Each week we feature a devotional, book review or testimony ~ a “Devotional Spotlight”, written by a woman in our ministry. We hope you are blessed in reading Wendy’s devotional!
“Face Time ~ Draw Near to Him”
“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” Exodus 33:11a
A few months ago, I had a little hummingbird in my garage – that would not fly out, no matter how long I left the door open. We left water and honey out for her – but I doubt she ever drank. Needless to say, after two days of flying aimlessly back and forth, she wore herself out, and I found her on the floor, unable to fly anymore. I picked her up, and took her outside where she belonged, but I don’t think she lived very long, as she was too weak to carry on. She had exhausted herself in an environment that was not going to sustain her. But just outside – 6 feet from where she flew around endlessly – was the world in which she could have thrived!
I couldn’t help but sense the parallel in our lives. There is a safe place for us to abide spiritually, a place that will meet our deepest need, and sustain us to live our lives effectively and joyfully – living in dependency on the Lord, in intimate fellowship with Him. But, we can choose to live outside that safe and secure place, and try to live in own self-sufficiency. Often that leads to us “flying” around aimlessly, exhausted and weary, unable to live as the Lord intended for us to live –surrendered to Him.
Just as God met with Moses – face to face, He desires to fellowship with us face to face – our presence – to His Presence. He tells us in James 4:8 – that “if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.” When someone requests to “FaceTime” with you – you have to hit “accept”. God’s invitation is the same. We can choose to accept His soft prompting – and spend time with Him, purposely and intentionally, if we want to grow closer to Him, to know Him as He created us to know Him – more and more.
We only need to look into the life of the Lord to see the importance of this relationship. We know Jesus had more demands on Him than we can imagine – so the busyness excuse isn’t valid. And we know He had important relationships, and work to do – so that is much like our lives. But, He made it a priority, no matter where He was – or what His schedule looked like, to spend time with the Father. His everyday life taught us what it looks like to abide.
In Mark 1:35, we learn how …“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.” The rest of that passage tells us, He had had a busy day and night – and still managed to “get up”. Luke 5:16 tells that “He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” We often see the Lord in Scripture stop and pray in everyday life, continuing the intimacy with the Father in all He did.
When Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray, He left some of the disciples, and then took Peter, James and John with Him. But Matthew 26:39 tells us, Jesus “went a little beyond them, or “going a little farther” – He fell on His face and prayed”. We know the disciples fell asleep – but my take-away is not about what they did – or what I might have done. Instead, I love the picture of going a “little further and farther” with the Lord.
So how are we to go a little further in our relationship and truly abide in the Lord? That could probably be talked about for a very long time. But, I believe, the first thing is – we simply have to get up! And that may start by getting ready the night before by turning off the tv – and going to bed a little earlier! My Daddy used to ask me “if my Saturday night had interfered with my Sunday morning ?” – Many times it had !
Just like Martha got “distracted and bothered” by many things, I too can miss the opportunity to just sit at the feet of Jesus, if I get going on the demands of the day, or start looking at the computer, or Facebook, or my phone! But the passage in Luke 10 also tells us, “Martha welcomed Him into her home”, or “opened her home to Him.” We start by welcoming Him into our hearts and lives, and then sitting with Him, allowing Him to have control, moment by moment.
Stormie Omartian sums it up this way p.28:
”This deep and intimate relationship with God that we all desire and can’t live without doesn’t just happen. It must be sought after, prayed for, nurtured and treasured. And we must continually seek after, pray for, nurture, and treasure it.”
That intimate relationship is what I pray for – to go a little further with Jesus, every day.
