Come Near to God and He Will Come Near to You

    Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with what Daddy’s teaching me. But among it all, almost every day I feel Him whisper “Come near to me, Ariel, and I will come near to you.” And He has. God has actually come near to me. I feel Him guys. I want so badly for you to know this. I want you to know it so you can feel Him too. He’s standing there, holding out His arms that never tire, waiting. He’s not impatient. He’s not angry. He’s not disappointed. He’s just. waiting. But the first part of His sentence says “Come near to me.” We have to walk into Him, into His presence, into His embrace, in order to experience Him and His power and love. Reading His word, talking to Him (some may refer to this as prayer), living as He desires, pursuing Him and not the fleeting crap that this world has to offer.... all of this is a gift He has given us so that we can know the Creator that hand-sculpted us into this beautiful creature that we are. He literally yearns for us. GOD. YEARNS. FOR. US. Sometimes I almost can’t take it in! He wants me? He wants to spend time with a foolish girl who’s ignored and denied Him for so long and lived solely for herself? YES! YES HE DOES! And it’s not just me guys!! This is how God feels about every single one of His children. Do you hear me? Do you hear Him? He wants you! He doesn’t want you to clean up your act. He’ll take care of that. He just wants to hear your voice turn it’s tune to His waiting ears. He want’s you to turn those beautiful piercing eyes on His unfading beauty. He wants to show you that YOU are beautiful! HE WANTS YOU! He doesn’t care what you’ve done or said or thought. God wants you. Sooo badly that He wrapped himself up in flesh, came down to this mad-house, nursed as a baby, bled like a man, and was murdered in one of the most horrific ways man has ever designed, just so that you would notice Him and come to Him. Do you understand how much you are loved? Do you understand how precious and beautiful and wonderful you are to Him? To the Father who dyed your hair, painted your eyes, fit your fingers and toes, and stitched up every loose seam. He’s in love. He’s in love with you. He’ll forgive you. He’ll make you promises and never, ever, ever break them. He’ll hold you every single time you ask Him to. He’ll swipe those tears away. He’ll kiss you and love you the way you’ve always yearned for. But you have to walk to Him. He gave us this will, because He didn’t want robots walking around His planet chanting insincere “I love you’s” without a burning raging fire within their deepest pits. He wants us to understand His depth and His love, so that we may reciprocate it. So reciprocate it. You won’t be perfect. You’ll mess up. I promise you’ll make mistakes. But the thing about God is, He’s standing all around you so that no matter what direction you fall towards, He’s going to catch you and kiss you and encourage you so your fall will be shorter next time. God is crazy for loving me this much, but He does, and it’s the best part of everything. The best part of my day, the best part of breathing, the best part of everything: No matter what I do, where I go, how far I fall, He loves me. He wants me. I am wanted. I am loved. I am forgiven. And so are you. Run into Him! RUN!!!

James 4:8