Connecting to God

On Wednesday I had the privilege of speaking to a group of women about Connecting to God.

In preparation for this talk, I came up with a list of tips and tricks for

busy moms to connect with God.

1.  keep a little devotional in the bathroom -

 now matter how many crying babies you have, everyone needs to go to the bathroom!  It's a few moments you can read a little something and connect with God!

2.  Jesus Calling is an awesome devotional

3....

Then I quickly realized that this wasn't connecting with God, it was merely scheduling Him into our days where we claim we no longer have time for Him like we used to.

I reflected on my own life of the times I felt most connected to God and 2 things came to mind -

1.  during my journey with anxiety (a time of trial and suffering)

2.  and in my sin

Boom - that's what I needed to talk about.

 

SIN

The sin in our lives can either propel us to the most intimate connection with God through vulnerable confession and humbling forgiveness, or it can be the impassable chasm that separates us from Him for all eternity.

Some of us face trials and suffering in life in much greater depths than others.  But one thing we all experience daily is sin.

It's not even so much about what we say or do as it is the state of our heart and we've all had sinful hearts from the start.

We were born with a sinful nature.

David is known as "a man after God's own heart," he is the writer of the Psalms that we use so often in worship and prayer.  He defeated Goliath as a young boy, he was anointed King over Israel by God and he is a hero of faith.

Yet David was a brilliant sinner.  Not just your everyday, white lie here and there kinda guy.  But a lying, stealing, adulterous, murderous, bad parent kinda guy.  I think he broke all of the 10 Commandments!

Yet we view him as a model and a man deeply connected to God.

The thing about David is that through all of his bad choices, weaknesses and sin, he always humbled himself before God and confessed.  He was honest about his mistakes, owned them, and vulnerably approached God to ask forgiveness. 

In 2 Samuel David confesses that he has sinned by sleeping with Bathsheba and then killing her husband to cover up her pregnancy.

In Psalm 51 David elaborates as he pours out his heart to God

 

"Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

 

God forgave David and restored him to a place of deep connection.

 

God's greatest display of love is that He sent His son to die for us and be the sacrifice that cleanses us from all of our sin.

Deep connection with God comes when we receive that lavish love that comes through confessing our sinful nature and accepting His forgiveness.

Do not be deceived - just because we are not murdering adulterers like David doesn't mean that we are without sin.

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

 

Your deepest connection with God comes when you daily realize, regardless of your circumstances, that you desperately need a savior.  You need him every moment of every day because without him you are simply breathing, but there is little life in you.

 

Deep Thoughts!

Happy Weekend