Have you ever felt so far away from God before? Have you wondered how did I get here? Do you no longer feel or sense God’s presence in your life? Do you feel as if you are on a deserted island by yourself? You aren’t the only one who feels this way at times. We can start out in our faith walk on fire for the Lord and want everyone to know what God has done for us. We are thankful and grateful for this new life we have received. We become excited about our futures and what God is getting ready to do in our lives in us and through us. Then something happens! It could be that you lost your job, a sickness you weren’t expecting, all of a sudden emotional turmoil in your family, or you didn’t get the promotion you thought you deserved. Your world is upside down, and you don’t know how to get back right side up. You stopped reading your Word and going to services at your church. You just are not feeling it anymore. One thing about our feelings is that we can’t live our lives by them. We must believe and stand on God’s word. If you find that you are in this place today of needing a touch for God. All you have to do is reach out to God with your entire heart and soul. God is right there, and He hasn’t left your side. He has been waiting for you to come to Him. All you have to do is repent from the sinful place you are in, ask God to forgive you for whatever has separated you from Him, turn from compliancy, and never look back. Keep running for the Lord as if your life depends on it and it does.
We must be intentional in searching our hearts to see how far we have strayed away from God, to see what things we have left undone, what relationships need to be restored, and who we need to forgive. As we turn back to God with our whole hearts. We look at those areas in our lives that have been long overdue to get a checkup. Have you ever put off an annual checkup at the doctor? You know you need to go, but just don’t get around to it. There are times because of a lack of due diligence, the doctor may give us a not-so-favorable report. As we come to the end of the year, I believe that the Lord has been tugging at our hearts. We have been looking in the mirror of the Word, and what we see hasn’t been lining up with the Word. We don’t like it, and we are going to make changes to get right with God.
When we ask God to search us, He will do just that. We want our minds to think as God does and not the world. We are asking God to reveal to us those hidden sins we aren’t aware of. We just want to be clean, righteous, and renewed in our commitment to God. We have looked at ourselves and our relationships in our homes, extended families, ministry, school, or job. We have fixed things with everyone. We humbled ourselves and said, “Hey, you know what I have done this wrong or that wrong.” I shouldn’t have said this or that. Will you forgive me, I am sorry. True repentance results in a radical and persistent pursuit of holy living, walking with God in obedience to His commands.
Zechariah 3:1, “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.” We must do our part, and then God will do His. Have you been doing things with your strength? I got it! As the Hymn says, “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer!” He has been waiting for us to come to Him, but in our pride, we have said, I don’t need you, Lord, I got it, and I can handle it.
When we take this type of stance, God steps back. We can create such a mess, and then we want God to move. God loves us so much that He will not leave us there, but He will let us stew in our mess for a while. He will let us simmer in it until we come to our senses until we come to ourselves, and we realize we need His help. Then, we seek the Lord in our desperation. Desperation is a good place to be because it causes us to look outside of ourselves and look up. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.” Psalm 119:71
Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Have you been conformed and patterned with the ways of the world and have not even realized it? Thinking like and doing the things of the world. What have you been watching on TV? Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc. Inviting the enemy into your home and giving him access to your temple. We must transform our minds to line up with God’s will, which is His Word. I don’t want my mind to be fashioned after this word. I want a renewed mind so that I may prove for myself what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When we repent and add fasting with it, we should feel refreshed in our spirits, minds, and souls. Our bodies should even be feeling better.
I am reminded of King David when he made a mess; he realized how badly he messed up when he was confronted with the truth by the prophet. At that point, his posture changed. Psalm 51:10) “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” King David admits that he messed up, he repented, and he turned his heart back to God. There will be times when we have to do the same thing. You may be thinking I haven’t left God. I am sure you have found something in your life that God hasn’t been pleased with. I know I have, and I thank God for His mercy, grace, patience, and love towards me.
Psalm 51:11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” God, in His sovereignty, could have said that’s it! He has not taken His spirit away from us. We must govern ourselves and remain in a place of accountability. Have you ever felt like you can’t feel God or sense His presence? You no longer hear God’s voice. If we are doing our thing, God isn’t going to interrupt. As we draw nigh unto Him, He will come to us.
Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We are sealed until the day of redemption. God has stamped His approval on us regardless of how fickle we can be.
Psalm 51:12, “ Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” Have you ever gone through a dry spell and you didn’t have joy anymore? You are saved but no joy in the things of God. You are just going through the motions. You must ask yourself what happened. What have I been doing or not doing that has me feeling or thinking this way? We find true joy and contentment in God and God alone. I Timothy 6:6) “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” We won’t have to go after other gods or things to be content.
Philippians 4:11) “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:” Repentance brings a renewal within our hearts and a refreshing over our souls. When we are in a place of repentance, we are focusing on ourselves and no one else. When we do a heart check, we see how we could have handled some situations differently, we are thankful for God’s mercy and we remain content until God moves on our behalf.
Repentance brings reconciliation. Reconciliation means to become friendly again, to make amends, repent, apologize, and to be forgiven. As Christians, it is our responsibility to be reconciled to God and one another according to Matthew 18. Have you reconciled those areas in your life that need it? Do you know what areas have had a strain on them or are nonexistent in being cohesive?
We have been adding back those things we have gotten away from. We are being reconciled back to God. Such as morning prayer and getting up early to spend time with Father before our day gets started. A set time to spend with God. We get up early in the morning, an extra hour or thirty minutes, and give God some of the time back He has given to us. Asking God, “What do you want me to do today?” “Who do you want me to pray for?” As He flashes the faces of others in our minds, we pray for them.
We must remain aware that God is with us at all times – I think we sometimes think God can’t see us, hear us, or know what we are doing as if He is somewhere in a faraway land. God is an all-knowing God, and He sees everything and knows everything. He knows what we are going to say before we say it. He knows our thoughts from afar. We must intentionally meditate on His Word; on one Scripture, a certain story, or do a word study. Studying the Word, listening to the Word, digesting the Word, and obeying it is how we stay in right standing with God. In the evening time, we pray and talk to God about our day and repent before we go to sleep. You thought something wrong, said something wrong or did something wrong.
Works of charity show our love for mankind. We should never forget those who are less fortunate than we are. When we help those who are suffering, we are imitating our Savior. Those without resources, we pretend as if we don’t see them. We shun away from them. But as Christians serving God, we must stop and see about them too. We all must not close our hearts to help. We all need salvation and healing. For some of us, continuous healing. We should look for ways to volunteer and give back. This is how we demonstrate God’s love.
I saw something on social media where a lady had made some care packages and put them in her vehicle for the homeless. She put some items in Ziploc bags to give to the homeless whenever she saw them. The bags were filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, socks, and some snacks. They once had a life and family. No one just ends up on the street. Something happened to them, they got caught up in something, or they just gave up on their life. That could have been any one of us, but God! God has been good to each one of us. I am going to make up some care packages to give out. I will put an evangelism card in the bag to let them know God loves them.
For us, the most important thing is to be reconciled back to God repeatedly. Daily, we are to search our hearts and stay in the place of repentance. I am saved, and I am good is the wrong attitude and mindset to have. We should be asking God to search us, search me, Lord, to see if there is anything wicked in us. Intentionally leaning in and focusing on God. Reading the Bible and books to see just how far we are off in our mindset, our ways, attitudes, and the reasoning behind why we do certain things or act the way we do.
One of the benefits of reconciliation is it leads to forgiveness. It can become background noise in a life filled with complacency. We must remember what Christ had to go through to reconcile us to Him. We should never take our salvation for granted. Being that we are reconciled unto God, it is each one of our mission to reconcile others to Christ as well.
