TRUST IN GOD
DRAW NEAR TO GOD
DRAW NEAR TO GOD
Message
Notes: “Draw Near To God”
Drawing closer to
God is God-initiated.
That means If there is anyone in this world who has everything
and is highly successful in all spheres of life, even that person cannot lead a
satisfied life without God. Only God can
satisfy that need in an individual.
There is a natural affection of the soul to its maker.
Bible says in Jeremiah
30:21
“and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for
who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.”
Drawing closer to God is God-initiated and it is GOD who
causes us to draw close to him by stirring our soul and our spirit.
We Draw Near To
God Through the Blood of Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 2:13 says “But
now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the
blood of Christ have been brought near.”
We are brought near to God through the blood of Jesus
Christ. Cleansing is impossible without
confession and forgiveness of sins.
Why do we have to
aspire to draw near to God?
Hebrews 7:25 says “Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost
(completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come
to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and
intercede with Him and intervene for them.”
So when we choose to draw near to God through Jesus Christ,
there is perfection of our salvation as He intercedes for us to God to
intervene and help in our lives. There
is an intercessor or an advocate for our case who will work out things for
us.
Bible says in Hebrews 4:16
“16 Let us then
fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of
grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive
mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need
[appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].”
When we draw near to the throne of God, we receive mercy for
our past failures, past sins, and past mistakes and we find grace or unmerited
favor of God that would bring in timely help, needed help for the present and
future to lead a successful Christian life. Also, we get a heavenly perspective
of our life and mission, and even the roadmap to the plans and purposes of God
in our life.
Let me put it this
way, I would like to say that we need to draw near to God to correct our past
failures and to walk in present and future success.
So, having found the reason on the basis of the Scriptures,
we need to stir up a passion to draw near to God.
Now let’s get to the “how” part of the process:
With what do we
draw near to God?
We can draw near to God with faith and with the heart.
Draw near to God
with faith:
Hebrews 11:6 says
6 But without
faith it is impossible to please and
be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily]
believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].
So without faith, we cannot please God and without faith we
cannot come to God. We need to believe
that God exists and He is the helper of those who seek Him.
Draw near to God
with the heart:
Jeremiah 30:21
“and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for
who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.”
Jesus said in Matthew 15: 8 These people draw near Me with their mouths and
honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.
9 Uselessly do they worship Me,.If our
mouth and lips are closer to God but our hearts away from Him, it is utterly
useless. So it is very important that we
draw nearer to God with our hearts.
Now, the next
question is how do we draw near to God with our hearts?
We need to be 100% true before God. We should be utterly transparent before
God. Do not try to give excuse for the
mistakes. Do not defend yourself. Just confess and ask for pardon. God knows all of it!! If you are not able to see your mistakes or
negatives, ask the Lord to show it to you and when He does that do not try to defend
it or try to give an excuse or try to cover it.
Just be bare and naked and utterly vulnerable before God. When you allow the Holy Spirit to work
through you causing a deep godly sorrow or remorsefulness for the sins and the
confession of it before the Lord and cleansing it with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ, the sin and its effects are uprooted from your life. And now with the cleansing comes confidence in
the Lord. Speak to the Lord with all of
your heart, saying, Lord I love you with all of my heart, my mind, soul, and my
strength. Converse with God, express
your love for Him and ask Him to speak into your life. Pursue Him until you have an encounter with
Him. Ask the Lord to consecrate your
senses and alert your senses to understand His ways and His voice and His
communication back to you. Make sure
that you obey His Word in the Bible and His Word for the moment. Thus you walk with God. As you walk with God, rest all falls into
place.
So in summary, we need to draw near to God through Jesus
because you are fulfilling your innate feeling and your natural affection
between your soul and God, which had been distorted by the world and sin. Next thing is for us who are saved, we need
to draw near to Him on a daily basis to perfect the salvation we have received
in Jesus. We need to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling. That
is to say, we draw near to God to receive mercy for our past and to receive the
grace, favor, and help to lead a successful present and future life. To walk in the perfect Will of God, we need
Grace. That grace is made available to
us every time we draw near Him with
faith in hearts that Jesus has died for our sins and that He has made a way for
me to come before God who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient and that
He is the creator of the universe, and is also my maker. He cannot be seen by eyes but I can reach out
to Him in faith and when I seek Him with all my heart and say to Him I love You
Lord, I love You Lord, I love you with all of my heart, my mind, my soul, and
my strength. Dear listener, would you
choose to draw near to God and to come before the Throne to receive mercy and
Grace? May the Holy Spirit Minister to you!!
Shall we pray? Dear
Heavenly Father, thank you for helping us to know the opportunity you have
given to come before the throne of Grace through Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you for sending Your son Jesus
Christ to die for our sins and redeeming us and every time we choose to draw
near to you, we receive your mercy and grace.
Thank you for helping us to love you with all our heart, mind, soul, and
strength. Lord I pray that you would
empower us to have a closer walk with You.
In Jesus Mighty Name, we pray Amen!!
