“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4.8 NLT
“My determined purpose is that I may know Him – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly.” Philippians 3:10 AMP
Day 12 of 40: “Conversation, focused thinking, honesty and obedience build intimacy, i.e. friendship with God.”
Let’s be clear… any problem I may have of “distance” is not on God’s side. God is with me, for me and in me. As the old saying goes: “If you feel far away from God, guess who moved?”
But, personally, I don’t feel the need to do a lot of talking back and forth with God. Maybe it’s a guy thing… or a personality thing… I don’t know. I’m happy to drive in the car for hours without a lot of conversation. Barbara tells me that I apparently have a very rich inner life… it works for me.
But honesty is important to me. Not because I need to be “real” before God… I’m sure He gets His fill of that. But I honestly do want to know what God thinks about the “think, feel, do” stuff in my life. And I really do want to take on the “mind of Christ” in all matters – large and small. And I do want to live it out in practical ways.
That’s why reading the Bible is so important to me… and trying to apply it to current circumstances and conditions is a never ending process.
I realize that this is off topic but here’s the kind of thing I wrestle with – “justice and mercy” – as applied to people who live totally irresponsible lives, make consistently bad choices, and expect me to pick up the tab directly (charity) or indirectly (taxes).
I get the issue of giving mercy just as freely as I have received mercy… but… if that involves my continual support of their bad behavior… Where’s the justice? Haven’t I just become an enabler… and nothing changes? I just don’t see Jesus as an enabler of bad behavior.
Anyhow – back to the topic: “Lord Jesus, help me to understand your mind in the choices I face today and give me a willing spirit to do what you want me to do.”
The Peanut Gallery 