O, How I Long to be Close to Thee

Talking with a sweet friend today got me thinking a lot about what the Lord has been doing in my heart these past few months. I've been praying for many different things as of late, and time and time again I see the Lord working in each area of my life that I've prayed specifically for. One of these things has been to love people where they're at, just the same as I want God and others to love me where I'm at. And through this prayer the Lord gave me a couple things to focus on; free will and convictions. It has been through these that God has been teaching me  how to properly love Him and others.

So backing up just a bit, God loves us. I often find myself stopping everything else to just let this resonate in my spirit before moving on with whatever task I'm attacking in that moment. God loves us, so much. Jesus loves us, so much. God's Holy Spirit loves us, so much. And what I love about Christianity is that because God loves us more than we could even begin to understand, He gives us free will. Now some see free will with the "God loves me and will forgive me so I can choose to do whatever I want and He will still love me regardless " type of attitude. But really, it's that God wants us to recognize His love for us and be so drawn to it that we never want to let go. That we choose to seek after it. That we yearn for it more than anything else this world could offer us. What struck me today was how beautiful God uses free will to draw us closer to Him by making it look different for everyone through convictions. 

It took awhile for me to catch on, but God has graciously been teaching me about convictions for awhile now. Not only by giving me my own personal convictions but by helping me to realize that the convictions that God's Spirit had been putting on other's hearts aren't always necessarily the same as mine. Through these differences, we are able to see Jesus strategically at work in so many ways. Always reaching people, but reaching out to them in whatever way they are ready for.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." This sweet scripture reminds me that though we may all be different, we are all God's children that He is constantly pursuing. When we walk with God through life, He gives us things to surrender to Him that we will be capable of laying down in order to be closer to Him. But these things are not always the same for everyone. For some it may be cussing and using fowl language, others it could be spending too much time working-out or carelessly wasting time, or not enough time praying. This world is full of ideas and superficial crap we should easily be able to give up in order to remain close to Jesus. 

What is so interesting to me is that often non-believers tend to think Christianity is full of check lists for us to live by in order to get into heaven. But I think when we merge free will (the idea that God allows us the decision to choose Him or things of this world) and convictions (specific things or ideas to surrender to God) together, it truly represents how much of our faith is linked to a personal relationship with Jesus, (which no other religion has to offer). I began to think about my closest friends. None of them could ever replace another. And each of them hold a special place in my heart that no other person will ever be able to fill. I linked this to my relationship with Jesus. It is a personal relationship, unlike any other, that no one else could ever take the place of.

God uses these convictions as stepping stones to be close to Him. We can decide whether to use them to be nearer to God, or to push them aside and risk falling away from His voice.

I love the idea of God reaching His people. I am grateful that I am not just some robot responding to commands from a manufacturer, but that I am genuinely loved by the Creator of the universe and that my relationship with Him is unlike any other. That I am special, and that no on else is exactly like me. I have truly grown to appreciate God giving us free will to choose Him, instead of instructing us to do so. And I enjoy learning who God is through the convictions His Spirit gives me when He knows I am ready to conquer them. 

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."

So basically, God grants us free will to choose whether or not to respond righteously to convictions, and through that we can be closer to Him. Pretty stinking rad :)