The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all
Acts 17: 24, Concordant New Testament
I was thinking the other day of just how much effort we Christians put into locating God. We look for God in our churches and in the world around us. Heck, we even look for God in our popular worship music of the day. Listen to a good number of the most popular praise and worship songs and you will hear the singer praying to God to appear in our presence so that WE CAN worship Him. If I were God, and in most respects, through the work of His Son, I am, I would gently remind the praise and worship crew that, "Hey...I'm here!" Think about it, would God suddenly decide that He does not want to be among His creation? He made all which we know and see. There is nothing that ever was that did not have His fingerprints upon it. So, what, or Who, are we looking for? Are we seeking God or are we simply seeking to satisfy our own curiosity that there is indeed a God there somewhere? As a Christian, I often prayed to the Lord that He would reveal Himself to me. Granted, I knew who God was, but I was seeking confirmation of sorts. This is the plight of the modern believer. We're fed the mainstream church mantra that God is in heaven watching everything we do. So, what do we do when we seek a deeper connection with Him? Well, the church tells us that in these situations we need to pray to God and ask Him to "come closer" to us. Seriously? We're asking our loving heavenly Father, who created all that we see, to be closer to us? I think the better question which we should be asking is where do we NOT see God? Can you think of anywhere that you would never expect to see Him? Even in those most wretched of places where few venture, it is God who not only created it, but calls it His own. Something we might see as wicked and evil, God sees as His very creation.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith this is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament
I recall an old Hollywood movie back in the day titled Oh God. In it, John Denver is Jerry, a super Market manager in California living what could be seen as a mundane life. Until one day Jerry receives a note...from God. The note instructs Jerry to meet God in an abandoned office. You can imagine his reaction, God wants to meet me? Jerry begins to question his sanity, along with others around him. He eventually goes to the office building where he is met...by God (in the form of the late George Burns). Why would God choose to make Himself known to a super market manager? As God tells it, "Because people have forgotten who I am." The movie climaxes with Jerry in a courtroom on trial, in part due to his insisting that God was indeed for real. The trial seems cut and dry, with Jerry on the verge of being found guilty. That is, until God shows up. In the end, we see George Burns telling the world that God is indeed real and that He just wanted to see how His children were getting along. It seems that this is that this is the scenario we find ourselves in these days. A world looking for proof that God exists. A world desperate to know Him. This is why we seek Him. This is why we are so very desperate to know Him. We seek the assurance that what we have been told for so long is true. God is real and God is here. The apostle Paul's words in Galatians speak to the assurance we seek. It is God who lives in me {Galatians 2:20}.
~Scott~
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