Have you ever struggled with not feeling close to God? Last week during my missions trip to Bogota, Columbia, I was struck by a recurring question from some of the leaders at one of the churches where I spoke. At least a third of the questions during my Q&A time centered around what to do when you don't feel close to God. They wanted a quick and easy answer. Maybe they expected a 3 point fix it plan where I admonished them to read their Bible more, spend more time in prayer, and remember to tithe faithfully. While all of these are important and necessary, that is not what God had me share with these ladies.
I shared with them what has moved me from feeling my way to God and onto experiencing Him every day. Trying to feel our way to God can be fickle at best and dangerous at worst. I love reading my Bible, praying and giving my tithe but that is not what fuels my relationship with God. What totally sets my heart on fire is applying what I have learned or heard in my time with the Lord. It is making the choice to say yes to God and to honor Him no matter how I feel.
My greatest desire each day is to live out the message of Christ through my life. Some days it is in the smallest of ways. Other days, it is through doing something truly sacrificial that costs me time, money or emotion. But Romans 12:1 reminds us that it isn't a suggestion that we serve and give, it is what we are made for, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."
In the Life Focus New Testament Devotional Bible it says this, "There is nothing cheap about the sacrifice Paul calls for in Romans 12. Far more than a dead animal or a hard-earned buck, it involves your very life." John Henry Jowett says, "The Lord wants my body. He needs its members as ministers of righteousness. He works in the world through my brain, and eyes, and ears, and lips, and hands, and feet. So let me daily have a consecration service, and let me every morning present my body a living sacrifice to God."
I love this thought. Though I am so far from being perfect....so very far, God still wants to use me daily. He wants me to experience His love working in me, through me, with me, and by me. That is how I know that I am close to God. So much more than a feeling, it is a daily decision that results in a closeness to God that infuses my heart with love, peace and incredible joy. Lord, give me to courage to live You out loud every day of my life. No matter how much it costs me, or requires of me, may I live to prove the reality of You.
I shared with them what has moved me from feeling my way to God and onto experiencing Him every day. Trying to feel our way to God can be fickle at best and dangerous at worst. I love reading my Bible, praying and giving my tithe but that is not what fuels my relationship with God. What totally sets my heart on fire is applying what I have learned or heard in my time with the Lord. It is making the choice to say yes to God and to honor Him no matter how I feel.
My greatest desire each day is to live out the message of Christ through my life. Some days it is in the smallest of ways. Other days, it is through doing something truly sacrificial that costs me time, money or emotion. But Romans 12:1 reminds us that it isn't a suggestion that we serve and give, it is what we are made for, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship."
In the Life Focus New Testament Devotional Bible it says this, "There is nothing cheap about the sacrifice Paul calls for in Romans 12. Far more than a dead animal or a hard-earned buck, it involves your very life." John Henry Jowett says, "The Lord wants my body. He needs its members as ministers of righteousness. He works in the world through my brain, and eyes, and ears, and lips, and hands, and feet. So let me daily have a consecration service, and let me every morning present my body a living sacrifice to God."
I love this thought. Though I am so far from being perfect....so very far, God still wants to use me daily. He wants me to experience His love working in me, through me, with me, and by me. That is how I know that I am close to God. So much more than a feeling, it is a daily decision that results in a closeness to God that infuses my heart with love, peace and incredible joy. Lord, give me to courage to live You out loud every day of my life. No matter how much it costs me, or requires of me, may I live to prove the reality of You.
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