“I love you, babe.” That’s what I say every night to my wife, Alissa, right before I fall asleep. This night was no different -- or so I thought. Rather than responding with, “I love you, too,” she asked, “Why?” WHY? I was wide awake! If you’re a fast thinker, you’re blessed! If you’re a slow thinker, you’re in trouble! It wasn’t that she questioned my love, but she wanted to know why I loved her. What are the reasons?
The words “I love you” are familiar words to most of us; so familiar that we often say them without thinking, without feeling, without considering, without being able to explain WHY we love that person. Our vocabulary is limited. Words like “awesome”, “amazing”, “incredible”, etc. are catch-all words for us, describing many things and people. Do we REALLY know what we mean by those words? Could we more accurately, explicitly, or intricately define and describe the particulars or the nuances about that thing or person that we find thrilling or beautiful or good?
What if Jesus came to you, dear Christian, after you’ve sung that worship song for the thousandth time, and He asked you, “But WHY do you love me?” Or after you’ve passionately declared His greatness, “What do you REALLY mean by great?” Could you or I move beyond the familiar terminology and our limited vocabulary?
Have we become overly FAMILIAR with God? We must pass through new and UNFAMILIAR places of His presence to come to a deeper understanding.
REVELATION
We all need a fresh and new experience of the presence, power and glory of Jesus. I’m not talking about a literal face-to-face encounter, but about being brought to a greater awareness and sense of His presence, to a greater understanding and appreciation of who He is and what He has done -- an experience that causes us to say, “I’ve never been here before.”
A sure sign you’ve encountered Jesus is a sense of humility in your heart. When you’re in the presence of the greatness of Christ, there’s no place, no breathing room for the greatness of any man. We realize we’re not magnificent; He is! If I’m reading and praying through Scripture and I’m saying to myself, “I’m a genius for understanding this; I’m great for seeing this,” chances are I’m not really in the presence of the living God, for no man can stand in the presence of the Holy God and consider himself to be anything but unholy. The only response is one of humility, surrender, and often of complete silence.
When was the last time you were brought to an unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, awareness of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth?
RECOGNITION
It’s not simply about “feeling” something or being caught up in an experience. No, it’s about recognizing and confessing WHOSE presence you are in. A fresh and unfamiliar experience of the presence of God not only produces humility, but reverence -- humble awe, godly fear and healthy dread.
There are certain nature paths that I like to walk, mostly for the purpose of photography. I’ve walked them dozens of times and am familiar with them. However, recently I went out to walk and as I was wandering up one path, it was as if everything suddenly became wholly unfamiliar to me. It was as if I’d never seen the trees before or heard the noises before. It was as if I’d never been there before. There came upon me a sense of fear and awe, and all I could do was to pray and worship. All I could say to myself was, “I’ve never been here before. I’ve never been here before. I’ve never been here before.” The location hadn’t changed, but in a very true sense I was being brought into a new and unfamiliar location of the presence of God.
There are new places in the presence of God that He wants to bring us into. God’s presence is “foreign” to the human heart. Because of sin, man is separated from God and cannot dwell in His presence. But God, who is rich in mercy and abounding in grace, through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has opened a new and living way for us into His presence. As a result, those who come to faith in Jesus Christ can now enjoy the presence of God, not in the way that we visit a foreign country, but in the way that we walk into our home. His presence is home to His children.
When was the last time you longed for the presence of God and were held captive by it?
REVIVAL
I love to watch my wife! She always catches my eye, even in the midst of a crowded room or a chaotic event. I’ll find her! I delight in her.
When we move into new and unfamiliar places of God’s presence, humility and reverence result in our hearts. And so does worship -- the appropriate response to a holy God. Yet, how many of us stand in worship Sunday morning, singing familiar songs and standing in familiar places, secretly delighting more in checking our facebook page or our email? When God breaks into our hearts in a new and unfamiliar way, we break out of our old and familiar delights and affections.
When God revives a heart, He heightens that heart’s affections for Himself more than for anything or anyone else. The heart responds in love -- in worship. His presence becomes truly better than life, more desirable than riches, more interesting than the devices we carry that can only deliver a temporary satisfaction, and whose usefulness dies once turned off. To behold Jesus is to delight in Him!
In photography, I never feel that I’ve truly taken a picture as long as it remains on my camera. No, the objective is bigger than this. I take a picture of what I see or notice or what captures my attention. I then edit the picture to bring out, to highlight, and to draw attention to what I saw that I want others to see. I post it. But I’m not content with friendly comments or nice compliments about my artistic eye or any skill involved. I am only happy when others see and recognize what I saw.
God didn’t take and keep a mental picture of creation stored on His camera. He spoke and created, making and forming all that was in His heart. He has made Himself known not only in creation, but in salvation. His glory fills creation and is to be delighted in. But above all, His glory has been manifest in Jesus Christ -- He has made Himself known to humanity. He is to be, and can be, delighted in. He is to be, and can be, loved and worshipped. We should delight to be known by the living God, and delight to know Him. He is holy -- completely other -- and still we can move beyond familiar places into the unfamiliar places of His holiness -- His beauty, splendor, majesty, strength, and joy.
There is no limit to the experience of God’s love, except familiarity. The Holy Spirit wants to bring us to Jesus Christ: down to a deeper understanding of the heart of God, and up to a clearer vision of His face. The only way there is to begin in unfamiliar places and to move through, not settle on, familiar ground into new and unfamiliar land.
When was the last time you said, “I’ve never been here before” ?
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