KHANDIE'S KORNER - "April 7, 2003" | |
Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes | |
This Weeks Message- (scripture taken from King James Version) "DRAW NIGH TO GOD" Therefore
I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for the body, what ye shall put on. Is
not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they? Which
of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the
oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things. But, seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and ALL these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matt
6:25-35) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. (James 4:7-8) It is the will of the Father, that ALL his children would seek HIM
first above anything else for he desires and longs for a personal intimate relationship
with each his own as any father would. He has
promised that when we seek Him first and his righteousness, then all the things HE KNOWS we have need of shall be added to
us. However, oftentimes we do just the
opposite in our search, for we tend to seek FIRST the things promised, and our
desire for the kingdom of God and his righteousness we attempt to seek last. If a promise has been made, why then do we seek EXCEPT that we would give thanks? Even in the natural, under normal circumstance,
when a parent makes a promise to a child, that child is confident that he/she would
receive that which the parent has spoken. The
childs faith completely hangs on the promise of the parent and they question it no
further. Although theyve not physically
received the gift promised to them by the parent, they yet still rejoice as their
confidence is in the parents SPOKEN WORD! They need not SEE before they BELIEVE! Even for their daily needs, they ask not the
parents what will I eat?or what will I
wear? but automatically assume with confidence these things will
be taken care of by the parent. The Lord
desires that we have this SAME confidence in HIM, for although a parent can change his/her
mind, or situations may arise that would alter their plans, The Lord God NEVER changes. The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever,
thus once the word has gone forth, it will succeed in fulfilling that which its been
sent forth to do. Therefore the Lord says Take no thought for your
life
. But, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and ALL these things shall be added unto you. The Lord delights in fulfilling his promises to those who would believe, yet MORE than this, he delights in true fellowship with his children. A heart that genuinely seeks after the Lord will FIND that which it seeks, for it is the Lords desire to reveal himself to every heart that is open to receive. His word tells us here in the book of James that we should Draw nigh to God with the promise that He will draw nigh to us. Notice that it is WE who must make the first step, it must be OUR decision and desire to WANT a relationship with the Lord as He will not force this upon his children, yet it breaks his heart when we reject the invitation. Fellowship and intimacy with the Lord is for our benefit as well as his delight, for apart from Him we can do nothing and without fellowship with him and knowledge of his word, we are incapable of fighting spiritual battles. This is why many are fighting and appear to be losing the battle for we attempt to use weapons that are tangible to fight that which is spiritual. We cannot resist the devil, unless we FIRST submit to God, and we cannot win the battle without the TRUE armor, carrying always the sword of the spirit. But how does one Draw nigh to God some may ask? Am I not close to God by going to church? And, although I dont study the bible, I do try and read as often as I can and I believe in Jesus and have accepted him into my heart, doesnt this make me close to God? Well, although these things are good, for the most part they do not give us an Intimate Relationship with the Lord. Intimacy begins with a DESIRE FOR THE LORD FIRST, above ALL ELSE, a desire for fellowship! We cannot study his word every now and again, and expect to TRULY KNOW HIM. We cannot congregate once a week with fellow believers and expect to TRULY KNOW HIM. Even our act of confession and acceptance of the Lord Jesus doesnt give us an instant intimate relationship with Him, WITHOUT continual fellowship! Many Christians know OF the Lord, yet go through life without TRULY KNOWING HIM! If we desire to know him, we will begin by learning OF Him, and we can ONLY learn of him by taking time to fellowship WITH Him. Imagine yourself meeting someone for the first time that you may have interest of. How would you go about getting to know him/her better? How would you draw close to such a person? Would his/her physical appearance be enough to answer all the questions you may have, or wouldnt you desire to know more about the person in order to determine if there may be compatibility? Wouldnt you seek to spend quality time with the person to learn of him/her? To learn his/her likes and/or dislikes and to know more of their background, etc. Rarely does a person whom one has interest of, takes the first step in approaching the stranger whos interested and immediately began sharing his/her heart, but rather waits until the individual whos interested approaches them. It is the same with the Lord as he waits for those who are interested to come and learn of him, those whose hearts desire is to draw nigh to Him. When this desire is present, The Holy Spirit will then help take us into this blessed fellowship where we come to KNOW our Father through praise and worship; through prayer and sharing of our hearts; through fellowship with our brothers and sisters; through the studying of His word through spending quiet and quality time ALONE with HIM! One cannot get to know someone unless one spends quality time with someone! However, WE must be willing; WE must have the desire; The LONGING, the THIRST, the HUNGER for HIM must be embedded in OUR hearts; WE must make the first move; WE must first be willing to DRAW NIGH TO GOD and He will surely Draw NIGH TO US. This he desires, this he longs for, this he awaits, for he LOVES US SO!I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE! May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always . KhandieleseDaughter & Servant of the Lord God |
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