GETTING CLOSER TO GOD

[CST]

I don't feel I'm getting closer to God. I feel I'm getting further away. That God is rejecting me and hates me. I can't blame Him, I can't see any reason why He wouldn't.

Hi, CST, I think we all feel like that sometimes. When it happens to me, I try to remember the things which have helped me greatly in the past.. since I've been following after the Lord since 1979, i've Had quite a few of those times, but with the keys the Lord has given me, and then reminds me of. It doesn't seem to happen often like it used to. For which I am veRy thankful.

I learned at such a time, any difficult time is "the" best time to be yield, yield, yielding to Him. How? By simply telling Him so. As a matter of fact one time I told him I yield, yield, yield myself to youLord, all my life and all my being.. my inner being. And you know what came right back at me? The thought - from Him I imagine and suppose it to be - that once I were to get down to the very floor of my being.. that is when I need to start tearing up floorboards. It was an image, not literal instructions of any sort, except spiritual. Which seems to me to mean my yielding will never, ever end. And that's a good thing, as he has the blueprint.. my blueprint.. yours.. all. As to the best, happiest, most fulfilled and satisfied blueprint/design of each one of us.

And yes I believe he loves us all. Loves you dearly. :HeartThrob:

I learned it's never Him - it's more of him, that's needed, yes, but it's not that the Son isn't shining, it's my clouds hovering over me that are blocking the Son light.  I have learned during my many years that worship, love poured out, praise will dissipate those clouds. The adversary - whether we believe is part of our own mind or self, or we believe he us a being adversarial to God - either way, the negatives (thoughts, impressions) come to us in our own voice. The adversary may wander/pace? to and fro "seeking whom to devour".. but rather than a roar or gravelly voice, the suggestions come in our own voice and thoughts. "Resist the enemy and he will flee from you.. I usually remember to spot any negative thought.

These days I'm battling an attitude! Hubby is retired/a little disabled, so we are together a lot and he is very.. run the show.. all things are done his way..  :laughing7: I hate to be told how to do something, yep, he's bossy.. And only a 'botderline' believer.. (so he's not always right? Lol). But it's my attitude I don't like, which rises up in me a bit all too often.

If I immediately repent toward the Lord and, or the Father and praise him, be thankful.. It's all good. But if I focus on the struggle, I have to remind myself that the faith life - "shall live by faith" - it's not how I feel that determines the reality of that walk, life and God's love, it's what's written that's true. And that is the reality. Otherwise, I simply deceive myself., or the adversary deceives me.

I used to get crabby from time to time.. :laughing7: I never do now, no never, lol. Well I usually don't. But somewhere a long time ago, in a novel somewhere, sometime, I read the phrase "in the grip of a foul spirit". Now ppl used to write in this manner and how far they meant it, I have no idea.. I read it at the time as in the grip of a foul mood.

But this was my halfway joke to myself, that if I was too crabby, I was in the grip of a foul spirit. Not funny is it? And it was my own foul mood. But who knows? May have been something more, according to the scriptures, not surprising. Now I don't mean I was possessed or anything! But one thing I do feel I know, is those fallen spirits do harass, and harass very well. In so very many different ways.

So of course it's not true that God doesn't love you. It's just a feeling. (Maybe even a threat! But not from God!) And feelings are not truth.

In my darkest days the Lord told me to "keep Sabbath" daily. I've been building on that ever since. On my past website, and now blog(s) I have a daily bible reading schedule that keeps me cemented into that truth, His Word. https://inner-monastery.blogspot.com. Right now it's all New Testament, except for the Psalms. I do this because I strongly feel Jesus gave us strong keys on the eve of his crucifixion when he said "come and eat" and he said take the bread and the wine, which to me is metaphor for God's Holy Spirit (the new wine) and the bread of life, the "logos that gives light". And how often do we need to eat and drink? To keep up our strength and we'll being..

The adversary end-less-ly puts forth ideas why not to trust God's Word, his written and revealed will. (Logos-written or expressed reasoning)

Thanks for this review! I've been just listing some of the things I've learned which have helped me in those very same battles. But I know we are all different and I haven't a clue what's up with anyone else.. Except I do know, beyond a doubt that God and our Lord love you very, very much! You are a treasure, a jewel. How do I know? He has said so.. "In that day" when He gathers his jewels.. I have the wording wrong.. hmmm, scratching head. I know it's there tho!

God bless! Sorry to babble on so.. and for any typos I've made on this tiny phone screen, lol.

Also.. if you are 'switching' from somewhat ET to UR.. it would be normal, I think, to feel some 'instability' as some things are falling away, and new foundations built (?)
:Peace2: :HeartThrob:
     ....P.S. - I forgot to say you are in my prayers today :Pray:

Unfortunately, we seem to vastly differ in our understanding and perception of God. I'm not sure because I don't entirely know how to describe my perception. You suggest I say in my prayers that I 'yield' to Him but I don't even know what it would mean to do that. I know saying it doesn't make it true and I know that saying it when it isn't true would be lying to God which I know from Acts is very bad.

I also thought I was yielding to God as best as I do understand. Trust Him, put all things on Him? I did that and waited for Him to respond. And waited and waited and waited. And so far as I can tell He's yet to do so. While I don't entirely know what yielding to God means I know it doesn't involve me staying stock still until suddenly He starts operating me like a puppet to do whatever He wants. Whether it's granting me what I ask for or me serving Him as He requires which may or may not be the same thing, it involves me acting proactively and I am utterly incapable of doing that. I simply don't know what to do or how to do it but believe wholeheartedly that if God want it to happen it will happen and if He doesn't won't. Unfortunately at the moment what is happening is nothing... and it's been this way for a long time.

Now I'm tired of praying at all because it seems to produce no results, but there's a part of me that things me getting further from God is actually the cause of these feelings.

And I know that if I resist evil it will flee from me but only until the next temptation comes along and then I have to resist it all over again. It is exhausting and seems futile, I'll always fail to resist eventually.

Amen, "in Him we live and move and have our being" and "Christ in us, our hope of glory"..

"the flesh" =  https://biblehub.com/greek/4561.htm
4561. sarx ►
Strong's Concordance
sarx: flesh
Original Word: σάρξ, σαρκός, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: sarx
Phonetic Spelling: (sarx)
Short Definition: flesh, body
Definition: flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.

4561 (sarks) is generally negative, referring to making decisions (actions) according to self – i.e. done apart from faith (independent from God's inworking). Thus what is "of the flesh (carnal)" is by definition displeasing to the Lord – even things that seem "respectable!" In short, flesh generally relates to unaided human effort, i.e. decisions (actions) that originate from self or are empowered by self. This is carnal ("of the flesh") and proceeds out of the untouched (unchanged) part of us – i.e. what is not transformed by God.

Love as the fulfilling of the law, seems to me to point out that we are all, indeed, overcoming the self, the carnal character ..a matter of character, not as some in the very early church believed salvation/transformation was an issue of wisdom, insight, intelligence or knowledge, but is an issue of the heart :HeartThrob: .
"God is good!" :Peace2:

You are aware that this is a big definition for one word? It's not, I'm sure, what the word actually means but rather what numerous Biblical scholars, who also tend to believe in ET remember, have decided the NT writers mean when the use it based on the occasions when it is used and it's Hebrew equivalent in the OT.

[Dandelion]

Young's Literal Translation
Jesus saith to him, 'Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; happy those not having seen, and having believed.'

John 20:29

1 Chronicles 16:11
Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.

Deuteronomy 4:27-29
"But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Psalm 27:4-8
When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I shall seek." And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.

"There is something there about "seeing Him as He is" that is the active factor in the transformation".

"The first fruits being the ark of testimony in the earth, the lamp on the lampstand shining light into all the house".

The above are 2 quotes from eaglesway.

I agree.                                     :iagree:

D.