Tuesday, Mar 04, 2008

March 4 2008

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March 4 2008
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Ezekiel 7; Genesis 2; Titus 2

Today is March 4 this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus

Yesterday was Monday… Not a lot happening my way. I had an extremely difficult time getting anything to work in the morning. My computer was stubborn, the internet connection was stubborn, my word processor was stubborn. It took me an extra hour just to muddle through the process of publishing time with God. Then I had to run to church and upload it there because of how bad the internet was at my house. Am I complaining? Hmmm… I’ll have to think about that one. After I got back, Susan and I jumped in the car and drove to Rogue River for a Pastor and Wives meeting and lunch. It was good. I got to see a number of pastors I hadn’t seen for a while and met a few I didn’t know. For most, things sound like they are going well in their churches, but there are a few very difficult spots. Pray for Terry Pruett who oversees several churches for AMF. They have had an incredible spate of problems. Then it was back home where Susan went shopping and I went to work out. We both agreed shopping is unbearable when I am there! We spent a quiet evening together.

This week’s theme verse. Matthew 5:8-11 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What would it be like to see God face to face? I sat down and used my imagination to envision it. Try it. What I came up with is heavily influenced by what I know about God from the Bible, as it should be if I want an accurate picture of God. In my estimation, God is surrounded by brilliant light and is stunning to see. However, he is so dazzling that you can’t focus directly on Him. The feelings I felt were overwhelming awe bordering on fear, yet a complete surge of joy at the same time. And insignificance. God is so unimaginably immense that in my estimation, I am but a speck in his presence. I felt like Ezekiel or Isaiah, but probably not as profoundly, for they actually got to enter into his presence. Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord!” When do the pure in heart get to see the Lord. The tense in the Greek is future… in the future they SHALL see God. I take that to mean that they will have eternal life and spend it in God’s presence in the place we call the New Heaven and the New Earth. Can we see God now? That experience seems limited to only a few of the few. Only a couple of prophets ever got that privilege. So… not likely. BUT having said that, we can “see” God with spiritual eyes. And we ought to practice God’s presence daily. Every day when we pray, we ought to spend time envisioning ourselves in his awesome presence. That will be life changing if we can ever grasp it!

Almighty God. I want to “see” you. I want to experience your presence. To have you glory burn away the dross of my life and purify me. To have your overwhelming awe and joy surge through my being and fill me with the ecstasy of the Divine. I want to grasp what it is like to know my God. Thank you for the promise that in the future… when I get to heaven I will see you face to face, for there we will be your people and you will be our God. I look forward to that day with ever more anticipation daily. Fill my heart with that hope, Lord, so that it will utterly transform me!

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