But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)
Close-est by Cathy Vinson |
How close is close? It seems we can think of God as a distant relative who can be easily fooled by our nail filing, check balancing, newspaper reading as they share with us over the phone. Just give them a few word responses here and there, and behold, we have the depth of relationship we desire! The problem is we are hurting ourselves by actually believing this is "close." We are merely religious. Throughout the Scriptures, God notices. "...their hearts are far from Me" He has said. He notices because His way is to give His fullest heart and attentiveness. His way is hidden inside these words: "He had by Himself purged our sins..." (Heb 1:3). If He did it Himself, there was no distance or insincerity, no halfheartedness. It was close. It is close...close enough to TOUCH us. What is true religion as we feel our needs and those around us? I find it expressed in the following words of A W Tozer: "But the man who has been taught even slightly by the Spirit of Truth...cannot love a God who is no more than a deduction from a text...'We must see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and our hands must handle the word of life.' Nothing can take the place of the TOUCH of God..."? Might we get spoiled by such a God as this! It would then be unthinkable to go one step into a day without the assurance that daily He seeks to touch us, that He will be to us a Father, and we will be to Him a son. |
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| "that the world may know that You...have loved them AS
You have loved Me" (John 17:23) "I will BE to Him a Father, and He will BE to Me a Son" (Heb 1:5) "As I was with Moses, so will I be with you" (Joshua 1:5)
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