LOGOS: ” I WANT TO BE CLOSER TO GOD”
Hello,
Welcome to another episode of Logos.
Logos corner is a segment of the blog where Faith is discussed. This segment has been running on the blog for over a year. I originally intended it to be a weekly post, but sometimes for deeper insight on a topic one may need to study for weeks and in some cases months…..Today’s topic is one I talk about often in my daily life so I thought to bring it to the blog.
I pray that this piece edifies the reader in Jesus name.
Because of my path and love for sharing the gospel I get lots of emails concerning this topic. Most times its main context is “I really want to be close to God, but I don’t know what to do”.
I’ve shared here before that I gave my life to Christ as an adult in 2009 but the genuine journey started late 2010. I used to deceive myself that a relationship with God would just appear because I had the zeal for God. Although that Zeal was the first step, I was living in a bubble. An effective relationship with God requires Grace, discipline, and being dead to self. You will need to drop YOU and take on the full cross of Jesus(Luke 9:23-24).
If you are reading this and you have a desire to build a close and sincere relationship with God, I thank God for you. Don’t take that thirst likely, there are people out there who live everyday without the burden for salvation. That desire you have is as a result of a calling, I pray that you receive grace to translate that zeal into a lifestyle.
But first, know that faith is everything. That is the core of Christianity. Wanting to heed, hear and speak to God comes solely by faith. Hebrews 11:16 says “and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”. Meaning if you don’t truly believe in God and his power you won’t have a desire or love for him.
Consequently Romans 10:17 says “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
So, It’s not enough to tell your spiritual mentors, your self and even God that you want to be close to him. God is ever ready and willing to walk with you, but you will need to get over wishing-wanting and make conscious radical life changes.
It’s as foundational as surrounding your self with Godly friends, spending time alone in prayer, meditating on the word over slothful sleeping, reading a book, watching a sermon instead of perusing social media , attending midweek service over hanging out with friends after work……
At the end of the day we are accountable for our actions. So it’s all in the deeds as we spend our time and resources on what is important to us. When you really have a thirst for God you come to him. Even those around you would see a change in you. You cannot just look like the world. The bible lets us know that we are lights, a city set upon a hill that CANNOT be hidden(Matthew 5:14), so if we claim to love God and look like every other unbeliever, we need to check ourselves.
I also acknowledge some concerns like, “I struggle to pray, read my bible, go to church e.t.c” My response to this is ‘check your heart’.
The truth is that our actions are a reflection of our heart. If your heart is full of God, your ways will certainly reflect it. But how can your heart be full of a God you don’t spend time with? its Impossible. God will forever seem like a ‘whimsical character’ to you if you don’t soak yourself in the true knowledge of him.
These conscious actions I speak about in the fore-paragraphs are not just going to happen because you ‘desire’ God. It would take absolute discipline. Spiritual growth is not a gift but a discipline.
No one tells you to brush your teeth in the morning before stepping out, it’s a must do. When you don’t you feel strange. In fact, you get up from your bed no matter how tired and brush your teeth. You may even skip perfume or makeup, but you know brushing is a necessity.
With this analogy, See prayer, attending church, worship, meditating on the word, quiet time, Godly companions as a necessity……..You may not feel like it but you just have to. It’s discipline coupled with grace.
I want us to renew our minds when it comes to faith and growth. It comes by hearing, doing and thinking. No one said it would be easy, but the moment you truly desire God you’d submit yourself to knowing more of him. You would find yourself genuinely loving his ways and not just the idea of knowing him.
Moreover, Our God is such an awesome God. If you struggle with habits or lifestyle changes, you don’t need to ‘try’ to stop doing them. Just fix your eyes and heart on Jesus(Hebrews 12:2a) and consume more of him, you’d see those things wither away. He has paid the price on the cross. Titus 2:14 says “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
So living a holy life is not impossible, Jesus has bought and redeemed us. He made us a holy nation and his special possession (1 peter 2:9).
I want to encourage you today to seek God genuinely. Long for him, do his will, meditate on his word and experience the freedom and abundant life that comes with salvation. I pray that today marks a turnaround in your walk with God, and everyone thirsting after him will find rest, peace and joy in him above all things.
I love this scripture Philippians 3:10-14. The Message version says
I pray these prayers for you
2 Peter 3:18
That we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.
and Ephesians 3:17-19
That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
AMEN.
Got questions or comments? feel free to drop a message below, I’d love to hear from you. However, If you’d prefer some privacy leave the comment as anonymous or send me a direct mail at lynnjaphet@gmail.com. I’d be sure to reply.
To read older episodes of Logos CLICK HERE
xoxo
Tosin
AFRICANISM COSMOPOLITAN 
Thank you Tosin for this…..really needed this words at this point cos have been one leg in one leg for a while and I feel really guilty everytime. Like you said we need the grace of God and discipline. God bless you Tosin love
I love the simplicity of how you compiled this post. Excellent!
This is how I see our race: when warriors are on a battlefield, they don’t just stand in the heat of the moment and say out loud ‘I want to kill the opponents’; and it’s done. No!
They train. They master the skill of using their weapons (bows, arrows, etc). They strategize on the best spot to target their enemies. And in the course of this preparation, some things will become of secondary importance.
That’s how we are to get closer to Christ. We are to understand that our flesh aka feelings will seek to do other things; that may seem more important than investing ourselves in getting to closer to God. But we don’t just accept the status quo of the feelings. We fight. We stretch out our arms to God, showing Him that We want this, and He embraces us with grace to get closer.
Just a desire to get closer to God never gets us there, at the long haul. A desire and working at it, with His grace takes us to our destination.
God bless you, sis. More of God’s grace and wisdom in your life! Amen.
Amen! Like you said, the zeal is not enough, zeal gets nothing done. i also understand that walking with God is about being deliberate (seeing godly things as necessity) after all, everything that we do on a daily basis we made time for them.
God help us to consciously and deliberately do walk in His ways.
Xx
Reblogged this on Amina's thoughts and commented:
I recently stumbled upon this blog & every single post I’ve read as been awesome. I stayed up last night reading her posts & I decided to reblog this particular one because it’s in my niche but her blog has so much more. Hope you enjoy reading as I did !
Thank you To sin, for this piece, I am so happy for the Grace on your life and your tenacity to live Godly and impact your world. Quick question, since I just learnt its not enough to desire God but to put in work, do you know or can you advise a Godly, faithliving truth sharing scriptural church in Badore, Ado, Ajah and its environ, where I can serve and worship?