Thursday, January 14, 2010

Get Close to God This Year

by Donna L. Watkins

I love my God time every day, but there are times and seasons where God just seems to be so near.
© 2009 Donna L. Watkins - Juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler

I know God speaks to us all the time ... but depending on where our hearts are, we may not always hear or hear correctly. I love being led of God as to what books to read and recently I ordered a book titled, "The Fear of the Lord," by John Bevere.

One of my Scripture cards that I have by my rebounder is Proverbs 3:7-8: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones."

I have strong bones. I've never broken anything in 59 years, but my joints sure aren't doing too well. I've also been asking god to show me where I am wise in MY eyes and not seeing through HIS and anytime I see "fear of the Lord" it puts a blip on my mental screening since what we think of as fear, is not what this Hebrew word means. The fear of the Lord means profound love and deep respect ... most people tend to think of Him with a big hammer when they read this verse because many earthly fathers were like that.

So ... God always listens to us and chooses the best timing for all things. I guess my heart was really open and ready to receive some answers to these questions and I've been truly enjoying this book that has included a few surprises.

Have you ever wondered how somebody can preach and people respond for salvation or healing or whatever ... and yet you know, or find out at some point in their lives, that they're not walking in holiness? Well ... here's a segment from John Bevere's book that dug deeper into that topic:

"We must remember that the gifts of the Spirit can be in operation in those who are still not pleasing to the Lord. When the anointing of God comes, it does not necessarily mean that it is accompanied by the approval of God. Jesus warned that many will come to Him in the day of judgment and say they had cast out demons, prophesied, and done many wonders in His anme, yet He will say to them, "Depart, you who practice lawlessness!"

We must keep in mind God's purpose for creation. He did not put Adam in the garden to have a wonderful preaching, healing, or deliverance ministry. No, Adam was placed in the garden so God could walk with him. God wanted a relationship with Adam, but the relationship was cut off due to Adam's disobedience.

We have been created for God, to coexist with His glory. But disobedience cannot exist within us if we are to please God. The accurate measurement of our true spiritual condition lies in our actual obedience to His will. There can be an anointing on our lives, yet we may still be far from God's heart. Consider the examples of Judas, Balaam, and King Saul: each operated in the anointing but fell short of walking in God's glory because of their selfish motives.

God does not raise His children for the purpose of performing miracles. God spoke through Balaam's donkey in the Old Testament, but that did not make this beast of burden a habitation of God's glory! For the past six millennia God has been patiently working on a temple for Himself, formed by His obedient children who love and fear Him."


We are to be His temple. God is definitely a lot deeper than we understand with our finite minds, but 2 Corinthians 2 says, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit."

The Holy Spirit will tell us. John 14:26 Jesus said, ".. the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." We need to invest the time into knowing Him more than we know anybody else in our lives because He will be the only one that will carry us through every day of our life ... with a guarantee we can have for life to never end, since salvation allows us to begin living in eternity at the moment of conversion. We never see death.

A new year always gets me interested in digging deeper into the things I have a passion for ... and God is always on that list. I hope you've set some spiritual goals and resolutions. Regardless of what the year brings ... you will have the grace to be filled with peace and joy.

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© 2010 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Amen!! Christ is the answer, the beginning and the end. He has a plan for each of lives. His plan is to prosper us and not to harm us. I too am placing my total trust in him and hid total provion for my life!!

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