Stay Close

We are entering a season saints, where it is imperative that we learn to Stay Close to the Lord. Now is not the time to be wandering off from the Lord. Now is not the time to get lost in "spiritual delinquency". Now is not the time to "shirk" on your spiritual devotion. Now, more than ever before, is the time to Stay Close. Notice I didn't say "stay committed", I said Stay Close. There is a difference between being committed to God and being Close to God. There are many of us that are committed to our churches, committed to the ministry, even committed to the Lord; but that doesn't necessarily mean that we are Close to the Lord. A good example is some marriages. You have people that are committed to their spouse; they come home every night, they pay the bills, they fix the food and their faithful to the fidelity vows of the marriage. But unfortunately, all of this does not guarantee that the two are "close"; emotionally, relationally, mentally and sometimes even physically. So, we're not just talking about commitment, in terms of our relationship with God, we need to Stay Close.

The reason why we need to do this is because the church and the world are getting ready to go through some perilous times. I believe in many of our congregations and eventually throughout this country, we're going to experience some things that many of us have never experienced in our lifetime. It's going to be Crisis in an immense proportion. Therefore, the only way we're going to be able to make it is if we Stay Close to the Lord. Your commitment and faithfulness to the ministry won't be enough. Your moral lifestyle won't be enough. Even your gifts and anointing won't be enough. You will have to have established in your heart, soul and spirit and Intimacy with Christ that will take you through any storm that life sends your way. And believe me saints, the storm is coming. This type of Intimacy and Closeness with Christ can't just be developed over night. And you won't have time to nurture it once the trouble hits and the storm comes. It has to already be established. That's like trying to build a house in the midst of a hurricane. The conditions won't allow you to do it. The house has to have already been built before the storm arrives. So it will be with our closeness to the Lord.

A good example of this is the Apostle Peter. If anyone was committed to the Lord it was Peter. God gave him the revelation of who Jesus was as the Christ, and subsequently gave him the Keys of the Kingdom (Matthew 16). So we know that Peter was a dedicated and committed Disciple of Christ. But he exhibited one flaw, he didn't Stay Close. When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the scripture says that Peter deserted him and later denied him (Luke 22). Of course Peter put up a good fight in the Garden (John 18), but after his flesh response was insufficient to sustain his loyalty to Jesus, he fled just like the rest of the disciples. Why? Because he didn't Stay Close. Jesus told Peter, James and John to pray in the Garden with Him as prepared for His Crucifixion (Mark 14). And what did they do? Went to sleep! Then Jesus says what, "watch and pray" (Mark 14). In other words, Stay Close! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mark 14). The pressure of the moment got to all of them, even Peter. And it will get the best of us as well if we don't Stay Close.