Draw near to God

“When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”

“ Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

“ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Psalms 69:10  When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Psalms 55:16  But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.  Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.

Matthew 26:38  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Daniel 3:15  Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Isaiah 26:3  You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever

Isaiah 12:2     “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Acts 20:24    But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

These scriptures capture the heart of man who trusts in God.  Note these specifically: “At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me” – “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden” – “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” – ” your will be done.”  Waiting for and trusting in God fully gives us courage and confidence for whatever is before us.  Having a heart desire to be close and walk close to God has an effect on what we think say and do.  He gave us scriptures to teach us, lead us, build us up, give us hope, reminding us of His promises, power, might  and love.  Desire to be near Him and from this foundation all else finds stability and we can face whatever comes our way today.

Thankful Worship

“choose this day whom you will serve”

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”

” Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

Psalms 5:7
But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

Joshua 24:15
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Psalms 55:16
But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.

Psalms 130:4
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Acts 9:31
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

1 Peter 1:17
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Psalms 132:7
 “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!”

Hebrews 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Choose this day whom you will serve, worship, honor and glorify.  This was spoken by Joshua near the end of his life as another reminder to those he was leading.  David said I will call on the Lord who will save me. And because he knew this and believed it he said Lets go to His dwelling place and worship Him.  These are summed up by the writer of Hebrews in Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  How hard is it to stay near God?  What is His grace and mercy like to you?  What does it mean to worship Him?  How do I know if I am worshiping Him?  We must recognize that we by nature want to be separated from God and we must choose to draw near and stay near to Him.  This is a choice all day, every day.    When we make this choice we find or see more and more blessings from the hand of God and we are able to acknowledge and thank/worship Him. It is hard to stay near to Him without being in His word.  It is hard to find someone you are not looking for.  It is hard to thank/worship one you do not acknowledge.