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    Practicing The Presence Of God
    Practicing The Presence Of God
    Practicing The Presence Of God
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    Practicing The Presence Of God

    By Ron Christian

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    About this ebook

    Throughout the Holy Scriptures there are two 'pictures' of God. God is pictured as the High and Lofty and Majestic One. God is also pictured as the Personal and Intimate One. Both are valid pictures of God and each picture is needed to balance the other.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRon Christian
    Release dateDec 30, 2010
    Practicing The Presence Of God

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      Book preview

      Practicing The Presence Of God - Ron Christian

      Book Five - Divine Communion

      By

      Ron Christian, Compiler

      Growing A Godly Life - Devotional Series

      Introduction

      Throughout the Holy Scriptures there are two 'pictures' of God. God is pictured as the High and Lofty and Majestic One. God is also pictured as the Personal and Intimate One. Both are valid pictures of God and each picture is needed to balance the other. To think of God in His transcendence is to be filled with awe, reverence, and 'holy' fear. To think of God in His immanence is to be filled with courage, joy, and purpose.

      'Transcendence' means that which surpasses physical reality; that which is beyond man's comprehension. It is a common fact that there are many things in the physical realm that are beyond man's understanding. We can't fully comprehend the vastness of the universe. We can't fully understand the human mind or soul. We can't fully comprehend the happenings around us - many of which are full of 'mystery' and 'perplexities'. If we can't understand these things, it is certain that we mere humans cannot fully comprehend Almighty God! His 'ways' are past finding out. His ways are higher than our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth! However, simply because we cannot understand God, does not make God any less real. Because an ant cannot understand Einstein's Law of Relativity (and most men cannot), does that fact make his Law any less a reality? God is in a realm beyond man's capacity to understand. God is Creator and we are but the created. Shall the created one complain if he does not understand all the mind of the Creator? (Stand Up In Praise To God; Paul Rees; pg. 19)

      God is different than man, so different that it is difficult to even compare man with God. God is the Eternal Creator, while man the creature is confined by the limitations of time. God is the High and Lofty One (Isaiah 57:15; Psalm 29:4; Psalm 93:1). God is above all things, and all things belong to Him (1 Chronicles 29:11). God is all-powerful (Isaiah 40:12, Isaiah 40:15). God's name is Holy (Isaiah 57:15). None can be likened unto God or be His equal (Exodus 15:11). Man's encounter with the Holy One naturally creates reverential fear (Genesis 28:16-17; Exodus 3:2-6; Isaiah 6:1-6; Revelation 15:4).

      The Christian believes that God is objectively real and distinct from the universe. The created presupposes the Creator who is over and above the creation.

      While the Christian acknowledges God's holiness, loftiness, and majesty, the Christian's knowledge of God is found in other ways than through the transcendent qualities of Almighty God. The Hebraic-Christian knowledge of God is not knowledge of God in his transcendent 'otherness' (which is plainly impossible to man's finite spirit), but in his active nearness, as it is experienced in nature and history and in the inmost shrine of the individual soul. The most high God, though transcending his creation and abiding in his holy heaven, is nevertheless nigh unto men. (Christian Doctrine; Whale; pg. 113)

      The Christian acknowledges God's transcendence, but the Christian never entertains an idea of God as cold, disinterested, or detached from human activity. The Christian acknowledges the difficulty of comprehending how God can be personally interested in every person's problems, and how God can simultaneously bear every man's prayers. However, it is because the Christian does not mold God into some type of superhuman man, but instead acknowledges God as supra-human (beyond human categories), that the Christian is able to accept the concept of God's total and personal involvement in the 'human situation'.

      God is everywhere present in His world. I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me. If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me. For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you. (Psalms 139:7-12, Living Bible) Tell me where is God, said an atheist to a child. I will, said the child, if you will tell me where He is not.

      Far from God being detached and disinterested in man, God is always taking the initiative in seeking man. There is a story of a woman who was trying to find God. She had a certain dream which she dreamed more than once, namely, that she was standing in front of a thick, plate glass window. As she looked at it, she seemed to see God on the other side. She hammered on the window, trying to attract His attention, but without success. She grew more and more desperate, and began to call to Him and found herself shrieking at the top of her voice. And then a quiet, calm voice at her side said: 'Why are you making so much noise? There is nothing between us'. Perhaps that illustrates our difficulty, does it not? We have been thinking all along that God was somewhere far away, unapproachable... some place that was difficult of access... and we have been groping around for a long time, and all the while He is standing beside us. (Mr. Jones, Meet the Master; Peter Marshall; pg. 131)

      The God who is the Lofty One is also the God who is the Immanent One - the One who is pleased to dwell with the man that is contrite and humble. The Majestic God is the Merciful God - the God who revives the spirit of the humble (Isaiah 57:15). God gives strength to the weak. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;

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