 by A.J.Heijns No matter where you go in the world, people are on a journey to find God. From naturalists staring at the waves to spiritualists getting drunk on the glory juice of god’s pentecostal revival. Each individual has a huge question mark when it comes to their origin and design. A deep desire for relationship and a keen interest in a greater truth than what they currently experience. The presence of God is truly a magnificent thing to experience. My problem is just that. An “experience" is relative and commonly only happens on an event basis. Depending on my level of caffeine intake on the day or the volume of the sound desk at my local pay per view church. However, all of this is valid, to the one experiencing it. For your experience of God is the one thing people cannot take away from you. I am not going to be the one debunking the experience of an individual. But a few things have personally “landed" in my relationship with Abba (Father God, not the band). For talking to the author of life is so much more than just reading about Him. Or debating technicalities of doctrine on social media. As Brother Lawrence says: “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God; those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." Let’s start with a few attributes of God (according to scripture).
God is good, God is light, God is Great, God creates, God sustains, God holds all things together. So, one day while laying on the grass beside the South Bank in Melbourne, sun on my skin, a slight breeze blowing through my fringe... boom, my big moment : God, is, life, itself. Can it be this simple? Yet complex. He is the very life you experience inside you. God is in everyone. The saints. And even, the sinner. Evidently, the Gospel is all about the inclusion of humanity in the opinion or truth of the Father. All reflected in the incarnation of His word/Christ. The Glory of God, Christ in me. The problem is not whether He is present in every person. The problem is whether we are aware of it. We have made it this distant future event. Based on our performance. And i believe we miss the forest for the trees. Your awareness of the presence of God does not create the presence. It merely confirms the truth. It does however completely change our perspective when we become aware of it. I don’t beg God. I ask. I don’t worship harder. I worship closer. I don’t even have to speak to Him. I speak through Him. He is always on my mind, because I am always on His. He is truly a God of relationship. Closer than the tongue in my mouth and the heart in my chest. This is the union achieved on the Cross. Not for God’s sake. But for mine. HE IS LIFE. Awaken to His Heartbeat, in you. A.J. is the father of two daughters and married to Karinda. He currently resides in Melbourne, New Zealand, where he pastors a local church. Follow him @ www.facebook.com/aheijns
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