Get a Little Closer

“ … At this moment, each one of us is as close to God as we choose to be. ”

Do you ever just spend time with God because of who He is, not for what He can do for you?  Have you spent time with Him to tell Him how much you appreciate Him and to thank Him for all that He’s done for you—not just to give Him a whole list of everything you need to be happy?

It’s easy to be busy all the time with an endless to-do list instead of stopping to spend time alone with God.

 

Whatever you’re doing—or not doing—the truth is, at this moment, each one of us is as close to God as we choose to be.

The Choice of Busyness

In Luke 10:38, there was a woman named Martha who made a choice. She kept herself so busy while Jesus was visiting her and her sister. Jesus took notice.

“…Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching. But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone?”

Martha was distracted and kept herself busy. She was distracted from Jesus by work! Do you ever find yourself saying, “I do all the work around here. Everybody else is always having a good time while I just work, work, work, work!”

Martha may have thought the same thing, because she pleaded with Jesus for Mary to help her. “But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; There is need of only ONE thing and Mary has chosen  the good part…” (verses 41 & 42).

What’s Really Important

Work is definitely important, but it wasn’t the most important thing for Martha to be doing at that particular time. You know, learning what to do and when to do it is a very key issue because when we do the right thing at the wrong time it becomes the wrong thing to do.

This was not the time for Martha to be working because Jesus was passing by. There was an opportunity for her to spend time with Him that she might not ever get again. What Martha needed was to make a better choice. She needed to make a wiser choice, and that choice was to spend time with Jesus.

Paul prayed that the Phillipian church would be able to make wise choices so that they would “surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value  [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing  the moral differences].”  (Philippians 1:10)

We need to begin to discern the better choices in our lives, and we need to make those choices. And time is the number one thing we need to choose to invest for intimacy in any relationship, not just a relationship with God.

What Kind of Relationship Do You Want?

God loves you so much and He wants to have a personal, intimate relationship with you. If you want to have a closer walk with Him, you’ll need to make some changes and some of them will be challenging.

To make more time with God a priority, you may have to say “no” to some people that don’t want to hear “no,” and you may have to cut off some things that really aren’t bearing fruit in your life anymore. But the reward of growing closer to God will always be greater than the difficulties you experience to get there.

Make a determined decision today to get as close to God as you can be.

 

By: Joyce Meyer Ministries

Taking God by His Word: Using Faith

This devotional was done by Otis “Touches” Codling

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Focus scripture Matthew 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

We know by definition in Hebrews that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrew 11:1), right?
But what is faith?

• It is not a hunch, and it is not positive thinking.
• Faith does not believe everything will work out.
• Faith is not responding in emotions or feelings to miracles and signs.
• Faith does not believe simply that God can.

Faith knows that GOD WILL. Real faith is dead to doubt.

• Faith is taking God at His word.
• It is dumb to discouragement.
• It is blind to impossibilities.
• It knows that God will.

Now this is the kind of faith we need.
According to Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We all know that God honours His word above His name, right?  Its scriptural at that too (Psalm 138:2).
This appears to be the easiest of rules; to honour the Word of God above the name of God.  But practically no other rule is harder, certainly none is so little kept.
Between man and man, the social law of faith is so strict that if you do not believe what a man says you are held to commit the greatest wrong you can inflict upon him.  On the same hand, think of this…. God, has the same sense of jealousy for His own truthfulness and same indignant feeling of wrong and outrage when His word is questioned….
So you see, when we doubt God and question His word He gets “mad/angry”.
Because it seems as if we are saying He is telling a lie, and God doesn’t need to do that.

Unbelief is saying that God is telling a lie…. It is no light matter to treat any word of God as an unreality, it is an insult thrown in His face.
Who does God take at his word?
The timid man? The loiterer? The man who has no peace? The unhappy man?
The man who doubts his interest? The man who puts away the promises? Can anyone of these escape the condemnation?
Are we taking God at His word?
God says “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Do you realize yourself a helpless sinner?
Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Have you accepted your salvation as a finished thing or are you thinking “I must do something to secure my salvation?”
He says, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37) but do you ask, “I fear He will not receive me”?
He says, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin” (1 John 1:7) but do you say, “no, not quite all”?
He says to penitents, “your sins are forgiven you” (1 John 2:12) but do you read it “I shall be forgiven by-and-by”
He says “Take no thought – I will provide” (Matthew 6: 29-33) but you are anxious.

Is all this taking God at His word?
You must go back to the simplicities of childhood. If his/her’s confidence has not been abused, a little child takes everybody at his word, and never suspects anyone.
You must take honouring views of what God’s Word is. The Spirit of God Himself is in that Word.

You must acquaint yourself with the Speaker.

How shall we trust the Word if we do not trust the Speaker?

Prayer: Our reigning King, we approach Your throne humbly to ask for Your forgiveness.  Help us to take Your Word for what they are and never doubt it.  Help us to listen to and believe in Your words because You are not like man so You cannot lie.  Thank You, Lord for being the same trustworthy and dependable God.  Have Your way in our hearts as we ask You to remove everything that hinders us from relying on Your Words, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Do not be a Hypocrite; Be an Upright Servant

Self-Examination (take this topic very personal)

Key Scripture: Job 2

A hypocrite is said to be “a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs” (Merriam-Webster Online).  The Urban Dictionary defines a hypocrite as:

(1) A person who engages in the same behaviours he condemns others for.

(2) A person who professes certain ideals, but fails to live up to them.

(3) A person who holds other people to higher standards than he holds himself.

An upright person is said to be “always behaving in an honest way: having high moral standards” (Merriam-Webster Online). Moreover, a servant is an individual “who is devoted to or guided by some[one else] [or] one that serves others” (Merriam Webster Online).

I have the honour of mentoring some beautiful young ladies and a handsome young man.  My aim is to help them get closer to God and I do so by challenging them in the necessary areas.  One of the challenges requires that they spend time with God each day.  My motto is: “Anything I ask them to do, I must have done or be doing.” One of my mentee is asked to spend 40 minutes with God: 20 minutes to read and 20 minutes to pray. So I challenge myself to spend 1hr with God.

My hypocrisy came into play when I began to give God less than even 10minutes per day. I was asking and expecting my mentees to do something daily, that I wasn’t doing.  I was being a hypocrite.

Just like the Pharisees and Scribes in the bible.  They were the keepers of the law and expected the Jewish people to observe the laws but they themselves did not keep the laws. They walk around with an air of piety (righteousness) and judged the persons who broke the laws.

God showed me who I really was, then He led me to Job 2

Job2:3 “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.”

As Christians, our very worship disturbs the enemy. If we trouble the enemy, we must expect him to retaliate.  Satan could not move Job because he was an upright servant; he was honest, moral, had integrity and shunned evil.

If we are honest and know that it is God we are serving, whatever the enemy comes back with will not shake us or move us.  But if we remain hypocrites: pretending to have on robes of righteousness and holiness, pretending to be close to God, and pretending to know who God is….then it won’t be easy to stand against the enemy.

We leave ourselves open to spiritual attacks when we ask persons to do what we won’t do and when we profess that we are Christians but do not spend time to know God, we are disobedient, judging others … and the list goes on.

Ask yourself, “Am I being a hypocrite?”

Let us make the necessary steps to become upright servants.

The Visitor

Taken from Daily Bread by David C. McCasland

I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Matthew 25:31-40

A friend asked a newly retired man what he was doing now that he was no longer working full-time. “I describe myself as a visitor,” the man replied. “I go see people in our church and community who are in the hospital or care facilities, living alone, or just need someone to talk and pray with them. And I enjoy doing it!” My friend was impressed by this man’s clear sense of purpose and his care for others.

A few days before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers a story that emphasized the importance of visiting people in need. “The King will say to those on His right hand, ‘. . . I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me’” (Matt. 25:34,36). When asked, “When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” the King will answer, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (vv.39-40).

Our ministry of visiting has two beneficiaries—the person visited and Jesus Himself. To go to a person with help and encouragement is direct service to our Lord. Is there someone who would be encouraged by your visit today?

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, help me to see others with Your eyes. Show me what it means to demonstrate Your love to those around me. Thank You for the love You give to me that I can share.”

Compassion is understanding the troubles of others, coupled with an urgent desire to help. INSIGHT: In today’s passage, Jesus tells His followers that love for our neighbo[u]r is an expression of our love for God. Only a few chapters before this (Matt. 22), He tells them that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbo[u]r.

Matt. 25:31-40 ”The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations”

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Devotion – “Ordained Child of God”

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:1

You are to appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out their priestly responsibilities, but any unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.” The Lord spoke to Moses: “See, I have taken the Levities from the Israelites in place of every first-born Israelite from the womb. The Levities belong to Me, because every first-born belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every first-born in Israel to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yahweh.” Num 3:10-13

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. Col 3:23-24

We were selected, appointed and anointed (ordained) and we are the Lord’s children. We need to walk according to our calling, walk according to our anointing.

However, it is important that we wait to be anointed.  Anoint, as defined by Merriam-Webster Online, is to “1:  to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance; 2 a :  to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration, b :  to choose by or as if by divine election; also :  to designate as if by a ritual anointment.”

Without waiting to be chosen and anointed, we may go in our own direction. A direction that is opposite the will of God. This can result in spiritual or physical death.  The anointing empowers us to serve/work in the kingdom. It is with the anointing we are able to walk in the will chosen for us.  In addition, the anointing protects us from danger as it signals that God is please with us and will be with us on the appointed journey.

We are ordained children of God.  Let’s wait on His direction before we decide where to go.