JMD Devotional 240 Psalm 145:15-21 Near and Far

The eyes of all wait for You [looking, watching, and expecting] and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing with favor. The Lord is [rigidly] righteous in all His ways and gracious and merciful in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth. He will fulfill the desires of those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them.
The Lord preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; and let all flesh bless (affectionately and gratefully praise) His holy name forever and ever.

Existing in the physical realm, we are limited by the tools of our dimension when we try to describe the spiritual realm; we are as ill-equipped as a flat two-dimensional stick figure trying to describe a 3-D object; so we resort to metaphor. Theology tells us that God is universally present; yet the Bible speaks in terms of His being near or far. Paul said that in Him we ‘live and move and have our being’, and that ‘all things (let’s include atoms) are held together in Christ Jesus.’ Anything that breathes ‘borrows life from Thee. ‘ God is actively keeping all creation animated; even those people who reject Him and deny His existence. As Pharaoh said to Moses, “Who is the Lord that I should serve Him?” He is the God giving you life right now. In that aspect He is intimately near to all. But RELATIONALLY, He is near to very few. Hell is not so much a punishment as it is the reality that there is no life apart from God, and eternal separation from the only source of life is eternal death. Everything physical will fade away, rust, deteriorate or burn: when only the spiritual is left how impoverished some will be. Every choice we make either affirms or denies the significance of God and the spiritual in our lives; everything hinges on that one vital relationship.

Dear God,
Though I often feel lonely, through faith I acknowledge that You are here with me. God is now here. Your name, I AM, says it all. My life thrives when I abide in vital union with You; when my soul is in harmony with Your Holy Spirit; but when I let distraction, confusion or sin draw me away I perish. Help me to be steadfast and consistent, earnestly pursuing Your face. Remind me of the superiority of spiritual life over physical things. May it please You to sustain this life into eternity.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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