This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (ts@godspeak.org)

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                             Draw Near

Child I desire to take you to a place of delight in Me, a place where 
you draw close to Me and that I might reveal Myself to you.  I desire 
to encase you in My love and surround you with a tangible sense of My 
nearness.  I desire to show My nature and My character to you, and to 
teach you My ways.  I desire to speak to you about many things, and 
even to tell you about some heavenly things. I want you to truly know 
Me, and as you draw near to Me, I will show Myself to you.

But the world and your enemy the devil do not want you to do this. They
will do all they can to distract you, to keep you from coming to Me,
because they do not want you to grow in Me. The more you grow in faith
and in your knowledge of who I really am, the greater danger you become
to them.

So the world will try to distract you.  It will keep you too busy to
spend intimacy time with Me.  It will dangle things before your eyes
that appear appealing, things designed to draw your attention away 
from Me. With some this is television shows. With others is it a good 
book, or talking with a friend. With others it is an event that sounds 
appealing, or chores that "need" to be done, or that extra task at work. 
The world has many different types of distractions, and each is designed 
to keep your attention on it instead of allowing you to place your focus 
on Me and to draw close to Me. So you must deliberately choose to make 
Me a priority in your life or you will fall into the trap of never 
having enough time to draw aside into intimacy with Me.

The devil will try to distract you in many ways as well.  He will try
to bring sin to separate you from Me. He wants you to feel too dirty 
to come to Me and be cleansed.  Or he may throw adversity at you, that
you will be too worried to trust in Me. Or he may cause distress in
an important relationship, so that you will be too consumed with anxiety
about that relationship to spend quality time in relationship with Me.
There are many different strategies that the devil will use to attempt
to keep you from coming to Me. He does not want you to spend time with
Me, for he knows that I will heal your wounds and make you strong. He
does not want you to spend time with Me because he knows that you will
grow in faith and confidence as you come to truly know Me.  He does 
not want you to grow mature in Me because he knows you will begin to
imitate Me, to see what I am doing and to do it with Me. He knows that 
as you do this, I will anoint and empower you, and He knows that will 
make you a formidable enemy.  He does not want you to spend intimacy
time with Me because then you will not reach your full potential in Me,
and you will be less of a threat to him.

Child, press through the distractions of the world and spend time with 
Me.  Press through the diversions of the enemy and come into My presence. 
Wait upon Me, look to Me.  Draw close to Me and allow Me to transform 
you as you rest in My presence.  Allow Me to breathe My life and My 
refreshment and My strength and My confidence into you. Allow Me to 
teach you My ways and to show you Who I really am. Spend time with Me 
child, and come to know Me.  You will find joy and you will find life 
in doing this.  The exhaustion and weariness will begin to melt away 
as I give you My strength and as I refresh and revitalize you. In Me 
you will find life and delight.  So draw near to Me, child of Mine, 
draw near.