NEARNESS OF GOD!

Five words or less! 

"I will be with you." (Joshua 1:9)

As "Coming to Light Bible Study" calls it---"5 minute Friday."

NEAR.......closeness in proximity.  Accessible in a heart to heart intimate way regardless of virtual distance.

Jordan River Rules book study folks have learned much of nearness of God this month. Even when some are absent, they have been near in Spirit. Kathie G. even shares an Isaiah verse reminder for us.

Give Cheer! God is near!

Don't veer. Stay near!

choose quietness

Choose quietness---I do. 

"A place of quiet rest. A place of comfort sweet. A place of full release." (Near to the Heart of God)

How much easier to choose quietness when the Lord sends enough snow to "white out" a busy agenda. 

"Snow" angel to beckon me----"Nearer my God to Thee."

"Schedules. Commitments. So much to do, so little time" is how LaGard Smith puts it in Meeting God in Quiet Places.

I choose to linger, to tarry and to move into God's Presence. Usually that results in prayer---a sort of "tarry one for another" moment. (1 Corinthians 11:33)

I'm not sure where this tarrying will lead, I just know that today..........

I choose quietness near to the heart of God.

"proximi-TEA"

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.....(James 4:8, ESV)

Proximity can indicate being close---whether in space or in relationship. These days there are even sensors to measure proximity----sensors able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact----possibly being used, along with satellites, in the search for the missing Malaysia Flight 370 jet.

When I spend time in God's Word, I can sense the nearness of His Spirit, without physical contact as well.

My "Tea with Thee" times are showing me the importance of nearness to the Lord. Intimacy comes with closeness. Proximi-TEA is key. It tends to open my soul to His Presence.
Sometimes I "arrive" at this point through prayer or a verse from scripture. Today, recalling the words of an old hymn (sung with Mama Davenport standing by my side) and humming that tune of "Near to the Heart of God" drew me right into His holy Presence.

There is a place of comfort sweet,
Near to the heart of God.
A place where we our Savior meet,
Near to the heart of God. (verse 2, UMC, 472)

Proximi-TEA says it all---open Bible on my lap with my cuppa in one hand and my heart in His.

R & R = Retreat Reflections #1

2/22/12 Sanctuary. Meditation. Two words that speak loudest in their silence of what my 5 days of retreating became. With morning schedules cleared and no clocks to demand I check the time, I sought the Lord.

I learned that being still is hard and learning to listen is harder still. "Divine whispers," as Richard Foster calls prayer-filled listening, require both. (Sanctuary of the Soul, p.12)

My first morning, I learned in Nehemiah 9, that when the Israelites cried out.... , you (God) heard from heaven. (v.28) Yet they refused to listen (v.29) and weren't paying attention (v. 30) I chose then to make listening a priority and to pay attention to cultivating a spiritual place in my heart---an inner sanctuary of sorts where I could hear from Him.

  

Lots of time was spent in the psalms with meditation and praying the scriptures. Lots of time was spent searching out songs in an old hymnal as well as singing from memory. I sought sanctuary with changed venues, but always it was the place where I would meet God. I was drawn to it. I carried my sanctuary in my heart. 

I journaled---lots. I left tracks of my mornings with marginalia throughout my Bible. I even wrote a poem/prayer to the Lord.

Draw me, Teach me,
Show me Yourself behind my earthly eyes.
Close my ears
...that I might listen with my inmost being.
Still my heart that I might hear Thee from heaven
...loud and clear in the silence.
Open my ears
...only to the whispers and nudges of Your Spirit.
Open only the eyes of my heart, Lord
...and send me out.
Send me out
... filled with quietness and trust of these moments.
Send me out
...to refresh others with the refreshing that has come from Thee.

Meditation began. I was drawn near to the Lord. To that place of quiet confidence and rest. Where is that place? "Near to the heart of God." Sanctuary.