To be close to God…

Read:

Psalm 84:2 (NIV): “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God”.

Act:

A relationship is defined as: “The way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected or associated”. The ingredients for a strong relationship include fundamental building blocks like trust, respect, honesty, loyalty, patience and love. None of these are achieved without knowing each other – coming back to the time we spend together.

The most important relationship we have is with our Heavenly Father – this is where our life and existence flow from (Job 33:4). If we want to cultivate an intimate relationship with God, our hearts and flesh (our entire beings) need to cry out to be in His presence (Psalm 121:1-2).
How do we achieve being in God’s presence – seeking Him above all else?

Let us be determined this week to:

Grow our relationship with God. Our relationship with God starts when we realise our need for Him, when we repent of our sins and through grace, in faith, receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9-10). Through Jesus, we received the greatest gift ever – access to our Heavenly Father (John 14:6). As children of God, we enter into an intimate, personal relationship with Him. In order for us to grow our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we need to carve out personal and private space to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in worship. We need to dedicate our lives completely and wholeheartedly to Him. We need to ask for God’s wisdom (James 1:5) to deal with our daily challenges and joys, and to apply Godly discernment when we are faced with choices (Philippians 1:9-10; Hosea 14:9). Let’s ask Him to help us so that our hearts will be inclined toward His Kingdom-purposes (Psalm 145:11-13; Matthew 6:20, 24:14 and 28:19-20); our ears will hear His voice of reason and direction (Isaiah 30:21; John 16:13; Psalm 32:8), and our hearts and minds will act in obedience – so that our lives will be directed by God – bearing much fruit for His Kingdom (John 15:4-7). Our daily time spent with God ultimately determines the intimacy of our relationship with Him. It determines how well we know Him, trust Him, rely on Him, believe in Him and how much we love Him!

 Examine the areas of our lives that are not fully committed / dedicated to God. It’s so easy to get caught up in the fears, worries, concerns and storms of life. We take matters into our own hands or listen to the advice of others – especially when our plans, dreams or desires are being threatened. But let’s remember that our true happiness, the greatest desire of our hearts, is to live in unity with God. Let’s partner with God in all we do. Let’s truly consecrate all the aspects of our lives to Him. Let’s not fret over the carnal things – rather let’s truly look to Jesus to help us in every season of life; in every thought that crosses our minds; in everything we do; and in every decision we take. We learn a very important principle from Proverbs 16:3 (AMP) – it reads: “Commit your works to the Lord [submit and trust them to Him], and your plans will succeed [if you respond to His will and guidance]”. Did you hear that in your heart? First of all, COMMIT – that means submitting everything to God. Secondly, “respond to His will and guidance”. The only way to know God’s will and plans for us is to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him – that means to be CLOSE TO GOD – ALWAYS!.

God deeply cares for us. He longs to have a personal, intimate relationship with each one of us. He wants us to excel at life and become all He created us to be! Let’s respond in this way: “First and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His Kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right – the attitude and character of God]” (Matthew 6:33), so that we can glorify Him in all that we are and through all that we do.

Pray:

Heavenly Father, there is nothing more valuable or lovely than being in Your presence. Create a hunger and thirst in us for more of You! Our souls long for an intimate, personal relationship with You! Our spirits seek You diligently. Father draw close to us, as we seek You above all else!
Amen.

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