Get Close to God

Most Christian's goal is to be as close as possible to God.  We want that peace and contentment of life in whatever circumstances we are currently in.  We want to feel that love that only Jesus can give.  We want that abundant life that God has promised us.  Why don't we have those things if we are Christians?

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

John 10:10b

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

First let's check to see if there is anything occupying that space between you and God.  Do you have any sin in your life that you are deliberating choosing to remain in?  Most of us would jump to the conclusion of "no", but take a few minutes and really think about it.  Remember that even though you might have asked for forgiveness for something does not necessarily mean you repented of it.    Asking for forgiveness is really just saying you are either sorry for getting caught or for doing the deed.  But true repentance is truly being sorry for your action and you are turning from that sin and turning toward God and doing right.  All three parts of repentance is critical!

Matthew 3:8

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance.

2 Corinthians 7:10a (ISV)

For having sorrow in a godly way results in repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets.

Think about your life over the last week.  Go through it scene by scene and examine your actions, your words and your thoughts.  Did you think, or say or do anything that you would be ashamed of if you had to do it with Jesus standing right in front of you?  If Jesus was standing in the same room with you would you have said those words?  If Jesus was standing in the same room would you have acted that way?  If Jesus was in the same room, would you have neglected to do something you should have done?  More in likely you have thought of things that you need to repent of.  Remember in true repentance you are turning toward God, you are doing everything you can and allowing God to work in your heart so you never participate in that sin again.  Yes we will fail sometimes, but we have to willfully keep trying.

Over and over in the scripture God tells us to repent of our sins and He will forgive us.  He practically begs Israel and Judah in the Old Testament to repent.  They were His people and He wanted to be their God.  He wanted to be first in their lives not left-overs.  He sent Prophet after Prophet pleading with His people to turn from their selfish ways and turn back to Him.  We are being selfish when we hold on to our sin and refuse to truly repent.  Until we do that, sin will be between us and God.  We will not have that peace and contentment and we will also miss the many blessings that God has in store just for us.

Deuteronomy 11:27

there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today,

Once you have repented of your sin, the scriptures tells us, "if we draw near to God, God draws near to us".  He wants that close intimate relationship with us.  He made us to have that fellowship with Him.  We are His children.  Don't you want to give the very best of things to your children?  Just think how much more that God wants to give His children good things.

James 4:8a

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

John 17:24a

Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am.

To draw near to God we need to build that relationship with Him.  We do that by prayer and by studying His Word.  Our prayer life should be more that a quick five minute prayer of what we hope He will bless us with today.  It should be a conversation of the many things we have to be thankful for and to praise Him for being our God.  Our prayers should be more about other people than about us.  Many times our prayers are one way conversations, we are doing all the talking and then we hang up by saying Amen and move on to our next task.  I found it helpful to actually write down what I wanted to pray about.  I start with my inner circle of family and problems, friends, my church and move out all the way to the President of the United States.  Yes it is our responsible to pray for our leaders, even more so the ones we do not like.

Prayer is a conversation and conversations are a two way dialogue.  We need to listen to what He has to say to us.  You may not hear an audible voice but maybe a scripture comes to your mind, or a thought that did not come from you.  We need to do more listening than talking.  Many of us expect God to answer with an immediate response.  Remember His time concept and ours are totally different.  Many times for myself I have to be very quiet both physically and mentally and just listen in the quietness for His voice.

Psalms 4:10a (ASV)

Be still, and know that I am God

Studying His Word is more than reading your daily one verse of scripture in your email every day.  Yes that is nice but that is not really digging into His Word and finding out what it really means.  Studying scriptures is so much more than just reading your Sunday School lesson.  It is reading and re-reading, but it is also pondering, researching, mediating and praying over that scripture.  Did you know that most scripture can be backed up with other scripture?  The critical piece of discovering God's truth in His Word is applying it to our lives.  It will not be easy, but we have the Holy Spirit to help us if we allow Him to.

How do we know what God wants us to do if we do not study and read His Word?  I have found the more I read His Word the more I cannot get enough of it.  It is like I am in the dessert and my thirst cannot be quenched.

Psalms 42:1-2

As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God.  I thirst for God, the living God.  When can I come and appear before God?

We are all very busy people.  At the end of each day we wonder where the day went.  This is Satan telling us how busy we are and how there is not enough time for real prayer or Bible study.  Did you ever stop and realize if you really want to play at a new hobby, you always find time to do that?  It is a choice of how we spend our time.  God gave each of us the same amount of time each day.  It is up to us to choose how we spend it.  Satan knows if you pray and study God's Word that you will draw closer to God and he will have less power over you.  Our power over Satan is drawn from Jesus and our relationship with Him.  The closer you are to God the more power you have over Satan.  We find time in our day for so many frivolous things like watching TV or surfing the web.  We need to give God our "firsts", not our leftovers.  Are you letting God have your leftovers?

You want to have that close intimidate relationship with God.  Truly repent of your sin and turn toward God.  Study His Word with diligence and use His Word in your life.  Pray without ceasing by talking and most importantly listening to God.  Give Him your "firsts"!