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3 We finished last week by asking, “If I am to know God progressively and by experience, then how may I experience my Heavenly Father today; in what new way will He reveal Himself to me, that I have never experienced with Him before?” If you can do it without all the legalistic self- flagellation, it might be helpful in the process of maintaining focus to ask yourself what God revealed of Himself to you in the last few days. Because if you don’t have an answer to the question, it might well be that you are too distracted to see Him revealing Himself.
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“All social intercourse between human beings is a response of personality to
personality, grading upward from the most casual brush between man and man to the fullest, most intimate communion of which
the human soul is capable. Religion, so far as it is genuine, is in essence the response of
created personalities to the creating personality, God. “This is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John
17:3).” Tozer, A. W. (2006). The Pursuit of God (p. 13).
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“All social intercourse between human beings is a response of personality to
personality, grading upward from the most casual brush between man and man to the fullest, most intimate communion of which
the human soul is capable. Religion, so far as it is genuine, is in essence the response of
created personalities to the creating personality, God. “This is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John
17:3).” Tozer, A. W. (2006). The Pursuit of God (p. 13).
Last week we said that this word “know” is the word “γινώσκω” which is the word that denotes a process in progress that is composed of personal
experience.
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We finished last week by asking, “If I am to know God progressively and by experience, then how may I experience my Heavenly Father today; in
what new way will He reveal Himself to me, that I have never experienced with Him before?”
If you can do it without all the legalistic self-flagellation, it might be helpful in the process of
maintaining focus to ask yourself what God revealed of Himself to you in the last few days.
Because if you don’t have an answer to the question, it might well be that you are too distracted to see Him revealing Himself.
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We also asked, “Am I really experiencing my God in “true religion” as He has prescribed, or am I
fumbling along in some mongrel concoction of my own making?”
There has to be a point where we see how our flesh is attempting to manage and control our
relationship with God, and we make the conscious decision to yield that control to Jesus and let Him
direct as He desires.
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We also asked, “Am I really experiencing my God in “true religion” as He has prescribed, or am I
fumbling along in some mongrel concoction of my own making?”
There has to be a point where we see how our flesh is attempting to manage and control our
relationship with God, and we make the conscious decision to yield that control to Jesus and let Him
direct as He desires.
Over the years I have seen many people who do know that they are controlled by their past, by hardship, abuse or loss, who are miserable in
their circumstances, yet for one reason or another will not step away from it in faith. Their past IS
controlling their relationship with God.
This is one example of few where God’s sovereignty waits for the free will of man to accept Him in faith so that He can bring healing, and for those who continue to allow their flesh to control and limit their experience with God, He does wait
for the heart to tire of its control and yeild.
After Adam and Eve sinned and ran from God, had God not pursued them, they would never have a choice again. They would have continued in sin
without remedy or choice. How do we know that?
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“as it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is
none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.’”Rom 3:10-12
God even gave a last choice to Cain after he killed Abel. But when God gives choice and the flesh maintains control of His relationship with Him,
God waits for the heart to want Him badly enough to yield to Him. He does not compel love.
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“God is a person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels,
loves, desires and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us
He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us
through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and
unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the
redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”The Pursuit of God (pp. 13-14)
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“God is a person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels,
loves, desires and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us
He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us
through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and
unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the
redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”The Pursuit of God (pp. 13-14)
Let’s take a look at what Tozer said. What is his point in this paragraph?
It might be a bit of a shock to think that God enjoys, feels, loves, desires and suffers like people, but do you know why that is true?
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“God is a person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels,
loves, desires and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us
He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us
through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and
unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the
redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.”The Pursuit of God (pp. 13-14)
It’s not because He is like us. It is because we are like Him! He created you in His image and that is
why YOU enjoy, feel, love, desire and suffer.
Do you also realize that He gave certain aspects of His personality to you so that you might share them with Him, and if you don’t do that, you are actually cheating the King of Kings as well as
yourself!
So if you are one of the many who avoid God because you think you are unworthy, or that He
wouldn’t have any interest in the likes of you, get over yourself! He just loves you and He sees
Himself in you. He is drawn to you because He loves you and His attributes that He gave you are the means by which He relates to you. Why not
give Him what He desires?
It really makes perfect sense if you think about it. God might be drawn to help the pitiful because of his horrible position, but God IS clearly drawn to what He has given to us of Himself, which takes all of the performance anxiety out of the picture for us. God loves you and is drawn to His image in you; not because you are a disciplined person.
He also isn’t pushed away from you by your failure. Sorry, but it really isn’t about you.
