Draw Close to God
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We are going to begin a study of one of the most important characters in the Bible—Moses. God used Moses to perform more miracles than anyone else, except Jesus. God also inspired Moses to write the first five books of the Bible. When Jesus was transfigured, only two Old Testament saints—Moses and Elijah—came from heaven to talk with Him (Mt 17:2–3). Moses had the most intimate relationship with God of anyone in the Old Testament, even more than Abraham.
Even though there is none other in the OT that seems as important as Moses, he did fail to accomplish one thing that God desired for him, entering the Promised Land. Moses failed to obey God’s instructions concerning the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin by not hallowing His name before the children of Israel [Num. 20]. But Moses still had a close walk with God and God loved Moses intimately. Here’s How I know this, Moses’ obituary.
10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,
11 in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land,
12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Have you ever thought about what would be said in your obituary? What will be said about who you were, how you lived your life and what people thought of you.
When we come to the end of our life, will we be able to say, “God and I are close,” and will people have realized that?
How do we Draw Close to God?
1. Accept God’s Plan for Our Life;
1. Accept God’s Plan for Our Life;
God created us for a purpose. He has a specific plan for each of us to glorify Him with our life.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
God had a plan for Moses before he was formed in the womb to be the deliverer of the nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Let’s trace that plan for just a minute.
600 years before Moses was Abram. God called Abram to follow Him and He would bless him and in him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Abram and Sarai were childless and were wondering when God would make them parents, a great nation. God confirmed His covenant with Abram.
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
But while God was sealing His covenant with Abram, God spoke these words to Him.
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Egyptian slavery was always a part of God’s plan for Moses! [Ex. 1-2, read]
Now if Moses would have known all that was prophesied earlier to Abram, and if he had any idea about what God had in store for him, I’m sure he would not have gotten close to God, even when he saw a bush burning. And neither would we! But that’s where faith comes in.
Drawing close to God requires faith, faith that God gives us to fulfill His purpose in our lives.
Moses parents [Amram and Jochebed] had an amazing faith to even consider having a child at time when Jewish babies were being killed. And when they had Moses, they realized there was something special about him and hid him for 3 months.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
And they put him in the Lord’s hands by putting Moses in the Nile River, the river of death for Jewish baby boys. The river of death became the river of life for Moses, by faith.
If we are going to accept God’s plan for our lives, by faith, we have to Draw Close to God!
James 4:8a (NKJV)
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.