As we come to the end of another year, it’s good to stop and take stock.

Edevotional.com has only been running regularly since the beginning of 2012. As I look over the posts that I’ve shared with you, it has been humbling and so encouraging to see the journey of God amongst all the words.

So, I thought for your benefit I’d share the top posts (in terms of page views) for the year 2012:

1. And Pray (Ephesians 6)

Completing the armour of God

2. Hated for Jesus (Matthew 10)

Not everyone will be excited that you love Jesus

3. Are we there yet? (Ephesians 4)

We haven’t arrived, but God is at work

4. The Call of Abram Part 1 (Genesis 12)

Three part devotional on this great man of faith

5. God’s Love Covers Us (Genesis 3)

Instead of shame, He covers us with His love

6. The Nature of God’s Power (Ephesians 3)

Five things the power of God does in you and I

7. Is God Personal

Guest post by Tyler Ellis, author of Question Everything

8. The Ripple Effect of Answered Prayer (Acts 12)

When you get your breakthrough, what ripple effect will it have on others

9. The Word of God Performs Its Work (1 Thessalonians 2)

How the Word of God works to align our lives with the Truth

10. Treasure in Heaven – A Different Economy (Matthew 6)

Heaven’s economy never suffers a downturn

By Tyler Ellis

Some Questions Keep Us Up at Night. 

These are the ones we can’t seem to shake because, no matter how those questions are answered, the implications directly impact our lives.  So these should really take priority.

Among the handful of questions which people most often lose sleep over is this one, “Is God a personal God?”

Whether or not your lips have ever voiced that question, no doubt your heart has asked it

…deep down

…more than once.

What’s Behind the Question?

There are two major reasons we ask this question: hope and fear.

First, we question what we HOPE for: We hope God is personal. 

When we wake up the morning, we look for a Creator who is personally involved in our lives, just like a baby wakes up looking for her parents for the same reason.  That baby needs a personal loving connection.

And that’s what we hope to find in God.

Second, we question what we FEAR: We fear that God is not personal.

If we’re honest, we’ll admit that it just doesn’t feel like God is there.  After all, we generally associate the word “personal” with a close friend whom we can interact with face to face.  We can look into their eyes, cry on their shoulder, and spend the evening sharing stories and dreams.

But with God, it’s different and that can be frustrating.  It almost feels like our relationship with God is only as good as our imagination or the answers to our prayers.

God is More Personal Than We Ever Imagined

It is a core belief of the Christian worldview that the Son of God laid aside his equality with God and became a man (Phillippians 2:5-8).

What’s so amazing about the fact that Jesus came is that his mission demonstrated God’s enduring commitment to bring us back to that face to face relationship.

When we were powerless to bridge the distance our sin placed between us and God, Jesus offered his life on our behalf.  This was necessary in order to appease the justice of God.  On that basis, Jesus provided a way our sins to be forgiven that our broken relationship with God might be restored (Romans 6:17)

But the story plot isn’t over.  The book of Revelation informs us that God plans to “make all things new”.  Someday, when the time is right, those who have turned from sin to trust in Jesus will live in the, “new heavens and the new earth”. 

And God will live among us in the most personal of ways!

In the Meantime…

We can better appreciate the personal nature of God by understanding the events that took place in the past and the events that will take place in the future.  This eternal perspective helps.

But what about today?  How can we experience our personal God in the middle of the story?

In James 4:8, we find a challenging verse of scripture.  It says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

Could it be that as we ask the question, “Is God a personal God?” that God is asking a similar question about us?  We want him to “come near” to us, and he wants us to “come near” to him.  So how can we “come near to God”?

Here are six suggestions:

1. Start by making your biggest questions your biggest priority.
2. Be willing to go wherever truth takes you.
3. Read everything Jesus ever said and did.
4. Pray and ask God to “come near to you” in a way that connects with who you are.
5. Experiment to identify ways you feel close to God and then do those things.
6. Take some time to add to this list.

Matthew 26:75 and 27:5 says:

75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly…

5 And he (Judas) threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.

This is the story of two men and their sorrow. The first is Peter. The second is Judas.

Both men betrayed Christ. Both men let themselves down and the one they spent the previous three years of their life with. Both men were incredibly grief stricken and sorrowful for what they had done.

But what we see is a small, but critical difference in the response of each man.

Peter’s sorrow was a godly sorrow. How do we know that? Because it led to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10) He was grief-stricken but his sorrow caused him to move closer to Christ. Because of his willingness to be humbled, it did not destroy him.

Similarly Judas was also grief stricken by his actions in betraying Jesus. But unlike Peter, Judas grief separated him from Jesus, and the love and forgiveness that he needed. Judas sorrow was the “sorrow of the world that leads to death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

When we fail Christ and even betray Him, like Peter or Judas, we have a choice to make in how we will respond. Sorrow is not enough. In our grief we need to humble ourselves and recognise our failing is an opportunity to return to the arms of Jesus.

The alternative is not worth considering.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for forgiving us in our moments of sin when we fail you most. Help me Lord to see such moments as opportunities to embrace the humble, low road and be restored to right relationship with you. Thank you Lord, Amen

Related articles

• Matthew 26. The Plot Against Jesus
• Our Selfless Savior (Part 5)
• Secret Ambition
• Peter Disowns Jesus