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Written by Ps Lu   
Saturday, 17 July 2010 21:36

Calling us Near.

Prov 8:17 say” I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me find me “God longs to be close to His people, He wants to be near those, He has chosen and  loves, He wants to be near you, he is partial to you, because He cares for you-He  accepts you but has a strong feelings towards  you. It is hard to believe that Christians can live their lives and never experience the intimacy with their heavenly father. He desires us to be close to Him.

2Corn 6:16 “For you are the Temple of the living God, I will dwell in them, and walk among  them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people”.

See when John saw the new heavens and the new earth appear and the holy city, New Jerusalem descending from Heaven, he heard a loud voice saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God” This has been God’s plan- God created man for fellowship, He enjoyed spending time with Adam, He desires the same today with us as He did with Adam.

Let’s look at James 4;8 “Draw near to God  and He will draw near to you” God created us so we could have intimate fellowship with Him, Adam walked with God in the Garden, their communication and relationship was on broken , until Adam sinned, in spite of that God loved us so much, that He resorted our relationship by sending His Son on the cross for us.. The bible says that the Lord’s eyes go to and fro . He is seeking for those who are pursuing Him. I am sure there are people in your life that you admire and respect and want to be close to, These people hold a special place in your hearts and spending time with them is a treat, especially when it comes at their request, Such an invitation to enjoy their company fills your heart with anticipation, joy and excitement, We do whatever it takes to clear our calendar to be with them.

In James 4:8 as we read, what a great invitation, and think about this the one who created the universe, and all its habitation has requested your presence? Wow-doesn’t that over whelm you? I believed this has been the cry of God since Adam sinned. Listen to what God said to Adam when He came to meet with him in the garden after Adam’s sin, ”where are you?”Can you hear His heart cry, why are you hiding from Me?  We see that Adam’s great ,great grandson was Enoch, and he walked intimately with God, This brought such pleasure to the Lord that He took him, before death could touch him.

See even the children of Israel missed the primary purpose of their deliverance from bondage, they thought it was to inherit the promise land, but God’s motive was different, He desire was for intimacy, He left no reason for them to think differently when He said to the entire nation in Ex 19:4 “you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to Myself.”

They displayed a different motive by saying in Numbers 16:14”You have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards” we see that their hearts were set more on what, rather than who they were inheriting. We see God’s heart cry just prior to His invitation in James 4:5 “The spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously” To yearn is too long for consistently and intensely, what does the Holy spirit yearn for. The answer is our fellowship. Yet we cannot enjoy fellowship with him if we walk in darkness which is disobedience, for this reason in James it says” Therefore Submit to God’ we submit to God in the fear of the Lord, for it keeps us from disobedience. So to fear God is to love what He loves and Hate what He hates, what is important to Him becomes important to us. His priorities and desires become ours, as we embrace the fear of the Lord, God then draws near and we encounter Him, and the intensity  of  our for love for Him grows without a deep and abiding fear of the Lord, we merely  profess a love without truly knowing Him.

See our affection is directed to the image of “Jesus’ formed within the imagination, not the one seated at the right hand of the Father. So we can see an intense  love relationship with God begins with the fear of the Lord, once we are secure in our reverence of Him, He draws us near to reveal Himself. Let me share with you an example, when you are a Pastor and you want to know your sheep, and at times you have to speak into some one’s life, some people with back lash at you, because they thing they have become too familiar with you, and they lose the sight of the office you are walking into, we do the same with God many times, thinking we know Him very closely and He understands us.

See in John 15:15, After Judas had left the supper and gone on his way to betray the Lord, The Lord addresses His disciples” No longer  do I call you servants” The fact that He said “No Longer” implies there was a time when they were looked upon and treated as merely servants, after this statement He calls them “Friends” Why not, not in the beginning of their relationship , for they had proven their loyalty with obedience as they followed Him though His trials and difficult times as well as rejoicing with Him in the miracles and good times. Again obedience was the key John15:14 say” you are my friends if you do whatever I command you to do”

The Lord makes it plain, friendship is reserved for those who obey Him, we see this again in Psalms 25:14 “Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him” Why does God hold back His friendship? The answer is to protect us from the danger of Familiarity- see the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, they were permitted to come into the presence, but there came a day when they brought” Profane fire” in to His holy presence and died on the spot/ Profane means” to treat what is sacred as common” Whenever we become too familiar with what  is holy it results in irreverence, when the two died before the Lord, Moses reminded Aaron  and the rest of the Congregation of the eternal decree and warning.

In Lev 10:3 ‘By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as Holy” We see in Acts 5:1-11, We see that when the husband and wife come into the house of the Lord to give an offering and  come into the presence of a Holy God with an unhealthy familiarity, they too die in His presence and when that happened The bible say a great fear came upon the church as the body of believers came to understand the seriousness of the lack of reverence of the Lord.

Psalms : 89:7 “God is to be held in reverence by all those around Him” See the fastest way into God’s presence is through reverence, see the Lord prayer” Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be they name”-see there it is “Hallowed be thy name.” we are t come into His presence with Reverence.

This is the first step to drawing nearer and experiencing intimacy in His presence. It is there that we will find peace beyond comprehension, wondrous revelations and fullness of Joy.