Monday, October 27, 2008
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When our daughter and son-in-law became parents the first time, they also became an aunt and uncle thanks to little Maddy. Now, Maddy's a little younger than their first son, but you can imagine that both sets of parents enjoy swapping stories about their first child. For example, he would set out a toy or a puzzle on the floor and then he'd select one of us adults as his designated playmate. It sounds like this, "Dada (that's me), pay." That's "play" for those requiring translation. And he pats the floor exactly where he wants you to sit and "pay." Apparently, Maddy was issuing similar invitations to the adults in her world, like her Daddy, for example. He may be moving around the living room doing whatever, and she'd look up at him with big eyes and asks a simple question, "Papa down?" She really wants her father to come to her level. And he does.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God Up Close."
If you've looked up at the night sky recently and thought about all those galaxies out there, or looked out over the majesty of the ocean or the mountains, you can get to feeling kind of small. The God who made all that can seem pretty far away. And that's too bad because, in so many ways, you really need God to be close right now, don't you, for the challenges you're facing, for the love you need, for the peace, or for the answers that only God can give you.
Like little Maddy, we need Him to come close, to come to our level. And He has. And you may be on the edge of a personal love relationship with your Creator that will unlock the rest of your life. Because of what God tells us He's done in our word for today from the Word of God in John 1:14. It says, speaking of the Son of God, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." "Papa down." God came here, not as an angel or a spirit, but as a man, and His name was Jesus. He's lived poverty, He's lived rejection, He's lived betrayal and hurt, and He has even died a brutal death.
Why? So He could make the promise that comes a couple of verses earlier, "To all who received Him (that's Jesus), to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God." We're talking an intimate Father-son or Father-daughter relationship; not with a Father who's like your father on earth, but who's the kind of Father you've always wanted to have.
There was no way you could ever belong to the God of the universe, unless there was some way to remove the sin that separates every one of us from Him. And that's what was happening when Jesus was dying on the cross. He was absorbing all the punishment for all the wrong things you've ever done. And when you open up your life to Him, you become God's girl...God's boy.
Maybe, after what you've been through, you find it hard to trust anybody, including God. You're willing to believe Jesus' beliefs or to go to His meetings, but you've never really trusted yourself totally to Him. And He is the first person you finally can trust totally, because He's come down so far to love you. He died for you. He will never do you wrong.
And He's coming close right now. He's coming to you where you are. He's inviting you to be His, and I pray you won't go one more day without Him. Just tell Him, "Lord, I want to belong to you. I turn from running my own life, and I'm grabbing you with both hands - my only hope as my rescuer from my sin.
Our website has been a real encouragement to a lot of people it seems, when they've been ready to begin this relationship. But I would invite you to go there and check it out. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there right away today, or call from my booklet. It's free and the call's free, too. It's called Yours For Life and the number is 877-741-1200.
You believe in Jesus, but maybe you don't belong to Jesus. That could change this very day. He's close right now, so grab Him while He's close.