If I were a preacher, I should, above all other things, preach the practice of the presence of God. Brother Lawrence
The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of [the] New Testament. A.W. Tozer
The Normal Christian Life?
There are Christians today who seek and experience God's presence on a regular basis. But in my past, experiencing the presence of God was a topic seldom (if ever) spoken about, even in the church. Converting people to Christianity was an important topic. But what life was supposed to look like as a Christian after conversion was less clear. One of my friends put it best when he said that in some ways we were given a sort of "hold on until heaven" mentality. Just do our best to manage our sins and endure life's hardships until we die, and THEN all will be well. As John Eldredge noted, in many churches the Christian life has seemingly become a dutiful life of following the rules, proper church attendance, and good manners. (1) But is that really authentic Christianity? A.W. Tozer criticized the modern church for rejecting what he called an "experiential heart theology" in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture that implies we are not expected after conversion to crave any further revelation of God to our souls; that if we have found him, we need no more seek him. (2) However, as John Eldrege wrote: "our deepest need as human beings [is] to learn to live intimately with God. It is what we were made for." (3) I agree, and believe it is something worth pursuing passionately even after we become Christians.
Knowing About God versus Knowing God
"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..." (4)
Reading those words from Philippians a few years ago literally stopped me in my tracks. The implications are what struck me...that we can actually KNOW Christ, and that knowing him is something worth pursuing. I already knew a lot ABOUT God from reading the Scriptures, involvement in Bible studies, learning church doctrine, etc. But you can know a lot about someone without really knowing them. A good analogy is this: Suppose you read a book about your spouse but never met them in person. How does that compare with actually meeting and experiencing...knowing him/her! The difference is huge.
When I read that verse above (in Philippians) I realized I didn't know him on a consistent, experiential, deeply personal level. But I knew I wanted to.
The Presence of God
Experiencing the awesome, glorious presence of God is not peripheral, but essential in the life of a Christian. This is actually very good news! Consider these statements from some of the great saints of the Christian faith:
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it. Brother Lawrence (5)
"When Jesus is by us, all is well and nothing seems difficult, but when Jesus is away everything is hard." Thomas A Kempis (6)
"You have made us for yourself, Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." St. Augustine (7)
[Life eternal is] "nought other than that blessed regard wherewith Thou never ceasest to behold me, yea, even the secret places of my soul. With Thee, to behold is to give life; 'tis unceasingly to impart sweetest love of Thee; 'tis to inflame me to love of Thee by love's imparting, and to feed me by inflaming, and by feeding to kindle my yearning, and by kindling to make me drink of the dew of gladness, and by drinking to infuse in me a fountain of life, and by infusing to make it increase and endure." Nicholas of Cusa (8)
I love this brief (1.2 minute) clip from the movie "The Book of Eli". Denzel Washington (Eli) is citing the first 3 verses of the bible (click on the youtube picture or here: http://youtu.be/BBMrkW8DYgk). I had read those verses many times but as I listened, the words came alive for me as never before. The reverence in Eli's voice and posture are illustrative of someone who knows God personally.
Practicing the Presence of God
There is much more to be said about this topic than I have space for in this post. If you really want to experience the presence of God, I have cited from several books (see footnotes) that I encourage you to read to help you in this pursuit. The bottom line is that you will need to ardently seek it. Brother Lawrence, who was said to have lived a life abundantly in the presence of God, gave this advice: "That we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment..." (5)
As an example, Hudson Taylor, famous missionary to China in the 1800's, was said one evening to go into his room and spend time talking to God and trying to listen to Him. He experienced a sense of the presence of God and a feeling of joy quite unlike anything he had known before. After this time, he experienced an unmistakable awareness of just how God wanted him to spend the rest of his life. Namely, that he was called to be a missionary to China. (9)
Is it worth it? I'll give Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) the last word on that:
"Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness." (10; emphasis mine)
Question: Do you experience God's presence on a regular basis?
Footnotes:
(1) Wild at Heart and other books by John Eldredge
(2) Following Hard After God, a chapter in The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer
(3) Walking with God, by John Eldredge
(4) Philippians 3:10
(5) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
(6) On Familiar Friendship with Jesus, a chapter in The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas A Kempis
(7) Confessions, by St. Augustine
(8) The Vision of God, Nicholas of Cusa, quoted by A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God
(9) J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer.
(10) Philippians 3:8-9
The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of [the] New Testament. A.W. Tozer
The Normal Christian Life?
There are Christians today who seek and experience God's presence on a regular basis. But in my past, experiencing the presence of God was a topic seldom (if ever) spoken about, even in the church. Converting people to Christianity was an important topic. But what life was supposed to look like as a Christian after conversion was less clear. One of my friends put it best when he said that in some ways we were given a sort of "hold on until heaven" mentality. Just do our best to manage our sins and endure life's hardships until we die, and THEN all will be well. As John Eldredge noted, in many churches the Christian life has seemingly become a dutiful life of following the rules, proper church attendance, and good manners. (1) But is that really authentic Christianity? A.W. Tozer criticized the modern church for rejecting what he called an "experiential heart theology" in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture that implies we are not expected after conversion to crave any further revelation of God to our souls; that if we have found him, we need no more seek him. (2) However, as John Eldrege wrote: "our deepest need as human beings [is] to learn to live intimately with God. It is what we were made for." (3) I agree, and believe it is something worth pursuing passionately even after we become Christians.
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| My wife Jannis. I'm glad I know her personally rather than simply from reading about her in a book! |
"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..." (4)
Reading those words from Philippians a few years ago literally stopped me in my tracks. The implications are what struck me...that we can actually KNOW Christ, and that knowing him is something worth pursuing. I already knew a lot ABOUT God from reading the Scriptures, involvement in Bible studies, learning church doctrine, etc. But you can know a lot about someone without really knowing them. A good analogy is this: Suppose you read a book about your spouse but never met them in person. How does that compare with actually meeting and experiencing...knowing him/her! The difference is huge.
When I read that verse above (in Philippians) I realized I didn't know him on a consistent, experiential, deeply personal level. But I knew I wanted to.
The Presence of God
Experiencing the awesome, glorious presence of God is not peripheral, but essential in the life of a Christian. This is actually very good news! Consider these statements from some of the great saints of the Christian faith:
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it. Brother Lawrence (5)
"When Jesus is by us, all is well and nothing seems difficult, but when Jesus is away everything is hard." Thomas A Kempis (6)
"You have made us for yourself, Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." St. Augustine (7)
[Life eternal is] "nought other than that blessed regard wherewith Thou never ceasest to behold me, yea, even the secret places of my soul. With Thee, to behold is to give life; 'tis unceasingly to impart sweetest love of Thee; 'tis to inflame me to love of Thee by love's imparting, and to feed me by inflaming, and by feeding to kindle my yearning, and by kindling to make me drink of the dew of gladness, and by drinking to infuse in me a fountain of life, and by infusing to make it increase and endure." Nicholas of Cusa (8)
I love this brief (1.2 minute) clip from the movie "The Book of Eli". Denzel Washington (Eli) is citing the first 3 verses of the bible (click on the youtube picture or here: http://youtu.be/BBMrkW8DYgk). I had read those verses many times but as I listened, the words came alive for me as never before. The reverence in Eli's voice and posture are illustrative of someone who knows God personally.
Practicing the Presence of God
There is much more to be said about this topic than I have space for in this post. If you really want to experience the presence of God, I have cited from several books (see footnotes) that I encourage you to read to help you in this pursuit. The bottom line is that you will need to ardently seek it. Brother Lawrence, who was said to have lived a life abundantly in the presence of God, gave this advice: "That we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize God intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment..." (5)
As an example, Hudson Taylor, famous missionary to China in the 1800's, was said one evening to go into his room and spend time talking to God and trying to listen to Him. He experienced a sense of the presence of God and a feeling of joy quite unlike anything he had known before. After this time, he experienced an unmistakable awareness of just how God wanted him to spend the rest of his life. Namely, that he was called to be a missionary to China. (9)
Is it worth it? I'll give Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) the last word on that:
"Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness." (10; emphasis mine)
Question: Do you experience God's presence on a regular basis?
Footnotes:
(1) Wild at Heart and other books by John Eldredge
(2) Following Hard After God, a chapter in The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer
(3) Walking with God, by John Eldredge
(4) Philippians 3:10
(5) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence
(6) On Familiar Friendship with Jesus, a chapter in The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas A Kempis
(7) Confessions, by St. Augustine
(8) The Vision of God, Nicholas of Cusa, quoted by A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God
(9) J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer.
(10) Philippians 3:8-9
I find meditating on scripture and having ongoing conversations with God to be so satisfying, like a "continual feast"! I really never feel alone because of God's presence with me.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jannis. And you have been a good example for me to learn from!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this encouragement! I am going to practice the presence of God today!! What a great privilege to be able to walk and talk with him continually.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. I couldn't agree more!
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