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Doing Life with Ken and Tabatha
For over 20 years now, we’ve fought the good fight of faith, and along the way we have learned so much about living a God-first life. Before Jesus, Tabatha was diagnosed depressed for over 12 years, we had $100,000 in debt, and we were headed straight for divorce. But when we started living for God, our lives radically changed. Tabatha was healed, we prospered financially, and we became best friends. With God's help, we learned how to do life well. And that’s exactly why we’ve created this Podcast – to help you do life with us and do it well. We will help you unlock principles for doing life God’s way, which will lead you to more joy, more peace, and true freedom.
Doing Life with Ken and Tabatha
3 Things to Do When You Feel Far From God
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When your heart whispers “God feels far,” what if the real invitation is to come closer? We open up about seasons of pain, busyness, and spiritual immaturity and show how a felt distance doesn’t mean God has moved. From battling cancer to navigating marriage stress, we trace the path back to peace and explain a simple framework that helps you reconnect: return to His presence daily, repent and release what blocks intimacy, and reconnect with God’s people who can carry you when you feel weak.
We dig into the three layers of God’s presence—omnipresent, indwelling, and manifested—and get practical about hosting His nearness in ordinary life. Think worship in the car, quiet walks without noise, and quick prayers before a meeting. You’ll hear why awareness is like tuning a piano, how focus and surrender shape sensitivity, and what it means to live from overflow so serving doesn’t become burnout. We talk about Moses’ hunger for God’s presence as the mark that sets His people apart and how friendship with God moves you beyond mere duty into delight.
If you’ve wondered why your joy leaks or your peace feels thin, this conversation offers clear next steps and honest encouragement. You are hardwired for communion with your Maker; loneliness can become holy solitude when you acknowledge the Friend who never leaves. Lean in for simple practices, a faith-building prayer, and a renewed vision for carrying God’s presence into your home, work, and relationships. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people close the gap with God.
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i...
Loneliness Versus Solitude
SPEAKER_00Loneliness to me is an invitation to intimacy with the Holy Spirit. There's a difference between loneliness and what would the word be? Solitude. The same atmosphere but different postures.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
Welcome And Today’s Focus
Immaturity And Feeling Distant
SPEAKER_00So could your loneliness not be loneliness? Could it be a season of solitude where it could be you and the Lord? Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to another edition of Doing Life with Ken and Tabitho. So pumped to have you guys joining us today. Um, today's topic is three things to do when you feel far from God. And this is for you. Whoever you are, wherever you are, um, you've been created for fellowship and closeness to God. And what we've realized is that there's so many people that just feel like they're here, God's there, and they just fill this big gap in a relationship. Today, we want to help you close the relationship gap. This has been something that's so important to us, and hopefully it's important to you. This is a much watch, must share episode. I believe that with all of my heart. And so, sweetheart, are you ready for today? Ready. Has there ever been a time in your life where you felt far from God?
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, I think there's been more than more than one time. Um, I think before I had a mature relationship with God, I felt like, you know, I didn't know him. I didn't know his voice. I didn't know how he speaks and how to speak. Before you got saved. Before I got saved. No, I think after I was saved and just an immature believer, just like, okay, I'm saved. You know, I'm okay, I I I know that Jesus died for me. I've have forgiveness of my sins.
SPEAKER_00Let me stop right there. So immaturity is going to be one of your worst enemies. Okay. Um, Hosea 4, 6 says it this way that my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So actually, what you do not know about spiritual things can actually destroy your marriage, your calling, your health, your mindset. And so you growing. And that's why we're so thankful that you're here because this just shows us that you want to grow. Amen. And so I'm sorry, go ahead.
Hard Seasons And God’s Nearness
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, I have I had that time, that period of where I didn't really know God and I was immature and I felt like I'm far from God. Yeah. But then I had times when I have been mature that I've felt far from God. Okay. And it would honestly be in the middle of a hard time. Okay. Maybe I'm, you know, I have um four years cancer free. Um, I had a breast cancer fight, and I remember being in the middle of that time, it felt like I was far from God. It was hard for me. Um, maybe certain times in our marriage when we were, you know, growing in the things of God and I was becoming mature, I felt far from God, meaning like, wow, I'm this, we're having a hard time here. We're struggling, struggling here. I don't know if my husband likes me. Um, that was, I felt far from God. So there's times where um maybe I'm believing God um for, you know, a child to be healed. I'm believing God for um, you know, my pregnancy. There are times where I felt like, whoa, I'm a little far from God right now. Okay.
Trusting God Through Cancer
SPEAKER_00There's so much that I want to note with those opening comments. It's almost like just because you feel far from God doesn't mean that God's far. I'm so glad you said that. Many people feel like, well, I feel far. But scripture teaches us that he's I'm not present. And so that means that he's everywhere at all times. Now, if we don't feel him, uh, the question more is how what do we need to adjust in our heart and in our faith so that we can feel him? And I think so many people get discouraged by the feeling that he's falling. Yes. But he said he'll never leave us or forsake us, and he's not a liar. Matter of fact, the Bible says that he cannot lie. There's no lie that is in him. So he's he's here. The question is, is are we living in a way where our faith can tap into the reality that he's here? Amen. That's one thing that I Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I think, you know, God is, you know, he as a born-again believer, he's always with us. He'll never leave us or forsake us. And I learned this a long time ago as I as I was maturing with God, um, that even when you don't feel it, he's there. Okay. You know, I'm reminded of like the footprints in the sand, you know, that uh you might not know it, um, but it's a poem that is written and it's talking about when you go through hard times, you felt like God wasn't there with you. But all along, um, the footprints in the sand were. Can you help me with this? I can't say I don't.
SPEAKER_00It was almost like God was carrying you.
SPEAKER_01There are two sets of footprints in the sand all along, but in the hard times there was only one because God was carrying you through the hard times. Those hard times where there's only one footprint is when you feel third, you feel like this is so hard. God, where are you? But actually, he's got you.
SPEAKER_00Well, I thought that was interesting what you said. Um, you named some of the hardest times, and I know those times in your life, and you felt far from God in those times. And I feel the opposite. I feel like sometimes when I've gone through some of the hardest times of my life, I could sense God there more. So I wonder what the difference is between your experience and my experience. Has there been times where it's been really hard for you, but you felt God with you really closely in hardness?
Run To God In Pain
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. And um, you know, yes. So let's take um fighting cancer because that is something that I remember a little better than the rest. So when I was fighting cancer, I had like ups and downs, you know. So um I felt bad in my body. And I remember praying to God. It was just like, because I felt so bad in my body, um, it was hard for me. Like God, I felt at one point like I can't hear from God the way I usually hear from Him. I used to be happy, filled with joy all the time and dancing and laughing and joking, and I felt like I got dreams all the time, and God would speak to me all the time. And then I felt like, oh my gosh, I can't, I'm literally not sleeping at night, you know, because of the chemotherapy. And I literally have pain in my body. I'm trying to watch TV shows to feel joy and stuff. And like I was working so hard, fighting so hard. It just felt different. It felt like God, and I I actually I'm like, God, I feel like you're not here. I feel like I know you are. I feel like you're not here. And I would just have open, real conversations with God. Um, and so yes, I knew that He was there with me, like I knew it, yeah, but it was just how I felt.
Busyness, Alignment, And Presence
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Okay. So if you're in a really bad place in life, maybe it's not a cancer diagnosis, maybe there's something happening in your marriage relationship, or maybe you have severe financial problems, or maybe you just had the loss of a loved one. Just know that in your greatest pain, God is with you. You know, the scripture talks about how his grace is sufficient. And no matter what season we go through in life, it's good for us not to run away from God, but to always run to God. And in the same scenario with the cancer battle that we experienced, you know, it was an attack on you, but it was an attack on me because, you know, I'm married to you. Um, I actually experienced, um, got a revelation of the joy of the Lord. And God, it was almost like God infused me with joy that wasn't natural joy, and he taught me how the joy of the Lord was our strength to help us get through every battle like we were facing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so I would just encourage people to lean in even in painful times, knowing that God's not far, he's there to help.
Defining God’s Presence
SPEAKER_01And I'd like to, if I could speak to that painful time again. You know, so when I was fighting cancer and I was kind of like saying, Hey, I feel like you're you're not far from me. Now, in hindsight, God actually did speak to me in the moment. He just told me to trust him. Yeah. Like that time where I felt like I was furthest from God, he spoke to me and said, Trust me. And so that's what I did. And I trusted by faith, I trusted that he would get me out of the situation, that I would be healed from cancer, that I would live a healthy life. But now, hindsight, when I look back on that moment, what I thought, you know, I felt far from God, I can look back and what it does for my faith to know that number one, God didn't quit on me. He was there with me. But number two, to know that I didn't quit on God. Yeah. That I still believed, even though I didn't feel like it. I still knew he was there with me. And it just makes me a stronger person today. It strengthens my faith. Yeah.
Omnipresent, Indwelling, Manifested
Hosting And Honoring His Presence
The Distinguishing Mark Of God’s People
Staying Aware: Samson’s Warning
Friendship With God
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's so good. You know, I feel like there's some people who are far feel far from God because of a battle or an attack, but then there's some people who feel far from God just because life is busy and they've allowed so many responsibilities, tasks, things to do to cause their attention to come off of God. And we want to help close the relationship gap there. I would say that might be, I can't prove it, but the number one reason that many people feel distant from God today is because God is a spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, it requires a level of spiritual sensitivity and focus for us to be in tune with God. Meaning that it's just like a piano that you had that's out of tune, or a back that you had that's out of alignment. Many times God is here, but we're out of alignment, or we need to be retuned onto the frequency, so to say, that he's on, or onto the key that he's on. And I think many times we allow good things to override God things, and it's so much busyness. I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, gotta, and we're not really aware of his presence. And so I wanted to talk today about the presence of the Lord. And I'm just really, really big on this being the big thing that we're really focusing on. This is something that the Lord showed me months back. Um, I was kind of going through my summer vacation, and he says, before I started off my summer vacation, he says, I want you to study about the presence of the Lord. And I didn't realize back then that as I began to study about the presence of the Lord, I would experience the presence of the Lord. And then it would be something that I began to lead our church and whoever would listen into seasons where we really acknowledge the presence of God. So I kind of wanted to define that, and then maybe we can just talk about the presence of God, what it means to you. Um but the presence of the Lord is God being with us in a real and a personal way, where we can sense his nearness, hear his voice, and experience his power, his love, and his peace. And so we all, all right, every human being has been called and predestined by God to be saved. Now, some people will use their own will and God has given you a free will to say, I don't want Jesus and they won't be saved. Let's put that on the, you know, put that on the shelf for another day. But for those of us who are followers of Jesus, we have put our faith in God. We have been actually created to carry his presence, to have communion with God, and to have intimacy with God. And so this whole feeling that we have where we're far from God, it's actually not a part of our spiritual DNA. That's why it's foreign to us. I always say it like this: that there's a hole in every man's soul that only Jesus can fill. And so many times people will fill it with what's on the internet, pornography, um, you know, some kind of vice, uh some kind of addiction, but there's a hole in every person's soul that only Jesus can fill. You have been hardwired by God to desire and need fellowship with God. Matter of fact, you have been created to be loved by God. The Bible says that God is love. And so love, by its nature, needs an object to be able to love. And so, those of you all who are parents, you have an innate desire to love your children. And your children have an innate desire to love you back. Same as it is with God, we have an innate desire to need closeness with our Maker, and we also need to be loved by Him. We need to be loved by Him, and we need to, and actually, our whole Christian faith is founded on that one revelation. He says, What's the great commandment? Love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor like yourself. But all of that starts first with receiving love. Well, I love him because he first loved me. So you have to come to the place where I'm going to receive his love and receive his presence. There's nothing like the presence of the Lord. There's three different layers of the presence of God. We have the omnipresence of God, we have the indwelling presence of God, and then we also have the manifested presence of God. The omnipresence of God is the fact that God is everywhere. You know, if we're in a dark place, he's there. If we're in prison, he's there. If we're on the mountaintop in a board meeting, he's there. But then we have the indwelling presence of God. So when you get saved and you say, Jesus, be a part of my life, God now dwells on the inside of you. Your spirit that was dead to God because of your sin is now regenerated and you're born again. In the Greek, that means born from above. That means that he lives on the inside of you. You are a temple of God, a tabernacle of God. But the third manifestation of his presence is what we call the manifested presence of God. And this is the one that I really want to park on. This is where you, it's not just that he's here, it's that I know he's here. I can feel that he's here. This is when God begins to heal and he speaks, and this is when joy is given, and the presence of the Lord becomes so tangible. It's almost like there's no distance in the spirit. And so wherever you're watching this at, whether it's in your car or you're working out right now, um, you can actually experience the manifested presence of God. Just like we experience it here in the um in the recording studio, you can actually experience it wherever you are. It's where our faith is in the fact that he's real. It's where we become aware of his presence. And then we learn to host the presence of God, carry the presence of God, be aware of the presence of God, acknowledge the presence of God, invite the presence of God. Because in everything we do, the greatest asset that we have is him. For he is our great reward, not the healing, not the breakthrough, not the miracle, not the marriage, not the those are byproducts of him being on the scene. So whenever we get God, we get light and we get his blessing because that's just who he is. But our great reward is this relationship with him.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that's so good. Yeah, I think I love how you said, you know, learn to host the presence of God. Um, because I find that just in experience, there's things that I could do to kind of bring about the presence of God to where like he shows up. And then there's things that I could do to kind of like to care to like keep it there. So, you know, I think one of the easiest ways to kind of access the presence of God is through worship. Like it's just putting on a worship song. Like I've I've driven in my car and just blasted a worship song, and the presence of God shows up in my car. And there's times that I could just carry that song with me throughout the day, and I could feel like, oh Lord, your presence hasn't lifted yet. You know what I mean? Like your presence is here. And then there's things that I can do to feel like the Lord didn't like that. Maybe, you know, maybe I yell at my kids, or maybe I have a thought, or you know, something like I feel like I know when I grieve the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00The Holy Spirit can be grieved and can be vexed.
SPEAKER_01Uh and you know, so um, there's certain conversations I can have that just the presence of God sits in it. And it's like, whoa, that was good. Let's keep talking about that.
Daily Acknowledgment Of The Holy Spirit
Principles For Carrying His Presence
SPEAKER_00And this is why it's so important because Exodus, I think it's chapter 33, is talking about Moses. And there was a time where Moses was like, listen, if you don't go with me, I'm not going. Meaning that if you don't, if your presence doesn't go, I'm not going. And then in the next verse, it says that how will other nations that know that we're God? Because your presence is the distinguishing mark. It's the thing that sets us apart. So there are so many different religions and cults and different things, and people have a doctrine and a dogma and the things that they believe. But what sets us apart from everybody else that believes in something is the presence of the Lord. The presence of God is the is, and so in the tabernacle of Moses, even in the tabernacle of David, the presence of God would fill the moment. In the temple of Solomon, it was the presence of God that would come. And it was so strong that times that the priest couldn't even minister because the glory cloud showed up. Yes. And I don't think that that's just something that happens in church. We actually get to carry that. So my greatest challenge that I have in my life currently is to be a person who's a dad, um, to run a church, um, and you know, all the things that I do and have so many responsibilities and so many things in my schedule, but still be sensitive enough to be aware of his presence. Be aware of his presence. It's the greatest challenge, but as I figure it out, it's also the greatest reward to carry God with me into every board meeting, to carry the presence of the Lord into every settlement, into everything that we do. And when I get in the car to say, okay, God, you're with me here. And the more and more you what I call practice the presence of God, the more the manifested presence of God becomes a reality.
SPEAKER_01I think it's so important what you're saying. I don't know if some we realize that you can know, you can be aware of the presence of the God of God on you. And it's so important to be aware of when the presence of God is on you, because you need to be also be aware when the presence of God isn't on you, when the presence of God would lift, when you would grieve the presence. There's times in the Bible where the presence of God lifted and people weren't aware of it. Was it Samson that uh um yeah, yeah, it will. Samson, the the anointing, the presence of God. You know, we can call it that. Um, you know, they cut off all of his hair. He got up and fought like, like, okay, the Lord is with me. I'm gonna do the same thing, but God wasn't there and he didn't even know it. He didn't even realize it. I don't want to be that kind of Christian. Wow. I don't want to be that kind of believer that I think I'm going to work, I think I'm going to church, I think I'm the presence of the Lord is with me, and it's gone, and I didn't even know it. Yeah. So to be intentionally aware of his presence is key.
SPEAKER_00I just feel like, you know, I feel like God's just giving me a little assignment to just try to help believers around the world um practice the presence of God and just carry God into every situation to be very aware of who he is, for he is our great reward. One of the things that I love that I've heard you say recently, didn't the Lord speak to you and say that you're his friend? Yes. Um, I think that all of us should want to be the friend of God. And we've all been called to be friends of God. But can you just explain what that meant to you and how maybe that could relate to us as well?
Focus, Control, And Overflow
SPEAKER_01Um it was really beautiful. Um, I was asking him, we usually do a word for the year, and I usually have a personal word. And I'm like, Lord, what is that? You know, what is it that you'd like me to focus on this year? And he the phrase was friend of God. And so I just been spending some time with him and talking to him about it, and it really felt um, I was just honestly honored, like, wow, you want to be my friend because when it becomes to being a friend, you choose your friends. Family, you don't choose your family, you got what you got. Friends, you choose your friends, and you choose your friends because you say, Hey, I like you. There's something about you that I like. I want to hang around you. I want to laugh at the things you laugh at and cry at the things you cry at. Like, let's go on vacay together, let's go have lunch together, let's do tea together, something. So I thought, like, whoa, Lord, you see me like that? Like you want, you desire to be with me and spend time with me. So there was that aspect of it. And then so I searched scripture and I saw that Abraham was a friend of God. What did what did Abraham do? You know, like what was significant in his life? Abraham had faith and he believed. And so I've been working on just having faith and to believe God for the impossible, just to allow God to be with me. And so, you know, I usually I've I've started to pull God into my life as a friend. So um I went on a walk this morning, and my thing this morning was, Lord, I'm not, I I put earbuds in, but I had no music on, and I was just walking. I said, Okay, God, it's just me and you. What do you want to talk about? Right. What do you, you know, want to hear? And I rambled on at some points and was thinking about other things, and I'm like, Lord, I'm sorry, you know, whatever. But it's like, no, he's my friend. He he kind of likes that, you know, like whatever. But anyway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think the revelation is that we're not called just to be servants, we're called to be friends of God. And to me, that's a place of maturity. I think it's amazing when you said that, that God has invited you into friendship. I said, God, don't leave me out. And my hope that there's some of you all who are watching, like, man, they're not the only people that's gonna be friends of God. I'm gonna be a friend of God. Yeah. But one thing that I've noticed about a friend, if your friend is around, you don't ignore them. That's right. So I think many times we ignore the Holy Spirit who is God with us in the earth. And so we get in our car and we ignore them. We get up in the morning and we ignore them. We go through meetings and we ignore them. We discipline our children and we ignore them. And we say, Well, why I don't have intimacy? Well, that's just like if you had a friend that you've just been ignoring all day. So the more that you acknowledge God and say, God, what should I do about these children? God, which direction should I go in the car? God, how should I be in this meeting? What am I about to step into? Lord, good morning, Holy Spirit. I say this almost every day. Good morning, Holy Spirit. We're going to do great things in the earth today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
Made For His Presence
Acknowledge, Don’t Ignore, His Nearness
Three Things: Return, Repent, Reconnect
Community That Carries You
Prayer For Closeness And Healing
SPEAKER_00Saying it for 20 plus years. Good morning, Holy Spirit. We're going to do great things in the earth today. It's it's a lot better than saying, Oh my God, here go another day. You know, I'm welcoming in the presence of God into all that I do. And so I recently read a book by Bill Johnson, and it was called Hosting the Presence. And it was such a good book. I would really encourage you guys, if you really want to dive into the presence of God, it was a good read. And I had some space in my life in my summertime to kind of just, you know, spend a lot of time in the Bible, read several books, and just allow the Holy Spirit to show me things and give me revelation. And so between the book and what God spoke to me, I kind of wrote down some principles that I would love to share with you guys today. And please just stop me anytime you want to just jump in, just jump right in. But this is what I've learned about relationship, the presence of God. Desperation is key to a move of God. Okay. Hunger and thirst are key ingredients for the manifested presence of the Lord. We always have what we most earnestly want. Okay. Much of his presence in our lives is found in the constant awareness of him. Like a good friend realizing that he's always near, living aware of God is essential to abiding in God. The measure of awareness of our need for him is usually the measure that we become more aware of him. Okay, this is what I learned. The presence of the Lord was the distinguishing mark in Israel. Exodus chapter 33 and 14. It should be our distinguishing mark as well. It's what separates us, it sets us apart. I learned this. We've been chosen by God to host the presence of God. What an honor. Just like being a host to people in your home, you want to be a host to God every single day. My goal personally is to be a man that the Spirit of the Lord loves to rest on. And that can be your goal as well, to be a man or a woman that the Spirit of the Lord loves to rest on. As you study and you look at different people in the Bible, um, or not in the Bible, even throughout church history over the last hundred, two hundred years, people like Catherine Coleman or Amy's Amy Simple McPherson, Smith Wigglesworth, you know, they wasn't perfect people, but we know them as people that the spirit of the Lord loved to rest on. And I don't know why God chooses certain people. I don't know what is in their relationship, but I know that God's no respecter of person. I want to be a person that the spirit of the Lord loves to rest on. Um I learned this that complacency is an enemy to presence. If you're the person that says, well, it doesn't take all that, you know, I think that's too much. Um you don't have the right temperature of heart to really carry more of his glory. Um I learned this that stewarding, what we focus on, is an invitation to carry more of his manifested presence. So you and I were in a battle for your focus. I got to do a whole podcast just about focus because what you focus on will expand. You can focus on the problems or you can focus on the promise. The choice to focus is up to you. You can focus on another woman that you're not married to, another man that you're not married to, or you can focus on your spouse. Many times, distraction is the greatest enemy to presence. We're focused on the wrong things. We're focused on what we don't have, we're focused on the battle. And if we keep our minds stayed on him, he'll keep us in perfect peace. I learned this to experience God in his fullness, we got to give up control. Many of us, we hold on to control instead of giving it up to God. If you want a relationship that has great fellowship with God, give him the control. Trust him with it. Um, this was a quote by Bill. He said, self-control is not the ability to say no to a thousand voices. It's saying yes to the one voice so completely that nothing is left over for the others. Um, this is what I learned. Many stop short of divine encounters because they're satisfied with good theology. The list of various experiences in scripture doesn't contain God, they reveal God. I've learned that God is bigger than his book. And I know that there are some people that won't like that. Yes, we love God's word. Everything Jesus was the manifestation of the word, but if you think that you can hold all of the power and the splendor of God into 66 canonized books of Scripture, you don't know how big God is. I learned this that Christianity was never supposed to be known by its disciplines, but its passions. I learned that my labor for God is a byproduct of my love for God. And many times people get burnt out. They get burnt out in church from giving and serving. What separates burnout from this person, another person? What happened? Their love ran short because faith works by love. And so everything we do, we do from the overflow of love. And so when you do that, burnout is not an option because I'm not just tithing and giving and making disciples out of my um out of my shallow place. I'm actually doing it out of the overflow, and I'm doing it because I love God. So because I love God and I have an overflow of this love, it's easy for me to tithe and give and make disciples. And so even when we say, hey, I'm pouring out into other people, and there's so much pain that sounds in that word. No, other people are getting my overflow. You right now, this is not a pour. You're just getting my overflow. You're getting, how do you know a cup is full? It's overflowing. It's just the overflow of joy. We need to live our life with the fullness of the Spirit. What's that? That's the overflow. And God created everything, including us for his pleasure. And this will be my last one. I'll let you jump in. We've been created for the pleasure of God. When God created Adam and Eve, he put them in Eden, which was paradise. They were created. He was created to walk with God through the cool of the day. There was closeness and there was fellowship. Man's responsibility was to multiply, replenish the earth, and basically extend Eden to where the rulership of God would take over the earth, to where God would then have sons and daughters who, without sin in Eden, would have perfect fellowship with Him. Of course, we messed that up and then God had to come to the next plan, which is Jesus. Jesus died for our sins. What did he do? To re-establish fellowship with us. What is the New Jerusalem? What is heaven? What is the eternal life? It's a place where the glory of God fills the city. It's a place where the presence of the Lord, there's no need for lights because the glory is there. The presence of God is there. So what I'm saying is we've been made for his presence and we're going to be in his presence for the rest of our lives. And so it's always been this desire for God to be with us and for us to desire to be with him. And that's why I love Christianity because God doesn't make us serve him. He says, I lay before you life and death, blessings and curses. Listen, if you love me, choose me, because I already chose you. Now the ball is in your court.
Super Sunday Giving Invitation
SPEAKER_01That just makes me want to go and be alone with the Lord. Let's just end this right now. Let's just go to our separate places and just be with the Lord. Um Yeah, that's so, so good. I really feel like there are people watching today that did not realize that they've been ignoring the presence of God. Yeah. That they've had this friend that sticks closer than a brother, but they don't say good morning, Lord. They don't say good night. They don't say hi, how are you doing? What would you like to do? Like they are ignoring the presence of God. It's almost like, you know, sometimes, you know, we we have teenagers now living in the house with teenagers. We have to teach them manners. Like, hey, when you come down in the morning, say good morning. Hey, you know, if you walk into the room and we have company, don't run away. Yeah. Say hello. Don't take us away. Shake a hand, give a hug.
SPEAKER_00Act like you like us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I think just the simple revelation that God is with you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That he was inviting you into friendship with him, that his presence is there. I think a lot of people, their lives will change just by acknowledging the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00It's the greatest goal of my life. You know, it's more important than any other goal. Thank God you're getting your degree. Thank God you're building a business. Thank God you're building a church. But here's our great reward. The greatest goal of my life is intimacy with him.
Subscribe, Share, And Closing
SPEAKER_01I see even, you know, people who are lonely and feel like, man, I need a friend. Or some people are married and feel like, why do I just feel lonely? Why do I feel incomplete? Why do I feel unfulfilled? Why do I feel like my joy isn't running over? Everything's normal in my life, but my joy isn't running over. Why do I feel like, you know, I don't have that peace that transcends all understanding? I mean, I got a little bit of peace, but I don't know that kind of peace that you're speaking of. Maybe you need to acknowledge that peace is with you.
SPEAKER_00Loneliness to me is an invitation to intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Um and so there's a difference between loneliness and what would the word be? Solitude. The same atmosphere but different postures.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00So could your loneliness not be loneliness? Could it be a season of solitude where it can be you and the Lord?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_00And so I don't know. I got three things to do when you feel far from God, just as it relates to the content that I want you guys to grab hold of. Um, that was the name of today's podcast. Um here's three things to do when you feel far from God. Number one, you got to return to his presence daily. Okay. Distance often happens because we've drifted from consistent time with him. And many times people spend time with God, and that's good in the morning. But do you acknowledge him all day long? Then there's people who spend acknowledge him all day long, but they don't spend quality time. I personally feel like you need a good rhythm of both. Um, number two, repent and release. Release what's blocking you. So if you ever feel distant from God, you should do a self-examination. Is there something in your heart that's hindering the Holy Spirit where he's being grieved and he's being vexed? Sometimes it can be unforgiveness, it can be unconfessed sin, it can be distractions, things that were good, but now they were God, but now they're good idol idols that are in our life. And I think sometimes we just got to get raw and real enough to say, you know what? The pornography that I've been watching is hindering my fellowship. The guilt that I feel is hindering my fellowship. The shame that I haven't dealt with is hindering my fellowship. My trust issues that I have not resolved is hindering my fellowship. The pain that I have because somebody died and I'm blaming it on God is hindering my fellowship. And I just believe that his presence comes after repentance. And number three would be reconnect with God's people. And I feel like if you feel distant from God, this is one that many people don't know. I think people get it that I got to return to his presence daily. I think people get it that I need to repent and release what's blocking you. But I don't think a lot of people understand that you need to reconnect with God's people because isolation fuels distance. Community can carry you when you feel weak. Join a small group, serve in your church, go out with other godly friends. Um, Hebrews 10.25 says, Don't forsake the assembly of ourselves together. So the principle that I want you to hear in the end is return, repent, and reconnect. Let me say it again, return, repent, and also reconnect. And there's just something that God, He has not created us. You know, I am a self-proclaimed introvert. I am okay with being by myself, but I have not been created to be by myself all of the time. Regardless of your personality, you need people in your life. You've been created for community. We have a communal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Okay. You've been created for community.
SPEAKER_01That's funny. I just thought about you being an introvert and wanting to be alone. I just had some personal thoughts that made me laugh. Um but true statement. True statement. But we value um just being in the presence of other believers. Sometimes I could just be feeling some kind of way, like either in a bad mood, maybe I just for whatever reason, maybe I feel bad, um, but then just get into a place where other people faith rubs off. Yes. Yes, yeah. And it's I run into like two people and they just fired me up, just the presence of the Lord that was on them. I'm just like, oh yeah, God is good. And hearing their testimonies, just anything, it just builds me up. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh will you just take a moment and pray for people, the people they just feel distant from God. Pray that something that we've said today is going to close that gap. And we would love to hear from you. You don't keep your testimony to yourself. The letters that you send in, the emails that you send in, we read them and they bless us. So please let us know if this is being a blessing to you. But just let's take a moment and just pray and prophesy over the people.
SPEAKER_01Yes, Lord, we love you today and every person lift listening right now, we come together, Lord. There's no distance in the spirit, but we lift our hearts to you right now and we call on your presence. We ask you for more of your presence. And right now, I would we repent for everything that would stand in the way between us and you. And if you're listening right now, and if there's something that you need to repent of, just go ahead and say it out of your mouth. Lord, I repent of this. Lord, I renounce this. Anything that would stand in between us and you, Lord, we just give it all. We cast it all away right now in the name of Jesus. And now we ask you for your forgiveness, Father, that you would forgive us for letting anything come between us and you, that you would forgive us for not allowing you to be first in our life. And Lord, we receive your forgiveness. We receive what Jesus did for us, and now we also receive your presence. We say yes to you, Lord, and you being in our lives. We say yes for you, calling us to be in friendship with you. And I ask you, Holy Spirit, for everyone reaching out to you right now, that you touch them with your presence. Let your presence invade their room. Let your presence be felt in their physical bodies. Those who are sick, let healing manifest. Those who are sad, I pray that a joy rise up on the inside of them in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Um, if you guys have been kind of tracking along with us, I wanted to give you an opportunity to partner with us. You know, once a year we have a giving celebration that we know and we love at our church called Super Sunday. And all it is is a year-end opportunity for people who believe in our ministry to financially support it and to sow a seed of faith and believe God for a great next year and for us to be able to reach more people next year. That Super Sunday offering is coming up in about three weeks. It's called um three or four weeks, is coming up on December the 7th, okay? And so if this podcast has been a blessing to you and you want to help us reach more people, you know, God's given us a vision to help reach a million married couples around the world. And of course, there's so many more people, regardless of the relationship status, that we're really helping growing closer to God. But if you believe in our mission here, um, I would just ask you to do this. Just take a moment right now and just say, Lord, what would you have me to give? And if God puts something in your heart, no matter what it is, there's no gift too small or too big, it's gonna enable us to be able to reach more people next year than we have on this year. If you would like to give in this year-end offering, in between now, December 7th, you can hold it till December 7th. You can give it today if you want to, or any time in December, we want you to go ahead and do that. And we're gonna end this year in faith and we're gonna end it in strength, and we're gonna see some more lives changed on next year. And so thank you for your generosity, for your prayers, for your support. Um, if you enjoyed today, make sure if you're new to our podcast, hit the subscribe button, the icon badge on YouTube. If you're on Spotify or Apple Music, make sure you do whatever you got to do so that you can get these episodes as soon as they were released. Hopefully they're bringing a value to you and a benefit to you. If they have like, share, comment. That's the greatest compliment that you can give us. And we will see you on next week, which is going to be Thanksgiving Thursday. And so, love y'all. See you soon. Peace.
