Where Does God Live?
This is one of life’s enduring mysteries. Even believers in a supreme Creator have debated for years the nature of God and where He resides. Perhaps you understand God to be living exclusively in Heaven, isolated and far removed from your current reality in this life on earth. You may think of Heaven as indescribably beautiful with pearly gates, seas like crystal and streets paved with gold. You may even believe you’ll one day be there with Him, but can’t see how that makes a difference here, right now and that day seems so far away from the challenges facing you today! You may believe that your only chance to be in the presence of God can only come within your reach after you die, when you will be rewarded or punished for the life you have lived while on earth. Perhaps you even feel insignificant with the realization that the fourscore or so years you will spend on earth barely register on the infinite timescale of eternity.
If this describes your situation, then you are probably wondering why anyone is asking you a silly question such as, “Where does God live?” The obvious answer is perhaps, “Who cares?” You might as well live your best or worst possible life now in total isolation from a God who lives in a remote and obscure place, who is far removed from the burdens you have to carry alone here on earth. After all, your only hope for escaping this broken world is contingent on entering Heaven after you are dead when you will meet God and all your troubles will disappear. Even Heaven may be a farfetched concept for you and you may not be confident that you have done enough to make it there.
Well, I am here to tell you from personal experience that God does not only live far away in Heaven, controlling events on earth by remote control. God is actually very close to you such that there is no where you can go on earth where He is not present. He is on the mountains, and He is in the plains. He is in the oceans and He is on the land. He is in the mega cities as He is in the small towns, in the countryside as well as in the suburbs. He is in the air you breathe and in the physical structures around you. Indeed, He is so close to you that when you get to know Him, you can reach out and feel His presence any time you want and develop a very close and personal relationship with Him. You do not need to wait to die and get to Heaven to have a close relationship with God your Father!
While Heaven remains the ultimate eternal target and the final destination for all children of God, God has made it possible for you to interact very closely with Him while you roam the precincts of this current world. In fact, He has given you a specific blueprint and instructions on how to relate to and interact with Him. Nonetheless, only a few people during their lives ever tap into this most incredible of opportunities offered by the Creator of the Universe. You can be one of those few truly successful people by God’s measure. Alternatively, you can be part of a majority that chooses to live life apart from a relationship with God, chasing after worthless goals that will never fully satisfy or endure, even if you are a successful person by all human measure.
A life apart from a close relationship with God is as empty as a poor man’s pocket. By contrast, a close relationship with God will lead you to attain supernatural peace and joy no matter what your circumstance is in life. If you have ever desired this peace and joy, it is likely that you have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to pick up this book, which will give you a glimpse into how God the Father operates and how He wants you to operate. It is the deepest desire of my heart that you would know that you can live the life He has planned for you and that you can have a closer relationship with Him.
As you read further, let me declare up front that God Himself is in the center of all the arguments that I will be developing in this book in connection to developing a closer relationship with Him. It is my firm conviction that the only person who can change your life and make it meaningful is God, through belief in His son Jesus Christ, and the transforming power of His Holy Spirit. This is based on my own personal experiences where the transforming power of Jesus Christ has impacted my life. When you are ill, you go to a doctor for healing. You would not wait until you feel better because you are embarrassed by what the doctor may think of you while you are ill. Similarly, if what you desire is spiritual change or fulfillment in your life, you have to go as you are to the master changer. The only sustainable changer of your spiritual condition is God, and He is waiting and ready and willing to accept you as you are and to change you for good today, not some time in the future when your life may or may not have improved.
There is no condition too difficult for God to change, nor is there any sin you have committed that is too grave or embarrassing for Him to forgive. You only have to draw close to Him with a repentant heart and He will touch you with a healing and loving and joyful touch that will calm all the storms raging in your life. He will transform your life from one of daunting challenges to one of boundless possibilities. Before you can accomplish this transformation though, you first have to find God. Throughout this book, I have written prayers that I want to pray with you and I strongly encourage you to join me and read each one out loud because according to the Lord Jesus, the prayers where we stand together in agreement are especially blessed by God:
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 18:19 KJV