Unshackled Echo ~ April 15, 2017 ~ Getting Close To God

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 22, 2013 as Getting Close To God

If you extend your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,

And your darkness shall be as noonday.

The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fall.

- Isaiah 58:10-11

Jesus is the King who came to serve. He spent his life and ministry in service to others. Ultimately He gave His life so that we might have relationship with our Creator/ What Jesus did for us, and then leaving so that the Holy Spirit could come and actually dwell in us, makes it possible for us to daily experience the presence of God. We can walk with Him and talk with Him and know that we are not alone.

But during our spiritual journey we may have periods of drought where it seems like God is far away. One of the quickest ways to bridge that gap we feel between us and God is praise and worship. We are told to enter His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. And while praise and gratitude can make us aware of the presence of God, it can seem to fade again as we go about our daily living.

One sure way to remain close to Christ throughout our day is to do what He does and care about what He cares about. I felt special to my father as a child on those times that he didn't just try to spend time with me, but tried to spend time with me doing something that he knew I loved and enjoyed. It made it clear that I was important to him when what was important to me was important to him. Those times brought us closer together. When we're doing what God really loves and cares about we experience the closeness that comes from sharing passions. God is all about giving His love away to the hurting and broken and sharing His compassion with the disadvantaged. Being of service to others is not a way to score up spiritual points and look good on the Heavenly Scoreboard, it is how we show God that we love Him. We love Him, and that love then extends into loving and caring for what He loves and cares about...others.

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