If you've been a Christian for any length of time,
I'm sure you've found yourself feeling like God is distant at times.
Looking back on your life, there are probably times
when you felt like God was close and that you were confident in what you believed.
Maybe you heard an amazing message from a pastor a while ago,
or you returned from a camp
feeling refreshed or had a good streak of doing your devotions.
But now it feels dry.
And with this dryness comes a level of guilt.
And you think to yourself, What's wrong with me?
Why does God feel far? Or What do I do?
So in today's video, we're going to tackle this question the best we can.
How do I get right with God?
And this video will be focused on giving four helpful tips
to struggling Christians trying to find God in their hardships.
Tip number one, go to the cross.
While this video covers four tips that can help you get right with God,
you must understand this monumental truth.
You yourself cannot get right with God.
Many people fall prey to this lie.
I need to fix up my life so I can get right with God.
Let me tell you this.
Getting right with God doesn't mean praying and reading your Bible every day.
Getting right with God.
Does it mean to have consistent church attendance or to tithe everything you get?
Now, let me elaborate.
Remember, God has a holy God and perfect and just beyond measure.
So while being good right now may be nice, it doesn't erase
our past failures, nor does it account for all our future mess ups.
We lie, we're selfish and probably have a past
with holding on to sexual immorality or stepping on others to get ahead.
Or we held on to feelings of bitterness and resentment.
We are sinners and Romans 623 tells us that the penalty of our sin is death.
The reason why Jesus died on the cross was to pay for our own penalty.
He died in our place.
And when we understand and believe that Jesus died for our sins,
we now can have a close relationship with a perfect and holy God.
Romans ten nine reads
that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart
that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Save from what?
Save from hell and eternal separation from God.
So application when you feel like you need to get right with God,
remember that you don't get right from doing a bunch of good things.
You're right with God by acknowledging that God loves
you so much that He sent Jesus to die in your place.
Reading, praying, and going to church
should not stem from this necessity of trying to be good or get right.
It should come from a heart of gratitude and love for God.
We read and pray so that we can learn more about the God who loves us so dearly.
Focus on your relationship with God, not on all the rules that you have to follow.
So now that you understand that you can get right with God
and that God made everything right between you and Him through Jesus,
it's time to continue our list of helpful tips.
Tip number two.
Feelings aren't reliable.
God's word is one of the first things you need to understand
is that how you feel can be different from what is true.
Looking at John 1416, Jesus is speaking to his disciples before
He goes to the cross and He tells them, and I will ask the Father
and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you.
He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth.
The world cannot receive Him because it isn't looking for him
and doesn't recognize him.
But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
No, I will not abandon you as orphans.
I will come to you all this to say
you may feel like God is distant, but if you're a Christian, God,
the Holy Spirit dwells enough and is close to you, regardless of how you may feel.
Also, in Romans 838 239 it tells us that nothing
can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
You see, sometimes our feelings can be misleading.
Sometimes we feel like
God is far, or that he doesn't love us the way he did before, when the reality is
that God is close and that nothing can separate us from His love
application.
What do you do?
Make it a point to read God's Word regularly
so that you can keep your feelings in check with what is true.
Tip number three input equals output.
Paul tells us in Galatians Chapter six seven through eight.
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked for whatever a man sows that he will also reap,
for he who sows to his flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption.
But he who shows to the spirit will of the spirit, reap everlasting life.
So imagine if your life were a field.
If you wanted apples, you'd plant apple seeds.
And if you wanted avocados, you'd plant avocado seeds.
So now I want you to reflect.
What are you planting in your life?
Hours of mindless social media scrolling video
upon video of YouTube bingeing, movie after movie, show after show.
Think about it.
Sometimes it's not that God is far.
It's that we see so much with our eyes and hear so much with our ears.
Nonsense that anything God wants to tell us
affect severely gets tuned out.
So application.
Think of your eyes and ears as gateways to your field
and what gets planted in your field will be what grows in your heart.
Are you planting enough of God or is your mind being overrun with weeds and stones?
You see, God's seeds are sincere. Prayer.
Reading and meditating on God's Word.
Spending time with other Christians and serving others.
And as a side note, if you're going to read and pray,
make it a point to disconnect.
Put away the phone, turn off the TV, and put yourself in a place
where you can concentrate.
Tip number four Sin can destroy this
tip connects with tip number three going back to your field.
There may be something that's growing out of control.
Look at James chapter one verses 14 to 15.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.
Ensign when it is full grown, brings forth death.
It's important to understand that sin has destructive consequences.
Sometimes our selfish and sinful nature can destroy close relationships,
our confidence, or our close relationship with God.
Jesus In Luke, chapter nine, verse 23, says, If anyone desires to come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
You see, when it comes to following God, we must understand that there's more to
it than just going to church and hanging out with other Christians.
Being a disciple of Christ requires a level of discipline
that chooses to deny certain pleasures.
When we indulge in our sinful desires and give in to temptation,
one of the things that dies is our intimacy with God.
To follow God means to carry our cross daily,
which means to make the decision every day to say no to sand,
no matter how bad we may want it.
So application look to see if you're allowing
a certain sin to grow in your life and then cut it out.
If you need help cutting it out verbally, ask for help from someone that you trust.
Maybe a pastor, teacher, mentor, family friend.
Make sure that they have
your best interest in mind and make sure they have a higher spiritual maturity
than you do.
Note that sometimes the all consuming sin is an addiction, or maybe someone who's
a bad influence or something that causes your mind to go into a dark place.
You need to take serious steps to cut this out of your life
so that your walk with God can grow.
Take great heed to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter five, verse 30.
And if your right hand causes you to send, cut it off and cast it from you,
for it is more profitable for you that one of your members
perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Okay, so we shared four tips on how to get right with God.
Tip number one, the most important tip, Go to the cross.
You can get right with God.
You're made right based on what Jesus did for you.
Tip number two Feelings aren't reliable.
God's word is tip number three.
Input equals output.
So be careful with what you plant.
Tip number four, sin can destroy and it can destroy your relationship with God.
So as you continue to seek God, hold in your heart what James says in
chapter four, verse eight Draw near to God and you will draw on year to year.
Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts.
You double minded.
In this verse lies a promise drawn
near to God, and He will draw near to you.
God is not some unknown God in the sky.
He's a God that desires to have a relationship with you.
Our prayer for you is that you continue in your walk with God,
understanding that you're going to have some high points and some low points.
God uses both.
So keep going and know that Jesus loves you.
God bless.
Everyone.
Thanks so much for watching.
We really hope this video bless you guys
as you take proactive steps towards drawing closer to God.
Feel free to like subscribe
and leave us a comment if there's something specific
you'd like us to talk about in a future video.
We definitely read the comments, so we try to prioritize those if we can.
Until next time. My name is Joseph.
Thanks so much for watching. God bless.