When do you feel closest to God?

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aspen

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Oh...utter solitude! How I long for moments of it! When you have kids and homeschool them...and have a husband that does most of his work from home...solitude isn't something you can find easily! But, I am thankful for them, and mindful of those who don't have family. We each are where we are, I suppose, and need to use it for God's glory.

It is so weird how solitude and loneliness have little to do with proximity to other people. I was married for years and felt loneliness everyday. Now, I often feel crowded and dream about becoming a hermit
 

aspen

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Well, for the most part, it is like the Winnie The Pooh cartoon where he is walking with Piglet. Piglet reaches up, grabs Pooh by the paw, and says,"Pooh". Pooh looks down, and says, "What is it Piglet?", Piglet responds, "Nothing, just being sure of you." Kind of nails it on the head pretty well. I never wanted to be that guy that made God feel like 911.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"Hello Jesus! I was bit by a snake!!!"
"Were you messing with it? Did you poke it?"
"Yeah, how did you know??? Oh...dumb question"
"Right...get back in a bit, have another call"
I know that I do not like when people only call when they expect something, I figure God should not be any different. He is, but that shouldn't be how He is treated. I guess He just always feels "there in the moment" since there are times when I didn't think He would be, but He was. I was on the highway in 2009, and was forced off when someone just pulled into the passing lane. I went sideways off the road on some huge hill, and thought I was dead for sure. My SUV hit the ground on the left side, flip, hit on the left side again. First time broke the glass, second time crushed my arm, third time my head, and I am still alert when things stop moving. I could not believe I was alive, and alert. Help arrived, and I climbed out of the wreckage with help. I was standing there talking to police, holding the crushed arm, and people were looking around. They thought that there was someone else, no way could what they were finding come from me. I let go of the arm a minute, and they knew that things were not right with me.
I never knew that there could be a wrong hospital till that day. The first hospital was saying I had to be at level one trauma, never heard of it. It was 2 and a half hours the other way. When we get there, I was told slim chance of survival, zero chance of a normal life. None. 60% of the bones in left arm are missing or destroyed, 40% of the muscle. It would never function again. Multiple vertebrae crushed, never feel or walk again. Left temporal lobe destroyed, severe brain trauma, left eye socket and left eye missing, and that is before they go in to see what else is wrong. Wow, guess I didn't make it after all. I thanked God, I was going to get to say goodbye to family! How many get that chance in something like this!?! No one answered the phone. Thanked God for giving me that chance, and asked Him over and over, "Please God look after my children, and let them know that I love them."
They found my eye. No socket, but the eye was there and they placed it in a titanium socket. Titanium replaced skull, and the bones in the arm.Talk about chaos, I woke up and the eye was fine, brain functioned fine, no loss of feeling, left arm works like it always has. They wanted me there for at least 3 months, more operations, I left in 4 days. A few nurses cried, doctors handed me discs with test results, and a pile of paperwork of what each one had found and done during surgery. I asked if I was suppose to give these to someone, they said no, it was for me because no one would believe what happened. They don't, but oh well. I hurt every day, and talk to God through the pain. It is worth every bit of that pain, I get to tell my children I love them again in person. It is like piglet; just say His name to be sure of Him.

Yes. I see what you mean.
Isn't it nice to know
When we reach for God’s hand
He is already holding ours?
 

Naomi25

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It is so weird how solitude and loneliness have little to do with proximity to other people. I was married for years and felt loneliness everyday. Now, I often feel crowded and dream about becoming a hermit
I'm so sorry you had such a lonely experience in your relationship. It's tough when the hard experiences of life leave us wounded. I'm forever grateful for God, who is the source of every good thing I currently lack. He gives me strength now, and keeps me gazing at the future I'm heading towards. I hope you can keep your gaze there too...despite loneliness or overcrowdedness!
 

mjrhealth

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It is so weird how solitude and loneliness have little to do with proximity to other people. I was married for years and felt loneliness everyday. Now, I often feel crowded and dream about becoming a hermit
Understand completely how you feel,

God bless you
 
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Child of God

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I struggled a little to know how to 'title' this thread. But I was just curious as to how people individually found themselves best connecting to God in worship and praise?

Personally, I find it's music. Music hits me in the feels, and when it's praise music that speaks of all Jesus has done. Yep, that does it. I mean, I love reading my bible and praying, that solidly ranks at the top too, obviously. But reading my bible engages my brain fairly hard, and it's more of a feeling of being hit and overwhelmed by truth (sorry bbryd if you read this...pls ignore all references to the truth!). That's amazing and good and right, but it's mixed in with a fair bit of my brain trying to study, assess and absorb, so sometimes its a little hard to simply 'praise'. And praying...well, yeah, always there's a closeness there. Honestly, its a hard toss up between prayer and music, but honestly, I sort of look at singing and music as prayers set to instruments anyway!

Don't know if anyone will be at all interested in a thread like this, but everyone is different and it strikes me that everyone probably connects with God in their own, unique way.
I am closest to God when their is .357 shoved up my nose and being told to Deny My God.
I came close to God that day.
Funny thing is, since then I have come closer to God, God Knows these days.
 

Child of God

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The person that shoved a .357 up my nose, died less then 3 miles up the road after leaving me Alive.

I saw the the Devil and an Angel fighting on the hood of the car.
He was an Evil man, a killer of many..
And Christ put him down, as a man put a dog to sleep.
 

Child of God

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I actually feel a little bad about it.
There was 2 of them, one was passed out, and they both died.

They were evil people, but I still shed a tear.

So the destruction of all evil People upon Earth, I will shed a tear, maybe.

We know that Jesus Wept only once in the Bible, Over the Death of A Friend.
 

Naomi25

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I am closest to God when their is .357 shoved up my nose and being told to Deny My God.
I came close to God that day.
Funny thing is, since then I have come closer to God, God Knows these days.
Ah...yes! I suppose that would have a rather immediate and intimate effect. And no truer one either, I imagine.
 

ThePuffyBlob

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When do you feel closest to God?

when i am praising him with his word according to the truth
instead of me boasting my works and complaining about other people i feel more at peace and at ease when i am praising him but of course the enemy keeps distracting me they always interrupts me so the praises only lasted a so so few seconds..... T_T
 

ThePuffyBlob

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Its those moments when I know He is near, when I can see His face and .
could you tell me what he looks like to you how long his hair? how tanned is his face? he also must be wearing muslim suits because if he is still the same as he was before where there's no tall buildings where he can take shelter against the sun and he is in the middle east where there is a desert with no trees around and he follows the scriptures that requires man to have short hair then he is not the image of most of those statues

just saying i am not bashing just be open minded and you will know i am not really bashing you nor attacking you if only a religion can save people i would join that religion and do my own things and i am destined to go to the promise land whatsoever happens
 

mjrhealth

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could you tell me what he looks like to you how long his hair? how tanned is his face? he also must be wearing muslim suits because if he is still the same as he was before where there's no tall buildings where he can take shelter against the sun and he is in the middle east where there is a desert with no trees around and he follows the scriptures that requires man to have short hair then he is not the image of most of those statues

just saying i am not bashing just be open minded and you will know i am not really bashing you nor attacking you if only a religion can save people i would join that religion and do my own things and i am destined to go to the promise land whatsoever happens
religion is prison, it is egypt, it is bondage and slavery, nothing to do with God.
 
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Paul Christensen

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I struggled a little to know how to 'title' this thread. But I was just curious as to how people individually found themselves best connecting to God in worship and praise?

Personally, I find it's music. Music hits me in the feels, and when it's praise music that speaks of all Jesus has done. Yep, that does it. I mean, I love reading my bible and praying, that solidly ranks at the top too, obviously. But reading my bible engages my brain fairly hard, and it's more of a feeling of being hit and overwhelmed by truth (sorry bbryd if you read this...pls ignore all references to the truth!). That's amazing and good and right, but it's mixed in with a fair bit of my brain trying to study, assess and absorb, so sometimes its a little hard to simply 'praise'. And praying...well, yeah, always there's a closeness there. Honestly, its a hard toss up between prayer and music, but honestly, I sort of look at singing and music as prayers set to instruments anyway!

Don't know if anyone will be at all interested in a thread like this, but everyone is different and it strikes me that everyone probably connects with God in their own, unique way.
We connect with God when we read the Bible. The Scripture says that faith comes by hearing (or reading) the Word of God. A good Bible teacher can increase faith. I find that John MacArthur's Bible teaching increases my faith no end.

We approach God through faith and not through feelings or emotion. Genuine converts to Christ have received the Holy Spirit and so He dwells in their spirit, whether they feel Him or not. Therefore, we are as close to God as we can get, because He is living inside of us. But the Holy Spirit lives in our spirit, not in our emotions so we can't "feel" Him as such.

But the evidence that the Holy Spirit is in us is what we radiate out of our lives - love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, kindness, patience, faithfulness, and self-control. Therefore there is a significant impact on those around us, although we might not feel anything.

When the Spirit witnesses to our spirit that we are children of God, it comes not as an emotional feeling of well-being, but as a heart-realisation, an insight that strengthens our faith. We may or may not have an emotional reaction to that insight, but not necessarily.

If we put our faith in emotion, or any sense of being closer to God at any time, then we are not exercising genuine faith at all, because the only foundation for faith is God's written Word, and unless we have that faith, we cannot please God. Therefore, if misdirected faith does not please God because it is not founded in His Word but on a feeling that one is close to God, then it may not be the God of the Bible, but a god of his own imagination, which is actually an idol replacing the true and living God.
 
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