A Dominating Presence

If we are not interested in the Word of God,
can we really be interested in God?
Robert Godfrey





A Dominating Presence

A few weeks ago I met a person who came to me for Godly counsel.
That was encouraging, in that this person openly admitted
that his life was “a mess,”
and that he needed to come back to the Lord with a renewed commitment.

When asked what he wanted to discuss,
he quickly proclaimed that he had been bitterly wronged
by some of his family members,
that he had cut off all relations with them
and that he “hated” them.
He saw no reason, nor had any desire to come back into fellowship with them!

“Wow!,” I thought, “does he hear what he has just said?”
Now this is a man who professes Christ as his savior,
a man who has been ‘churched’ (exposed to the Gospel) for many years…

How could he have such a hardened heart toward his own family?
How could he be so oblivious toward
the fundamental teachings of forgiveness in the scripture?

This unfortunately speaks to the fundamental spiritual condition
of many believers today…
there is a spiritual pandemic that has invaded the church and our culture
with great emphasis and with devastating effect.

Somehow we have become a society and a church
that no longer thinks it is necessary
to press into the presence of God, or His Word;
and we have largely become a people
largely ignorant of the counsel and commands of God.

As a result we blindly come to wrong conclusions
about the circumstances of our lives,
and we wind up in bondage to false ideas
and counterfeit answers to life’s dilemmas.

In the second chapter of Proverbs
we are advised to seek after wisdom (Christ)

as though it (He) were silver or a hidden treasure.

4If you seek her(wisdom) as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
Proverbs 2:4-7 NAS

God has promised us that if we will seek Him we will find Him,
(Jeremiah 33:3)
and that if we will walk with Him and follow His ways
He will be our shield and protector. (Proverbs 2:7b)

Throughout the scriptures
God continues to call us back to His presence:
‘I will be their God
and they will be My people
and I will dwell in the midst of them…’ (Exodus 29:46)

For the most part, the church today has not sought after the Lord.

Searching out our God’s Word is more that appropriate

if we look at it in the light of history.

Up until the 1900’s it was

assumed and expected of Christians, and our society,

that anything that was worth studying

was worthy of being restudied over and over again.

How blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
4The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:1-6 NAS (my emphasis bold, underlined and red)

Our forefathers did not think that studying or meditating on something

was in the least strange, but rather it was expected.

The word meditate in Hebrew is hâgâh (haw-gaw')

It means to ponder over, murmur through,

to speak to oneself over and over,

to ruminate

(as a cow chews its food, then chews it again after it has been partially digested in its stomach.)

Meditation is a slow and repetitious process!

It is interesting, that if you asked someone what their expectations were

for the surgeon who was about to operate on them,

they of course would want them to have had many years of study.

The same is true for tradesmen who might work on your car,

or provide a service within your home… the more experience the better.

In the early years of the church,

it was assumed you would spend a lifetime

to come to an understanding of the complexity and expanse of God’s kingdom.

On the contrary, today

it is often the case that churches recruit members

as quickly and expediently as possible,

with little or no requirement

that they are expected to study diligently

to ‘show themselves approved to rightly divide the word of truth.’

15Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

Understanding anything requires diligent study and reexamination.

Understanding the Word of God or the teachings of our Lord,

certainly require a major effort on the part of believers,

yet few are willing to dedicate themselves to a lifestyle

that requires such an ardent study.

In reality, we are to lead a life

that is focused on the dominant presence of Jesus Christ

as our highest priority.

He is the Alpha and the Omega,

the Beginning and the End,

the First and the Last…

all things will be summed up in and through Him.

15He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
16For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together.
18He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Colossians 1:15-18 NAS

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