CLOSER TO GOD
Introduction:
– It is great to know that we can never be removed from the Lord.
– Right now, He is right here with us.
– Wherever you are, God is there with you.
– There is no place, situation, or circumstances where God is not present.
– God wants to be real to each one of us.
– This needs to become a living reality in our lives.
1. ADAM TRIED THE IMPOSSIBLE
– Adam and Eve were living in the garden of Eden, enjoying the presence of God. Then they sinned and their immediate reaction was to try and hide from God.
– They frantically tried to do the impossible, they tried to hide from God and His presence.
– God’s presence is everywhere, and we cannot run away from Him, or try to live as though He does not exist.
– Sin makes us want to escape God’s presence, but even sin does not change the fact that God is there.
2. DAVID UNDERSTOOD THIS REALITY
– Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ”Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
– Great heights and great depths cannot separate us from God.
– Distance cannot separate us from God.
– Living in a foreign country cannot separate us from God.
– Darkness cannot separate us from God.
– God wants to be there for us.
– Psalm 139:13-16 ‘For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your Book before one of them came to be.’
3. WE LIVE BECAUSE OF GOD
– God wants us to seek Him and enjoy His presence in our daily lives.
– He wants us to reach out for Him and to find Him, because He is not far away.
– Acts 17:27 ‘God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.’
– Acts 17:28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’
– Our Source of life is God Himself.
– God wants this to become an even greater reality in our lives.
4. GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE US
– This is a reassuring fact!
– Deuteronomy 31:6 ‘The LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.’
– Deuteronomy 31:8 ‘The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.’
– John 14:15 ‘If you love Me, obey Me; and I will ask the Father and He will give you another Comforter, and He will never leave you.’
– This encourages me – a lot!
– This reassuring fact remains the truth for you and me.
5. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE
– We cannot be separated from God’s love.
– Even when we are totally unaware of it – God is still there.
– His love is always reaching out to us.
– Romans 8:38-39 ‘For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are-high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean – nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God.’
6. THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO
– We need to develop a heart after God, seeking Him and drawing nearer to Him.
– Psalm 73:28 ‘But it is good for me to draw near to God.’
– James 4:8 ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’
– Don’t become too busy to spend time ‘drawing near’ to God.
– Let’s avoid the pitfalls of busyness and religious activity because the Lord wants us to enjoy His living presence in our lives.
– Go after God, seek Him more, pursue Him more passionately and love Him more dearly.
7. NEARER TO GOD – THAT’S THE GOAL!
– Have you ever heard someone say: ‘My son/daughter is getting closer to me as they are getting older.’ The truth is that the child has known the mother or the father all its life, but with time, and perhaps maturity, the relationship is developing.
– It is like this with us and our relationship with the Lord.
– We live with the knowledge that God is with us, BUT there is another dimension altogether, a closer and an even more real relationship.
– We are speaking here of the experience of His presence in our lives.
– It is getting to know God more intimately and with a deeper understanding and it is at this point that the barriers start disappearing.
– A closer relationship between ourselves and the Lord can be developed and pursued within our hearts.
– This is what God has in store for each one of us.
– This should be our goal and intention!
Prayer: Lord, I desire to have a closer relationship with You. I recognise that You are with me and that I will not be separated from Your love for me. I choose to draw near to You with the confident expectation that You will draw near to me. May my relationship with You grow and develop to a new level. May I experience and enjoy more of Your wonderful presence in my daily life. Amen.
By Andrew W Roebert
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