Draw nigh

I know that on the last post I said that there was to be a continuation of the "Setting a Higher Standard" series, but God put something in my spirit that I needed to share. There has been a song in my heart for a while now. Every time that I hear this song my heart goes into a position of praise. The song is called, "Praise is What I Do" by William Murphy III. Really, my heart is in a place of permanent praise now simply because of the goodness God has displayed to me and my family's life. However, this song does move me.

In the song he sings, "Praise is what I do when I want to be close to you." Another part of the song goes, "Praise is what I do. Even when I'm going through, I learned to worship You." Here is the thing that God spoke to me and told me; that despite your circumstances or issues (whether it be financial, physical, mental, or whatever) when you praise God, you are pushing yourself closer to him. That's why this song moves me, because in the past and even now, I realize that I have to praise my way through and push myself closer to Him. I can't sit back and be quiet about God's grace, mercy and love. I have to outwardly praise God whether I'm in the four walls of the church or not.

God doesn't want the physical motions of praise or the talk of praise. Anybody can go through the motions or say the "key" words. What God really wants is your heart. It says in Deuteronomy 6:5 to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength." Now, in order to complete this task, we must first draw nigh to God (James 4:8). The word "nigh" means near in space, time, or relation. So when you draw nigh to God, you are drawing near in space, time and relation. Now because you are in relation to Him, you can truly do what Deuteronomy 6:5 says. Let's be honest. Most of the time people only try to get closer to God because we've tried to do things on our own and couldn't do it. After we come to this realization of not being able to make it without God, then we must do what Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 33. We have to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." By doing this, we are drawing nigh to God. In our seeking of His kingdom and righteousness, we are seeking Him. And when you diligently seek God, he will show himself true and bless you more than you can even imagine.

God bless.