Do you feel disconnected from
God? Many do. How
can we draw near to God? I don’t personally know anyone who would not like
to draw near to God. Drawing near to God is essential to salvation and thus to
the Christian life. How can we endure without being close to Him? What comfort
can I have without Him? The Spirit of Christ spoke through Paul in Athens
saying in Acts 17:24-28:
“God, who made
the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not
dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though
He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He
has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their
dwellings, so that they should
seek the Lord, in the hope
that they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live
and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we
are also His offspring.’”
God has
made this world so that people may seek Him and find Him. The times
and the boundaries of our dwellings have been set and established by God for
this very purpose God wants you to find Him and has blessed all people
everywhere to be able to do that.
From TZ to Kenya, from South
Africa to North Africa, from South America to North America, from Europe to
Asia, from Middle East to Near East, from your home to mine, you can find God.
Jesus promised, “Seek and you will find” (Matt.
7:7).
The Spirit of Christ said in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse,”
The
second thing that we see is that God is not far from each one of us. Though
many are separated from God by their sins and their own false gods, God is not
so far that we cannot reach Him.
No matter your sins, your race,
your gender, or ethnicity; God is not far. If I am not close to God, it is my
fault despite the hindrances from others.
Christ’s Spirit said in James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you.” Here
is the command with a promise. The command is draw near to God, and the promise
is that He will draw near to you. When we stand before the judgment seat of
God, what will we say?
“God, I didn’t
know where you were.” “I looked, but I just
couldn’t find you.” “God, I was in church”,
“I prayed”, “I was good to people.”
Some people come (go) to worship
in the Church and get nothing out of it and do not know what their worship has
done. Why do so many not get anything out of worship?
If you don’t have a thirst and
hunger for righteousness, then you may be a Christian in name only. You have to
draw near to God. Drawing near to God is essential for our salvation, and that
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection was to do exactly that by reconciling
God and man (You) through Christ.
We draw near to God by humble
submission or in other words lowering ourselves into obedience.
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.”
Humility is
essential to submitting in obedience to God. Jesus is the author of salvation
to those who obey Him.
Now what? Christ’s teaching is clearly
revealed through Paul in 2
Corinthians 7:10. “For godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to
salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces
death.”
If we would humble ourselves,
then we would have joy and a lasting joy. Jesus will lift us up. what does it mean to be
humble? To
humble means to make yourself low.
Just as the original word is used
for mountains being brought low in Luke 3:5, and Christ being in the form of
God came in the likeness of man in Philippians 2:8.
Are you
desiring to draw nearer to God? How close
do you really want to get to Him?
A closer walk must begin with a preparation of the heart.
PREPARING YOUR HEART
PREPARING YOUR HEART
Jeremiah 4:3
“For thus saith the Lord to the men
of Judah and Jerusalem , Break up your fallow ground, and sow not
among thorns.”
The Lord is speaking about breaking up the hard ground in your heart,
that part where the Word of God isn’t finding root and lodging, where it isn’t
flourishing and growing, where it isn’t bearing fruit.
DRAW NEAR TO GOD IN PRAYER
DRAW NEAR TO GOD IN PRAYER
James 4:8
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Let this verse sink down into your heart, and apply it
to your life. You have the responsibility of taking the first step.
When you begin to draw near to God, He will automatically draw near to you.
STUDY GOD'S WORD
Isaiah 55:6,7
“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon him while He is near:
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
Him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for
He will abundantly pardon.”
Besides spending time in prayer, we need to also spend
time in the Word: If we take time to read the Bible and to study it, we will
find that, all at once, it becomes alive unto us. There will be something about
it that draws us, something that enriches our heart.
One way to draw closer to God is to enlarge our
understanding of Him and of His ways. This is very important. Nothing can take the place of reading the Word of God -
not even books about the Bible. You need to get into the Bible for yourself - every day!
It is food for your soul.
LAY
ASIDE MEANINGLESS THINGS
Romans 8:6
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to
be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Redeem that idle time, giving yourself over to God and
earnestly seeking Him. You’ll find yourself enjoying life a lot more if you
pull apart from the things of this world, and really give yourself over to God.
KEY SCRIPTURE FOR GETTING CLOSER TO GOD
Romans 12:1-2
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.”
I firmly believe that the Bible has all
the answers we need. It has the answers to everything
pertaining to life and godliness. If we really want to draw closer to God, all
we need do is follow what the Bible has to tell us. If you want to draw closer to God, you
are going to have to do so on His terms - not on your terms.
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind.” This is what takes the place of conformity. Let
your mind be renewed by drawing nigh to God and to His Word.