With a country divided, the Republican risk and morality being redefined, it's time to get around the campfire, get back to basics, and spark the revival that this country so desperately needs.

This is the American Campfire Revival with Cook Cameron.

Where is God when he feels so distant?

Well, this is such an important topic. Jesus talks about it a lot in the Bible. All of Scripture talks about the goodness and the

nearness of God. God says that he wants to be with us. In fact, the word Emmanuel at Christmas

means God with us. So where is God when we don't feel like he's near to us? We spend millions and millions of dollars on books about how to draw near to God. Things

that we might be able to do to feel closer to God, maybe learning how to pray more or learning

how to read the Bible more or learning how to have spiritual fasts that help us

draw near to God. Maybe strike some yoga poses and meditate on some John 316 that you

memorize. Maybe that will draw me nearer to God. Oh, God, come close to me. But you know what? My friend Jay Yance helped me to remember an important truth. Finding nearness with God is really not complicated. In fact, the secret and the key to God's nearness is right there in God's word.

He gives us the key to experiencing his nearness. In the book of Philippians, chapter four,

verses 5 through 7, it says says this rejoice in the Lord always he says

I'll say it again rejoice and I'm thinking why God why why am I going to rejoice it's it's it's hard to

rejoice when I don't feel like you're near to me and And then he says, let your gentleness be seen to all

men or your patience be seen to all men. Why? And here he says, the Lord is near. He doesn't say,

stand on your head and count to three and recite the first Psalm and you'll draw God close to you he says no the lord is near the lord is near

the bible says that there is a brother who's a friend who sticks closer than a brother and that is the

lord he says i'll never leave you i'll never forsake you if we've come him by faith, if you have been adopted into his family by faith, then the Lord is near. And the problem

that I think we have is not that we're not doing enough to make God come close to us. It's that

we're not believing what he's already told us about his location.

He is near.

Just because we don't recognize his nearness or acknowledge his nearness doesn't mean that he's not near.

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