Drawing Nearer

December 5th 2007 – Wednesday



Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.



James 4:8



O God, I humbly come before you. Purify my heart today. Amen.



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Hello – knock, knock – is anyone home – I would like to be invited in – Hello anyone there? God knocking at the door of your heart! Are you home to answer Him, or are you preoccupied with worldly things?



OK – so if you are a true believer and you have a hunger and a thirst for Him and His Word – How are you able to resist these impulses to spend time with Him? I have my scheduled devotion time with God every morning, now I can intentionally choose sleep because my flesh is telling me to stay in bed (have done this many times), but then I miss the opportunity to be with Him in complete silence, to be with Him without any interruptions, and I am able to feel His presence and hear His voice; which makes me crave it more!! When I don’t get my time with God (I am such a selfish person – if you don’t already know) I walk around with such an empty feeling, I literally have a physical reaction to this – weird I know. God usually wakes me up around 4AM – don’t have to get ready till 5 – but I am able to be still and know that He is God! I love being filled with His Word and His love!! Alright the tank is full now it is time to face the world!!



Have you ever had a moment where in you were filled with a compelling need to spend time in His Word – you pray and pray until you were able to hold the Bible in your hand and then the joy (maybe a sigh of relief) you felt when you opened it. There are times in my lovely daily schedule that I receive this anxiousness and I have a terrible time concentrating on the earthly task at hand, because I have this over whelming call. Now, granted when I get this feeling, there is a reason behind it – someone around me is in need or it’s me that is in danger. I used to bring my Bible to work with me (on 3rd shift) because I had time to spend in His word and devote to prayer during breaks and in silence. I don’t have this opportunity anymore, sad, I know. LOL, God has given me other opportunities to fellowship, which I enjoy immensely.



Now, please do not misunderstand – I struggle with this too – my time is tight and I can throw every possible excuse at you explaining why I can’t seem to read and learn on a regular basis. But I would not be completely honest with you – there is time in the car, Jordan can read and I can listen. There are opportunities everywhere we just have to look hard enough to see them. I currently have 2 books in my car, patiently waiting for me to read them. The first is Encouragement – I have 10 good minutes every day when I get off work on time (this doesn’t always happen) and pick Jordan up from school – I am deliberately taking this time for this book.



Then I have this wonderful idea of working for the Lord all day long, being able to read the Bible without fear, taking time to pray properly instead of just writing down a name and then trying to do it later, spending time with those in need without having to worry about time constraints and work schedules, but then I think – would I become complacent if I actually had the opportunity to live this ideal life in my head? Would God’s presence and voice diminish because I am with Him all the time? Honestly, I don’t think so; because I am already with Him all the time, I really do not believe that I would loose sight of God! But I do think that I would probably take it for granted. Sometimes I have to force myself to get up and go – once I am up, going is not such a problem. Just food for thought, I hope I got your noodle going.



Love you all!!