“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NASB)

Practice the presence of God

The Practice of the Presence of God is a book of collected teachings of Brother Lawrence (born Nicholas Herman), a 17th-century Carmelite monk. He did not do all the normal religious things most monks did but instead practiced thinking about God and including Him in all the trivial things he did. He realized the simple truth that God is always present, and you should look for and recognize Him everywhere.

God is continually present

He is always with you whether you realize it or not. The Bible says so! 

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:20 NASB)

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5 ESV)

Therefore

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalms 139:7-10 NIV)

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)

Abide defined: Accept or act in accordance with. Comply with, obey, observe, follow, keep to, hold to, conform to, adhere to, stick to, stand by, act in accordance with, uphold, heed, accept, go along with.

Abide in Jesus

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ‘I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.’”  (John 15:4-5)

“Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” (1 John 2:28)

“The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 John 3:24)

Abide in Christ’s teaching

“Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:9)

Abide in His love

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10)

“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)

“As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (1 John 2:24)

(2 Corinthians 9:6) “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

You must sow seed and do it bountifully if you expect to get an abundant crop

What would you think of a farmer who said, "I'm not going to plant any corn seeds this year. When God gives me some corn, then I'll plant some seeds." So, every day he is out there in the field checking it out for corn. “Hey God, where’s my corn?” That guy's never going to get any corn. Sowing comes first, then you reap. 

God does supply seed

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Cor. 9:10)

God causes what you have planted to grow

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7) 

You get what you plant so sow good things!

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Gal 6:7-9)

“Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” (Hosea 10:12)

“Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him!” (Isaiah 30:18)

Gracious because of His covenant

“But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now.” (2 Kings 13:23)

Gracious and slow to anger 

“The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” (Psalm 145:8) 

Gracious and righteous

“Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.” (Psalm 116:5)

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37)

Sometimes, when going through life’s challenges, things look bad and it's difficult to feel victorious. But, we are victorious because God said so, and that settles it, no matter how things may appear.

The Battle of Waterloo 

The news of the result of the Battle of Waterloo was eagerly awaited by the people of Great Britain because so much depended on it. Unfortunately, somehow or other, the message arrived to the people of Great Britain with one word short, and only two words arrived —'Wellington defeated'. The country was plunged into great despair and mourning, until the mistake was discovered, and the omitted third word arrived—`Napoleon —so that it read 'Wellington defeated Napoleon'. Their sorrow was suddenly turned into joy.

We won!

I have a friend who likes to say, “Hey, I have looked at the end of the book, and we won!” Of course he is referring to the book of Revelation in the Bible. He has discovered the secret of seeing the big and complete picture. God does and will work out everything for the good, no matter how it may look! (Romans 8:28)

God has made you victorious! Period! 

“For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deut. 29:4) 

“But  thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Cor. 15:57)

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Cor. 2:14)

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

“Any victory that does not more than conquer is just an imitation victory. While we are suppressing and wrestling, we are only imitating victory. If Christ lives in us, we will rejoice in everything, and we will thank and praise the Lord. We will say, ‘Hallelujah! Praise the Lord’ forever.” – Watchman Nee

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NIV)

I had doubts!  

After discovering from my aunt that my father had not died as my mother had told me but had only moved to another state, gotten remarried, and had other children that I finally met, we exchanged much information. All this was exciting. 

But, I had some serious doubts

I wasn’t totally convinced that I was related to them. Yes, I was completely sure they were related to my big brother David because the resemblance was unmistakable. But I didn’t look like any of them; I look more like my mother. And because David and I were a couple of years apart in age and because my mother and father had separated before I was born, I thought there could possibly have been someone else “involved” after they had split. So, to be sure, I asked one of them, my new sister Kathie, to take a DNA test, and I would, too. We got two DNA kits from Ancestory.com, and I sent mine to them as Mike French, from Lynden, Washington, and she sent hers to them as Kathie Swan from Anderson, Indiana. We gave no information other than our names and addresses. Several weeks later, the results came back, informing us we were closely related to each other! Yes, it was confirmed—we are siblings! After that test, there was no doubt left, and I wholeheartedly believed that we have the same father. 

God’s kids must not doubt!

My doubting experience reminds me that there are Christians, such as one of Jesus’ own disciples, famously known as Doubting Thomas, who had trouble believing (John 20:26). If Christians entertain doubts and don’t know for sure they are a member of God’s family with promised eternal life, they will be unstable, weak, and ineffective in their relationship with Him. 

Absolute assurance

God wants us to have absolute assurance of our relationship with Him and said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NIV)

Those who have received Him have the right to become God’s children  

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13 ESV)

It’s through faith in Christ

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Gal. 3:26

ESV)

Therefore

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)

“God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” (Psalm 68:6 NASB)

My newfound brothers and sisters

Shortly after my mother died, I received a shocking phone call from my mother’s older sister, my Aunt Evelyn. She said, “Mike, you better sit down; I have something important to tell you.” She then told me that my birth father, Brach Whitson, hadn’t really died in an automobile accident before I was born, as my mother had told me. "But," she continued, “shortly after your parents had separated, he moved from California to Anderson, Indiana, and then remarried. So, Mike, you may have some relatives there to look up.” I was blown away by the news and at once made some phone calls to Whitsons, living in Anderson, Indiana. The first person I called gave me the phone number of Brach’s daughter, Barbra. I phoned her and told her that Brach was my birth father, and I was seeking information. She seemed happy to hear from me and told me that he had recently died and there were ten children. I told her that he had also had two more children, my brother David and me. A couple of weeks later, I flew to Indiana to meet them. My new brother Greg came to pick me up. As we drove along, I stared intently at him. He noticed and said, “What?!” I said, “Greg, I’m very sorry for staring at you, but you look exactly like my brother!” (I meant that he looked like my older brother David, who had recently died!) He said, “I am your brother; get used to it!” We soon arrived at where the rest of them were waiting for us. They greeted me with hugs. Although they had been equally surprised to hear about me, they were loving and receptive. We laughed a lot and shared stories to catch each other up. It was a complete joy having all these new siblings!

Sons and daughters

“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:18 ESV)

Your offspring shall be blessed

“Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 28:14)

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isa. 40:28 NIV)

Helen Keller knew  

Yesterday, I told how I had always believed in God as a child, but I didn’t come to know Him until I had become an adult. I read something similar about deaf and blind Hellen Keller, who had been in a dark silent world of her own.  She was taught to communicate with others by her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who spelled words into her hand. She said about God, “I always knew He existed, but until I read the Bible, I didn’t know His Name.” Helen Keller learned about God by reading about Him in the Bible. That is exactly the right place to look for information about Him. The above passage from the book of Isaiah tells us that God is everlasting creator who doesn’t get tired or weary. Other passages, such as the first verse in the Bible, confirm that He is creator. 

 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1 NIV)

“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.” (Isa. 42:5 ESV)

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29;13 NIV)

While visiting the Grand Canyon awhile back, Susan and I enjoyed breakfast in a beautiful lodge overlooking the canyon. Our friendly waiter, Jeremiah, introduced himself and told us Grand Canyon stories. At one point during our brief conversation, I told him that I liked his name, Jeremiah, and that it was one of my favorite books in the Bible. As soon as I told him that, he said, “I’ve never read it. I’m not religious.” I said, “Well, my favorite verse in that Old Testament book is Jeremiah 29:13, which says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Later, after Susan and I had returned home, I remembered the short conversation with Jeremiah and his comment about not being religious, and I prayed for him. I asked God to touch his heart, to send others to speak to him about Christ, and that he’d be receptive. There are people all around us like Jeremiah who need to know that God loves them and that He has put together a plan for them to know Him personally. Here are some Bible passages that explain it. 

Because God loved us, He sent His Son to save us

 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

All have sinned  

 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)

The wages of sin is death  

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in

Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

Jesus gives an invitation  

“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 him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Salvation is only through Jesus

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Forgiven when we confess

 ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NIV)

You are saved by God’s grace

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9) 

You become a new creation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)