He is the way...He is life...He is all powerful...He is good...He is God, and THAT'S why we fall in love with Him...because we love what He is. So, by denying the world and putting God in it's place, we are able to draw near to Him...and He will draw near to us.

Worshiping idols. So long as we have any form of graven image of either heaven of earth, God will NOT draw near. De 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. So how can we possibly draw close to God if we have ANY form of idols. Even a cross hanging around your neck is a graven image. Do you think God can't tell who you are without your cross? Or is it pride and vanity that causes you do wear these images? Whoever has an ear...let them hear!!! Isa 30:22 You shall also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away like a menstruous cloth. You shall say to it, Get away. Throw them away and let God draw nearer.

We only have this lifetime to draw close to Almighty God, so make the most of it people.

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