A God who is far vs. a God who is near

In the book of Psalms in the Bible, particularly the ones written by King David, God is addressed as One who is near. Some, such as Psalm 4 begin by speaking with God as being further away, as David has to call to Him. David sees men right in front of him, and is therefore concentrated on their wicked ways and does not see God in his midst. He therefore calls out to Him throughout the Psalm, and at the end senses God's presence as he goes to bed at night:

Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods
Selah

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
Selah

Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
What's my point? So often we cry aloud to a God we cannot see, asking for help or deliverance, but I have to wonder if we take the time to be still, knowing He is God and that He is near. After Jesus arose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven, yes, but He left a Counselor, a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. So know that God is near. Lie down and sleep in peace- the peace that comes from knowing that if you have accepted Christ Jesus into your heart and life that the Holy Spirit is within you. God is in you. He will provide you with the comfort you need.

Beautiful Ladies Keep it For Jesus

I don't mean to be redundant but God is bringing me back to this same topic: as a woman in this culture I need to be serious about purity and keeping my body, heart, and mind focused on loving my Lord. In the book of Ezekiel God says:

"So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

" 'But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. "
Ezekiel 16:13-17

He is talking about Jerusalem as His bride, whom He loved, cared for, and adored. Ladies, that is still us today! God thinks you are beautiful and adorns you with spiritual jewels and bling of patience, peace, gentleness, self-control, joy, love, and all them other good things He wants to give you. He lavishes on us such good gifts that it would be a shame not to recognize them, use them, and thank God for them!

He is a dedicated lover, and wants you all to Himself. It breaks His heart when we long after fellas, fame, and material things. He so tenderly and jealously wants all of our love and attention because He deserves us! He took us when we were only babes who no one else wanted...before we had anything of any real value to offer and made us His.

On a personal note, Jesus made me, a Daughter of my Beautiful Love and King, around the age of 13. I was completely self-absorbed, only able to care for anyone around me out of the ambition that they would love me more. I was desperate, pathetic, self-pitying and self-loathing at the same time. Get the picture?

But God, the Holy Father and only love that will never fail, asked me to be His own. I thought I had alot to offer back then: an outwardly moral life, good grades, lots and lots of pride and self-assurance despite my rising position as a social outcast in middle school. But In reality I was a cripple lieing by the side of the pool of Siloam, begging my way through life and living on the breadcrumbs of love from passers-by.

So God has changed me, shown me how very deeply He loves me, and how I really really really don't deserve it! He made all my friends abandon me, let me struggle in school, have some medical problems, all so that I could slow down in life and listen to His whisper: I want you to be all mine, Melissa Houseman, and I have bought you at a very dear price.

Christ loves you too, and wants you to be His. Don't prostitute yourself by giving your heart, your praise or your worship to anyone or anything but Jesus Christ! He is so worthy.

Control Your Bod

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (II Corinthians 5:1-4)

Why is our culture so obsessed with the body? What's the big deal? Eventually our Earthly bodies will melt back into the dust from which they were made, and it won't really matter all that much whether you had an hourglass figure, were tall, short, athletic, flexible, muscular, and all the various other types there could possibly be. Our bodies are tents in which God makes His home if we invite Him in, however, meaning that we need to keep things in order, taking good care of what He has given us.

But truly, truly, why are we so fixed on what is before us instead of what is above us; the better thing that is promised to us? Are we really groaning to have Heavenly bodies or are we making our home in the ones that we have, trusting only in what we can see, feel, and taste? Some days I know I am so consumed with taking care of my body that I miss many opportunities to care for those around me. Taking care of the body, even, can become a self-absorbed activity if we allow the cultural obsession with it to control the way we live our lives day to day.

Instead, then, we should fix our eyes on Christ as we await the day  we will be taken up with Him, share in His glory, and be granted new Heavenly bodies. Don't trust this body to lead you right, but beat it, make it subject to God's will. He has given us the Holy Spirit to be disciplined. Anyways, here's a little rap I made to encourage my sisters in Christ to keep yo bodies in line with Jesus:

Sisters, you are not objects

Not just hysterical wrecks

To be written off like checks

We ain’t some homies cash

             he sticks in his pocket

Cuz God’s got us on his locket

He looks at your picture everyday

Whether you work, sleep or play

He can see you through the fray

So keep yourselves pure and holy, 

           don’t be dressing like Madonna,

Take care of what God’s giving you, 

              don’t be smokin’ Marijuana

Keep your head up 

walk- like a daughter of the King-

You know He thinks you’re beautiful without all yo bling

You think that you gotta fill a man’s desire,

Up close and personal and lighting his fire

but sin and death will transpire

that’s something you don’t mess with

so please be quick to run from it

Hear what I say- cuz  it’s legit!

So when that man’s sweet talkin ya

Pass by and he wanna walk wit ya

Remember he’s only playin a game

Cuz If He ain’t got Jesus on the brain

The man is jus’ yankin’ yo chain

So don’t quench the flame

Jesus started in your heart

Jus’ run from it

Don’t let that relationship start

It seems harsh I know

But really after the show

The boy ain’t got no flow

If he ain’t praisin God like we created for

Though he acts so sure

And he’s got mad allure

The man’s an empty shore

A barren land with no flavor

So instead look up,

and be cravin your savior!