The Pursuit of God - Chapter 5a - Living Grace Fellowship

Wednesday 02/10/16

Series: The Pursuit of God

Message – The Universal Presence I

{The audio is divided into two sections. The 1st is where we read through part of the chapter and divide into groups for discussion. The 2nd is when we come back together as and share from our groups.}

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I run from Your Presence?” ~ Ps. 139:7

In this first segment, we are faced with the fact that as Christians we say one thing but practice another and rarely do we ever recognize the inconsistency. Our belief about God is that He is ever-present. Yet in our experience, we often feel a sense of distance and even allow it to come out of our mouths to another Christian or to God in prayer as either a complaint or a question.

This is so universal an experience that songs are even written about it. Chris Rice wrote a very good song about this experience called, “One of those Days”.

Oh, it’s been one of those days
When You walk with me,

so close I think

I caught the scent of angels’ wings

And my, oh my unsuspecting heart
Leaps from its place, begins to race
I finally found the place I never want to leave, oh

Why can’t every day…can’t every day
be like today?

Oh, why do the good days end?

Makes me wonder now, with the way I feel,

if yesterday was even real.
And why, oh why do You seem so far away?
Could it be that I’ve gone too far this time
And can I make You change Your mind? Oh

Why should any day… why should any day
be like today?

Do I wallow in my insecurities?
Do I trust what my feelings are tellin’ me?
Or do I rest in the promise You made me
That You’ll never leave?

Oh, today my heart believes
That the truth remains you never change
Your love for me is still the same, oh

Why can’t every day, why can’t every day
… can’t every day be like today?

Like Chris’ song, we know better…we know that God has not left us, we know that we are never alone, but our subjective experience is FAR easier to believe than something promised that we read, but that does not have to be our experience.

Tozer said that “for some reason it has not sunk into the average Christian’s heart so as to become a part of his believing self.”

The implications of a God Who is ever present in REALITY – meaning in every moment’s experience are huge and a little unnerving. In fact, anyone who can contemplate this reality and not be shaken to the core on some level is just plain naive.

Tozer touches on something here that we will go into greater detail next week perhaps, but we need to realize it’s truth before we can go any further. There is a difference between God’s presence and His manifest presence. Here are a few examples…

Following the construction of Solomon’s temple…

“(13) The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: For He is good; His faithful love endures forever; the temple, the LORD’s temple, was filled with a cloud. (14) And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the LORD filled God’s temple.” ~ 2Choronicles 5:13-14

And the example from the chapter,

“ (16) When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” (17) He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.” ~ Gen 28:16-17

Like Jacob, we too can sometimes experience the presence of God in such a tangible way as to come to wrong conclusions about it. Here Jacob assumed that the reason for his awareness of God was he was closer to God in proximity than he had been previously… “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven”. In reality, he was only experiencing what had been true all along.

Discuss experiences you may have had of being in the MANIFEST presence of God and compare it to your normal daily experience.

What do you believe would be the impact upon your and your life (as a witness) if you were to live in a heightened awareness of God’s manifest presence?

What is something we have discussed quite a bit recently which you believe might impact your “experience” of God’s presence more frequently?

Read John 14:21-23 and discuss what it means on a practical level and how it might impact your experiential awareness of God’s presence.

“(21) He who has My commandments and as a habit of his life he obeys them–he it is who loves Me with a Divine and self-sacrificial love. And he who loves Me like this, will be loved the same way by My Father, and I will love him and will clearly reveal Myself to him.” (22) Judas (not the Iscariot) asked, “Master, how is it that You will reveal Yourself clearly to us and not to the world?” (23) “If any one as a habit of his life loves Me with a Divine and self-sacrificial love,” replied Jesus, “he will obey My teaching as a habit of life; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” ~ John 14:21-23

This is where we left off this week. We will most likely resume from here next Wednesday…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!