Are you feeling distant from God?

Have you ever felt distant from God?  You may feel distant from God as you are reading this post.  You may have felt this way for a long time.  You don't have to stay there.  God desires that all who are His to be near Him.  Over and over again through the Old Testament prophets, God pleads with Israel to not forsake Him, and warns them of the consequences.  Jesus calls to the crowds, "Come to Me...". The fact that you are reading this post is a way of God reaching out to you, to draw near to Him again.  So, how can we close the gap? 

1) Confess and repent from your sin of desertion. 
               a.  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. - (Ps 66.18)
     You have moved from God.  At some point along the way, you began following your commands.  We all do this, and when we do, we need to stop.  We need to confess, accept by faith God's forgiveness and move on.

2) Pray to see the glory of God.
               a. Moses said, "Please show me your glory." - (Exd 33:18)
               b. One thing I have asked of the LORD,...to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD... - (Ps. 27.4)
     The only way we will be able to see the glory of the LORD is He revealing it.  We cannot with human eyes see and comprehend the beauty of God.  We must ask and ask often.

3) Seek the glory of God.
               a. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
                                                                                                                                             (Ps. 27.4)
    We must not be idle in prayer, but we must pray in expectant longing, combined with seeking after the Lord.  God is not going to play a cosmic game of "hide and seek".  Read what He says through the prophet Jeremiah:
                       You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. - (Jer 29:13 ESV)

You clicked on this post for a reason.  My prayer is that you will follow these 3 steps and by the grace of God, find your way back to Him. 

Grace-Driven Effort

In our study on Romans this morning we discussed the relation of grace, faith, and obedience.  Let's get our bible and review. 1) Grace is given by God, through the obedient death and resurrection of Christ.[Rom. 1.4-5]  2)  Along with this grace we have received a specific calling[i.e. preaching, teaching, hospitality, parenthood, giving, singing, encouragement] from God to be lived out in the power of the grace supplied [Rom. 1.5; 12.6].  3) This grace also enables us to have the faith necessary to obey God, even in the midst of hardship, because our calling is sure.  4)  Our general calling is to receive the grace(power) to fulfill our specific calling in order to bring the nations into obedience and glad submission to the God, for the glory of His name.  [Rom. 1.5] 

To remained focused on this goal, I would encourage you to memorize this verse. 
    For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.                                                                                                                                  (Rom 11:36 ESV)

Is this blog, helpful?  Please feel free to leave your comments below.  I would love to hear your feedback!!

Thanks

I am on twitter, my username is @rickeydees, there is also the option to follow by email.

Intimacy

There have been so many times in my life (in yours as well, I'm sure), where you felt a longing to draw near to God.  Those times are quickly followed by a sense of ignorance as to how to exactly do this.  You may bow your head to pray and your phone rings or the images and conversations of the day distract your mind.  You may sit to read your Bible and your daily reading plan has directed to read the first three chapters of 2 Chronicles.  You seem to be getting no where.  If this is you, I would like to share with you a lesson that I taught ("Those who can't do; teach." Someone said that, not sure who, but it fits here.  Although I am in the process of practicing what I am going to preach) last week to a group of college students.  So take your Bible and turn in it to John 6:1-15.  The focus will be on verse 15.  The title of this lesson is Intimacy with the Almighty.  Hope this can help.  Verse 15 Says this:  " Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself."  This verse contains the 3 principles we must discipline ourselves to practice in order to experience intimacy with God.

Intimacy With the Almighty

Three Principles from the Life of Jesus

John 6.1-15

I.                    Solitude & Silence

a.       Jesus experienced many times of solitude and Silence.

                                                               i.      Luke 6.12-13 (Chooses 12 disciples)

                                                             ii.      Luke 5.16; 9.18,28

                                                           iii.      John 6.15

b.       In OT & NT God encounters many people on a one on one level.

                                                               i.      Abraham – Gen. 12

                                                             ii.      Jacob – Gen. 28.13; 32.24-32

                                                           iii.      Moses – Ex. 3, 19

                                                           iv.      Gideon – Judges 6

                                                             v.      Elisha – 1 Kings 19.11-18

                                                           vi.      Peter – Acts 10

                                                         vii.      Paul – Gal. 1.17

c.       What is the importance of being quiet and alone before God?

                                                               i.      It is Biblical

1.       Psalm 37.7; 46.10; 62.1

2.       Hab. 2.20

3.       Zeph. 1.7

4.       Lam. 3.25-28

                                                             ii.      To follow the example of Jesus.  (If He needed time alone with God, how much more do we need to spend time silent before the Lord?)

                                                           iii.      To express worship to God.  (Silence and time alone before Him is an act of worship.  You are communicating to Him how important being in His presence truly is.)

                                                           iv.      To seek the will of God.

                                                             v.      It is a good practice to not just come to God and dump all your prayers and leave.  Come before Him in silence and reverence and fear.  Yes, I said fear.

II.                  Prayer

a.       Many times when Jesus withdrew to be alone it was His sole purpose to spend time (at times very large chunks of time) in prayer to God.

b.       What are some things we need to know about prayer:

                                                               i.      Prayer is expected and commanded.

1.       Matt. 6.5-9 (Note “when you pray….” Followed by a command)

2.       Col. 4.2 “(You) Devote (imperative) yourself to prayer….be alert. (Remember for III. Focus)

3.       1 Thess. 5.17

“As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”  - Martin Luther

                                                             ii.      Prayer is learned

1.       By praying

2.       By meditating on Scripture

a.       Psalm 19.7-10, 14

b.       Psalm 119

                                                           iii.      Prayer should be intentional

1.       You must plan to pray.

III.               Focus

a.       Jesus understood that His mission was not to be an Economic Messiah, a Political Revolutionary or a Bread King.

b.       John 18.36 He speaks to Pilate and declares that His reason for coming was to establish a Kingdom that was unseen.  The Kingdom of God.

c.       So what is our mission/focus?

And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]  That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]. Phil. 3.9-11 (AMP)

For Christ and His Kingdom, 

Rickey

Getting Started

Many of us have an identity. I have a Driver's License from the state of Texas, that lists my name, address, birthdate, height, weight, eye color, hair color, and bears my image. This however, does not fully detail my identity. Many people know me as a guy who works at a retail distribution warehouse. But not even what I do for a living fully portrays who I am. I have a highly extroverted personality and tend to be the "life of the party" (be it positive or negative). I believe that it is a culmination of all of these factors that produce my identity.

However, I also have another identity if you will. Who I am in Christ. Ephesians 1:3-14 is a beautiful section of a very rich book of the Bible. In this portion the apostle Paul begins to praise God the Father for all of the Spiritual blessings that He has so graciously poured out on His people. This passage of scripture introduces the believer to their new identity in Christ. That identity is something that differenciates a believer from a non-believer. Such things as: (1) Being chosen by God (2) Being adopted as a son (3) Being redeemed from a life of sin and death (4) Being forgiven of all sin; past, present and future (5) Having the purposes of God revealed to us (6) Being sealed and secured by the Holy Spirit (7) Being heirs to the Kingdom of God. All of these things are what has been given to the one who has repented of sin and placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

This is an amazing concept. Mainly because none of these things did we in any way deserve. Elsewhere in Ephesians, Paul tells the believers at the church in Ephesus that they were dead at one point in sin and transgression. The same applied to us. God in His incomprehensible love, chose to give us a new identity. Whereas before we were dead, now we are alive. We were enemies, now we are heirs. We have been given an undeserved gift. A gift that we, even on our best day, could not have possibly deserved. Why? "So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:12) God redeemed undeserving people in order to show His goodness, and to receive unending praise and glory.

In conclusion, we have been given a new identity as believers in Christ. We have been given an undeserved and unearned gift. I know from my own experience when a gift has been given to me that I did not deserve a huge wave of humilty swept over me. A deep sense of gratitude consumed me. When I read this passage of scripture and realize what God has given me I am humbled. I think of all the reasons He has to withhold mercy and give me what I deserve. My encouragement to you as you live you life daily, is to spend some time each day reflecting on what God has done for you. This reflection will put things in perspective. Paul writes elsewhere, "you are not your own, you were bought at a price..." (1 Cor. 6:19b-20a). Embrace your identity in Christ. Show your gratitude to God by serving others.

For Christ and His Kingdom,
Rickey