A few years ago, Bette Middler had a hit song called “From a Distance” which won a Grammy for “Song of the Year” in 1991. The words were nice and gave us the feeling that we were not alone in this world, that indeed God was watching us from a distance. It’s a lovely platitude but it doesn’t really tell us where God actually is.

Christian Praise can be hard to muster up if we only believe in a God somewhere up there in the sky who looks down on us once in awhile. It’s a nice thought but doesn’t do much else but give us a few warm and fuzzy feelings.

God is very much a part of your life and He chose it to be that way. He doesn’t just want to be God, He also wants to be your friend. Abraham was called God’s friend, because he took the time to walk and talk with God.

Adam had direct communion with God in the Garden, before they got banished for their sin. Many scholars believe because they were banished that communion with God was cut off, but this does not make sense if Abraham was considered God’s friend.

Jesus died so that the barrier between God and us can be breached. God loves to commune with us and the best way to bring in His presence is with Christian Praise. God abides in the praises of His people.

God is not some Sugar Daddy in the sky that we make requests to and wait for Him to grant them. He is so close that we cannot truly describe it in proper words.

Acts 17:28 Paul says: He is not far from us, for in him we live and move and have our being.

Every particle of yourself is in God and God is in every particle of you.

Jesus said in John 14:21-28 Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, (then) what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

I have told you this while I am with you.

The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you.

Because of this Christian Praise should come freely from your heart and lips as you marvel at the Greatness of God who comes to inhabit the very people He has purchased with the blood of Jesus. If we love Him and obey His commands, He will make His dwelling with us. Hallelujah!

Where is God? God is in me, and you, if you love Him and keep His commandments.

One of my favorite songs from years gone by is “How Big is God”

The words are:

Though men may strive to go beyond the reach of space
To go beyond the distant glimmering stars
This world’s a room so small within my Master’s house
The open sky but a portion of his yard.

How big is God, how big and wide His vast Domain
To try to tell these lips can only start
He’s big enough to rule this mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart.

As winter chill may cause the tiny seed to fall
To lie asleep till waked by summer’s rain
The heart grown cold will warm and trod with life anew
The Master’s touch will bring the glow again.

How big is God, how big and wide His vast domain
To try to tell these lips can only start
He’s big enough to rule the mighty universe
Yet small enough to live within my heart.

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