Staying Close to the Lord

UV 3562/10000 Staying Close to the Lord Come close to God (with a contrite heart) and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your unfaithful hearts, you double-minded (people). James 4 v 8 We need to stay closest with God in order to keep our fears and enemies at bay. When we cry out to Him with a sincere and repentant heart, He hears us from heaven and comes rushing to our side. But He remains remote and distant with the unrepentant and proud. Our hands need to be clean before the Lord. We sanitise it with the blood of the Lamb slain for us on the cross. Having been so sanctified, we should purify our hearts of pride, envy, greed, lust, wickedness of every kind. Having been purified over the course of our walk with God, we should be single-minded in our dedication and devotion to the Lord. The uni-verse emphasizes the cleanliness of spirit, mind and body. Only then can the Lord dwell in and with us. We have the peace of Jesus, the assurance that in every situation, He is in control of our lives. We can rest in Him and depend on Him. The Lord is closer to us than our own skin, once sin the separator is removed. Jesus removed sin both in its power and presence aspects from our lives. Now when the Father looks at us, we are spotless regardless of our past sin. We should accelerate our transformation as we have an unhindered, full vision of the character of Christ. We are no longer in terms of our moral obedience and allegiance subjects of the world but subject to the Word that is God, Jesus. Since God is with us, no one can succeed in their moves against us. Since He is in us, we are strong in Him and can overcome our inherent weakness of flesh and spirit. In the course of our spiritual journey, sometimes we move very close to the Lord (the Son ) and sometimes we move away like the elliptical path of the earth around the sun. This closeness or distance produces changes in us and around us. When we are close, we hear more accurately and follow His plan and purpose. When we move away, we tend to lose our focus, our connection with the Lord, the source of our power and grace. The safest place for us is the one closest to the Lord whether in good weather or in a storm. Some draw near to God only in a storm or crisis. Like all of us, the Lord also appreciates and rewards consistency of faith and trust. He rewards us according to the work of our hands and the sway of our hearts.