Feel Close to God?

Are you feeling close to God?  That actually is Not the question.  Our relationship with God flows from our spirit to affect our thinking and feelings, not the other way around.  If you have accepted Jesus' death and resurrection for your sins, you are close to God.

Everyone knows that feelings are fickle. We can be high and excited one moment and depressed the next.  Feelings change in a heartbeat, but reality always remains the same and does not change.  True reality is found in the Word of God, which even though heaven and earth may pass away, Jesus assures us His truth endures forever. 

The primary question of every person who has ever lived on the planet is "how do I stand in God's eyes?"  In other words, am I right with God and will I go to heaven?  There are many religions that give a set of rules to live by, but the problem is that in the heart of every man we know that we have missed the mark and done things wrong.  We have all broken the rules to live by.  Scripture says it this way, all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  There is only one way to get free of sin, and that is to have someone pay for them who is able to do so.  Jesus as the Son of God not only qualifies as able, but He willingly as a man took the punishment that all of our sins deserved, death.  There is only one faith that has a God who paid the price for sin so we can stand right with God.

Many people think that they are trying to live pretty good lives and therefore, God will surely accept them.  Others know about God's mercy but still feel that their efforts to do what is right AND God's mercy will grant them eternal life.  Both are wrong.  All our righteousness, our attempts to do right, are still as dirty rags according to Isaiah 54:6  This is actually good news because it takes away our fear of am I good enough.  Instead, all we have to do is say yes, I am not good enough but I receive the gift of Your righteousness.  Thank You for paying completely for my offences and for the rebellious sin nature of my flesh.  It has nothing to do with our performance, but rather realizing Jesus has said, "you are righteous because I AM."

The principle that Jesus taught is that the humble will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled.  God honors those humble enough to be like the publican in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican going to pray, "Have mercy on me, a sinner."  

What about doing good?  Everyone knows that love is stronger than fear, and perfect love casts out all fear.  We do good because we seek to please Him.  We keep His commandments because we love Him and all He has done for us, not because we fear rejection from heaven.  As being born from death to life and given the righteousness of God, we can set our minds on the Spirit and actually delight to do His will.  We may still blow it, but the Spirit checks us and we quickly repent, knowing He loves and forgives.  Nothing can separate us from the wonderful love of God. 

So the point is, we are more than close to God, we are actually a temple for God to live in.  He makes His home in us, not because we feel like we have been good, but because He is good and and has done it all to make it possible.  So we know we are "close to God" because of the revelation of our relationship in His Word and the witness of the Spirit, whether or not we feel our performance has been great today.  God desires us to know we are "His beloved in whom He is well pleased," now and forever.