Close to God!

“7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:7-14 English Standard Version (ESV)
 
How close do you feel to God, right now? On a scale of 0% – 100%, how would you rate your closeness to God? Think about this before you read any further…

If you answered anything less than 100% you answered wrong. If you think that your closeness, or intimacy with God, is anything less than 100% you don’t know who you are in Christ and what you have now because you’re in Him! You aren’t thoroughly convinced of your union (oneness) with God. It’s true that you may feel 55% or 80% close to God because you are having a bad day or things are going wrong, but the truth of the matter is that you are 100% with God 100% of the time – whether you feel it or not. For years I would do many things (serve, fast, pray, give etc) in order to try and get closer to God. The problem is that if you’re basing your closeness to Him on your performance then it’s going to fluctuate but the good news is that God is relating to you based on His grace toward you and your faith in His grace.
 
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
1 Corinthians 6:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
 
The moment that you say “yes” to Jesus and received Him, you were united with Him – in that very moment you became one with Him and now you are as close to Him as you’ll ever get! You are closer to God than the breath you are breathing. You may not feel all that close, but the truth always trumps feelings. Yes, you can grow in your knowledge and intimacy with Him, but you do that by renewing your mind to the truth (spiritual reality) of your union with Him. Deeper intimacy with God isn’t the result of your sacrifice, but His; it’s not based on your efforts and good works but on His finished work for you. You’ll start to feel closer to God when you start recognizing and realizing your current spiritual reality and stop focusing on your current physical circumstances.
 
You are 100% united with Christ, 100% of the time!