“Ah! How sweet is it to suffer with God! However great the sufferings may be, receive them with love. ‘Tis paradise to suffer and be with Him; so that if in this life we would enjoy the peace of paradise, we must accustom ourselves to a familiar, humble, affectionate conversation with Him: we must hinder our spirits from wandering from Him upon any occasion: we must make our heart a spiritual temple, wherein to adore Him incessantly: we must watch continually over ourselves, that we may not do, nor say, nor think anything that may displease Him. When our minds are thus employed about God, suffering will become full of unction and consolation.” [Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence]
This week Jesus has been calling me into deeper areas of His heart. One of my first days here in Klaeng Rayong, Thailand, I read a book (from which the quote was drawn above) entitled Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Through that book, Christ has been showing me that I must seize my every action, word, and thought and place them at His feet if I wish to press further into His Spirit.
All of the Christian life is found in denying our flesh and throwing ourselves in complete surrender at the feet of King Jesus. Every day. Every hour. Every second. It is only at His feet that we can find liberation from our flesh, victory over sin, and the power to become righteous. Victory over sin and the flesh is not found in fighting against it with our own grit and determination, but in surrender to the Lord of Hosts.
Jesus beckons us to surrender because it is impossible to sin when we lay ourselves at His feet.
And just as we can’t offer ourselves at the feet of Christ without being in His Presence, so also we cannot be in the Presence of God without falling at His feet. Therefore, the key to a victorious life is found in spending every second in the Presence of the Beloved.
Every hour our minds are filled with trivialities, anxieties, and sinful thoughts. How then can we spend all of our time in contemplation only of Christ and His excellency?
We don’t just wake up one morning able to pass every moment of our day in perfect submission and perfect communion. Jesus has been teaching me that intimacy with Him isn’t a one time decision, it’s a minute by minute practice.
When you find yourself in the midst of a sinful thought or action, capture it and lead it as a prisoner to the feet of Jesus. Ask for forgiveness, surrender yourself anew, and again concern yourself with the glory of the Holy One. For the love of God which has ravished our souls is both the motive and end of our practice.
These moment by moment decisions, though difficult at first, will soon develop into a habit. After a period of time, where at first we made a conscious decision to think on the beauty of God, we will later not need to choose to be in His Presence for we will never have leave.
I have started down the road. And rather than being weighed by the magnitude of my sin, my soul is overwhelmed as God was always closer than I thought, and nearer than I knew. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Having your comfort zone ripped away is not normally considered a pleasurable experience. However, as I have begun to practice His Presence, every moment, no matter how agonizing, is robed in the bliss of Heaven.
For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
