Spiritual warfare: Collection of Faith in the News Articles

4 Ways to Draw Closer to God

Alam kong marami pa rin sa atin ang nagdadalawang isip na lumapit kay God dahil na rin sa mga sins na nagawa natin sa past. Pero God says in James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

'God is perfect and omnipotent, and you and I are mortal. But He is our Father, he loves us, and He offers the same opportunity to draw closer to Him as would a loving friend. And you will do it in much the same way: Speaking, listening, and doing. Our Heavenly Father has not only invited us to speak to Him, He has commanded it. And, as he has always done, when he commands, he promises, too.' © Henry Eyring

Kaya wag ng maging double minded, take your chance to draw close to Him! So what are four ways that most people might not think about to draw closer to Christ?

1. Sowing in Righteousness
Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you." How do you break up the fallow ground? Fallowed ground is ground that's plowed and ready but is unsown by seeds. Farmers in our state sometimes rotate crops or they let the ground rest for a year so the fallow ground can have renewed energy to grow more vigorously next year. The seed to sow in the fallow, rested earth is the righteousness of Christ, which is found in Scripture and means we obey God and keep short accounts of our sins, confessing them as we commit them. Unconfessed sin leads to a hard soil where the seed of the Word of God cannot grow roots, for it cannot penetrate hardened soil. Seeking the Lord is the solution, and seeking the King of the kingdom first (Matt 6:33) allows the rain of righteousness to fall upon you and water that seed (the Word). Only then will you reap the mercy of God.

2. Commit Yourself to Christ
This sounds easy enough, but it's really not. If we are going to be fully committed to Christ, this means that we place ourselves at the feet of Jesus. Ruth lay down at the feet of Boaz as a way of submitting to him and his authority (Ruth 3:3-4), and by doing this she found the most sacred place she could find, just as we will at Christ's feet. Like the former prostitute who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped them clean with her hair, she knew she needed to come to the Feet of Mercy. Just as Ruth placing herself at Boaz's feet was a sign of commitment, so must we put ourselves at the feet of Jesus. We can never really have an intimate relationship with Christ until we fully commit our life to Him, and that means we do what the Master did: show forgiveness, speak about righteousness, bring up the reality of sin, point people to the cross, and then welcome them with open arms like Christ did with sinners at the cross. To be committed to Christ is to be committed to what Christ did.

3. Worship Christ
Who is more deserving of worship than Christ? What greater joy could we have than to worship Christ? If we are to draw closer to Christ, we should be quick to worship Christ. This means we ought to continuously offer the praise of thanksgiving to Christ for dying to save us (Heb 13:15) and for calling us out of darkness and into the light (1 Pet 2:9). What do you think will be happening in heaven when we see the King? Worship! What do the angels do 24/7 right now (Isaiah 6:3)? Worship! Does God love worship? Of course He does; He is God! What do you think you'll do at the moment you see Christ for the very first time? Probably what I will do: fall on my face at His feet and worship Him. So why wait? Start now!

4. Surrender and Fall into Fellowship
When we admit we can't overcome something or make it by our own effort, God is probably saying, "Good, now I can finally help you," but we also need one another. God did not save us for isolation. The person who says they don't need the church or other Christians is basically telling God the Father, "God, I love You but I can't stand being around your children!" How do you think God will feel about that? You probably already know. He must think, "You love me but not my children? How can you love me and not your brothers and sisters, who are My children!?"

Conclusion
We need Christ. He doesn't need us. God can get along just fine without us, but we cannot possibly get along without Him, and so I hope these four ways can help you draw closer to Jesus because the closer you get to Jesus, the closer He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

© Pastor Jack Wellman