Tuesday, December 19, 2023 3:09:40 AM
The Importance of Drawing Near
~ Even as believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we can choose to live as if God is still far off. So, may we choose to open our hearts to the living God that we might experience fullness of joy in His loving presence.
James 4:8 contains a profound promise of God. Scripture says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” For a while I thought this verse seemed backwards. Doesn’t God do the drawing? Isn’t God the one who’s constantly pursuing us?
After diving deeper into the meaning of James 4:8 I discovered an important truth that’s foundational to living in communion with God: the door of God’s heart is always open to us. His love is always for us. His presence is always available. The Father turned away from Jesus as our sins rested squarely on His shoulders ensuring He would never have to turn away from us.
To draw near to God is to simply open our hearts to what was always available. It’s not that God ever withholds His presence from us. It’s that He never forces us to abide in Him. If we want to go our own way, He willingly and patiently waits for us. And the moment that we turn our hearts back to Him, He is there to fill us with a revelation of His loving nearness and unwavering devotion.
In his book, “The Pursuit of God”, A. W. Tozer describes two veils. The first veil was the veil between the Holy of Holies and the world that was torn at the death of Jesus, signifying the availability of God’s manifest presence to all. The second veil is the veil of our own hearts that’s our decision to tear by God’s grace.
Whether it’s the effects of sin and shame or a lack of understanding what’s available to us in Christ, all of us have the ability to veil places in our hearts. All of us can shield our beliefs about our identity, our possessions, or our relationships from the abiding presence of Jesus and live apart from communion with Him. We all have the ability at any given moment to go our own way and miss out on abundant life.
But the truth is that the Christian life isn’t about our ability to abide in God perfectly, but about God’s grace to draw near to us in response to repentance. God has no expectation that we would live this life perfectly. He remembers our frame and knows we are dust (Psalm 103:14). What He desires from us is to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate any parts of our lives that aren’t His that we would be quick to repent and enjoy His grace-filled presence once again. God is not angry with you for veiling your heart. He knows better than you do the reasons you aren’t letting Him fully in. His heart is filled with the fullness of compassion for you that you might live to experience His grace rather than strive and condemn yourself for your imperfection.
Take time today to rend the veil of your own heart, draw near to God, and experience the glory of His manifest presence.
May Hebrews 10:19-22 provide joy and hope to your heart as you seek to draw near to your heavenly Father:
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
___________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/the-importance-of-drawing-near-2023/
•
~ Even as believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we can choose to live as if God is still far off. So, may we choose to open our hearts to the living God that we might experience fullness of joy in His loving presence.
James 4:8 contains a profound promise of God. Scripture says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” For a while I thought this verse seemed backwards. Doesn’t God do the drawing? Isn’t God the one who’s constantly pursuing us?
After diving deeper into the meaning of James 4:8 I discovered an important truth that’s foundational to living in communion with God: the door of God’s heart is always open to us. His love is always for us. His presence is always available. The Father turned away from Jesus as our sins rested squarely on His shoulders ensuring He would never have to turn away from us.
To draw near to God is to simply open our hearts to what was always available. It’s not that God ever withholds His presence from us. It’s that He never forces us to abide in Him. If we want to go our own way, He willingly and patiently waits for us. And the moment that we turn our hearts back to Him, He is there to fill us with a revelation of His loving nearness and unwavering devotion.
In his book, “The Pursuit of God”, A. W. Tozer describes two veils. The first veil was the veil between the Holy of Holies and the world that was torn at the death of Jesus, signifying the availability of God’s manifest presence to all. The second veil is the veil of our own hearts that’s our decision to tear by God’s grace.
Whether it’s the effects of sin and shame or a lack of understanding what’s available to us in Christ, all of us have the ability to veil places in our hearts. All of us can shield our beliefs about our identity, our possessions, or our relationships from the abiding presence of Jesus and live apart from communion with Him. We all have the ability at any given moment to go our own way and miss out on abundant life.
But the truth is that the Christian life isn’t about our ability to abide in God perfectly, but about God’s grace to draw near to us in response to repentance. God has no expectation that we would live this life perfectly. He remembers our frame and knows we are dust (Psalm 103:14). What He desires from us is to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate any parts of our lives that aren’t His that we would be quick to repent and enjoy His grace-filled presence once again. God is not angry with you for veiling your heart. He knows better than you do the reasons you aren’t letting Him fully in. His heart is filled with the fullness of compassion for you that you might live to experience His grace rather than strive and condemn yourself for your imperfection.
Take time today to rend the veil of your own heart, draw near to God, and experience the glory of His manifest presence.
May Hebrews 10:19-22 provide joy and hope to your heart as you seek to draw near to your heavenly Father:
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
___________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/the-importance-of-drawing-near-2023/
•
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