Nearer to God

by Tiffany S.
​from Virtuous Daughters, June 2012~Volume 13, Number 3

My Dear Sisters,

Greetings in the exalted name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, faithful and true! I hope this letter finds you rejoicing in the great goodness which God has stored up for those who trust in Him (Psalm 31:19)!

…The Lord has been very gracious to teach me more of Himself and draw me closer in a special way over the past several months. At the beginning of the year, Gideon designed for me a beautiful framed picture that said: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”—Psalm 37:4 I decided that that verse would be my focus Scripture for 2013, and it has been exciting to watch God faithfully work in my life through His Word.

…One of my spiritual goals for the year was to draw nearer to God through prayer, and what a joy to see how He so graciously leads in this area. I inevitably find that the more time I spend in fellowship with the Lord, the more I long for it, which brings to mind Psalm 73:28: “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Thy works.” One day while pondering Psalm 37:3: “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed,” I asked myself, “How can I ‘do good’?” The Lord immediately brought to mind Psalm 73:28, which I thought was so fitting. As we draw near to God, He promises to draw near to us (James 4:8) and to guide us into His perfect will, thus enabling us to “do good” and to proclaim His mighty works!  

…Endeavoring to delight in the Lord and draw nearer to Him is such a fulfilling journey. There are struggles, absolutely; distractions arise, yes—but as we continuously seek the Lord for strength and victory, He does grant it! “Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His face continually.”—1 Chronicles 16:11 Think about it…if we are truly delighting in Him, He promises to grant our hearts’ desires, because our desires will be transformed to Him alone! (See Psalm 27:4.) Isn’t that an exciting thought?! God does not desire or expect us to accomplish any good thing in our own strength—without Him, we are nothing (John 15). However, we have a mighty Helper—the Creator of the universe (Psalm 124:8)—and He will sanctify us as we abide in Him. He is so faithful as we lean on Him!

…I have also been reminded that the more time we invest in the Word of God, the more we yearn for and delight in it. We are promised in the Scriptures that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6, Psalm 81:10). I was recently challenged to hand-copy the Gospel of John. Through this profitable project, I have gleaned lesson upon lesson. May we make John 17:17 our own prayer, pleading that the Lord sanctifies us through His truth...His Word is truth!

God is unceasingly faithful! He uses everything—even our own shortcomings—to draw us nearer to Himself. That the Lord desires fellowship with His children—that Christ gave His life to make it possible—is a compelling, powerful truth. May it drive us to follow hard after God as He upholds us in His right hand (Psalm 63:8) and make desiring to know Him more (Philippians 3:10) our highest aim in life.
My mind is brimming with other gleanings and testimonies of God’s faithfulness that I long to share with you all, but space restraints prevent me from doing so just now. May we pray for one another as we focus on our glorious King and endeavor to lead lives that glorify His holy name! “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”—Revelation 4:11 

Much Love to You in Christ our Redeemer,
Tiffany