Friday, December 28, 2018
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When our daughter and son-in-law became parents the first time, they also became an aunt and uncle. Their niece was a little younger than their first son, but you can imagine that both sets of parents enjoyed swapping stories about their first child. For example, he would set out a toy or a puzzle on the floor. He'd select one of us adults as his designated playmate. It sounds like this - now, he called me "Dada" because he couldn't say "Granddad" - he would go, "Dada pay." That's "play" for those requiring translation. And he patted the floor exactly where he wanted me to sit and "pay." Apparently, their niece was issuing similar invitations to the adults in her world, like her Daddy, for example. He was moving around the living room doing whatever, and she would look up at him with big eyes and asks a simple question, "Papa down?" She really wanted her father to come to her level. And he did.
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 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, don't you really need God to be close right now for the challenges you're facing, for the love you need, the peace, the answers that only He has?
Like that little girl, we need Him to come close, down to our level. And He has. And you might 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. He's 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 always wanted to have.
There was no way you or I 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 literally absorbing all the punishment for all the wrong things you have 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 and maybe go to His meetings, but you've never really trusted yourself totally to Him. He's 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 as my only hope - as my rescuer from my sin. I'm Yours, Jesus."
You know, our website would be a great place for you to go sometimes as soon as you can today, just to find the information from the Bible, God's Word, that will ensure you belong to Him. That's ANewStory.com. I just hope you'll go there today.
Maybe you believe in Jesus, but you don't belong to Him. That could change this very day. He's close right now, so grab Him while He's close.