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Thoughts of...An Approachable God
One of the more remarkable and distinguishing qualities of our God is that He is very approachable. In fact, our Lord is unique in that He desires an intimate relationship with every person. This is not true of other gods.
Allah, the god of Islam, is anything but approachable. His is capricious in deed and personally unknowable. The concept of having a personal relationship with Allah is a foreign and blasphemous notion to Muslims. Every Muslim must live a life pleasing to Allah in order to attain an after-life in heaven, but their god does not give them any help in that pursuit.
A follower of Buddha cannot approach him for help – he is dead!
Many people worship idols. Modern man is more “sophisticated” in his idol worship than the pagan nations of biblical times, but the idols are the same. The gods of pleasure, sex, money, power, and materialism entice billions of people by appearing to be approachable. They appear to be warm and attractive, even alluring. But, as any one who has ever chased after these gods will tell you, the closer you draw near to these gods, the less approachable and demanding they get. The idols are insatiable and cannot be pleased. They do not offer contentment to their followers; but are always taking and demanding more from them. Ultimately, these gods consume their worshippers by completely sucking the life out of them.
In stark contrast to all other gods, our God is a Living Person Who is relational and approachable. Nor is Jesus Christ () is an insatiable taker; He is the consummate Giver. His loving nature is clearly seen in His deeds. He set aside His glory to take on our form () so that He could walk among us (, ). As He walked with us and saw our utter helplessness and hopelessness, He was often moved with great compassion (, , ). And, because He loved us, He touched us, healed us, forgave us, saved us, and empowered us when He sent us to be His ambassadors. He told us we could be His friends ( and with ). Jesus Christ gave His life, trading it for our death, so that it would be possible for us to live with Him. Jesus has done everything for us. Now, because of all of His help, we can boldly approach Him in our time of need (Heb 4:16). Our God is approachable and eager to help in every situation.
If you do not personally know Jesus, He invites you to come close so that you can have a relationship with Him. Jesus can be known and wants to be known intimately (). No other god can be known, no other god is approachable.
If you do know Jesus as your Lord, be quick to go before His Throne to seek His help. He is able to help ().
Pastor Doug
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