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Psalm 90:10

The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 

If you are going through some difficult times and are asking God to please help, I have good news for you. I know it’s not fashionable to say this but there really is a God and He is waiting for you to reach the point of desperation where you will finally turn to Him. The purpose of this article is to reveal some of the surprising ways God works in our lives and how you can get closer to God.

Finding God may be easier than you think. The Bible says "seek and you will find" notice that it doesn't say seek and your chances are 50-50 in finding God. The reason for the Bible being so sure that you will find God is that the Bible also states that God is seeking people who will worship Him. So you see, God is really seeking you. Jesus also said "no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;" Jesus also says "I did not come to condemn the world but to seek and to save that which was lost".

I know for me the reason I was reluctant to seek God when I was in my teenage years was because I was afraid I would find Him. I figured if I found God I would have to quit seeing my friends and quit all my bad habits. What I hadn’t realized at that time is that God as my maker knows considerably a lot more than I do. When God calls you to come to Him you have to trust God and know that He only wants what’s best for you. If God asks you to give up anything He will first give you the will and the power to do so.

One secret I learned in my teenage years is the way to find God is through his word. If you ever get lost in life the way to find your way back to God is to just pick up the Bible and start reading the New Testament. This next verse stuck in my mind from my teenage years so I always knew how to get back to God. “Isaiah 55:11, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” 

When God created the earth it was accomplished by His spoken word. When Jesus raised the dead and did His many miracles it was with the spoken word. God is using His written word to transform peoples’ lives from the inside out. So you ask yourself, what must I do to find God and be saved. First you need to know what you are asking. Saved from what?

In John3 verse 18 the Bible states "He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God."

So clearly the question should be what must I do to be saved from condemnation? The Bible teaches that the human race is cursed and born under condemnation. That means that if you go along in life and mind your own business and never do anything about seeking God, you will stay in that state of condemnation. The Bible is the only religion on this planet that explains why everything on this planet is always going wrong.

But fortunately God says that none of his people will be lost. God draws you back to Himself. So to be saved the first requirement is that you have to trust God with your life and believe that God is. What is the best way to believe that God is? Ask Him. What I did many years ago was to ask God. I prayed "Jesus if you are really God could you please prove it to me?" from that moment on my life began changing for the better.

When you ask Jesus to prove to you that He is God, know in your mind that He will do what you ask of Him and look for the answer. The proof will come to your satisfaction if you patiently wait and keep looking. In my case the answer came the next morning but every case is different. Remember without faith it is impossible to please God.

I know that some of you are going through some pretty heavy trials. Don't be afraid to ask Jesus for help. Many times God will put you in those tough times with no one left to turn to so that you will finally turn to God. He really wants to help you and be there for you if you will just turn to Him and ask Him for help. Keep in mind the most important problem to God you are facing is not your lack of a job or a lack of anything else in this life. To God the biggest problem you are facing is whether or not you are going to go to heaven. The Bible says to seek God and His kingdom and everything else will be added to you.

Remember, it doesn't matter what you have done. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. That means that every human being is in the same boat. Nobody is any better than you are. You don't find God by being "good enough."  The Bible says in “Romans 10:9-10, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

“One story I like that helps put things in their proper perspective is that King David of Israel was one of God's favorite people and he was guilty of adultery and murder. God showed us by forgiving King David for his terrible deeds that our deeds will also be forgiven.

Always remember this one very important fact most people forget, we can't ever get to heaven by being good enough. In fact if you try to be good enough you are insulting God because He sent His Son to die in our place. The Bible says that if you try to earn your way into heaven by working, those works are actually counted as debt against you. We can see this in Romans 4:4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. By you trying to be good enough you are telling God that His Son's death on the cross wasn't enough to save you.

I can understand why most people are having trouble accepting God’s righteousness as a free gift. The enemy keeps telling us that we aren’t good enough and the enemy is absolutely correct, we aren’t good enough and that’s why Jesus had to die on the cross. We don’t make it to heaven by our own righteousness in fact our righteousness is compared to filthy rags! The Bible tells us that we get to heaven by using Jesus’ righteousness.

The Bible tells us that everybody who turns to Jesus for salvation is accepted. No one is turned away! When that voice tells you that you are wasting your time and that there isn’t any forgiveness left for you, remember this verse: John 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

So how do you put off the things of the world to get closer to God? You get closer to God through His word. If you don’t have a Bible that you can understand make that your first priority. I recommend “the New Living Translation” or “the New King James Version.” To put off the things of this world pray to God that He will remove all the filth of the world from you and to cleanse you of any wrong doing because you don't have the power to do so. It's only by His son's sacrifice that gives you the power to change and the right to approach God. It is only by God's grace and power that you will be able to achieve harmony with God. 

Don’t make the mistake of letting any organization tell you that you have to work for your salvation. Salvation is a free gift from God and once you believe in your heart that Jesus is God and was raised from the dead to pay for your sins then at that moment you will be sealed by God. Once that occurs no one and nothing on this planet can take that away form you. Your citizenship in heaven is secured. we see this in Ephesians 1:13, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,” 

They will next tell you that the book of James states that “faith without works is dead.” That is true when it comes to your reward in heaven but has nothing to do with your citizenship in heaven. You may lose your reward, you will never lose your salvation. We can see this in the book of second Timothy verse 20, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.”

The best advice I can give to a person trying to draw closer to God is to develop good habits right from the start and stay with it. Start your day with a prayer in the morning when you first get up and finish your day with a prayer before you get into bed. I would pray using the same format that Jesus used in Matthew 6:9 except I would personalize the prayer to make the prayer my own. I always make a point to thank God for all the provisions He has blessed our family with. Get in the habit to always count your blessings and be thankful for what you have. Remember what little you have can always be taken away from you.

Another thing that has really helped me draw closer to God is the purchase of Bible study MP3’s by my favorite Pastor. One CD holds about 45 Bible lessons. When I travel anywhere I would put one CD into my car’s CD player and one MP3 would last me about a month. I also recorded some of my favorite Christian music from ITunes and I would play those songs anytime I needed a spiritual lift.

Putting this website together has also been a tremendous spiritual blessing in my life. Working on articles for this website has helped me to keep my mind focused on God and His kingdom. In the book of Colossians 3:1-4 we read, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” You can’t imagine the overwhelming joy you will experience when you see God using you to accomplish His will. If you have a relationship with God and you are ready to share your experiences with the world I would highly recommend this form of communication to further the word of God.

I hope this helps you to draw closer to God and develop a close relationship with Him. Remember anywhere you go in life you get there one step at a time it doesn’t happen overnight. You'll find that God keeps it very simple; to get to heaven you have to want to go to heaven. The first and most important step is wanting a relationship with God. Once that is achieved the rest is easy because God will find you. Don’t make the same mistake I made years ago by trying to clean up my act before I would come to God. Come to God first and if He wants you to clean up your act He will give you the will and the power to do so. Pray to God every day about your true feelings and read your Bible everyday and before you know it you will be closer to God. The Bible says that if you'll draw close to God, He will draw close to you. Take care and don't let this world beat you down. A phrase that keeps me going from day to day is that what I am going through now won't last forever!