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
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