“We are either away from God but drawing near, or we are near to God but drawing away.”

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Locations 2977-2978). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The direction we are headed seems to me to be the key. One of the attributes of God is that He is everywhere so our focus seems to be the important key here. He is always near us.

I love my reading through the four Gospels in the New Testament and I read an interesting response of Jesus to His disciples. In the New International Version He says, “Are you so dull?” and He says to them in another place, “Do you still not understand?” And I thought I wonder how they felt and it came to me, He probably could say the same thing to me. But He also could say it to the smartest person on the earth and all the angels in heaven. Compared to Him we are all dull, we have so much to learn and so much to experience with Him.

But I’m sure there are some who would really be upset if He said that to them. I mean they know it all. They have arrived. They don’t need to hunger any more after God because they are full to the brim of all there is to know. They are as close to Him as any human being could ever be and in reality they are drawing away.

You cannot coast up a mountain. You either go up or down and in your walk with God you are either going with Him or away from Him. There is no coasting.

And this could be one of those places where He says, “Do you still not understand?” So the important question isn’t, “Are you near or far?” but “Are you drawing nearer or drawing away?”

Now the truth was He knew they needed a lot more time with Him and we do too.

So how close are you to Him?

Comments

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life. It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed. Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life. Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you. You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good. Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident. In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose. In other words you are not an accident. I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth. In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man. And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ” Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like? Like that characteristic is a curse or something. Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God. Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog