Month: January 2021

Get Acquainted with God

On By Innermost BeingIn Pursuing GodLeave a comment

A.W. Tozer said that he wrote The Knowledge of the Holy because he believed that modern Christianity wasn’t producing the kind of Christian who can experience life in the Spirit. In writing his little book, Tozer hoped to promote “personal heart religion” and to encourage others to practice “reverent meditation on the being of God.” Although Tozer’s writing style seems archaic to me, with lots of thee’s and thy’s and verbs ending in “eth,” his message is as relevant now as it was sixty years ago. There is a need today for personal spiritual revival and the key to this revival is to get acquainted with the holy God.

We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence.

A.W. Tozer

Tozer believed that the root of the problem is the Church losing its sense of the majesty of God. Many Christians (e.g. prosperity gospel followers) think of God in utilitarian terms – i.e. what can God do for me? The modern Christian has created God in our own image. I believe that one of the most perverse and false images of God in America today is the image of God and guns.

Christians are the Church, the body of believers. Whatever we are doing is what the Church is doing. Transforming the Church begins with the individual Christian. If we want the Church to change, we need to change. We need to transform our own vision of God. We need to give God the glory and reverence He deserves.

In the last chapter of the book, Tozer shared the “open secret” about how to acquaint yourself with God and gain knowledge of the Holy. Knowledge of the Holy is a free gift available to anyone who chooses to pursue it. This knowledge isn’t acquired through religious study; it takes spiritual discernment.

Tozer listed six conditions that must be met if if we are to know the true, holy God. Tozer noted that these conditions are taught in the Bible but he didn’t cite any scriptures.

Prerequisites to Knowledge of the Holy

1. Forsake your sin.

Tozer’s use of the verb forsake was interesting to me because Christians typically use the verb repent when speaking about sin. When I think of the verb forsake, I think of God’s promise to never leave or forsake us. But just as true repentance requires a commitment to change your actions, forsaking sin is to leave it behind, to renounce it, to give it up.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38 (NIV)

Forsaking sin is an important condition for knowing God because sin separates us from Him. When we are disobedient to God, He turns away from us. Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God (John 8:47).

As Tozer wrote, we should approach God with a good, pure heart. We should seek him with simplicity of heart. As Jesus said, the kingdom of God belongs to those who receive it like a little child (Luke 18:15-17).

2. Commit your whole life to Christ in faith.

Commit your whole life, not just your Sundays, not just Christian holidays. Commitment is a deep emotional attachment to Christ. If you love anyone or anything more than you love Christ, you are not worthy of him.

Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:37-39

Take up your cross and follow Jesus. This means being willing to publicly identify with him, to experience opposition because of your faith, and even to be persecuted or face death.

3. Die to your old self and open yourself up to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3). To be born again is to be born anew, to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives believers wisdom and the ability to understand spiritual realities (1 Corinthians 2). The Spirit dispenses spiritual gifts as God sees fit (1 Corinthians 12).

Even those who are born again must resist the temptations of the flesh. Our sinful natures lead us to act in ways that are not pleasing to God. Temptations of the flesh are not just sexual sins; it includes sins of the heart – jealousy, hatred, rage, selfish ambition, etc. If we want to know the holy God, we must live in the Spirit and walk with the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-25

4. Repudiate the values of the world.

The world’s values are cheap in comparison to the treasures of the kingdom of God. Worldly people place too much value on money, possessions, status, popularity and fame. Worldly people act out of self ambition, self interest, and self indulgence. If you want to know God, you must detach yourself spiritually from the things non-believers set their hearts upon. Keep a tight rein on your tongue and do not let yourself become polluted by the world (James 1:26-27),

Instead of following the ways of the world, follow the example of Jesus who said, store up for yourself treasures in heaven. You have to make a choice. You can’t serve both God and money (Matthew 6:19-24).

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

5. Meditate upon the majesty of God.

To meditate upon the majesty of God is to practice true worship. As you become better acquainted with God, you may need to alter previously held beliefs about Him. You may need to break away from the lifeless, frivolous worship that prevails in so many churches. At my old church, I stopped going to the large, formal service on Sundays and attended the smaller, more contemplative service where we were given time to sit quietly to reflect and pray.

Withdraw inwardly and meet God in adoring silence. Pause and reflect on his omniscience, his omnipotence, his omnipresence, his immutability, his sovereignty, his holiness, his benevolence, his mercy, his grace, his glory. God’s majesty is more than the human mind can fathom!

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

John 3:23-24

6. Serve your fellow man.

How is serving others a condition for gaining knowledge of God? The more we know God, the more we want to share his love and mercy with others. When we help those in need, we are helping Jesus and bringing glory to God.

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:40

The more we know God, the more we want to follow the example of Jesus in serving others. To know Jesus, the Son of God, the One with whom God was well pleased, is to be like-minded. It is to humbly look to the interests of others and not just to your own (Philippians 2).

In The Knowledge of the Holy, Tozer wrote about the individual’s relationship with God. As we become more intimately and personally acquainted with God, we will affect others around us in the Christian community. Tozer wrote that we can do this most effectively if we make the majesty of God the focus of our public service – in our singing, our witness, our preaching, in our writing.

Glory to God in the highest!

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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

A Prayer for a Forgiving, Compassionate Heart

On By Innermost BeingIn PrayerLeave a comment

This is the ninth of ten strategic prayers I am writing in response to Priscilla Shirer’s book, Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer. Shirer wrote that if she were Satan, she would make sure that you keep thinking about old wounds and the people and circumstances that caused them to “ensure that your heart was hardened with anger and bitterness. Shackled through unforgiveness.” If you have ever harbored feelings of anger, bitterness, and resentment towards another person, you know the damage it does to you and to your relationship with the offender.

Strategy 9 – Against Your Heart

He uses every opportunity to keep old wounds fresh in mind, knowing that anger and hurt and bitterness and unforgiveness will continue to roll the damage forward (Hebrews 12:15).

PRISCILLA SHIRER

I have experienced the bondage of unforgiveness. For years, I resented my mother for cheating on my father and trying to turn us kids against him, for making me and my sisters buy groceries with food stamps under the condemning eyes of adult shoppers, for leaving me, at seventeen, in charge of four younger siblings while she stayed all night with her boyfriend. When Mom almost died, I finally found the grace to forgive her, to let go of these old wounds. I thank God that I had the chance to forgive her. I miss my mother, the wounded, flawed woman who taught me to have compassion for others, and regret not having had more compassion for her.

Forgiveness for the Offender (2 Corinthians 2:5-8, NIV)

If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 

Today, my mind is not tormented with thoughts of personal hurts and grievances. But I do grieve at what has happened in my country and I struggle with feelings of anger, resentment, and bitterness at the people I blame for it.

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Heavenly Father, before I bring my need, I bring my heart. Thank you for forgiving my sins. I confess that I do not forgive others as easily. I need more of Your grace and kindness.

Lord, I am troubled by the divisions in my country. The lies and conspiracy theories that fueled an assault on democracy make me angry. I am angry at the people who silently accepted, condoned, and promoted the lies.

Lord, I am struggling to understand and to forgive the people, including friends and family, who put a wicked man in power and voted to keep him there. It’s tempting to paint them with a broad brush but I know that his supporters are not all alike. Some of them claimed that You put him in power even though they chose to mark his name on their ballots. Some of them chose him because of the single issue of abortion or because he promised to stand up for Christians. Some of them chose him because they are Christian Nationalists and think that Republicans can “take back” America for You. Some of them chose him because they are xenophobic and he promised to build a wall to keep Mexicans out. His most radical and fervent supporters adore a wicked man because they are wicked, as we saw so clearly on January 6th.

Lord, I especially feel betrayed by fellow Christians who were willing to trade Christian values for political power. They were willing to accept racism and to tolerate dishonesty and vile, vengeful, divisive language in exchange for the Republican agenda. Of course, they have not betrayed me personally but their hypocrisy severely damages the witness of the Church.

Jesus, I need more of your compassion. Even as you faced death for testifying to the truth, you prayed for your enemies: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ Help me to have compassion for the people who see but do not perceive, who hear but do not understand.

Father, You are good to the ungrateful and the wicked. You cause the sun to shine on the evil and the good and send rain on the righteous and unrighteous. Help me to love my enemies, the enemies of truth. Help me to be good to them with no expectation of receiving anything back.

Lord, as I struggle to forgive those who have aligned themselves with wicked men, help me to remember that my struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of this world’s darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The secret power of lawlessness is at work, deluding those who delight in wickedness.

Father, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon. For it is in pardoning, that I am pardoned.

Amen

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Photo by Daniel Mingook Kim on Unsplash

Matthew 5:44-45

Mark 4:12

Ephesians 6:12

2 Thessalonians 2

Humbling learning from others

On By Innermost BeingIn Spiritual GrowthLeave a comment

I recently saw Russell Moore on TV. I recognized his name but knew nothing about him so I searched on Facebook and learned that he is the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. On a post promoting his book on courage, a woman commented that you don’t need another book; read and study God’s word and you will learn everything you need to know about courage, wisdom, love, etc. She went on to criticize Dr. Moore and others for writing books instead of obeying God by visiting widows and orphans and making disciples.

I still don’t know much about Russell Moore. I know that the Facebook critic opposes him because he is a Calvinist. She opposes him because he is a friend (not a relative) of Beth Moore, the popular evangelist, and she believes that Beth is a false teacher.

I agree with Russell Moore’s critic that we can learn many things directly from the bible. The bible is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). But as someone else told Moore’s critic, books by religious authors can lead people to God who would not read the bible. They can encourage and teach those of us who do.

Sometimes reading comments on social media is like a trip down the rabbit hole. I wanted to learn more about a specific theologian and instead got a close look at a damaging aspect of human nature: arrogance.

Arrogance prevents a person from learning from others. I am not a theologian. I don’t always understand what I read in the bible. I learn and am inspired reading religious books and blog posts. Other people know much more than I do about the historical context of the bible. How can you learn if you think you know everything already?

Arrogance prevents a person from seeing oneself honestly. The woman who used her knowledge of the bible to rebuke and warn others about what she sees as false teaching lacked the humility to accept criticism herself. Our biases can cause us to selectively read scripture. How is it that in her daily bible reading, the woman who decided that Russell Moore is disobeying God by writing, missed the scripture about spiritual gifts? How does she know what God has called and gifted others to do?

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Believers are all members of one body. We are called to unity, to humility and patience.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:2-3

Lord, as I am drawn to both read and to write, I pray for wisdom and discernment. I pray for the humility to be teachable so that I can live a life worthy of my calling. Help me to bear with others in love and to seek your truth even if it reveals uncomfortable truths about myself. Amen

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