Growing Closer - Part 2

January 18th, 2022

Growing Closer - Part 2
“I am as close to God as I choose to be.” Do you think this is a true statement? We know it is God who saves us, and it’s not anything we do, but He gives us latitude to pursue our ongoing relationship with Him. He doesn’t force it on us. If we desire a closer relationship with God, what can we do?
Grow closer to the people around you:

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:11-13

Act on, speak of, and celebrate the relationship God has welcomed you into!

You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. John 15:14,15
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:1,4-5
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:1-8

4832 Ponderings: Challenge yourself to read these verses everyday for two weeks. Start your day proclaiming how great God is! As you lie down at night, thank Him for His presence, love and watchfulness. Note how these activities can impact your thinking, feelings and actions. There is power in God’s Word!

Posted in Discipleship, Growing