Getting closer to God

There are many levels to reach in ones walk with Jesus, and by achieving a level brings one that little closer to Him. So if you think by receiving the Holy Spirit you instantly become a prophet or teacher…forget it right now and save yourself much heartache. No matter how high you rise, there is always higher in this world, but unfortunately for some, they think they have reached the top believing they know it all. This is where the backslide starts. First pride steps in and boots the humble spirit of God out. Then Pride calls out to his mates…greed, lust, hate, anger, arrogance, stubborn (and his little brother ‘stiff neck’), and finally the spirit ‘lie’. It’s usually by this stage that one tends to think they are themselves God. There is one characteristic of the spirit that is required more so in every level of our walk in faith here on earth. No, it’s not love, for love is a manifestation…not a characteristic. It’s a pure heart of humility. God calls us…we answer…it’s then up to us (our choice) whether we seek Him with a pure heart. Love arisen from emotion is not a pure love. That’s what some Pentecostals think is love, but unfortunately it is more hype than anything else. Many times while looking for a church after leaving my apostate church, I visited these hype churches, and no sooner I was in there, God showed me clearly of the falseness in their behaviour and teaching, until I finally obeyed my God and left for good. True love can only manifest from a pure heart that is given unconditionally, and in this love there is fruit. Once one is humbled, one can progress the levels God prepared for us all the way, but should you let pride in, be prepared for a torrid ride back to the start without passing go, for God will not support a proud spirit.

The first step in getting closer to God is sincerity (pure hearted). Fortunately God can see through our shallow exterior, deep into our hearts, even deeper than what we see ourselves, because we are biased toward ourselves and don’t judge ourselves correctly. But God is not biased, he can see all, and can see if our hearts are pure for Him. Once He sees a pure heart, He can then direct that heart in paths of truth and righteousness, and reveal things hidden from the multitude, but a lukewarm heart will not receive the fruit of the spirit. If one remains sincere, one can take on board these revelations and advance through the steps of growth that is required to get forever closer to God. Discipline and determination is needed to walk straight though, for the wide path is easy, but the narrow path requires much effort and determination. Patience is also required to allow the soul building process to work, so don’t get ahead of Jesus as you won’t hear His voice, but walk alongside where His voice is clear and plain. It is the proud that say they hear His voice, but don’t show the fruit of proof. . MAT 7:16 {Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?}

The best way of getting close to God is in prayer obviously, but how should we pray you might ask. Well firstly Jesus tells us we should do it in private. MAT 6:6 {But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.} Some like to do it in public using long false prayer and big words and gibberish tongues, to receive the glory of men, but these are wolves in sheep's clothing and need to be avoided at all cost, as theyt will lead you alright...to the pits of hell. These are usually the ones that will give you a lolly to get you excited in order to fill the church plate, or are looking for a cult following to fill their own plate. In any case discern them by their fruits, and be careful not to include wealth as a fruit. MAT 6:5 {And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.}

Seven simple steps to sincere prayer.

(Note: this is what works for me. Not mandatory)

1/ Be humble.

Before we even think about praying, first we have to know whom we are praying to. Is the god you pray to a figment, or just a friend, or just a provider for you when you want something, or is this god the real God; the God who created heaven and earth? If you believe He is the later, then you surely must fear and have reverence for Him. Would you pray in arrogance to such a God as this? A God who is so high as to create the universe, and a mortal like you who is only one in six billion, just another brick in the wall. No you would not, you would be humble and sincere, you would not try to fool Him, you would not use words that are long and impressive but have no worth, you would fear Him, you would treat Him like a king wouldn’t you.

Remember, when you pray in sincerity, God is present, so out of respect alone it would be good to show God your sincerity by keeling down with your head bowed and taking off your shoes and be humble in full submission to Him. This makes the place where you pray and the moment in time holy, and unless it is an emergency, don’t pray in the presence of sin or where sin has occurred like the footy clubrooms or a bar for instance. For regular prayer I prefer a place clean and tidy, free of life’s leftovers so to speak, with a peaceful atmosphere where I can focus all my thoughts on God without any distractions. A place where I can regard my God as the most high that He is. Treating God as almighty and oneself as meek, is showing sincerity through humility, and portrays the truth of the matter. And by the way, keep your prayers to the point, and don’t try to impress Him with intelligence. MAT 6:7 {But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]:for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.}

2/ Give praise

Before asking anything of God in prayer, you should praise Him for what he is, a God of mercy for He is willing to forget your sins, a God of grace because He gives you good things what you don’t deserve, a God of justice because He gives to the innocent and takes from the guilty, a God of righteousness because He convicts you of sin and leads you in paths of righteousness, a God of patience because He has tolerated you for so long in the hope you will grow, a faithful God because He will never turn from you while you trust in Him, and above all…a God of love because even though you are unfaithful to Him, He still loves you enough to send His only Son to die at Calvary that you can have the chance to live. What a great love indeed. So first praise the Lord of hosts for what He is and thank Him that you are now called to and know Him. If you surely love the Father God, you wont be able to stop yourself from praising Him. It will be automatic every time you think of him, so be sure to tell Him when you pray…don’t be shy.

3/Pardon

Next it is a good idea to ask forgiveness for the sins you have done. Initially when you asked Jesus to be your saviour and Lord, He would have wiped all your sins from you leaving you with a fresh start, and a desire to do good, but unfortunately as we all have desires in the flesh also that are not good, we do sin at times. As we grow in the spirit of Jesus, we do overcome some of our bad tendencies, but still need pardon for the rest of them that pop up almost every day. I believe if there is any sin still not pardoned, then God will not look upon you until it is. After all, it’s just a matter of asking forgiveness, so do it while you still can and let God get on with blessing you. But REMEMBER THIS, although there maybe pardon for all sin (except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit), to sin deliberately knowing you can be forgiven after it, is not a good idea as God would see that as taking advantage of His grace and mercy, and I can’t be sure of the outcome of such premeditated actions. It’s like letting a demon into a clean house, and may take a lot more effort to evict it the second time round, especially if he brings his demon mates with him also.

4/Be grateful

Many blessings of our Lord go un-noticed or are un-seen, so one could be forgiven for not thanking God for these, but to allocate the obvious blessings to chance, is a grave mistake. If you gave a present to one of your children and they thanked Joe Bloggs across the street for it, you would not be happy about that, so in the same way, God is not happy about you thanking “luck” instead Him for his blessings. When God sees this, He will think twice about his generosity towards you and say, “Well, if they want to give luck the glory, I will step aside and let them worship luck, and see how far they get”. Nothing happens without reason, so be grateful for ALL your blessings, even the ones you don’t know about (and believe me there are many), and in prayer give all glory to the One who gives them.

This is crucial in getting to know God. I even thank God for my punishment as His child, as it shows me He loves me enough to chastise me for the benefit of growth. To thank God, is to acknowledge He is your heavenly Father.

5/ Others.

Now that you have shown God that you are sincere with Him, it’s time for the next stage of your prayer…others. When one becomes a Christian by the spirit of God (the comforter), one receives the highest of all gifts called love. This gift from God encompasses ones soul, and manifest itself in you bringing forth a need to love others like God loves us. It is unavoidable so don’t fight it, run with it and see the changes in your life it produces, not to mention the other lives you will encourage. By praying for others including those not close, is an element of this love, and shows the fruit of the spirit that indwells. MAT 5:44 {But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;} By loving your enemies and those not close to you, plants a seed in the back of their minds/hearts/souls, that awaits water for growth when the right time arrives, and believe me, that time arrives for all, it’s just a matter of how thirsty the soul is for truth.

The less fortunate need our prayers also, and so do our family and friends. No matter how poor or worse off we may feel, there are always others suffering more. Each time we pray for them with pure heart God hears, and although it may appear nothing is happening on the outside, only God knows the inside, so be patient and continue to pray for them. At least you show God the love in your heart for them, and He does hear at least. Remember this, once you were one of them others, and it’s quite possible someone else prayed for you to answer the call of God, so give freely your prayers that you may receive. After all…does it cost you anything?

6/ Country.

This should be straightforward. God may/may not listen to prayers from just one person for their country, but if all prayed, I find it hard to believe that He would not listen. Whatever the probability though, it sure can’t do any harm, so I advise it. The leaders of the world can always do with some holy wisdom in their efforts to put forth laws in the best interest of their country.

7/ You.

Wow, we finally got to you, and by now you are probably all tuckered out praying and forgot what you want to ask of God for yourself. Well take heart mate (aussie for friend) that might not be so bad really, as God knows already what you need and will give freely to those who obey Him in sincerity without even being asked. Trouble is with most of us is that we only know what we want because we think carnally, but almighty God who is supreme in all things, knows what we need. You see, when one continually asks God for what they want, over and over until it sounds like a cracked record, God might just give it, knowing it is not necessarily the best thing for you. Now you wouldn’t want that would you? So ask for what you need only, and for me God’s will in my life is what I need, not my will, so I ask His precious will to be made whole in me that I might draw ever so close to Him and know Him. On those occasions I felt a need to ask, it is usually just for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of His will and ways, and in all other things He meets my needs. Are you hungry? Are you without shelter? Are you without clothes? If the answer is no, then be grateful, and if the answer is yes, then without bias ask yourself why and don’t blame God. Many times I have seen people complain about the above, but have no spine to do anything about it, and go around blaming the world and God for their own lazy decisions and inturn their downfall. Most of their time is spent telling everyone else how unfortunate they are and look to gain sympathy, not for one minute stopping to realise it is their own decision making that is the root cause. PSA 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, [even] thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. See, if God looks after the sparrow, surely He can provide for you. (Providing you seek Him

In summing up, prayer firstly needs to be from the heart as all know that we cant fool God, secondly we need to humble ourselves before Him in total submission and obedience, thirdly we need to be of a healthy spirit through the blood of Christ as God has a problem with looking upon sin, and fourthly we need to trust in God to treat us according to His will and not ours. A good habit also is to pray the Lords prayer as taught by Jesus… MAT 6:9 {After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.}…you know the rest, but make it meaningful, not repetitious chanting.

Sometimes God answers prayer without us knowing about it, because only He can see our true needs, but we are too blind to see it. For example, lets say you were born again somewhere during your marriage and your wife is not willing to convert, and/or she has a jezebel spirit that is affecting your growth in Christ. You pray for her conversion at the same time praying for God to come closer, but later you find out she has been unfaithful to you and all your world seems to have fallen around you, so you question God and ask Him what have you done to deserve such pain. Now remember God wants to answer your sincere prayer of closeness because this is also His wish for you, but He also knows your growth is being affected by your wife who can only answer the call of God by choice. God will not force someone to believe, it has to be a choice we make, so no matter how much praying you do for her, ultimately she is the one that has to choose to answer the call. All you can do is pray God to make Himself known to her, and at the same time let the spirit of Christ shine.

Now here you are, with all the sadness and trauma of being alone after the wife leaves you. Wow, did I say alone? Glory be, now you have the greatest blessing if you were sincere in prayer. Now you have the opportunity to get close to God without interference, providing you give God the time. Now, if you are honest with God, you can achieve great heights with the Lord and get what you asked Him for in prayer. Can you see the glory of God now? He is awesome. He loves you so much that He will go to great lengths to draw you closer, but only to the willing. So now I hope you can see that God does indeed work in mysterious ways sometimes, for the benefit of the ones who love Him, even if they cant see it or thank Him for it.

Remember we are made in God’s image, so just like us, in order to get close to someone God has to spend time with us, and how can He if we don’t allow this time. God is time itself remember? REV 1:8 {I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,} saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. So God has no problem with time, and because He is omnipresent, we have no excuse for our lack of growth in Him. In the days of old, the great men of God only become that way because they allowed God the time. I do have to admit though that in this later world of blatant immorality, closeness to God is harder to achieve, because it is harder to draw ourselves away from the world, but that don’t mean its impossible. It simply means our faith is weak.

LUK 16:13 ¶ {No servant 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.} If you serve the world…you serve not God. A person is better off alone if they seek to get real close to God with all their heart, but one needs to remember that unless they allow themselves to be approachable, even God cannot come close.

Ok, so you have qualified the first step…sincerity. What next? Well for the average person that is satisfied with the closeness that is enough to get them to heaven, then in most cases sincerity is enough as God will direct them accordingly, but for those who desire the deeper closeness that leads to authority in heaven, then there is more. Much more! Now we need to remember that God hates sin, and by His word and His holy spirit we are certainly sure of this. Let’s be sure to agree on this, because if you don’t, then what comes next will become null in void. God will only allow a special type of person to get REAL close to Him. A type He can trust with rulership and a type that pleases Him. We already have been washed of any sin in our past at conversion if it was done correctly, so the past has nothing to do with the future from this time forth, so in a perfect world, if one was to remain in this present condition for the rest of their life in the flesh, then that would please God out of sight. But as we well know, there probably would not be one person who has ever achieved this, so our soul would require consistent and thorough cleansing for God to dwell in it via the Holy Spirit. From the word we know that God cant look on sin, so if there is sin in us, there is no God in us until that sin has been dealt with by asking God’s forgiveness.

So we have come to the point where we realise God wont live in a dirty house (temple), and the only way we can get real close to God is to please Him. What is this telling us? It is telling us we need to have our house squeaky clean if we want God to dwell in it ALL the time, in order for us to have that real close relationship. Sorry if that goes against your belief guys, but that’s the truth. I hear all the time the babes in Christ blurting out…”I am made righteous in Christ” meaning even though they still sin, they are still righteous people. What an outlandish statement. They always quote this verse. ROM 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. What a quandary that is for them as it shows their lack of faith because faith equals truth, and it’s the truth that sets us free. Amen? What this is really saying here is because Adam ate the forbidden fruit (maybe an apple, or maybe a banana, don’t really matter), we are all made sinners, and because Jesus was 100% obedient to the Father in heaven all the way to the cross, we are now made righteous by that payment. Now as we found above, we are indeed made righteous by answering His call, but it don’t end there, but because we have the Holy Spirit now, we are convicted of sin that otherwise we might not have regarded as sin, and if we are obedient to Him (Jesus), we will overcome and sin no more. So we are only made righteous by 100% obedience to Christ. Jesus said it, I believe it, end of story. So clean up your house, God don’t dwell in a dirty house.

Again, for the ones who thirst for the righteousness and closeness of God, there are more steps necessary. Wow you say when does it end. Well I never said it would be easy. MAT 7:13{Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:} MAT 7:14{Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.}

Like stated above total obedience to Jesus Christ is essential to please God, and it is pleasing Him that draws one closer as we have learnt already. Jesus is not a God of confusion, God forbid; no He made it plain and simple for us to understand and in turn follow, so lets take a peek at what He asks of us.

Seek the truth and follow it.

JOH 8:32 {And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.}

Because of mans pride, God will let us believe whatever we want to believe, but there is only one truth

Be sincere

Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me. Jesus is saying that He acknowledges those who have the truth in their minds and therefore know what is required, but in their hearts they don’t want to live according to it because it gets in the way of their fleshy desires, so they will rebuke the truth and teach others to do also, in order to justify their evil actions. There is a heavy debt that these fake followers of Christ who teach others their way, will have to pay. MAR 9:42{And whosoever shall offend one of [these] little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.} MAT 23:13 {But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.}

Be obedient to His word

Jesus is not a God of confusion. His word is simple that even a child can understand it, but the trouble is that man tries to make it hard to follow to receive glory by making out they are the only ones to understand it. If you have a problem with understanding mans interpretation of God’s word, then just pray God to give understanding, and you will be immediately taken back to the simple meaning. Once you see the simple and pure truth of Jesus, His spirit will convict you to be obedient to it. Sometimes you will get pressure from others who don’t see the simple truth, to stop being obedient because Jesus fulfilled the law and you are already saved to eternity. Don’t listen to them, listen to the Holy Spirit and do what it says. These poor people are lead by man, like sheep to the slaughter, not by the spirit, and they want to lead others away from the truth. The simple truth is this: Jesus was perfect and righteous to the end in the flesh, and He wants very much for all His flock to follow in His footsteps.

1PE 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

It is important to get things right from the start. If not, then all that follows will be in vain, so to be focused on Jesus and His teaching, is the foremost step in faith. Once you have this focus in place, all that grows from this will be beneficial in further learning of Gods will, instead of a barrier, and will give great inner strength that is required to overcome our natural tendencies. This will in turn reveal the mirror image of God within you that will lead you to that glorious kingdom that God has promised to those who can overcome their flesh.

Any man who tells you that overcoming is not required to get the rewards promised by God is in total error to what the word and spirit teach. A man will spend 10 years studying theology, and a further 6 years studying Latin, and more years studying Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, and at the end of all this will take a position in the church to be a teacher. Does this make him anointed of God? Absolutely not! We see these men on the podium speaking big words to the multitude in the name of God, and next we see them sleeping with the congregation and molesting children, or in a gay bar blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So you see that the word alone is of little benefit until it marries the spirit. The Holy Spirit. Because of mans twisting of the word (bible), the word is powerless to convict, but when joined by the spirit, it now has power and correctly convicts one of sin. It is this very Holy Spirit of God that tells us to repent.

The spirit and the word clearly teach to walk in paths of righteousness, and to seek the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ and by being obedient to Him is like a sweet aroma that rises up attracting His attention, and continually drawing one closer to Him.

LUKE 6:40 {The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.}

MAT 5:48 {Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.}

Giving time to God

As believers in God we are all well aware He is the alpha and omega, so time has little meaning to Him, but to us it is of the greatest importance in relation to our salvation. Our life in the flesh is but the twinkling of an eye compared to eternity, so what we do in eternity, will depend on what we achieve in this little time we have in the flesh. God has given freely to each of us His precious time by spirit that we might come to know Him better and live a life pleasing to Him. It is only fair that we should sacrifice some of our time for Him. Keeping God in our thoughts while working and enjoying ourselves can only bring forth good things, and taking time out to meditate and pray will bring forth even greater things. The more time we give to God…the more He will give of himself. It sounds easy doesn’t it? But you try it, and see if you can meditate just 30 minutes a day, and pray 10 minutes a day for starters. It’s a huge sacrifice to do this every day and because God knows this of course, He will reward you for it, but remember what I said earlier…don’t try to fool God with false meditation and prayers, because He can tell. If by some small miracle you can achieve this, you will be more aware of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit which will be working within, revealing hidden secrets and truths, and hence convicting you of sin you never knew existed. Now it is by putting these revelations from God into practice and reacting to the conviction that will please Him no end, and bring you ever so close. Many will say that this is works and that we are saved by grace not works, but they fail to see the power of the Holy Spirit in those who truly seek the closeness of God.

Hating the world

This world was handed over to Satan soon after creation as a result of Adam’s sin. It is full of lies and deceit that will lead to eternal death if followed according to mans ways, but to follow in God’s ways will lead to life. Mans way is infected by Satan, shrewdly devised to appear as light, but in actual fact is crowded in darkness and all kinds of devious ways and means. Evil is made to look right and good, and godliness is portrayed as crewel and wrong. The so called do-gooders of this world are actually a stumbling block to a righteous world, finding all sorts of reasons to justify all sorts of evil. Reasons for murder, reasons for stealing, reasons for raping, reasons for destroying our planet, reasons for war, reasons for ripping off and laundering, reasons for homosexuality, reasons for adultery…and so the list goes on. There is a sickness for everything they say. The laws of God have been replaced by reasons of man…all things can be justified one way or another. Lawyers set the guilty free, psychologists call every evil thing a sickness, governments make laws to suit themselves only and not the country, churches justify sin by preaching salvation but not repentance, and the guilty are given precedence over the innocent. This is a world under the leadership of Satan, and anyone who loves this world cannot succeed in finding truth and eternal life. MAR 4:19{And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.} To draw nearer to God one must indeed love his brother at the same time as hating the world, we can’t love two masters. MAR 8:36 {For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Summary: To get closer to God one must first be sincere, followed by obedience, and the more obedient we become the more we please Him. God will draw those who please Him closer in order to reveal hidden things, but again I remind you to always keep your motives in perspective. Your motive should always be to seek truth, and love it with all your being, because it is this truth that will set you free. Amen!

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