How We Overlook The Most Important Thing

God is everywhere.

Everywhere.

In fact, the Psalmist said, if he were to make his bed in hell, God would still be there.

Indeed, God is everywhere. But, what we have to learn is that He is available anywhere. Because even though God is everywhere, we so often choose not to be aware of this truth or acknowledge his availability. The result of our distraction and hindered attentiveness is that we often do not sense this never-ending nearness of God.

Think about what James taught us in his book, chapter four, verse eight, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” But, wait a minute, if God is everywhere, isn’t he near already? Yes and no. The best way to explain it is that He is near us, but we are often not near Him.

In elementary school, I had a teacher who took roll each day. She went through her record book, calling every name. The names were in an alphabetical list that matched our seating. With students positioned in rows matching her roll’s order, she could have easily just looked at each line of students, took note of any empty chairs, and the roll call would have been complete. But, instead, she insisted on calling every student’s name, and there was an expectation for us to reply with a precise response, “Present.” You could not say, “Here.” Or, “Yeah.” Or, anything else for that matter. You had to say, “Present.” Why? Because she taught us, you can be in a room but still not in it; your body can be there but your head elsewhere. She wanted us to indeed be in the classroom. And, her daily rhythm demanded that we announce our intent to be “Present.”

God wants the same. He doesn’t just want to be near you; God wants you to be near Him. He wants you to engage with Him, interact, and dialogue with Him, as you invest your whole heart, mind, and soul.

Perhaps, you have been in a room with someone, and you tried to talk to them, but they kept staring off into space. You wanted this person’s attention, and you were present in the room. You were even grateful to be near them. But they would not reciprocate the nearness. They remained distracted, fooling with their phone or acting uninterested in anything you had to say. Supposing you have experienced this kind of behavior from someone, you have some semblance of understanding regarding how God feels when you refuse to engage Him. Keeping in mind, He is around you everywhere, but you’re not engaging with Him anywhere.

God wants to be near to you and have you near to him. Over and over again, you see it in the Bible. In the Garden, Tabernacle, and Temple, we see God’s attempts at nearness with humanity. And, never was this desire more on display than in the moment when the Son of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. So it can help us to realize, Jesus came with one agenda: restore that which man lost in the garden, God’s ability to walk with humanity.

Have you ever considered that God wants to walk with you, talk with you, and be near you?

There are some helpful steps that you can take to experience God’s nearness in your life. In this message, Three Ways to Experience More of God, I share three practical truths, and I believe it will assist you in your endeavor to embrace the nearness of God and feel His embrace in your own life. Towards the end of the message, using Scripture as the basis, I give a picture of what it will look like when this experience takes place in your life. I hope you will check it out. Here is the YouTube link: Three Ways to Experience More of God

What in the World?

It is a part of our family's vernacular daily, "What in the world?" Regularly, we ask the question about something my son has just done due to not thinking through an action's consequences. Other times, and most often, we ask about my daughter's reckless attempts at driving. Our entire family also uses this question as an opening comment to outlandish things we share with each other from Instagram or YouTube.

Two thousand years ago, Paul may have likewise used his version of this bewildered phraseology. Because, after hearing of the happenings at the Church at Corinth, I feel like he may have been searching for words on more than one occasion. Upon departing as their pastor, he had left them with a solid foundation. Yet, they quickly digressed into the muck and mire of sin despite previous deliverance. Drunkenness, sexual immorality, and divisive actions had once again become commonplace behaviors.

Unable to visit his former church in-person, Paul wrote to his congregants with incredible disappointment. In his letter, at one point, he is so frustrated that he expresses a desire to take a whip to the backs of those choosing to disgrace grace.

It leads me back to the question, "What in the world?" But, with a more sincere use of the inquiry as I find the Holy Spirit leading me to self-examination, "What in the world is in me?"

What part of the world's behavior, ideologies, philosophies, and sinfulness has gotten loose in me?

In my life, where have I become worldly? Where have I ceased consecration?

And, if I have in any form stopped yielding to grace's victory over sin(s), then why?

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is authoritative in tone. With skill and precision, it will pierce the heart of any believer. I invite you to journey with me through the first chapter of 1 Corinthians in this message, "What in the World is in You?". In the message, I share why it's essential to know the meaning of some big, intimidating words in Scripture. Righteousness, sanctification, redemption... knowing how to yield to God's grace as we embrace his promises on these subjects helps us to keep the world out of our hearts and behavior. And, thankfully, as a result, we find:

1. Victory over the PATH of sin,

2. Victory over the PENALTY of sin

3. Victory over the POWER of sin

4. Victory over the PRESENCE of sin.
   

Check out the message in its entirety here: What in the World is in You?

Where Is God In All of This?

Right now, you are spinning at 1,000 mph. Your forward progression is catapulting onward at a rate of 67,000mph.

But do you feel it?

No?

The earth’s revolution is 1,000 mph, and the earth moves around the sun at 67,000 mph. It’s happening, but you are unaware. Do you find that strange?

Perhaps, even more mind-boggling, at the center of all of this galactic movement in the Milky Way, is a black hole.

A. Black. Hole.

I wonder if this cosmic reality is God’s way of painting a picture of how easy it is for human life to spin at reckless speeds while orbiting around nothing?

Every person and every home revolves around something or someone. And, most likely, we are doing so at fast, hurried paces. For some, it may be education, and the priority is to gain good grades. For others, it is sports, and the focus is to win. Yet still, others orbit around money, and the priority is work.

What do you orbit around?

What is the center of your universe?

If you were to hire a biographer to capture your life’s story, she would want access to at least three things: your checkbook, your calendar, your conversations. This access, once analyzed, would provide answers to these questions: How do you spend your money? How do you spend your time? And, what do you talk about in emails, texts, and conversations? But, more specifically, it would answer one thing primarily, “What is at the center of your life?”

Take an honest look at your life by evaluating just these three parts of your life: finances, schedule, and conversations. What does the examination reveal you to be orbiting around?

If the answer to all of these questions -- or even just one -- isn’t God, then it is likely that your life is off-center.

We might even have become self-centered. Gravitationally-driven by selfishness. Blind to its consequence as a result of self-entitlement. Numb to any conviction due to self-righteousness. And it might be happening fast. Really fast. Too fast. Dangerously, circling ever closer to a black hole of self-indulgence; so, we must attempt to discern any places in our life that are orbiting towards demise.

Maybe the best way to determine where we are off-center is to evaluate where we lack peace. In John 20:19, the resurrected Jesus appeared and stood in the middle of the room. Upon arriving in the center of his disciples’ gathering, he pronounced, “Peace be with you.” All of these men were afraid for their lives. They were hiding. They had locked the door in fear. But, Jesus came into the center of their room, their challenge, their situation, their relationships, and decreed, “Peace be with you!”

When Jesus is at the center, it doesn’t matter what situation surrounds us; peace will still be with us!

I pray this is your experience as you choose to allow Jesus to take his rightful place at the center of your life.

I would love to share more with you on this subject, “Where Is God In All of This?” including some struggles we have had in our own family as we have too often been made aware that things were off-center or hurling out of orbit. You can find those thoughts here: https://youtu.be/n04YLhF9iLw