Gems From Pastor Jim

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by Jim Hughes

CrossPs. 145:18 The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely.

You can never stay close to the Lord if you don’t call on Him. Prayer is the only way you can get to the heart of God. Like anyone whom you love, the Lord thrives on communication. He wants to hear from you consistently and often. There is no getting around it. You must take the time and put forth the effort to pray. And, you must pray sincerely.

Prayer that does not flow from the heart is really not prayer at all. It’s not the words we say that touches the heart of God; it’s the meaning behind the words that we speak that He hears. The Lord hears what comes from the heart and not from the lips. So, if you want to know the closeness of God you must learn to pray from your heart and not your mind. You must learn to condition your heart to pray. And the condition of your heart is determined by how well it is saturated by God’s Word. The Scriptures and God’s Word are essential and inseparable for the heart that wants to draw near to the heart of God.

Closeness to God is also gleaned from living by faith and not be sight. It is daily letting faith determine how we live. It is consistently striving to put into practice the Word. It is understanding that what we believe doesn’t really matter if we don’t live it. The more we live out our faith, the closer we are drawn to God. He becomes more and more of a big deal to us. He is not someone we can ignore.

Take the Lord, His Word, and His presence seriously and He will always be near to your heart. We must fight the tendency to take faith for granted and the blessings of life we enjoy daily. We must discipline ourselves to be God-conscious. We must do things to help ourselves to stay near to the heart of God.

Before and After the Honeymoon

About the Author:

Jim HughesSpending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

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