Be Near

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."  James 4:8a (NIV)

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail,  but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."  Psalm 73:23-28 (NIV)

"God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.  Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.  You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.  Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life."  Psalm 23 (The Message)

God is as close as a whisper, as near as your own beating heart.  He sits and He waits and He loves.  He wants nothing more than to spend time with you, to laugh with you, to cry with you, to give you courage and strength and hope.  So why do you leave Him waiting?  Why do you rush past Him without a thought?  Think of Him as the most wonderful Father who wants you to climb up into His lap and lay your head upon His chest.  He is wisdom and truth and grace and peace.  He offers you what the world cannot.  Everlasting love, enduring peace.  All you have to do is climb up, draw near, and listen to His whispers...

Dear Lord,  Thank you for Your everlasting love and Your enduring peace.  Let us listen to your whispers and feel Your loving embrace, Your protective arms about us.  Let us lean into Your love and open our hearts to You.

Strong Tower

"Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.  From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.  I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah."  Psalm61:1-4 (KJV)

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  Proverbs 18:10  (NIV)

"Lead me to the rock that is higher than I..."  Are you walking up a steep and treacherous slope?  Holding on for dear life?  Wishing that someone would help you or rescue you?  Remember that He is your  strong tower,  your shelter, your strength, and your song.  Run to Him!  Reside in His shadow.  Cling to Him.  There is safety in His presence...

"He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God,    thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message."  Colossians 1:18-23 (The Message)

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

Dear Lord,  Thank you that You are our strong tower, the tower that we can take refuge in, the tower where Your presence brings us fullness of joy, and life, and peace.

Photograph courtesy of Sean Zellmer.

Recalibration Day

I am on a food quality panel two mornings a week.  Today we had a recalibration day.  It was a special training to refresh our memories (and tastebuds) on what things should taste like and how to discern the differences in a finished product.  I was thinking that a recalibriation day might be appropriate for believers.  How often do we rush through life just getting by, getting what we need to get done done?  Our abilities to read and discern God's word get rusty.  Our ears get clogged up and we have difficulty hearing when God speaks to us.  Our vision grows dim and we can't see through to the other side of a difficult situation.  Our interpersonal relationships suffer because we don't have time to tend to them, especially our relationship with God.  I think that we all need a spiritual recalibration day every now and then.  So finish reading this, take out your calendar and plan a day of spiritual recalibration.  Read God's word.  Bask in music that praises His name. Sing a new song.  Find a good book on some aspect of Christian living and read it.  Or read a Christian novel with a strong Christian message.  Make time to pray and reflect and transform.  I honestly don't think we can be all God wants us to be if we spend our lives rushing from one thing to the next, never taking time to be with the Lord.  And in this case, 5 minutes won't do.

"You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

"Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually!"  Psalm 105:4  (ESV)

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10 (ESV)

"Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah."  Psalm 84:4 (KJV)

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

Dear Lord,  Thank you for Your precious presence.  Help us not to rush right past You but to stop and spend time with You.  Help us to recalibrate our relationship with You so that we might be transformed into Your image, so that we won't allow our relationship with You to become rusty or deaf or blind.