DRAW NEAR

Posted on Oct 13, 2023 by Shane W. Roessiger | Comments (0)

“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). Submitting ourselves to God, cleansing our hands, and purifying our hearts: This is something we need to initiate in order to draw near to God. But it all starts in our own hearts (James 4:1-8)! James was trying to alert us to understand how to draw near to God. It is not through a false gospel and false grace. It is not emotionalism. We can ask Esau (Hebrews 12:17). It is a decision to abandon ourselves and our will, to let go of the things that are entangling us in the world.

Drawing near to God starts in our heart. Isaiah 29:13 talks about people who try to draw near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. People like that cannot be guided by the Holy Spirit because they have been guiding their own selves. God never leaves us. He is saying today, “Draw near to Me, and I will draw near to you.” Take one step closer to Him today, and He will take one step closer to you! But He waits for you to initiate this beautiful process, and step by step, He begins to engage us. Relationship is not automatic. It takes work. Let’s see how that works. How do we draw near? Praying, fasting, setting time apart to just be with HIM, coming out from among them, being bold, believing, confessing, watching, and doing. It has nothing to do with attending church, but encountering Him with all that is within, then you cannot wait to see Him corporately.

Luke 12:42-44 says that the Lord will give us that portion of meat for those who keep drawing near to Him. All He has is ours. All we have is His. “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (Matthew 24:46). Doing what? Seeking Him with all of their heart and also occupying and doing what He says. These ones will be made a ruler of all He has. Matthew 24:44-51 talks about a day when the Lord comes and nobody is looking for Him, nor is aware of. These are people who are not drawing near to Him, the Word calls them evil servants and hypocrites! James 2:14-26 says drawing near results in something. It shows something; it manifests something. It carries the proof that you have been drawing near to Him. The fruits of this intertwined relationship will show it! “When I was in prison, did you visit Me?” (Matthew 25:34-36). These are not religious acts. It is all about finding Him in the middle of darkness! Who will He be working with to seek and save the ones that are now lost? Those who were lost before! You! Seek Him while He can be found (Isaiah 55:6-9)! Faith is the spiritual seed, but the works are the natural effect of our faith! If we continue to draw near to Him, our works will show it!

The friends of God are the ones that are close to God! My desire, and all our desire, is to make Him our best friend. Religious people will get angry at you, saying, “I am a friend of God.” Many go to a building in the name of God, but they are just acquaintances, not friends. To be a friend of God, we must believe Him and do what He says (John 15:14). Abraham was counted not only as a righteous man, but he was also called a friend of God (James 2:23). Many came to hear Him speak, but Jesus Christ only cared about who His friends thought He was. Some thought this and that about Him, but He stopped them and said, “Ya, ya, ya, but who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-17). He called them friends because they really knew Him.

Today, we will get closer and closer to Him. He wants to encounter us, and we want to encounter Him! Repenting means turning ourselves back to seek God again! “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). He did not say, “Seek the Torah”; “Seek the law.” He said, “Seek the kingdom.” This is only manifested by the blood and the new wine! Seek first: Jesus. He is the kingdom! People keep seeking everything else, seeking their own kingdom or their own way. Seek Him first. Or anything else will keep us away from Him! “Seek, and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7-9). People don’t seek, but they want to find. Knock, and it shall be opened. There is always an action, a doing! Then God moves! Why are you not finding Him? Because you are not seeking Him with all of your heart! You need to ask Him to take you back to that place where you can recognize Him again! “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in Matthew 28:1-20 went to seek Him! The angel said, “For I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.” They were seeking Him, and they all had a heavenly encounter. “Behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me” (verse 10). When you have an encounter, you will start to run to tell everybody with great joy! These two women were the two messengers of His resurrection, the preachers of His testimony! As they obeyed the Word, He showed up! Get out of your religiosity and draw near to Him again! He did not say, “Go home and read Me.” No! He said, “Go home and obey Me.” Those who worship Him will obey Him, and this is pure worship! God tells the Body of Christ to do something, now imagine when He comes and finds us all doing, seeking, and obeying. We shall inherit the blessing of all He has!

The disciples went to the mountain that Jesus appointed them to go to. What happened? They saw Him. And Jesus said, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on Earth. Go ye to all the nations and teach, and baptize them into the Spirit of God, fill them with the Holy Spirit, making them one with God, and teach them to observe whatever I command you. It is written!” God is saying that to us now! “Now, do not do what you think the book says or what you read, but do what I said.” Back then, it was all about a book. Why? Because there were no Gospels or records written yet. But the old has decayed, and Hebrews chapter 8 expresses that. That book was used to help us to be able to be led by the Spirit of God and by His voice, remembering what He was saying to them. Some people who want to trample on this amazing access still want to blind you by the letter. We love the letter, but the letter without the Spirit can be deadly (2 Corinthians 3:6).

We are moving towards Him! I believe right here and now He is saying that to you. A prophetic declaration! We are putting away our agenda. We will repent and turn to Him. We will get closer to Him. I believe! The moment you take a step closer to Him and start doing all the things He told you to do, you will encounter Him, and you will tell everybody: He has risen! I have an encounter! He is the revelation of God. He is, He was, and He will always be. He is waiting for all of us to draw near! Come to the altar, take steps closer! But the altar is our hearts! Church, draw near to Him, and He will draw near to us!

“Father, thank you for drawing us near and back to you. You are doing it. No man comes to the altar unless the Spirit is drawing them. We are people that when you come, you will find us seeking you, knocking! We are seeking that oneness with You.”

Do not miss your time of visitation. Draw near to Him today. Rend the hearts. “Thank you, Father! You are the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).” He is a rewarder of those who draw near to Him! Seek Him while He still can be found (Isaiah 55:6)!

DRAW NEAR

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