{"id":2559,"date":"2020-10-01T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2559"},"modified":"2020-09-19T07:33:26","modified_gmt":"2020-09-19T12:33:26","slug":"who-is-it-good-for-you-to-be-near","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/10\/01\/who-is-it-good-for-you-to-be-near\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TO BE NEAR?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBut as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;  I will tell of all your deeds.\u201d (Psalm 73:28 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get near God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite analogy is my parents.  Back in their day, cars and trucks had bench seats.  Young couples dating would sit side by side, as close as they could.  Eventually, after establishing themselves as a couple, they move apart.  Mom by her window, Dad by his as he drove.  One day, Mom says, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you put your arm around me like you did when we were dating?\u201d  Dad\u2019s response, \u201cI\u2019m not the one who moved.\u201d  He was still sitting in the driver\u2019s seat; she was the one who scooched over into the passenger seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s still driving.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God hasn\u2019t moved.  If you\u2019re feeling disconnected to Him, check your position.  Have you moved away from God as you become more familiar with Him?  Is life going well right now, so you don\u2019t feel the desperate need to reach out to Him like you once did?  Keeping close to God means we have to sit next to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus taught, He walked in front, His students followed.  Remember, during that period, they wore sandals, walking on dusty roads.   Following closely means getting Jesus\u2019s dust on you.  We have to pursue Jesus.  He remains the same; we\u2019re the ones who float in and out.  To encounter His dust, we have to get close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today, when something good happens, it\u2019s easy to forget God\u2019s part in it.  For me, relationships help me stay close to God.  In the flesh, my response isn\u2019t what it is when I bring God into the equation.  When I seek His will before my own, life is better. Unfortunately, sometimes I prefer the passenger seat instead of next to Him.  And sometimes, I take the wheel and kick Him out of the car completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your relationship with God is dependent on you.  How much time you spend chasing Him will determine its depth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Are Marshall<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is a movie.\u00a0 The story is about the college\u2019s football team that perishes in an airplane crash.\u00a0 Recruiting a new coach, the town and school rebuild after the tragedy.\u00a0 Trying to gain special permission to have a team, the coach challenges the administration when told they\u2019ve received no response from football\u2019s governing body. Jack Lengyel, the coach, poses this question to University President Dedmon:\u00a0 \u201cNow, I am going to bet… that you didn’t propose over the phone.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, you need to go in person and talk to the powers that be.\u00a0 The president followed Jack\u2019s advice; he went in person, the season saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t phone in a relationship with God.  Instead, we have to get close, letting His dust cover us as we draw near.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you moved away from God today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading: <\/strong>Isaiah 62:6-65:25 NIV<\/a>, Philippians 2:19-3:3 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 73 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 24:13-14 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;  I will tell of all your deeds.\u201d (Psalm 73:28 NIV) Get near God. My favorite analogy is my parents.  Back in their day, cars and trucks had bench seats.  Young couples dating would sit side by… Continue reading WHO IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TO BE NEAR?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2562,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions\/2562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}