The Bible is our Creator God’s written communication to humanity, that’s you and me. We are told in 1 Timothy 3:16-17 that these are words breathed by God himself.
The Bible is made up of 66 books, 1,189 chapters, over 31,000 verses, and over 788,280 words. That’s a lot to take in. Right?
But if you were to distill the message of the entire Bible into just a few words what would they be? Would this even be possible?
Well, try this one on for size, “The With-God LIFE.”
See how this theme winds its way throughout the entire Bible.
- Adam and Eve were with God in the garden. (Genesis 3:8)
- Enoch walked with God. (Genesis 5:24)
- The Israelites were with God in the wilderness as evidenced by the pillar of fire and of smoke (Exodus 13:21)
- Moses talked with God face-to-face as with a friend. (Exodus 33:11)
- Jesus as Emanuel (God with us) (Matthew 1:23)
- The apostles were with Jesus
- Jesus promised to never leave. (Matthew 28:21)
- Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come along side us and never leave. (John 14:16)
- “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.’ ” (Revelation 21:3)
- Revelation 3:20 says; “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.”
This With-God LIFE is available to each and every one of us, every moment of our lives, if we would only take advantage of it. So why do we live so much of our lives unaware of His presence?
If you are like me, you may go for hours, maybe even days without a thought of God. For example, if one of your vices is binge watching TV shows, you know how easy it is to go for hours immersed in the never-ending plots of your favorite show.
It’s not that God isn’t available to us:
- "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." (Psalm 145:18)
- " 'Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?' declares the Lord. 'Do not I fill heaven and earth?' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 23:24)
- "Come near to God and He will come near to you." (James 4:8)
What a wonderful promise!
King David had developed a habit of focusing on God’s presence with powerful results.
- "I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." (Psalm 16:8)
What habit would you consider replacing with thoughts of and conversation with God? It may surprise you what God will do in you.
As you go about your day, bring God along. Well, you know, He is already there.
A couple of books that have been helpful to me along these lines are;
The Practice Of The Presence Of God By Brother Lawrence and
Letters by a Modern Mystic: Frank C. Laubach.