Love you all, praying for you,
Have you ever felt far from God? Either you were far from Him, or He was far from you? Distant, exiled? Maybe sin got you there, or apathy, mistakes, distraction, disappointment, busy-ness… And you feel like you are so far away. Everyone around you seems like they are growing with God, and it appears like He’s really moving in their life… but it seems like you’ve got nothing. You can’t see Him, you can’t feel Him, it’s like you are numb, or lost, or wandering. Things aren’t working, or they might be working for now, but you know something is missing, and you may not even be sure how you got here, or how to get back. Psalms 147:2 – The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. This is a promise about God and you. One thing I so appreciate about God – He’s a builder. The LORD, the One who has the power to do it, is a builder, a drawer, a gatherer. He builds, He never tears down (except the plans of the enemy against you) He builds up, He grows and blesses and favors. Jerusalem, His people, His family, His nation, the nation whose God is the LORD. The place where He dwells, where He has decided to put His Presence. The place where He lives, takes up residence, now in the hearts of men… He builds up that place of His presence, and draws people to Him. He adds and gathers those exiled, those who wandered away, who got distracted, trapped by sin or other gods. He forgives, and restores, He brings back – like the prodigal son whom He loves. So how do you get back? From far to close. First turn, then take the first step. Turn is to call on His Name, to ask Him to help you, to be honest about how you are feeling, no matter how dry it is. Ask Him to forgive you for whatever you have done that separates you, and if you don’t know for sure, just tell Him that. Then the first step back is His Word – Get back to PRISM – those 5 things you can do in God’s Word every day. Just start with one or two, and He’ll draw you deeper. His Word always works, it will always draw you. It’s not what you feel. He didn’t say His Word feels like it doesn’t come back empty, it says His Word never comes up empty, never returns nothing. He will always draw you closer before you feel closer. He is the Father that loves you no matter what, no matter where you are, no matter how far. Step two is to praise, just remember who He is and what He has done, and declare out loud his goodness. It doesn’t matter what you feel. His truth isn’t based on or affected by our feelings. He remains the same – forever and ever. The next verse He heals the broken-hearted. How does brokenness happen? Rejection, calamity, or loss. And He binds up those wounds. He dresses them, He begins and facilitates the healing process – that’s how we know Him as Healer. Because He always builds up and builds back, He gathers, He heals and He restores. He doesn’t remove the wounds, sometimes not even the scars. That’s not His fault – what sin and sin nature have caused is not on God, it’s on man. Adam and Eve’s choice, and sometimes today, our choices. But He will never leave us nor forsake us. He guards us in calamity, when it is passed, the wicked are no more, but the righteous stand firm forever. In loss, He is our comfort, He is right there with us. He turns loss into gain, what the devil intended for evil, He turns to good. He builds up, He gathers, He restores. If you ever feel like you are far from Him, or He is far from you. Praying that you will Turn, Ask, Read, and Praise. He longs to gather you back. And what He has for you now, is even better than before – He knows how to restore. Love you all, dad
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