STEPS TO GOD 2: HELP, I NEED SOMEBODY!

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.

Hello Friends:

     Welcome to the Soulwinnersr.us website. Last week I started the seven-week series “Steps to God”. I shared a post about the first step toward God is realizing there lies “A Veil Over Our Hearts”. It was about the fact that a veil exists that covers, conceals, and disguises the gospel to our eyes and hearts. We might try to find God in various ways, but the veil isn’t easily removed, especially by our own efforts. Our hearts need to be primed and ready to give over to God what we thought we could do on our own. I gave the example of a veil covering my own heart.
     What’s the next step to God? I again will use my own life as an example. It’s the experience I know best how to explain. I finally came to the realization that I had no power in myself to find God. I came to the end of myself and my own devices. I needed somebody outside myself. So, I entitled my second post, “Help, I Need Somebody!” I used the words in the Beatles song “Help” to explain the process of coming to the end of ourselves, and realizing our desperate need for help, that “I need somebody, not just anybody”, as the words of the song say. (Note: Again, I want to say that by using the lyrics of the Beatles song I am in no way endorsing the Beatles, their lifestyles, or their spiritual beliefs.)
     I think God realizes that most of us need a time of struggling in life to come to the inevitable conclusion that we need help from outside sources to come to Him. But what are those outside sources? I think I have the answer. I think you’ll readily recognize the three sources I’ve identified:

1. God, the first person of the Trinity: Scripture repeatedly declares that God is very close to each of us at all times. All we need do is to call out to Him for help.
• The Bible declares in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble”. So, when we are in deep trouble, whether it is physically, emotionally, spiritually, or some combination of the three, God is right there to give us refuge, strength, and help.
• The Psalmist in Psalm 34:18 wrote, “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.”
• In the New Testament Paul declared to the Athenians in Acts 17:27, “He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."
• So, it’s clear. God is very close to us at all times, and He is just waiting for us to call out to Him for help.
2. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity: It’s clear that Jesus is also very close to us, ready to answer when we call out to Him for help.
• John quoted Jesus in Revelation 3:20, “See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
• Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.”
• Paul wrote in Romans 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.”
• The writer of Hebrews 4:15-16 wrote, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”
• So, you can see that Jesus, God’s Son, is just waiting for us to call out to him for help.
3. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity: God sent to us the Holy Spirit through Jesus to help us in our time of need. Jesus, as a human, was limited to some degree. But after he ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, to live inside us, to help us. You can’t get any closer than that!
• Paul wrote in Romans 8:26, “In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.”
• John quoted Jesus in John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”
• So, it’s clear. God gives us great help through His Holy Spirit sent by Jesus, who lives inside us.

     These verses show exactly what happened to me on the day of Grandpa’s funeral in 1977 over 44 years ago. I was in deep trouble emotionally and spiritually. I cried out . . . to who or what I didn’t know at the time. I cried out as the Beatles song said, “Help, I need somebody, not just anybody”. The “somebody” I cried out to was God. He heard me, and by His Holy Spirit sent by Jesus, talked directly to my heart. The long wait was ended for the veil over my heart to be removed.

See you next time,
Arlen