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By Billy Holland

Columnist

God has been stirring me for the last several years to realize there are many levels in our relationship with Him and that we are to be continually progressing through the stations of the tabernacle on our way to the holy of holies. He desires to give everyone a personal revelation to become more spiritually sensitive, to hear His voice, along with His wisdom to know what is right and wrong. To develop an awareness of His presence, we must invest our time meditating on His word, praying, and interceding in the secret place of intimacy with Him. How can we know Him or what He is saying if we do not talk and walk with Him? To advance in our spiritual journey and become stronger spiritual warriors, we must have the discernment to recognize spirits and a correct interpretation of His written word. In this hour, we are exposed to constant deception, and as we continue moving forward, our ability to know good from evil will be the difference between life and death. God’s grace is the opportunity to abandon our will so that we can embrace His.

I’m convicted about my lack of understanding and the need for a more profound passion for God. I’m not as close to Him as I often think I am. It’s easy to fall into a mindset that all is well with our soul and yet be drifting further away from Him. How does this happen? It has to do with what we are used to. If we have been in God’s glorious presence, we can also sense when we are distant from Him. The problem is that most people have hardly experienced Him and cannot recognize the difference as they have nothing to compare with. Thus, when it comes to personal intimacy with God, most do not know what they are missing. It’s common for the masses to accept that all there is to being born again is believing there is a God and that heaven awaits everyone except for a few evil ones who commit terrible crimes. However, the truth about salvation is distorted, and the majority is not even curious to know what it is. I’ve said that nearly everyone is going to heaven, or hardly anyone is going. Why do I say that? Because I cannot see a significant difference between those, including myself, who claim to be saved, and those who do not.

When we hear about being a living sacrifice for Christ, taking up our cross, and following Him, I wonder how many people know what this requires. I would guess that if we interviewed the average person walking down the street and asked if they were going to heaven, most would say, “I hope so.” If we asked what they were looking forward to in heaven, we would probably hear things like, “At least I will not have to work anymore,” or “I’m looking forward to my mansion, and I hope it has a pool” or “it will be nice to be healthy and never die.” Unfortunately, it is most likely that the majority are willing to roll the dice with eternity. With only two destinations, they figure they have a fifty percent chance of walking on the streets of gold. My point is the meaning of life is to know and love God, and we are discovering that concentrating and obeying Him must be our highest priority. As our love for Him grows, our only desire for heaven will be to worship Him.

If we are not infatuated with The Almighty today, why would we look forward to adoring Him in heaven? If we are not living with an awareness of His presence now, why would we be excited to bow down to Him around His throne? The amount of time God is on our minds measures how important He is to us, and if we are not becoming what Jesus died for us to be, then we are being hindered and controlled by our emotions. Serving, loving, and following the world is a dangerous place to be. You have the power to decide how close you want to be to Jesus. If you are ready to stop living an illusion and realize that genuine salvation has everything to do with surrendering your will to Him, call upon Him now and repent, give Him your heart, and He will become the Lord of your life.