Matthew 28:19-20 (New King James Version)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen

In Part 1 of “Closing the Gap”, we established why a "gap" between God and man first existed after the fall of Adam. We then went on to show from scripture that, through Jesus, the gap was not only closed, but destroyed. This gap that we’re talking about can be described as something that feels like space, or distance, between ourselves and the Lord. The truth is, God desires intimacy with us, and this distance that we often feel makes it very hard for us to fully experience that intimacy.

For me personally, this gap is usually created by something that I’ve done or should have done (I feel) but failed to do: maybe I should have treated a person differently, or maybe I should have tried harder at something. When this happens, it’s always as if the Word is being used against me. It’s as if a “standard” has been held up and I fell short. When I feel I have failed to meet the “standard”, I feel I have disappointed God and am thus “unworthy” in His sight. It causes me to feel like an outsider, rather than a son. It causes me to feel like someone the Lord can’t be proud of. I can tell you the last thing a son wants to do is disappoint his father; whether it be his earthly father, or his Heavenly Father. During these times I’ve actually found myself filling out a “report card” at the end of each day to see how I measured up. I never faired very well…the devil will ALWAYS find a finger to point at you.

What we’ve got to see is that when we allow the devil to condemn us, or our own mind to condemn us, the focus of our Christian walk is on US, not God. The devil will always try to help us focus on ourselves. If he can do this, he’ll be very successful. For us to overcome, however, our focus must always be on Christ. We cannot do anything to appease God and close the gap. God has already done it all. It’s not my responsibility to close the gap, it was His, and He has taken care of it through his Son, Jesus Christ.

An important point I made in the first “Closing the Gap” article was that this “gap” between us and God can only exist in our thinking. This is crucial. I think many Christians spend more time thinking about the things that need to be “fixed” rather than spending their time with the “Fixer”.

Here are 3 key points that will help us to draw closer to God and to eliminate the gap we fabricate in our mind.

Point #1. We need to spend more time thinking about what is RIGHT than what is wrong.

We are admonished throughout scripture to renew our minds and spend time “in the Word”. Why is this so important? Because what we think on forms and shapes our emotions. I’m not saying we have to “put our nose in the Book” from morning until bedtime. We can simply take ONE SCRIPTURE and allow it to roll around in our thinking as much, and hopefully more than, we allow all the negative thoughts to rent space in our mind. If we do so, our new thinking will have a significant impact upon us in every area of our life. Of course, this takes effort on our part. It is a discipline. But, it is also a necessary one. I think if we were honest, most Christians put more weight on what they think is right, than what the Word says is right. The reason we often find ourselves having so much trouble with our emotions is because we’ve allowed our thoughts to go unchecked by God’s Word. It may be thoughts of unworthiness, insecurity, weakness…the list goes on. These are wrong thoughts and they are not from God.

One thing I sometimes fight in my thoughts is that I believe I have to “get on top of” whatever I may be struggling with before I can begin to “walk close” to God again. It’s almost like I hear the Lord saying to me “I’m watching. Once you conquer this area completely, THEN we’ll be restored and move on to what I have next for you, but until then, you’re stuck here”. We have to understand that we will never be in charge of our actions until we are in charge of our thinking. Wrong thoughts produce wrong actions. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Our thoughts have the power either to create the gap or to close the gap and shut it down altogether. We decide. God has already decided the gap is no more. We are the one creating it. And the devil is more than willing to hold our hand and walk us right in to it.

Point #2. We need to fight hard to avoid the devil’s temptations.

Sin will not cause God to run from you. What it can do, however, is cause you to run from God. Sometimes we’re like cows. Have you ever noticed how cows can have 50 acres to graze in, yet they always want the grass just on the other side of the fence? If we look in Hebrews 3 verses 7-12, we read about the Children of Israel and their plight in the wilderness. The important thing to see here is that their sin caused unbelief which then caused THEM to depart from God. All sin is selfish. Every sin we commit (first in thought, followed in action) is a choice we make to satisfy self in some way. I really believe we choose to sin because we believe we are not being fulfilled in our relationship with God. Again, sin does not cause God to depart from us, sin causes us to depart from God. God does not turn his back on us…it is we who choose to turn our back on Him.

Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”. The word death here is not referring to the finality of death, it is referring to separation from God. This “separation” is the exact distance we are talking about in describing the gap. However, as I stated before, the separation we experience can ONLY occur in our mind and our thinking. Sin no longer has the power to separate us relationally with our Father: Jesus paid the price, and the Father has accepted that price as payment in FULL.

Point #3. We must learn to walk independent of our emotions.

We make wrong choices. Wrong choices are a product of wrong thoughts. We think “My feelings don’t lie”. But, our feelings sometimes get to the place where they become Truth to us. They become our guide and the “gauge” by which everything is measured. Let me put this simply: When our feelings contradict what God’s Word says about us, THEY ARE LYING.

We’ve got to know the character of our Father. We’ve got to know Him in such a way that even our convincing emotions cannot sway us from the truth. I wish I had a simple fix to offer you to close the gap you are feeling. However, the only way the gap goes away is through the application of our faith. Col 2:6 tells us “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” We received Christ by faith, and in the same way we receive EVERYTHING ELSE in our lives from Him: by faith. One of the most freeing things we will ever learn as a Christian is to walk independent of our emotions, and thereby walk in faith.

In summary, it is the application of Truth that dispels error and wrong thinking. Don’t try to pick up a shovel and shovel out darkness. Rather, just turn the light of the Word on, and darkness will go. Take time and meet with God. Read a couple of scriptures, read a paragraph, and THINK ABOUT IT. Allow what you take in to roll around on the inside of you and to paint a picture of the Truth. Allow it to paint a right image on the inside of you concerning who God has made you to be and how He sees you. Turn on a worship CD and sit in the Lords Presence. Pour your heart out to Him. He’s waiting for you. He will answer you. He will flood your heart with His presence and express His love to you like never before. Seek Him out. Seek Him with everything you have. He delights in you!

Blessings!