The Practice of the Presence of God – Day 3

“And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”  –  Luke 24:32

“I have taken the liberty, my dear friend, of telling you all of this so you might reexamine your own relationship with God. If by some means (I pray it not be so) it has cooled even slightly, perhaps our brother’s (Brother Lawrence) attitude will rekindle and inflame it.” (p31, The Practice of the Presence of God)

When I read those lines I thought – “YES! And that is why I do what I do in writing this devotion!” – Even when I know that the words I write may seem harsh – that is never their intent. My intent is to rekindle and inflame the heart to burn within you in response to some spiritual truth I might share.

“He [God] wants to possess our hearts completely.” (p33, The Practice of the Presence of God)

You might be thinking, “Oh I know that already.” But what I had to ask, and hope you will ask, is, “Does He really?” Practicing the presence of God is not sitting cross-legged in a room filled with candles and incense reciting some mantra all day every day.  That is not it. Marriage is a dim reflection of what our relationship with God is to be like. Wanting to be together. Wanting to hear each other’s voice. Having intimate conversations. Focused on the relationship and resting in the bond of love. Is that how you feel about your relationship with the Father?  That is what Practicing being in His Presence looks like. To have a burning heart – being passionate about our relationship with the Creator God.

A song has come to mind, as it often does, “In The Garden”. “I come to the Garden alone. While the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses. And He walks with me and He talks with me. And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” (Austin Miles, Public Domain) That song speaks to the personal intimacy that God desires to have with His children. I once heard the word intimacy explained as meaning “Into me see”. It is revealing the heart – to do that requires trust and love.  Sometimes I think our motive for confessing our sins is not so much because it affects our relationship with the Father, but that there is a fear of being “cut off” and not getting what we want.  Not the kind of relationship God seeks. It is a love relationship.  One that requires effort. One that reflects the Father’s love.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8

Believe it – walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone