Up Close and Personal

When Jesus died on the cross, He opened the way for us to get personal with almighty God.

Ask
any believer if spending regular quality time with God is a challenge,
and he or she will almost always say yes. We manage to make time for
lots of other things—entertainment, work, school and church events—but
we find it difficult to spend daily time in fellowship with God by
praying, worshipping and reading His Word.

I too experienced this difficulty until God taught me a valuable lesson
on crisis management. I used to spend time with God once in a while or
when my life was in big trouble. Then the Lord told me to seek Him
continuously, or diligently. Eventually I learned that if I ever wanted
to stop living from one emergency to the next, I needed to seek God
every day as if I were in desperate need of Him—even during times of
tremendous prosperity and blessing.

It’s true—God will always rescue us and get us out of trouble when we
come to Him. But if we want constant victory, we need to take God out
of our “emergency only” box and invite Him into our everyday lives.

God wants us to get personal with Him. He proves this by the fact that He lives within us.

When Jesus died on the cross, He opened the way for us to get personal
with Almighty God. If God had wanted only some distant, businesslike or
professional association, He would have kept His distance. He might have
visited on occasion, but He certainly would not have come to take up
permanent residence in our houses.

What an awesome thought! Just reflect on it: God is our personal friend!

Satan despises our fellowship with God. He knows how strong we are if we
commune regularly with the Lord, and he fights to destroy our
relationship with God with all his might. One of his more cunning
weapons is distraction. He knows if we become sidetracked by the cares
of the world that, more than likely, we will begin to neglect our time
with God.

According to James 4:4, when we pay too much attention to the things of
this world, God looks upon us as an unfaithful wife who is having an
illicit affair and is breaking her marriage vow to Him. To keep us
faithful and in close fellowship and communion with Him, sometimes God
removes things from our lives that are separating us from Him.

If we allow a job to come between us and God, we may lose it. If money
separates us from Him, then we may have to learn that we are better off
poor than separated from God. If our friends take first place in our
lives, we may find ourselves suddenly very lonely.

Lonely people usually get very close to God. It is amazing how well we get to know someone when that person is all we have!

I went through a period of extreme loneliness in my life. I had my family, but I had lost all my friends.

It seemed to me that God was purposely separating me from everyone I
liked and enjoyed being with, and I did not understand it at all. Later I
realized that I depended too much on those friends. I was moved by what
they thought and did. God wanted me to be led by His Spirit, not by my
friends.

Many people fail to realize that they never receive the things they want
because they don’t really put God first in their lives, as we are
commanded to do in Matthew 6:33: “‘But seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you'” (NKJV).

Get up close and personal with God. Remember: You don’t have to go far
to find Him. Just close your eyes for a moment, and in the quietness of
your heart you will discover Him. His Holy Spirit is always there
waiting for you.

Don’t leave Him alone without any attention from you. Make Him glad that
He is living in you. Make Him feel welcome and at home. Make Him
comfortable. Share everything with Him because He has come to share
everything with you.

Joyce Meyer is a New York Times best-selling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries. She has authored nearly 90 books, including her new Living Beyond Your Feelings (Hachette). She is the the host of Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs. Visit her online at joycemeyer.org.