Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
Psalm 139:7-12
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. If I say,
“Surely the darkness will hide me and
the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
This the first in a series of posts on “The Presence of God”. Spawned by a men’s discipleship group study of Brother Lawrence’s – The Practice of the Presence of God, their purpose is to share insights from that study and open a window to exciting and challenging possibilities for spiritual transformation.
Disclaimer: In no way are these posts a definitive understanding of the Presence of God or their implications to our spiritual life. They are intended to inform and and arouse curiosity that will stimulate further examination.
If, as Marshall Davis asserts; “The doctrine of the Fall is about the loss of the Presence of God.” , it follows our redemption is centered in the restoration of the presence of God. Therefore the presence of God is the most accurate barometer of our spiritual well-being.1 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
John 14:23 NIV
As we begin consider these quotes:
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
A W Tozer
First, God.
God is the subject of life. God is foundational for living, if we don’t have a sense of the primacy of God, we will never get it right, get life right, get our lives right. Not God at the margins; not God as an option; not God on the weekends.
God at center and circumference;
God first and last;
God, God, God.
In the midst of life, we “practice the presence of God” by listening and speaking to him in every circumstance. Spiritual formation happens through a life of contemplation. In the midst of our daily activities, we ponder and meditate on God’s words and works. We talk to him in prayer. We listen, we question, we complain. We give thanks, make requests, and express our doubts. We study, analyze, and consider how to apply his teachings. We walk or sit silently with him and enjoy his presence. For a believer the veil between this world and the “heavenly places” is thin and there is constant interaction between the two realms.
iMonk https://imonk.blog/2013/05/26/another-look-spiritual-formation-what-is-it/
Those with an incomplete or tainted vision of God either want to use him or dismiss him. But when a full, clear, and rapturous vision of God is presented, we will not settle for anything less than being with him. This complete vision of God and his character comes not from within us, but is gifted to us in Jesus who “is the image of the invisible God.”
Skye Jethanti “With” https://www.amazon.com/Reimagining-Way-You-Relate-God/dp/1595553797
One of the most fundamental principles of the Christian vision of reality is that God is present everywhere, filling all things. This underlies the essential Christian task of becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.
Everywhere Present – Fr Stephen Freeman https://www.amazon.com/Everywhere-Present-Christianity-One-Storey-Universe/dp/1936270102
…to have communion with God means to have a share in His Divine Life. He lives in me and I in Him. I come to know God even as I know myself. I come to love even as God loves, because it is His love that dwells in me. I come to forgive as God forgives, because it His mercy that dwells within me.
“One of the most fundamental principles of the Christian vision of reality is that God is present everywhere, filling all things. This underlies the essential Christian task of becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.”
Tim Keller
Hopefully those statements are helpful in understanding the essentiality of the presence of God in our spiritual life.
The goal of this series is captured by Keller:”…becoming consciously aware of that Presence and bringing that awareness into every aspect of our life.“
STILL ON THE JOURNEY
- 1“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
John 14:23 NIV
George tonight I simply read through the scripture and texts and my soul lifted. Thank you. You are a gatherer of soul food. Like a squirrel gathering nuts. ? But better. Who knows when something you’ve gathered and stored away is found and transformed into nourishment!