Need Relational Therapy with God? Conversations and Scripture on How God Wants You Close to Him

God will talk to you during your conversations with others. So, how close to you want to get to God?  How close does He want to be to you?  This is both a practical and powerful conversation, with true stories and Bible scriptures that help you discover how God is the initiator of personal relationships. 

His goodness will exceed your expectations if you'll dare to believe.

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Transcript

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Then I asked him if I could pray for him, which he was, you know, didn't quite know how to take me in, take in a conversation like this from his grandchild. But he said yes. So I just prayed a prayer saying, Father, thank you for my grandfather. Thank you that he's a godly man, a few things like that. And something this just came up inside my heart to say, When you see Jesus, tell him I love him. And I thought, what? I can't say that. That sounds like he's gonna die. Do you love God but forget to pray? Or feel guilty instead of enjoying his presence? I understand. I know how unsatisfying time with God can feel if we believe he is distant and busy. I'm Lenora, mom, Jesus lover, and former international trainer. If you're ready to feel closer with God without fear or pressure, have greater ability to receive from him, and desire more confidence to make an impact with your life. Well, get some coffee and let's talk. If you're carrying stress and want support with prayer, I wrote a book to help you. It's called 100 Prayers, Releasing 100 Cares. It's full of real stories, scripture, and 100 prayers for about every part of life. A link for the book is in the show notes. I really think you'll love it. Some have said it is the best prayer book they've ever had. Many years ago, I mean, in the last century, by about a decade, my grandfather was in the hospital. I've got a phone call and I'd heard he'd had a heart attack and was in the hospital. I couldn't go visit him the same time the rest of my family was going. So I just made plans that afternoon to go see him. When I got to his room, I was surprised that he wasn't in the hospital bed. He was in his overalls, which is what I always saw my grandfather in. And he was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed. I was really surprised. And either he or a nurse told me he was scheduled to be released that afternoon, which I thought was pretty awesome. But since it was just me, I just sat with him. And we didn't have a ton of conversations in the past, so it was a little awkward, but I just wanted to say thank you to him for having been a Christian. And that because of that, my mom was, and now I was. So I would just wanted to share gratitude. Then I asked him if I could pray for him, which he was, you know, didn't quite know how to take me in, take in a conversation like this from his grandchild. But he said yes. So I just prayed a prayer saying, Father, thank you for my grandfather. Thank you that he's a godly man and a few things like that. And something this just came up inside my heart to say, When you see Jesus, tell him I love him. And I thought, What? I can't say that. That sounds like he's gonna die. He's supposed to be released this afternoon. I so I just didn't say it. I didn't follow that prompting. And I said goodbye and left. A couple hours later, he passed away. He did not leave the hospital. He just, I don't know if he was just sitting in that chair, but he just was gone. And I thought, wow, I'm so glad I got to talk with him and share my gratitude for his life personally. But then I also thought, darn it, I missed the opportunity. Now I can tell Jesus myself that I love him, and I do, but I thought it was a cool idea after it came up, which I'm pretty sure, in fact, I'm certain it was inspired by God Himself, because that just wouldn't have come to me. Plus, I figured he was gonna live longer. Anyway, some years later, my dad's mom was in and out of the hospital with heart issues. She was 96. I called her because she lived in Southern California and I was not in the same state, and I just wanted to connect with her. We did have a bit more of a relationship over the years. So I did the same type of thing and just shared my gratitude for her, made sure out loud that I told her thank you. And then I was gonna say, This time I'm taking this opportunity because I figured she's been in and out of the hospital a lot. I know exactly where she's going. I know she loves Jesus. She's she's she's gonna be face to face with God soon. So I told her, I was going to say the exact same thing, but it came out of my heart different. And I said, Hey grandma, when you see Jesus, will you give him a kiss for me? And I was like, Well, that was even bolder. And she just kind of laughed and chuckled, and I I think it and I probably embarrassed her a little bit. And I I paused and I said, No, I'm serious. Would you do that for me? And she said, Yes. And she agreed. And it was a you know, a few weeks later when she passed away. And it was so also easy for me to grieve when you've expressed the love and gratitude you have for someone. It does help. But it was super cool to know she was delivering that message. You know, when we have Christ, when Jesus is our Lord, the Spirit of God lives in us, we've accepted Him as the Son of God, and He lives in us. And if you know the Bible, you know that. But my question is right now, at this time, how close do we want to be with Him? I mean, there's a lot that goes on in life. How close do I want to be? How personal with God do I want to get? And I'm bringing this up because I think it's an important question, because I think our expectations matter a lot more than we think because we're made in the image of God. Again, go back to Genesis. We're made after his likeness. It's funny how I mean the world almost whether it's the new age or just whatever, they almost get it sometimes better than Christians do that what we expect out of life has something to do with what we receive from it. It's certainly not everything, but it does matter. And we're made in the image of God. So because of that, our hearts can shut down and say, No, I don't want X, Y, Z relationship, or yes, I do. We can choose to get closer to a person, to a friend, spend more time with that friendship, have a better relationship in our marriage by choosing relationship things. You get my point. It's the same thing with God. Now, scripture says when you've accepted Christ, you're one in spirit. But what about the rest of you? Your soul? What about all your thoughts, your emotions? How close do you want to be? Now I want to switch to tell you how close do you think he wants you to be? It's not just for certain people. If you're listening to this podcast, you most likely know salvation is for anyone who calls on the name of Jesus. And salvation meaning really marriage with God, complete relationship with God comes through Jesus Christ. But God wants it to be a good marriage, He wants it to be an intimate marriage. Read the book of the Song of Solomon's. God understands romance, he understands closeness, intimacy, and that's the kind of relationship, heart to heart, mind to mind, spirit to spirit that your father wants with you. Now we're gonna look at two verses. John 14 6 and John 6 44. First one is when Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Again, if you know the Bible, it's not because he didn't want to do it any other way, it's because there is no other way for us to be joined to a holy, holy God, except that all of our anger, hatred, all the things we do, and the way we fall short of his amazing self has to be dealt with. And Jesus came to deal with it so that we could, through Christ Jesus, have that face-to-face with the Father, like in Genesis. They walked with God in the garden. He wants you walking with him close every day, very personal relationship. So again, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And then John 6.44 says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. So how do these fit together? It's a beautiful mystery in salvation and about the relationship with God. The only way to the Father is through Jesus because it required his holiness that we fall short of. And Jesus is the exclusive mediator between God and man. And the only way to Jesus is by the Father drawing us. Salvation begins with God's initiative, not your effort. Sometimes we think God is distant and busy and just annoyed with people or watching them like animals in a cage. And that is so corrupt. That concept is so messed up. I've brought this up on past episodes. Read Ephesians 1. God's plan from the beginning, like a parent, was to create this amazing baby room universe for us to be in. And some of you would think that's crazy. You know how big the universe is, Lenora? Well, technically in my mind, I don't fully grasp it. No. But if we're made in the image of God, we needed a big playroom because nothing's impossible with him. And he made us after his image, so we needed a big playroom. But he always made it with you in mind. It's like a parent who makes a baby room because he and she want to put that baby in that room and be with that child. Relationship with God starts with the Father's initiative. He planned for us in the first place. His plan was always for us to be his child. He knew there was going to be a failure. They planned for the answer ahead of time, and it was secured. The answer was secured through the Son of God. And salvation is completed by the resurrection. Because it proved our sins were paid for. Jesus didn't die for his sake. He was not a martyr. He was a sacrifice to reunite us, reconcile us with God. Not that God didn't want the relationship, but we had run from him, and we have an enemy. There is an enemy that has been lying from the beginning, and the lies are rampant still today of what God is like. In fact, your enemy, Satan, devil, whatever you want to call it, part of the definition of the word is a divider, one who puts things to stumble in front of you. The enemy wants to break your trust, break your trust with God, break your perspective of God, break your trust with people, and cause us to be separated. God wants us united. God wants us one, wants us in unity. Not that we do everything exactly the same, but we can walk together. Now out of John 6.44, it says, No one can come to me except the Father who sent me, draws him. God sent Jesus, so it was God's initiative, the Father's initiative, and he says the Father draws the person to him. Again, it's God's initiative. The word draw means to pull, draw, or drag something with force. It implies a strong movement of attraction rather than a passive suggestion or a gentle invitation. It doesn't mean to invite, it means to pull toward. So God, who started this whole creation in the first place, creating mankind, it was his initiative. And now he is pulling us towards him. The references in scripture, let's use a couple of those. John 21, 6 talks about pulling a heavy net of fish, a force applied to drawing something, drawing that load of fish towards him. The same words used in some negative concepts sometimes. Acts 16, 19, Paul and Silas were dragged into the marketplace. James 2, 6, there was applied pressure. It wasn't just a gentle persuasion. Those are negative examples, but there's time God is trying to say, Wake up. You need to choose me. You don't know how the enemy's trying to take your life, take you out. Come to me while you still have a free will opportunity in this body of yours to say yes to me, because I want you as my own. Read the Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verse 4. Draw me after you. The word draw also means a romantic pull of love. God's goodness leads us to repentance. He's saying, I'm so good. Come to me. Jeremiah 31, 3. I have loved you. I have drawn you with loving kindness. So with God, He initiated in the first place this creation. He always has had a purpose for you. And he initiates and actively moves the human heart. He's drawing your heart, but you will always have a free will. Now, some of you say, Well, I already have Jesus. I get this, Leonard, I've already got this. And I'm so happy you do. But I think he's also drawing you into a friendship with God. Like Abraham was called the friend of God. He told the disciples, Jesus told the disciples, I don't longer call you servants, but I call you friends. And I tell you things I don't tell other people. He gives you a revelation about what he's really like because you're his friend. Sometimes he tells you things that are coming. That's what prophetic words are. God may tell you something. There's so much that could be said there. But there is the real thing of God will talk to people. God will help us see what's coming because he wants to help us. So how close do we want to be? Again, he uses loving attraction. He compels by love. He wants us to awake to the desire to know him. He doesn't force himself on people, he wakes them up. His pull is strong. And God, I pray right now that you are strongly pulling people that hear this episode to draw near to you, to say yes, I want to be close to you. If they know Jesus already, they say, God, I want us to be friends. I mean real friends. Help me believe it. And if they don't know you, God, I pray you are drawing them to call on the name of Jesus. Say yes to this God who says he's always had a purpose for me. I want your purpose for me. I want the life that you have for me. God is so much better. That was a prayer. Now I'm back to talking to you. God is so much better than we think. It began with his initiative. Our response is real, but it's actually secondary because he started it. We're responding to him. He reveals truth to us, he stirs your spirit, your conscience, he awakens desire for him. He can open up spiritual perception. I've said in past episodes, and I pray over you and myself. God open the eyes of our understanding to the knowledge of you. Life is how do you say it, incomprehensibly better with Jesus than without him. I saw that movie recently. If you saw the movie Night and Day, there's a scene, actually two scenes, where Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are in this crazy adventure, and he is trying to keep her alive. And he is standing there trying to convince her, I'm not this horrible traitor that they've tried to tell you I am. You're gonna need to trust me. I'll keep you safe and get you out of this situation. And he uses his hand high above his shoulder to say, with me, you're safer. And he puts his hand low, without me, you're not safe. Except it's just a quick with me, without me. This is how life's gonna go. And this is the truth with you and Jesus Christ. And if and if you want to put this scene where you're Cameron Diaz and Jesus is Tom Cruise, he's telling you, here's how life goes. With me, the hand is up high, and you're safe. And if you don't have me, if it's without me, your life is at great risk. With me, without me. If you've seen the movie, you can picture the scene. So don't just expect to someday go to heaven. Life begins at calling on the name of Jesus. Eternal life is to know God. You have it right now. And He wants way more than a contract relationship with you. It's a covenant, it's a marriage. And it's our choice to begin to believe God actually wants a friendship with me. God actually wants an intimate, close friendship relationship with me. God open my eyes to that. Help me say yes. For some of you, this is just a simple shift or a reminder of what you already know. For others, because of all the different ways people have broken your trust, all of the situations that have made you not have hope, to not have a good expectation. It's a different process. The truth of God's goodness is the same, but you've had more attack you against believing it. My prayer and expectation for you is that you're gonna sense God is good. You're gonna begin to take more risks with him, you're gonna be hungry to start reading his Bible, and you're gonna start speaking it out loud and agreeing with him, and you're gonna start seeing the miraculous and start seeing the good things that he has always planned for you. John 10, 10, I'll end with this. The thief comes only to kill, to steal, and to destroy. But I came that you would have life and have it to the full. That is the clearest definition of what God wants for you. And I speak over you, the word prophesy, I declare over you that you will have life in Christ Jesus and life to the full. Open our eyes, Father. We say yes to you, and we begin taking steps and speaking your blessings over our life, experiencing them, and we will get stronger than the battles we're facing because we are in Christ, and your life is everything, and it's working in us today. Amen. Love ya. Thanks for listening. Hey, my new friend. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds and share this with someone who needs to hear this or may want to join you on this journey with this podcast? And please take 30 seconds and leave a quick review for the show on Apple Podcasts and subscribe so you won't miss an episode. It makes me happy to know this podcast is helping you. So definitely let me know what you want to hear or what impacts you. And remember, a link to get the prayer book I mentioned earlier 100 Prayers to release 100 cares is in the show notes. Thank you for listening. I'll meet you back here on Monday for another episode. Until then, be kind to you.