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Near (A Five Minute Friday Link-up)

December 1, 2017 by Lauren 4 Comments

photo by g-win

“Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To thy precious, bleeding side.”

As the daughter of a Southern Baptist music minister, the old hymns hold a special place in my heart. I love this one by Frances J. Crosby.  Especially this stanza:

“Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!”

How I NEED my daily time with the Lord.  In Psalm 119 the author admits, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.” v. 14  Now truth be told, I try not to do ANYTHING before the sun comes up.  I enjoy staying in my warm and comfy bed for as long as possible each day, and breakfast with coffee must happen before I can put my mind on anything important.  But once I am up and at it, I start looking forward to bible study and prayer.  “O Lord, in the morning [ish] you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”  Psalm 5:3  Now as an avid indoorsman, you will not find me presenting a slaughtered animal to God as David did.  Praise be to Jesus, He does not require it.  But in the fast-paced society we live in, our time is a sacrifice.  It is often difficult to carve out the margin to read, study, meditate and pray.  But it’s worth it.  How do I know?  This promise from James 4:8:  “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Thank you, Lord, for your constant presence with me.



I am joining Kate Motaung and other members of the Five Minute Friday community  for our weekly writing adventure. To learn about Five Minute Friday, click here. This week’s prompt is, “Near.”

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Comments

  1. Jennifer - Live Courageous! says

    December 1, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    Delightful. I could sense Father's warm smile as you draw near to Him. May you soak and savor as you tuck under His wing.

    Avid indoorsman… lol. seriously. brilliant.
    YOU are a gift to me today!
    Thank you for posting!
    Jennifer visiting from FMF

    Reply
  2. Lauren Sparks says

    December 1, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    Thank you for your encouragement today. That has been a gift to ME, Jennifer.

    Reply
  3. Andrew says

    December 2, 2017 at 8:00 am

    This is wonderful, Lauren. You make a compelling and skilfully-written case for this basic truth, that we NEED to have personal time with Christ.

    #1 at FMF this week.

    https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/11/your-dying-spouse-412-ugly-fmf.html

    Reply
  4. Lauren Sparks says

    December 3, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    Thank you, Andrew.

    Reply

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I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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