Lord, Take It From My Hands

"My main work is to clear out debris and clutter, making room for My Spirit to take full possession. Collaborate with Me in this effort by being willing to let go of anything I choose to take away. I know what you need, and I have promised to provide all of that-abundantly!"

My dear friend Anna-Louise shared this with me, from "Jesus Calling" today. Today, this especially spoke so gently and beautifully into my heart.

Many times, we start asking God why He takes things away from our lives, whether it be losing a family member, missing out on a great opportunity, falling short financially, or losing a relationship with someone you thought you could have for a lifetime... But we must remind ourselves that when God takes things away from us, it is for our own protection, to reserve our hearts solely for the Lord. He knows what is clutter and what is valuable. He is the only One who can sort out what is debris and what is pure. He promises to remove the brokenness and strife to replace with His unfailing Love and eternal Joy! He has everything we need; its just a matter of letting some things go, then we can experience His blessings-His true abundant blessings.

This afternoon, I prayed the following, which brought me to realization of my desperate need for Him:

"Father God, my heart feels like its in a million pieces. Rather than my attempting to pick up every single piece, I invite You to pick up and take away all the clutter, all the debris, all the strife that is causing me to turn away from You. Take it from my hands. It is not worth holding onto. You are all I need. I am desperate for You. In Jesus' holy and precious Name, Amen."

James 4:8

This morning I received an email from my dad that I'd like to share.

One of my favorite scriptures is James 4:8 which has an interesting, almost geometrical concept: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  Think about that for a moment.  When we draw near to God in prayer (in meditation, in thought, in study of scripture, and in our God-centered attitude and character) he actually then takes a step closer towards us.  And for each step we take towards him, he takes another step towards us, each time reducing the space, time and distance between us.  Mathematically, I guess you could say, He would then be twice as close to use when we draw near to Him, and twice as far away when we don’t draw near to Him.  This is really reassuringly good news, especially when this nearness and his presence will comfort us in our disappointments, our loneliness, and our regrets.   Maybe this is the real reason we learn math. Love you, Dad

Every time I come across this verse, I am blown away in amazement at the power of God's presence. There are times when I feel so distant from the Lord, almost as if He is just someone I've heard about and had some cool experiences with. But the powerful truth proclaims that His Spirit is alive and active in our hearts! And each step we take closer to Him, closer to the cross, He meets us just as we are and invites us into His presence more and more intimately. James 4:8 tells me that Jesus desires to grow intimately with us each day. Enjoy His friendship. Grow deeper and deeper, closer and closer. Draw near to Him. He will draw near to you.