As many have noticed, we have had sort of a theme in our worship this month. It revolves around wanting more and more of Jesus in our lives, both personally and corporately as the body of Christ. This naturally led me to this question:
How do I get more and more of Jesus & how can I get closer to Him?
I have learned that the closer we get to Jesus, the stronger and happier we become. Sometimes in life we may not have that certain someone to encourage and push us forward, but when we experience radical intimacy with Jesus, every aspect of life seems to just fit in and fall into place. Getting closer to Jesus is an ongoing process that involves any number of steps. Now, I am not claiming to be an expert on the subject by any means, but here are four simple things that the Lord put in my heart:
- Spend quality quiet time with Jesus. Quiet time can involve reading various gospel oriented books or listening to devotionals or even Christian music. Just taking some time off to sit and think about certain verses or passages from the Bible would also amount to quiet time. It’s frankly just isolating ourselves from this noisy world and letting God know that we are waiting on him. So quality quiet time would surely make us feel closer to Jesus.
- Attend church regularly. This doesn’t mean just taking up space in a pew hoping that Jesus will seep in through osmosis. We need to be sure that we try to actively engage ourselves in the worship. When songs are being sung, sing along from the heart, when the Word is being preached, we need to listen intently and open our hearts to the message He has for us. Being engaged in church can have you leaving Spirit-filled and closer to Jesus.
- Read the Bible. The Bible is the inspired Word of God himself. Consider, if you will, the following verses:
- John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” KJV
- John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
- Since we refer to the Bible as the Word of God, and the above verses tell us that “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” & “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” it is my humble opinion that the Bible is a manifestation of Jesus. Keep in mind that I am not a biblical scholar by any stretch. The way I figure it is the best way to have an intimate knowledge of Jesus and to be as close as humanly possible to Him is to, not just read, but ingest, dwell on, meditate on Jesus, the Word of God.
- Talk to Him. The best way that I have found to get to know more about someone is to talk to them. It is the same way with Jesus. Jesus is our friend. No, He is more than just a friend. We are His family. We should talk to Him like He is in the room with us. Jesus is always listening and will never leave us or forsake us. Regular, meaningful conversations with Jesus are the best way to get closer to Him.
