God Is Close, and He Understands

In Psalm 145:18 I read, “The LORD is near to all who call on him." (NIV)

God isn’t far away. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He’s as close as my next heartbeat.

He’s right there with me every moment. The Bible says, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27 NIV).

There may be times when I might feel like God is a million miles away. But my feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is with me right now.

Here are three truths about my heavenly Father:

He is never too busy for me. Sometimes I get too busy for God. But he never gets too busy for me. That’s the kind of love he has. Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him” (NIV). Every time I call, God is near. He thinks about me a lot more than I think about him. He thought about me before I was born and thinks about me every moment of every day.

He loves to meet my needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly, he loves it! Matthew 7:11 says, “If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (NIV) Simply enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to me.

He is sympathetic to my hurts. If I’m going through something tough this week, I may need this verse: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV). God is sympathetic. He’s not standing on the sidelines. He’s present in my pain.

God is close to me, and he understands what I’m going through. Turn to him; as he’s already there waiting for me!

In summary, the LORD is near to all who call on him. This means that God isn’t far away. He’s as close as my next heartbeat. He’s right there with me every moment. There may be times when I might feel like God is a million miles away. But my feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is with me right now. Here are three truths about my heavenly Father: He is never too busy for me. I often get too busy for God. That’s the kind of love he has. Every time I call, God is near. He thinks about me a lot more than I think about him. He loves to meet my needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly, he loves it! Simply enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to me. He is sympathetic to my hurts. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed”. God is sympathetic. He’s not standing on the sidelines. He’s present in my pain. God is close to me, and he understands what I’m going through. Turn to him; as he’s already there waiting!

A time will come when all will join together in recognizing and worshiping God. Because God is full of love, he satisfies all who trust him. I am close to him when I call on him in truth.

Father, thank you for Your Word and Jesus as my savior and example. You want me and I need you in my life. Please give me Your strength for today and remind me in little ways that I can always believe in, have faith in and can trust you in everything. This includes being the authority for my life, the source of my self-worth and my hope for the future. You have my best interests in mind. So I ask you to help me to embrace the way you’ve made me; my gifting and passions. Help me to serve and fulfill the mission you have in mind for me. 

Today, I ask you for wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership, my interactions with others, doing well and making a difference in others lives. I pray all these things through your Son Jesus’ name, Amen. 

God Is Always Close By, and He Understands Me

In review of Psalm 145:18 it says, "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth."

Bottom Line:

God is close to all who call on him sincerely.

What this means to me:

God will drawn close to me when I call on him with sincerity and truth.

Even though God is in heaven, he is not as far away as the furthest star. What I’m learning is that  he’s as close as my next heartbeat. He’s right here present with me every moment. This verse in Acts 17:27 reminds me, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (NIV).

There are times when it feels like God is a million miles away. However my feelings and reality don’t always match. The truth is, God is with me right now.

Because he is a close Father:

1). God is never too busy for me. That’s how close he is. That’s the kind of love that he has for me. Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him. . .” (NIV). Every time I call, God is near. He thinks about me a lot more than I think about him. He thought about me before I was even born. He thinks about me every moment of every day. I may get too busy for God, but he never gets too busy for me.

What I’m learning is that God loves to meet my needs. He doesn’t do it begrudgingly. He loves it! Matthew 7:11 says, “If you ... know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (NIV). I can enjoy the fact that God loves giving good gifts to me.

2). God is sympathetic to my hurts. When things get tough this week, I can count on this verse: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV).

God is close to me, and he understands what I’m going through. I can always turn to him and know with assurance that he’s right there waiting for me.

As I reflect on this passage, I think I need to bring God to mind more often. Lately I’ve been spending time with God in my quiet times, but then setting him aside the rest of the day while I live my life and react to what’s going on.  I think I need to add some form of little reminders into my day to allow me to stop and reflect on the God of the Universe caring about and wanting a relationship with me.

I Can Be As Close to God As I Choose to Be

In review of Philippians 3:8 it says, “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”

Bottom Line:

Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

What this means to me:

Nothing in this world is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord. It is worth giving up everything else, considering it all as garbage as compared to knowing and wanting Christ in my life. Getting close to him is a choice that only I can make.

Today’s verse reminds me that It would be extremely difficult to become a friend of God in my spare time. I need to make knowing God my number one priority in life.

Paul said it like this: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT).

The thought for me to consider today is am I doing this? Am I seeking God with all my heart every day?

I’m as close to God as I choose to be. I’ll become a friend of God when I want to become a friend of God.

I won’t be able to blame anybody else. I’ll be as close to God as I want to be. When I feel far from God, guess who moved? I didn’t give him the number one priority in my life.

As human’s, knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege. And being known and being loved by God is the greatest pleasure.

I’m reminded that you can tell what’s important to people by what they brag about. If their kids are most important, they brag about their kids. If their job is the most important thing in their life, they brag about their job. If travel and having experiences is most important, that’s what they talk about. We brag about what we value most.

God says in Jeremiah 9:23, “The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth. If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me” (TEV).

This is what life is all about. Knowing God is what matters most. The God of the Universe loves me and wants to have a relationship with me. Getting close to God helps provide peace and perspective. This is Good News!

Today, I will consider what would people say is most important to me by what I talk about most.