Are You Following at a Distance?

Does it sometimes feel like God is keeping His distance from you? Do you feel as if the close relationship you had with Him is waning? Ever wonder why? 

Let's take a lesson from Peter, the disciple upon whom Jesus said He would build His church.

Jesus had just spent 3 years teaching his followers. They had walked with him along the dusty roads of Israel, Slept in the desert and eaten in towns with Him. Sat with Him in the temples as He taught about God and His plan to bring salvation to mankind. Finally the time came when He needed to let them know that His death was drawing near.

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”  Matthew 26:1 (NLT)

As they traveled to Bethany, Jesus said... “Tonight all of you will desert me.  Matthew 26:31 (NLT)

Peter, was adamant! He declared, "Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you,"  Matthew 26:33 (NLT) 

But then, Jesus was betrayed and led away by a mob of men with clubs and swords. All the disciples scattered, perhaps fearing that they, too, would be hauled off to prison. All except Peter, that is. What did Peter do?

"Meanwhile, Peter followed him (Jesus) at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end." Matthew 26:58 (NLT)

Peter followed Jesus at a distance. This was the beginning of Peter's fall, which led him to deny that he had any relationship with Jesus at all.

We can pick up here with the truth that any time we begin to distance ourselves from God, He begins to seem further and further away. 

We might begin by neglecting to read the Bible, getting too busy to pray, or allowing things to slip into our lives that we know aren't right.

We might be still going to church (at least most of the time) and acknowledging that we are believers, Christ followers, but we've begun following at a distance and that can only lead to drifting away from our relationship with God. Suddenly we hit a crisis and need God's help. We pray and search the Word, but God seems so far away. The truth is that He is always as close as our next breath, but it doesn't seem so.

How do we fix that? How do we return to the close relationship we had before?

"This is what the Lord says: "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it." (Jeremiah 6:16 (NLT)

Prayer:

Father, I recognize that I've been drifting, that I've allow distance between us. Please forgive me. I truly want a close relationship with you. I'm turning back to what I used to do when we were close. Lord, strengthen my faith and give me a sharp awareness of your constant presence. Amen

Return to the things you once knew and God promise is this;

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you..." James 4:8 (NLT)

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10 Ways to Delight Yourself in the Lord

  

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

For the past few days, God has been bringing this scripture to mind.

I've been a Christian for over 40 years. I love the Lord, I read his word, I pray daily, I attend church and love my church family, but delight in the Lord? I'm not sure.

I had to look up the definition of the word delight, both in the dictionary and the bible concordance for the Greek and Hebrew meaning. (Yes, I am a word geek.)

delight (verb) - to take great pleasure in - 
rejoice in - enjoy immensely -
to be tender and pliable toward

Wow, there's a lot more to delight than I thought. 

So, how can we delight ourselves in the Lord? Here are some thoughts...

1. Seek His presence
2. Read, study and enjoy His word
3. Pray - talk to Him throughout the day and listen for His voice (He does talk back)
4. Notice and be amazed at His creations
5. Watch Him work in the lives of those around me
6. Marvel at His greatness
7. Drench myself in his love and give that love out to others
8. Recall His many blessings in my life and give Him thanks for each one
9. Awaken every day with the joy and anticipation of knowing him better by bedtime
10. Fall asleep with His praises on my lips each night

I now have a new focus for 2023 - to delight myself in the Lord daily. I can only imagine the blessings this year holds.

Prayer:

Lord, I will delight myself in you. I will take great pleasure in getting to know you better. I will enjoy your presence, the works of your hands, and be thankful for every blessing. I will be tender and pliable before you, allowing you to reshape and transform me - not so I can have the present longings of my heart, but so that the desires of my heart will align with your will and purposes. Amen

Deeper:

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." James 4:8

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" Jeremiah 29:13

"I love those who love me and those who seek me find me." Proverbs 8:17

"Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory," 1 Peter 1:8

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How Can I Be Saved?

God is calling us to Himself. He wants to cleanse us of our sin and restore us to a right relationship with Him, that He might bless our lives and rescue us from destruction.

Many are hearing His call, but are not sure how to enter into the salvation that Jesus came to give us. Here is a simple explanation from the scriptures that shows us how to be saved.

THE WAY TO SALVATION

• For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ROMANS 3:23

• For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ROMANS 6:23

• But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ROMANS 5:8

• Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ROMANS 10:13

• If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ROMANS 10:9

• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ROMANS 8:1

 

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father,today I acknowledge that I am a sinner. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me on the cross of Calvary. By faith I ask You to forgive my sins and to come into my life. Because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection all of my sins are forgiven and I am starting a brand-new life today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

My friend, if you have sincerely prayed this prayer, you are saved. Your sins have been forgiven and you have entered into a new relationship with God. From this point forward, He is with you. He will never leave you. He will direct your footsteps and help you to grow spiritually. You will experience His love, forgiveness and guidance as you lean into your new life with Jesus at the helm.

If you have prayed and given your life to God today, please drop a comment below and let me know so that I can be praying for you.

And welcome to the family of God!

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Between the Prayer and the Answer

"Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name." Psalm 33:20-21 (ESV)

Who enjoys waiting? Not me.

We live in an impatient society. We want the immediate.

Even when it comes to prayer, we want immediate results, immediate guidance from God, immediate fulfillment of His promises. We don't want to wait! 

But what if that waiting process is our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth? What if waiting is God's plan for deepening our relationship with Him? What if it's in the waiting that we become more like Jesus?

I call the time between our prayers and the answer, the In-Between.

How long? Have you ever asked God that question? Maybe you didn't verbalize it, but you've wondered it. Maybe even agonized over it.

What if we approach the In-Between differently?

What if we...

• Keep seeking a closer relationship with God?
• Keep praying in faith, believing for the answer?
• Keep serving God and others?
• Keep trusting God to be faithful?

Psalm 62:5 (NLT) says:

"Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him."

Quietly...not anxiously, not grumbling and complaining, not doubting and discouraged, but quietly, with calm assurance that the answer will come. Knowing that God's timing is perfect and His will is what's best for us.

Let's flip the script and use waiting as an extended Quiet Time with God.

Deeper:

Isaiah 40:31        Lamentations 3:25        Psalm 27:14        Romans 12:12

Questions:
How do you usually handle times of waiting?

How do you think you will handle waiting differently in the future?

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Answered Prayers Every Time

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14-15

What an awesome promise - pray and we have what we asked for.  No, wait - there's more to it than that. Read our verses for today again. 

The key to answered prayers every time is asking according to God's will. So, how do we know God's will in any given circumstance? First, we get to know him from his word. There we will see what he's done in the past, what he's promised to do, what he said he will never do. That helps us to pray according to his will. Next, we can discern his will by staying sensitive to his Spirit which lives inside us. Some call it intuition, but so often that little niggling in you heart, that cautionary red flag or that nudge to proceed is coming from the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised would lead and guide us through life.

And finally, we can come to him with a concern and end out prayers with "Lord, let it be done according to your will." And we can trust him to do what is best for us, even if it's not exactly what we would like to see or as fast as we would like to see the answer. 

Even Jesus prayed this way - “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

Deeper:

Hebrews 4:16        Philippians 4:6-7        Psalm 17:6        Romans 12:2

Questions:

Are you sometimes frustrated with your prayer life?

What can you do to change that?

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How to Fight Depression

"Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:5

Have you ever experienced the heaviness of melancholy and depression? I think we all have at some point. Perhaps you've suffered a great loss, or things didn't turn out the way you'd hoped they would. Maybe someone hurt you deeply or maybe you feel you've even disappointed yourself. 

So, what do we do when we feel that heaviness start to settle in?

In today's verse, the Psalmist recognized his downcast soul (depression, melancholy, disappointment). He asked himself why he was feeling that way and then did the wisest thing he could do - he encouraged himself to look to God. To put his hope in the One who leads our lives through every circumstance. He decided that no matter how he was feeling, he would praise God, whom he recognized as his Savior.

Depression doesn't stand much of a chance when we put our hope in God and whole-heartedly praise Him, especially in the middle of our heartache. Praise him wildly, out loud, sing praises, read scripture out loud. When I've done that, I feel the heaviness lift. oppression leaves as the enemy of my soul flees in the midst of my praises because when we praise, God shows up.

Later in the Psalms, we see this same person encouraging himself again by reminding himself of all the blessings that come from the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-6

The next time you find yourself feeling down, throw yourself into praise and see what happens. Praise is the obliterating weapon to use against depression!

Deeper:

Psalm 150:1-6    Acts 16:25-26    Hebrews 13:15    Psalm 3:3    Psalm 19:14

Questions:

What do you do when you feel depression setting in?

Are you willing to stand up and give the Lord the sacrifice of praise in the middle of your struggle?

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No Matter What!

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

It's easy to let fear slip in with the state of things in our world today. Prices are up, wages are down, people are stressed and we don't know what the future holds. We're living in troubled times, but that's not really anything new. Consider what Habakkuk was going through in his day...

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."  Habakkuk 3:17-18

We all face troubles of various kinds, but if we will keep God's promise in Isaiah 41:10 in mind, rather than become afraid and discouraged, we will kick fear aside and encourage ourselves in what God has promised. 

Deeper:

2 Corinthians 9:8    Philippians 4:6    Philippians 4:19    Romans 12:12

Questions:

What struggles are you facing today?

Are you fearful about your situation?

What has God promised in Isaiah 41:10?

Let's be determined to follow Habakkuk's lead and rejoice in the Lord no matter what comes.

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