How to Cultivate Receptivity to the Holy Spirit (Part 1 of 2)

Like many things in the Christian life, coming to an understanding and awareness of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit is just the first step.  We have to develop receptivity to his presence.  Just like a farmer sows seed and then cares for the plants we must cultivate receptivity to the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It isn't something that just happens to us all the time, yet with learning and practice we can become far more aware of God’s manifest presence and learn to experience his manifest presence far more often.

We may have a special experience at a camp or an altar call or a retreat but those moments are generally highlights and are relatively few and far between.  Cultivating a regular receptivity to the Holy Spirit has the potential to change our day to day lives.  As I mentioned last week, receptivity to the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit is something that can be increased by exercise or destroyed by neglect (Tozer The Pursuit of God pg 64).

Sometimes we wonder why God seems far off and why he doesn't seem to be acting in our lives.  Seeing as he is the all-powerful God and we are limited human beings, it is more likely that we hold ourselves back from a close relationship with God, perhaps through simple unawareness or perhaps through neglect.  We will never fully understand God, but we have to trust him and his actions.  Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  God is always trying to get our attention, he always wants to reveal himself to us and he always wants to communicate with us, though we may not understand how he goes about it or why something occurs (Tozer The Pursuit of God pg 65).  We only have to choose how we respond.

As I discussed last week, choosing to respond to God and seek the manifest presence of God will require surrender on our parts.  It is one of those paradoxes of Christian faith that surrender here brings us a new level of spiritual awareness.  Following Jesus is never about oneself so seeking the manifest presence of God for selfish reasons will not work.  A selfish person will never really accomplish much because they are only ever out for their own interests.  On the other hand a person dedicated to a cause is far more dangerous.  Someone dedicated to the kingdom of God holds the keys of change in the world.  Next week I’ll conclude this series with some practical steps we can use to cultivate receptivity to the Holy Spirit in our lives.

How to Cultivate Awareness of the Manifest Presence of God

This week I’ll look at how we can cultivate awareness of the manifest presence of God.  A.W. Tozer explains the awareness of the manifest presence of the H.S. far better than me so I’ll let him explain: “Men do not know that God is here.  What a difference it would make if they knew.  The Presence and the manifestation of the presence are not the same.  There can be one without the other.  God is here when we are wholly unaware of it.  He is manifest only when and as we are aware of his presence.” (The Pursuit of God pg 60)

So even if someone believes that God is everywhere, realizing that he is right here, right now occurs only when a person is aware of his presence.  God wants to reveal himself to us that we might know him.  God can certainly hide his presence if he chooses to do so, but I would propose that in most cases it is our human nature and spiritual warfare that holds us back from a passionate pursuit of God, and not God hiding himself from us.  We have to be open and receptive to the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit and as we develop that awareness a whole new spiritual experience is opened up to us.  We can experience the Holy Spirit on the drive to work.  Doing the dishes can become a worshipful moment. We can be praying constantly throughout the day.  We can be listening to the Holy Spirit as he whispers to our souls.

To continue to quote Tozer: “On our part, there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work is to show us the Father and the Son.  If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.” (The Pursuit of God Pg 60)

It’s so easy to just go about our days and accomplish the items on our to do list without really stopping to be aware of God’s presence with us.  You don’t have to be in church, at a camp, or even with other believers to experience the manifest presence of God.  It is something that you can learn to cultivate and like other learned skills, you develop it as you practice it.  Be warned here though; God cannot be controlled by humans. Experiencing God’s manifest presence is not a toy for our enjoyment, it requires surrender to God and submission to his will.  His will is good, pleasing and perfect so you need not worry, but his will may just be different than your will.  It’s a great adventure but it may not be the one you charted.  Next week we’ll look at cultivating receptivity to the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

How to Understand the Manifest Presence of God

To back up a little and flesh out what I wrote last week, I’ll explain what I mean by the manifest presence of God.  God is everywhere, all the time.  This is one of the special attributes of God.  There is nowhere that God is not.  David declares in Psalms 139:7 “Where shall I go from your Spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence?”  It’s quite easy to say that and even to really believe it, but it can be a sort of “God’s out there somewhere, but he isn’t really impacting my life right now.”  It’s like oxygen.  We are always breathing oxygen and in fact we can’t live without it, but often we are not consciously aware that we are breathing oxygen.

The fact that God is everywhere should radically reshape our awareness of the world.  Yet somehow it often doesn’t.  Jacob experienced this in Genesis 28.  He has a vision of a ladder to heaven and after the vision he woke up and declared “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Gen 28:16)  Is this not our dilemma?  How do we find God when it doesn’t seem like he is around?

To realize personally that God is present we have to find his manifest presence.  God’s manifest presence is when we are actively aware of God and sense the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in an immediate personal way.  God is always around, but that doesn’t mean we are always aware of him and communicating with him.  Perhaps we can think of it this way.  I can know that my wife is in the room next to me, but we aren’t communicating at the moment.  However, she steps into the room where I am and asks me a question; now we are interacting.  I always believed that she existed when she was in the next room but we weren’t interacting.  Believing someone exists and actively interacting with them are very different things.  It’s like this with the Holy Spirit.  We can believe that the Holy Spirit exists and is around us, but it is very different to be actively interacting with him.

Coming to a realization and awareness of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit has the potential to radically reshape our concept of the Holy Spirit and his active presence and influence in our lives.  For me this was a major revelation and it is right up there in the most important moments of my life.  Stay tuned next week as I examine how to cultivate awareness of the manifest presence of God.

How to Find the Guidance of the Holy Spirit

Perhaps too often Christians beat themselves up for not spending enough time with God, thinking they have to commit to a technical and boring in-depth regime of prayer and bible study to be good Christians.  The reality is that Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  Through Jesus we can do far more than we ever imagined.  One of the best ways to find this out is to find the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit.  As we realize that the Holy Spirit is everywhere and always with us, that knowledge will change our outlook on life and the way we act and deal with everyday situations

Have you ever been lost or not quite sure where you are?  My wife and I experienced this a number of weeks ago as we were out driving in the woods intending to observe God’s creation of the antlered variety.  We had a map and had plotted a route but after a while we realized that we were not where we thought we were.  We had taken a wrong turn and weren't on the road we wanted to be on.  This led to some confusion but eventually we were able to find our way back to the main road and the day ended happily.  The problem wasn't that we had gone off the road or that we were particularly lost, but that we had taken a road that we hadn't meant to and thus were not where we thought we were.  Often this can happen in life.  We plot out a nice route, make plans and set the cruise control.  At some point down the road we realize we took a wrong turn and we aren't where we thought we were going.  We have to stop, correct the error and find our way back to the main road.  If the Bible is our map, the Holy Spirit is our guide and he will help us to get back on track.

If you think about it, a guide is always with you.  A guide would not be doing a very good job if he left you on the trail without any idea of where you are going.  The good news is that the Holy Spirit is a very good guide and he is always available to help us find the right paths.  Now, the Holy Spirit is also much more than just a guide.  Recently I had a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit’s work.  Our small group was studying A.W. Tozer’s book The Pursuit of God.  In that book Tozer writes and explains the manifest presence of God.  Reading that book I had a light bulb moment and received a whole new revelation of what God’s manifest presence means.  

Stay tuned for a continuation of this post next week.  

Thanks for reading, I hope it's helpful.  Let me know if you have any comments or feedback.

Mike

Just Another Christmas?

Here we are, on the verge of another Christmas season.  A time with family, lots of Christmas parties, eating too much and piles of shopping.  It’s a fun time of year; giving and getting some sweet gifts is always enjoyable.  But have you ever wondered if there is more to the season than the eating, socializing and shopping?

I believe there is more to Christmas than food, shopping, gifts and family.  Over 2000 years ago Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby.  He grew up and ministered to people and built his church.  He was physically present with his followers at that time.  Now it all seems pretty distant.  Jesus has been up in heaven for over 2000 years and we’re down here.  We can touch the Christmas tree and taste the holiday desserts but we can’t seem to get a hold of Jesus.

Let me tell you though, Jesus is present with us right now through the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus returned to heaven he promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples.

In Luke 11:13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.  The Holy Spirit who came down on the disciples on the day of Pentecost and enabled them to transform the world is the exact same Holy Spirit we have available to us today; we often just don’t realize it.  If we realize that the Holy Spirit is everywhere and always with us, that knowledge will change our outlook on life and the way we act and deal with everyday situations. 

Back in August my wife and I were driving across the prairies and we came to the city of Swift Current in Saskatchewan.  The slogan for their city was posted on the welcome to Swift Current sign.   It read “where life makes sense.”  Every city in the world would like to use that saying.  The reality is that only with God does life make sense.  The Holy Spirit is present with us right now as we enter another Christmas season, ready to help us make sense of life.  You won’t find a better gift anywhere!

New Beginnings

Well, it's been nine or ten months since I've last posted a blog.  I always have these thoughts that I would like to post a regular blog and then life gets busy and the blogs don't get written.  I think I have found a solution though.  I sat down and wrote out a bunch of blogs and will post them weekly.  That way I can write when I have time and have a ready supply of blogs to post during busy weeks.  Thus, you can now rely on me posting a blog (almost) every week.  My hope is that what I write will inspire you, get you thinking and help you.  I enjoy writing, but I want this blog to be about you, the reader.  Let me know what you think.  With that said I submit the first in a series about the Holy Spirit.  Stay tuned each week for the next post.

Five Reasons Youth don't go to Church.

I recently read the blog Top Ten Reasons our kids Leave Church that has been making the rounds lately. http://marc5solas.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/top-10-reasons-our-kids-leave-church/

It’s been a popular topic for some time with various studies and opinions offered on why kids raised in the church end up leaving.  I've been thinking on the topic and I've come up with 5 reasons youth don’t go to church.  This is not based on any studies or specific research it’s simply my opinion based on my experience and observations.  I hope it’s helpful in continuing this conversation because I truly believe that we can do better in keeping our youth in the fold.  This issue is something that the whole church need to works on, not just the youth staff and volunteers. 

1.       Youth don’t feel welcome at church

When I was a kid growing up in church I clearly remember a certain church member yelling at me for running around in the hallways.  This was a person who I had no relationship with and my only contact with the person was them getting mad at me for being a kid.  Sure, I probably shouldn't have been running around the halls but the way it was said left me with a negative impression.  I think that probably a lot of kids and youth have experienced something like this in church.  Their only contact with certain church members is when the aforementioned church members get mad at them for something.  Youth and kids are expected to sit down and shut up in the church service and when they act their age (surprise, surprise) some church members get mad at them.  This especially hurts when kids from un-churched homes come to a Sunday service and have no idea how to behave and end up getting criticized for their behaviour.  This only serves to alienate them from the church body.  A better approach would be for adults to model good behaviour and correct youth and kids in a caring matter rather than just criticising their behaviour.  Youth and children need to be integrated into the service and they learn with experience and caring adults mentoring them.

2.       Church is for adults

I believe this is a common misconception that is all too often unknowingly reinforced by the way churches operate.  There is a kids program for the kids and a youth program for the youth.  Kids are dismissed out of the church service and youth have their own night.  By extension Sunday service is for adults right?  Youth and kids don’t even know they belong to the church because they have very little to do with the Sunday service.  When they graduate high school and are suddenly too old for the youth program they don’t know what to do.  They've never been involved in Sunday services and now suddenly that’s all there is for them?

3.       Youth don’t feel valued by the church

Based on the previous two points, youth and kids are not always valued by the church.  Personally I am fortunate to work in a church that very much values youth and children.  It is one thing for a church to state that it values youth and children but sometimes this just means that a church has programs for youth and children.  They are really only valued as fringe members who do their thing in their own programs and are accepted as long as they don’t cause a ruckus in the Sunday service.  Youth are not dumb and they pick up on this.  They figure out that they are only valued by the youth staff/volunteers and not the broader church body.  However, when the pastoral staff and church leadership make it clear that they value youth and children (not just youth and children’s “programs”) there is a discernible difference in the church and church members begin to pick up on it and slowly the attitude changes.

4.       Boredom strikes again

Frankly youth and children are often bored during the Sunday service.  This is not a call to dumb down the sermon or dress up the pastor in skinny jeans to be “relevant” to youth culture, however there are a few steps churches can take to combat boredom.  The previous points I've listed become essential here.  When youth and children are welcomed, valued and taught that church is not just for adults their attention to the church service can increase exponentially.  Nothing about the service is changed; it is simply a change in perception for the youth.  When someone feels valued they buy in and all of a sudden something that was previously seen as boring takes on new meaning.  If the lead pastor says something like “It’s great to see all the youth here today!” on a Sunday morning they love it.  What is projected from the church leadership and church members matters.

5.       What is church?

Another issue is that youth and children don’t know what church really is.  So many churches have bought into the program model that people have forgotten what church means.  When every age category has its own program we segregate the church and fail to teach that church is the body of ALL believers.  Proper teaching about the church on a Sunday morning and during the youth/children’s programs can go a long way to showing people what church actually is.  Church is a family and all people, all styles and all ages need to be welcomed.  Sometimes as adults we forget that the exact same Holy Spirit at work in us is working in our youth and children.