Drawing Near to God

Discover the profound joy and peace that comes with drawing near to God as we navigate the tumultuous waters of life. Our latest episode taps into the heart of Psalm 73:28, taking us on a journey through the timeless struggle of choosing between the fleeting allure of worldly desires and the deep fulfillment of God's presence. We unpack the biblical narrative of creation, humanity's fall, and the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, offering you a compass for making the crucial choice: to serve the Divine or be swayed by the material.

This week, we invite you to engage in a conversation about the essence of building a relationship with God, mirrored in the effort we pour into our earthly bonds. We delve into the powerful notion of God's unceasing pursuit of us and how reciprocating that pursuit transforms our lives with grace, restoration, and hope. By making God our refuge, our lives become vibrant testimonies to His eternal goodness and love, and we find ourselves immersed in the blessings He promises. Tune in to realize how every step taken towards God is a step into a life brimming with gratitude and praise, no matter the adversities we face.

Thank you for listening! Please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube @myfaithline to stay updated about our weekly episodes. Let us help you Find Joy in Your Journey Today!! To support our journey please visit our web page at www.myfaithline.com God Bless!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to Joy in this Journey podcast by Faithline. Join us as we bring you weekly episodes on Bible devotionals to empower you to live in faith. By faith, through God's grace, find joy in your journey today. Through God's grace, find joy in your journey today.

Speaker 2: 0:26

God bless you all and welcome to another episode of Join this Journey by Faithline. Today's Bible reading is in the book of Psalms, chapter 73, verse 28. And we read but as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord, god, my refuge. That I may tell of all your works.

Speaker 2: 0:55

When God created Adam and Eve in the beginning, he created them to be in a relationship with him and with each other. However, eve was tempted by the enemy and disobeyed God, which brought sin, death and suffering into the world. Because of God's holiness, god cannot be in the presence of sin, meaning we were separated from God. Thankfully, god sent his son Jesus down to the earth to save us from our sin. He died on the cross as a payment for all of our sins, allowing us to be forgiven and have eternal life with him. But in order to receive that, we have to choose him back. We have the choice to serve God or serve the world. What we were created for was damage. When sin entered the world, we were separated from God, causing our relationship with God and others to suffer. The enemy tempts us as he did Eve in the garden. He tells us that choosing the world over. God will bring happiness, success, satisfaction and so much more. But all sin does is really leads us to brokenness, death and eternal separation from God.

Speaker 2: 2:12

In Psalm 73, David, he wrestles with deciding between giving into the world and his nature, or drawing near to God and living in obedience to him. He concludes by saying that being near to God is good. God guides us and holds our hand. God is our strength. He is our refuge. We draw near to God because it's what we were created for. We draw near to God because it allows our relationship with him and each other to be so much more wonderful. We draw near to God because only he can save us from sin and eternal death.

Speaker 2: 3:01

Submitting to God is an important aspect of being in a relationship with God and drawing near to Him. We have a sin nature and God cannot be in the presence of sin. But God does not leave us there. He loves us and he suffers for us. He hurts. God is near to the brokenhearted, so, out of His love for us, he sent Jesus to die and to save us from our sin and make us whole again. If we want to draw nearer to God, we have to receive Christ's gift of forgiveness and submit to him, daily Living in submission to him by recognizing our weakness, seeking repentance and relying on his strength. It allows us to draw near to him. God created us to draw near to him. God created us. He sent his son to die for our sins and he invites us to an eternity with him. He loves us Even when we sin. He still loves us and chooses us Like the prodigal son. When he returned to him, he is overjoyed. He does not expect perfection from us, but desires us to pursue him and love him back.

Speaker 2: 4:31

Pursuing goes beyond knowing and believing in God. Just like earthly relationships, pursuing takes action. To pursue God is to obey God and invite him into every aspect of your life. To pursue God is not to just read the word and know him, but to live the word and imitate him. God never stops pursuing us. So when we pursue him back, he draws near to us and we draw near to him. Drawing near to God is all that he desires for our lives. He just wants us to draw near to him and in return, he promises to save us and bless us forever.

Speaker 2: 5:23

When we start to live a life believing that God's presence is our good, making Him our refuge. Then something wonderful happens. We start to experience and see God's deeds of goodness and love scattered throughout our day. Our stories of hardship and pain become stories of grace, restoration and hope. He turns our lives into testimonies of his redemption and fills our heart and mouth with gratitude and praise with gratitude and praise. So today, no matter how much pain and adversity life throws at us, it doesn't need to define our lives. Good is right here with us, because God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Speaker 2: 6:22

Let's pray, father, in the name of Jesus, I want to thank you. Thank you, god, that you desire to spend time with us and you have even called us your friend. God, your word says if we draw near to you, you will draw near to us, and we want to draw near to you. So right now, in the name of Jesus, I ask you, god, that you remove all obstacles in our lives, that you help us, god, draw near to you every single day, god, that you cause us to desire to draw near to you above everything else. Help us, lord, to organize our time that we can set aside time to spend with you, and help us to never compromise that time for anything else.

Speaker 2: 7:10

Father, you said that you are our Lord, that when we call upon you, you shall be near. And we call upon you right now, god, that you help us seek you continuously, lord, that we stand firm in our decision to seek you and make space for you, god, and give you your space and place in our hearts. We need you, god. Help us to pursue you with a passion of perseverance, god. Help us to put your word first in every decision we make. Help us to pray continuously, lord, throughout the days, and help us to look for opportunities to listen to you, god, and to see you, and to learn from your teachings that you can build our knowledge and understanding in who you are. We need you, god, and we need you in our lives. We thank you, god, that you are our creator and you have placed us here with a plan and purpose. Guide us always into the truth and show us what is to come.

Speaker 2: 8:24

Your name, jesus. We thank you. Thank you for your strength, thank you for your forgiveness, thank you for your love and thank you for being with us. Thank you, god. In the name of jesus, we pray amen. I pray that this word has been a blessing to your life. I pray that this word has been a blessing to your life. Never forget to draw near to your Lord, for he wants to and will draw near to you. Until next time. This is your host, jj.

Speaker 1: 9:00

God bless you. If you liked today's episode and find that our podcasts are helping you find joy in your journey, please leave us a review in the podcast app and tell us your story and how we assisted you in finding joy. Don't forget to reach out to us by taking a screenshot of any of our podcasts and posting it on your Instagram or Facebook, tagging us in at MyFaithLine, and we will comment back. Join us next week for more episodes on finding joy in your journey through faith. Until next time, remember to live in faith by faith, through God's grace. God bless you.