Faithful to the End.

As I was praying today I was freshly reminded of the nearness of God.

I was having a hard time focusing and struggling to enter the presence of God when He suddenly brought to mind a person that I met about a year ago. I do now know this person well because I have only met them once but it is someone I will never forget.

Dustin and I were witnessing at UTPB one day when we crossed paths with a soon to be Psychologist. As we began to talk with Him about God he began telling us his view on life, religion and God. Lewis B told us how he believed in God and shared with us how he felt it was important to somehow believe in God no matter which god one believed in or which way one believed in that God. He had some great ideas, some not far from the truth, but struggled to see the importance of believing in the independent and divine God. As we walked away from the conversation, Dustin and I discussed the distortion we felt were in his views. Not long after Dustin ran into him again and went to his house. He found out that our friend, who had remained in our prayers after just one meeting, was living in homosexuality. In his drunkenness, he discussed God with Dustin. Despite his willingness to remain in sin and his twisted views, Dustin and I realized that Lewis B was close to receiving to Jesus.

As I prayed for Lewis I was thought about how far I used to be from God. When I was living in sin and running from God, He was so near to me. Despite the distance I had put in between us, God had stayed close to me. I remember a conversation Stephen and I had not long before we gave our lives to God. We were in the Odessa mall and were talking about whether or not we were going to ever live for God again. We came to the conclusion that despite our slight desire to live for God again, we would never be ready to accept Him.

My friends this is what is beautiful, no matter how far we run from God we CANNOT escape His nearness! One word can take this distance:
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and turn it into this distance:
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Regardless of how far we have put ourselves from God, regardless of what walls we have built and what barriers we have set up, GOD REMAINS NEAR TO US. And when we mention the name of Jesus that distance we have put between us vanishes! The walls we have set up crumble! You don't have to be ready. You don't have to be fully convinced that it's worth it. You just have to do it.

I want to challenge you to pray for the lost knowing the fact that despite how far one is lost, they cannot escape God. When you pray for your brother or sister or friend, when you pray for President Obama or your boss or your children, know that God is only one word away. Nothing is impossible for my God!

Deuteronomy 33:27 - The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

Psalm 139 - 1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
12Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.
19O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.