Abiding
Revelations 3:12 — Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out…
I love this verse. It speaks of such a love for God and of allowing Him to deal with every uncrucified area of our hearts until we reach this place of “going no more out.”
Is this place achievable and if so how?
Reading the classic book, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, he talks of reaching a place of continually staying in God’s presence. Many other Christian saints have also written of this experience of maturity and its benefits.
There is a place:
- Where true change occurs.
- Where God is ever gaining more ascendancy in the heart.
- Of no fear regardless of circumstances.
Paul speaks of this place in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 — pray without ceasing.
How Can You Reach the Place of Continual Abiding?
You build it step-by-step like you build a house. With this structure you can become a “living sanctuary tried and true” as the old song goes.
So how to you do this?
I believe it is with simplicity. Every time you think of God you speak some words of love to Him, ask for grace for your day, acknowledge your need of Him, focus on a sense of His presence. Have daily prayer times of reading some scriptures and then quietly sitting in a sense of His presence.
As this develops you will notice there are things in your heart that are in conflict with the presence of God, things you may not even have been aware of. As you embrace the cross by continuing in His presence, He will accomplish His sanctifying work and you will go deeper. This may lead to forgiveness, repentance, or other purifying motions gently guided by His inhabitance.
Do What You Can
As you focus on what you can do to grow in God’s presence and not worry about what you can’t, you begin to continually abide more and more.
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