Part 1 of 2 in Drawing Close To God
I have found one of the things I have been praying a lot here lately is to know God. I want to go deeper in my love for Him, to know what makes His heart beat. Studying through I began to realize that there are blessings to being close to God. Advantages, if you will, that aids our walk with God.
One of the first things that happens when we begin drawing close to God is our love for Him grows.
1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” God is love. When we seek to be close to Him, He makes us more like Him. To know Jesus is to love Him.
Our faith in turn increases.
Luke 17:5 says, “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.” Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Reading these two verses of Scripture we can see that whatever we ask, we will receive. We ask for our faith to be increased, and it is. The apostles had to know God to ask Him to increase their faith. Likewise, we must know God for our faith to be increased. Our initial faith is why we live for Him. We have faith and believe Jesus is God. But for our faith to increase, to be able to say to our mountains in life to move and they move, we have to know Him.
You will find peace in your storms.
He is the Prince of Peace. Growing close to God results in becoming more like Him. If He is the Prince of Peace, surely we will have peace. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” When we keep our mind on the Lord, we find peace.
God will show you the world through His eyes.
When everyone else is gossiping about someone, you will see the beauty in that person. You will see why and what God loves, along with why and what God hates. That Godly perspective allows us to see the spiritual realm. There is a battle that the physical eyes cannot see. Spiritual warfare. While the world may see a sheep, mingling in with the herd - the deeper we draw to God, the more we see the wolf trying to mask his deceit. Without a purposeful walk with God, we cannot step through the veil between the physical and spiritual. That is when we are most vulnerable for we don’t see the enemy’s attacks coming.
God begins speaking through us.
Have you ever watched someone while outreaching that just seemed to have all the right words to say? Or maybe you work with someone who lives for God and they know the answers to all your questions. Moses is an excellent example of how this happens. Exodus 4:10-12 says, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Jesus is saying here that He made man and can give him the right words to say. I don’t consider myself well versed. Just the other day I was at the gas station and the cashier said to stay dry (it was pouring.) I told her “you too!” I walked out the door while muttering how stupid that was of me because she was indoors. She may have gotten a laugh out of it, but that’s okay. Lol Just because we have times where we say silly things, doesn’t mean we can’t be used. I pray a lot for Jesus to speak through me. I don’t want my flesh getting in the way of God’s work. If He can do something as complex as creating us, what makes us think He can’t put the right words in our mouths? He can and will!
God provides answers.
The more time we spend with Him, the easier it becomes to hear God’s voice as well as see Him at work in our lives. There have been several times where I was hurting pretty bad, and the thought of having to walk halfway across the parking lot to walk through Walmart for a few things was exhausting in itself. I’d start praying, “Lord, please help me find a front parking spot.” You may think that is a silly prayer. Honestly, no prayer is too small or silly for God. I’d drive to one of the rows close to the door and sure enough, there would be a big, beautiful parking spot just for me! Right up front! You can’t help but be thankful and know God did that just for you. No matter what your question or situation, He has the answers. You just have to draw close to Him to see them.
It is easier to live for God when we are close to Him.
Last time you prayed through was six months ago. A year since you’ve read your Bible. Can’t remember how long it’s been since you witnessed. Makes it really hard to live for Jesus if you don’t spend time with Him. What if you prayed daily, read the Bible daily, witnessed every chance you got, fasted regularly? What do you think would happen? You would be connected! A connected child of God is instant in and out of season. Ready to dive into prayer at any moment. You don’t have to stop and repent of that little sin, that you may not even know happened, before praying for someone. You are ready because you have been praying. Life is simply easier when we know God.
Lastly, we have hope.
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This verse is not that we have hope, but why we do. Knowing that who loves God, and to love God is to know Him, that in turn everything will work out for good. We don’t have to worry or doubt our futures, because we know who holds them in His hand.
Drawing close to the Lord is something we have to work on every day. This is not a once a year faith. It's a daily commitment.
Part 2 coming up next week! Follow on social media or subscribe to the blog to receive updates! God bless you and have a happy day!!
Very good post today!!