How to Draw In Closer to Christ
Living From the Inside Out
Fasting helps us disconnect from the things the outer man is connected to. Fasting involves cutting ourselves off from everything in the material, visible world that we look to for satisfaction. Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” There’s a price to pay to get in touch with your inner man: a dying to the flesh.
Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” We must come to a place of radical obedience in denying the flesh to become connected to Father God and be fused with His Spirit inside us. As long as we’re looking to and running after things outside ourselves for satisfaction, we’ll never find God in a deeper way. When we connect with God in our innermost being, wisdom encases us. David said, “In the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.”
In Judaism, wisdom is the chief attribute of God. For example, in the Book of Proverbs, God is speaking to us as wisdom personified.
Wisdom is the ability to understand, but wisdom is more than that. Wisdom is the most primordial way of knowing God. It’s an understanding at a deeper level than objective fact; it’s a knowing. This is what God wants to do in us. He wants to bring us into a place of knowing Him.
A holy and godly discipline is required to get to this place where you become aware of what’s going on inside you, because we are born into this world connected to the outer world. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
In order to get connected to the Spirit who dwells in us, we have to separate ourselves from the flesh, and this takes a godly discipline. This is why Paul said, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
On the Road to Heaven
I’m not someone who has fully arrived. I’m on the journey, just as we all are on the road to perfection. Paul said of himself: “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus....I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We are all on a journey, but there are practical steps we can take to connect with the Spirit of God. Here area few:
- Get up earlier to start your day alone with God in worship, the Word, and prayer. Whether it's the first fifteen minutes or the first hour, do something to give the Lord the first part of your day.
- Be self-aware so you control your tongue and only speak words that give life. Don't let words of criticism, hatred, accusation, negativity, or complaining come out of your mouth. Be conscious of your speech and discipline your tongue.
- Don't watch television shows or videos that would displease the Lord. Whether you're watching on TV or on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or any other social media, avoid programs that you know the Lord would be unhappy with you watching or that do not edify you in growing in your relationship with HaShem. I try not to watch or listen to anything that isn't moving me forward in building my relationship with God. I don't want to be legalistic, but these are just common sense, godly disciplines if we're really serious about knowing Him.
Paul had a vision of what was possible, and he was pursuing it with his whole life. And as he pursued it, he was entering more and more into the fullness of it. It's the same for you and me; we're pressing "on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."