Not always, but often we want to have that feeling close to God as an “emotion on demand” thing. Sometimes the feeling you are looking for comes after being obedient. Here is an example: Remember the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel? Before she gave birth to Samuel, she could not have children, but when she pleaded with God for a son, God answered her prayer. But when Hannah made that request, it was with a promise. That she would give this beloved child back to God. When Samuel was still a young child, Hannah brought him to the temple to stay there. Think about this; Hannah has been waiting for years for a child and now she has to give him up? There was no guarantee that she would have any more children. Yet read some of her prayer found in 1 Samuel 2. “ My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; upon them he has set the world. 1 Samuel 2: 2,8b Hannah was close to God because of her obedience and her desire to be. What does God want you to do? Teach a 3rd grade Sunday School class, support and pray for a missionary, go on a hike for the purpose of spending time with God, join the church choir, study the book of Ephesians. You want to feel close to God? Do something for God and with God.
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You pray before meals; you force yourself to go to church and when you listen to the sermon your mind wanders. This is the problem: what’s important to God is not important to you. You need to decide in your mind to change your priorities. Is your daughter showing Christ like love on the soccer field or is winning the most important thing? Is taking the time for family devotions more important than catching up on Facebook? You’re bored with your Christian life because all you care about is your own little world. Your selfishness is the problem. Your children need to be taught God’s Word; people at work need to see Christ in your life. Your church needs a few more people to sign up for choir. What is important to God needs to be important to you. The apostle Paul was stuck in prison because of his faith in Christ. Read what he has to say about his situation. Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1:12-14 Did Paul complain that he was in jail? No, Paul’s priority was that the gospel was preached. What was important to God was important to Paul. 1 The Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of his guilt, making him aware of his helplessness to save himself and causing him to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ alone can save him. The Holy Spirit draws him to the Lord Jesus and enables him to understand salvation and accept Christ as Savior. A person may rebelliously reject the Holy Spirit conviction, but to his own peril. 2 The Holy Spirit also fills us. Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 The apostle Paul draws an analogy between being under the influence of wine and being under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The person who drinks to excess relinquishes the control of his words and actions from his own power and gives it to alcohol. In much the same way, the Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit is under His power and direction. To be filled with the Spirit means to live a Christian life in the power and under the guidance of the Spirit of God. 3. The Holy Spirit also comes to our aid in prayer. Sometimes we are so filled with sorrow or distress that we find it difficult to pray. The Holy Spirit prays on our behalf. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:26-27 4. The Holy Spirit also helps us know what is true Biblical teaching and what is false. If someone tells you that Jesus was not the Son of God but merely a good man that enjoyed teaching people and telling good stories the Holy Spirit helps us know the lies of that statement. Short answer: right beside you. Often times when we are hurting God may seem far away. Sometimes we push God away, perhaps blaming him for our suffering. God has a great love and affection for you and has a deep desire to stand by you in your pain. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth about the comfort that God provides. The Christians in Corinth were going through difficult times where they were going through intense persecution because of their faith in Christ. Many were put to death or imprisoned. There was much sadness and hurt. Paul instructed the church about God’s comfort. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 God loves us and in that love he is also a God of compassion and a God who comforts. This passage reminds us of Jesus’ suffering for us and that he can relate to our suffering. This text also teaches that as God comforts you, you also need to comfort others. Believe in your mind and heart that you serve a glorious, almighty and sovereign God who loves you and wants you to draw close to him in your pain. Some practical ideas that will help: First – Look for ways to share the love of God to others. Second – Study Bible passages that have the words suffering, pain and sorrow. Third – Study great prayers in the Bible and learn the context of those prayers. 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is a great example. Fourth – Read the account of Jesus’ trial, beating and death on the cross found in the gospels. Remember that Jesus knows first hand about pain and suffering. That is a wonderful thought and it makes everyone feel warm and happy. But that thought is also incorrect. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, everyone who was born was born into sin and an enemy to God. That is because God is a holy God and a holy God demands judgement against sin. God is also a loving God and has provided his Son Jesus Christ to take that punishment for our sin. Once we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, admit we are sinners and ask God to forgive us from our sins, then we are moved from being enemies of God to children of God. And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us! Romans 5:10 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned. Verse 12 And what a difference between man’s sin and God’s forgiveness! For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this one man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s mercy. Verse 15 Sunday mornings are great for sleeping in. Nobody will talk to me when I visit a new church. Someone at church said something that offended me. The church board will not listen to me. Going to church doesn’t make me more spiritual. Do I really need to go to church? Yes, you need a community of fellow believers to help you grow in your faith. You need a church. Some Christians are still weak in their faith and say and do things that hurt people, but they need a church. Some Christians are self-righteous and proud; some are going through great difficulties but all Christians need a church. The church was never meant to be a place serving only those who are well-disciplined perfect believers. The church is meant for imperfect, hurting Christians who need each other for encouragement, caring and love. We need to worship as a body of Christ and learn from God’s Word. God set-up the church, as imperfect as it is, to help Christians grow in their faith and as an outsource for ministry. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:9,11,14-15 This question assumes that God sends people to hell against their will. But this is not the case. God desires everyone to be saved. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 Those who are not saved do not will to be saved. Read what Jesus pleaded about the people of Israel. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Matthew 23:37 God is just and he must punish sin. But he is also love, and his love cannot force others to love him. Love cannot work coercively but only persuasively. Forced love is a contradiction in terms. Sinful man chooses on his own to go to hell when he decides to push away God and his plan of salvation through his Son. You know you should spend more time in God’s Word. You believe that the Bible is God speaking to us and you can’t grow in your Christian faith without reading this Book. But your mind wanders when you do read it, and what you really want is to catch up on your Facebook page. If you want to write a novel, you want it to be interesting to the reader by explaining the setting as well as the people in the story. We need to change our reading of the Bible to a study of it. Who did God inspire to write that section of His Word? Whom did he write it to, and why? A study Bible or a one volume commentary would be helpful. Also pray that God would help you in your study. Start with a daily 15 minute study of the book of Philippians. We know from the first verse that Paul wrote this letter to the church in Philippi. As you study the first chapter, you learn that Paul was in prison when he wrote Philippians. He did not know if he was going to be set free or be executed. Keep that in mind when you read verses like… I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20-21 Those verses take on a greater meaning when you know the person and the setting. Studying the Bible requires looking at the passage carefully and reading it over more than once. The more time and understanding of a Bible passage, the more interesting it will be. You are a Christian; you pray before meals, you go to church and you even put money in the offering plate. But you just can’t say no to a sin that you have been committing. Why isn’t God helping? Yes, you can do all the things that Christians are supposed to do, but no, those things usually don’t help you resist temptation. Okay then, you say, what will help? Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:7-8a First sentence: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” Are you willing to put yourself under the authority of an almighty God? Is He your sovereign Lord? Too often we want to be our own boss, nobody is going to tell me what to do. “Resist the devil.” If Satan is your enemy you can resist him. You can, with God’s help, say no to temptation. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” God loves us and is near us. The question is, are you aware of His presence? God has a deep passionate love for you. He absolutely adores you. You will never fully comprehend His love for you. The problem is this; your love for God is so shallow and weak that you can’t say no to sin. How do we love God? First – Be truly thankful that an all -powerful creator God sent His Son to take the punishment for your sin. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 Second – Recognize God’s greatness. Read chapters in the book of Psalms, memorize a favorite verse. Third – Be obedient to God through learning His Word. Study the Bible. Fourth – Develop a deep relationship with your God through prayer. Learn how to pray better. Study prayers in the Bible and plead with God to help you say no to sin. You have been a good Christian, you read your Bible, you pray and go to church. Now you are experiencing some serious health problems. You’re scared and frustrated with God; what did you do to deserve this? God is not sitting up in heaven inflicting cancer to this person and dementia on that person. Each one of us brought all the suffering to this world through Adam. Each one of us is at fault, not God. God is not the one who brought sin into this world and he should not get the blame. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:12 Well, you say, God could have stopped this or healed me like I pleaded for him to do. Why doesn’t God do what I asked him? Do you believe that God is a sovereign God? Do you believe that he is almighty, majestic and all-knowing? Then let him be that God. Do you also believe that God is all-loving, compassionate and a God who comforts us in our hardships? Is our God a God who gives peace and joy in our pain? The let him be that God. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23 |
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