THE INTERNAL SEARCH
Is God There?
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Jesus places His image in our
heart. When we look within we see His
face, which means our spirit is aware of Him.
Seeking His face during times of pain and sorrow can yield little more
than a flickering sparks in the broken heart.
However asking God for God-consciousness during those times achieves the
awareness of His indwelling presence often accompanied by His peace. Recognizing our union with God satisfies our
longing for wholeness. With each of
those prayers for God-consciousness I rediscover His life in me. I am still amazed sensing the Holy Spirit
after a period of distraction. I find
myself breathing a sigh of relief followed by a bit of a smile. The usual release of tension accounts for the
sigh and the smile attends the pleasure of knowing He is never absent. While those involuntary reactions are not the
test of His presence they are a welcome comfort.
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There are good reasons for
being wary of attempting to experience God within. Brennan Manning cautions in his book Ruthless
Trust, The Ragamuffin’s Path to God says, “[T]hat to seek the experience is to
seek self, not God.” However I am making no pretense of unselfishness. God has given us the liberty to come to Him
precisely during moments of trouble, doubt, and hardship.
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give rest.” Matthew
11:28
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True, the desire to
experience freedom from sin and pain are not lofty motivations but to whom else
should we go and what other path should we take. God has made His presence our cure and prayer
the way to discover Him as the cure.
Finding Him within is laced with unavoidable sensations. Having lost my Christ-centered focus once
before I was cautiously suspicious. Men
like Martin Luther spoke of the dangers awaiting those who, “…attempt to know
God as he is in himself by speculation or by mystical contemplation.” He said, “It is perilous to wish to
investigate and apprehend the naked divinity by human reason without Christ the
mediator, as the sophists and monks have done and taught others to do.” However, the peril is only real if the
investigation is attempted, “…by human reason without Christ the
mediator.” Christ, the mediator, is the
one who made the invitation to come and designated the place to turn to…deep in
the center of our heart. (Gal. 4:6, Eph. 3:16&17, 2Cor. 1:22)
.
Nonetheless, I was concerned
about being drawn into some foolish mysticism.
I had to ask myself, “How do I know it is God I am conscious of and not
a self-induced sense of wellbeing? What
distinguishes God-consciousness from a self-conscious deception and was the
experience supposed to be like it was when I was first saved?” “How would I recognize Him?” The questions are legitimate. However, I took courage knowing I was doing God’s
will by asking Him and that providing a recognizable revelation of Himself was
His business.
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Years of ministry produced in
me a keener awareness of the fruit of the Spirit than the recognition of the Spirit,
Himself. I reasoned that only God living
inside could produce His fruit. Unfortunately
that way of thinking misdirected my refocus.
Peace within is a fruit of the Spirit, yet the presence of peace within
is not proof that God is within. Peace
or what paces as peace can be manufactured by intellectual convictions,
emotional satisfaction, or pharmaceutical stimulation. Peace can be evidence of God’s Spiritual
connection but it is not proof. That is
why a sighting of good fruit does not prove the presence of God, even though it
is evidence. 1 John 4:16-18 affirms that if fruitful qualities show up in our
lives it is evidence that God is really in us. Nonetheless, evidence is not proof.
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The test for a vital spiritual connection with
God has more to do with what is alive inside the heart than what it yields. Paul gives us the test which proves God’s life
is in us:
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“For
you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you
received the Spirit of sonship. And by
him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15-16
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The true test of the presence
of God within is the reassuring witness of the Holy Spirit, Himself. Therefore even during times of turmoil,
distraction, and tragedy a believer’s proof that God has not left him is the
Holy Spirit’s affirmation spoken from within the believer’s heart…not
fruitfulness.
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There will be seasons of
dryness in every Christian experience.
In times of fruitlessness,
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“We
know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his
Spirit. If anyone acknowledges that
Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.” 1 John 4:13 +15
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“Those
who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us:
We know it by the Spirit he gives us.” 1
John 3:24
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Fruit production, like
obeying His commands, can be done as we yield to the will of God within. They provide evidence that God is alive in
us. However, proof that God is in us rests
solely on our awareness of the fact that the Spirit of God is in us, even when
we are so distracted that we do not yield God’s fruit.
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The Apostle John restates
Paul’s test for proving a Spirit to spirit connection exists within saying:
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“This
is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” 1
John 4:2
That is why Jesus could say,
without being contradicted by unresponsive distracted saints, that, “Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mat. 12:34 and Luke 6:45)
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Turning around to inwardly gaze
Godward I took the one question test:
HAS JESUS CHRIST COME WITHIN MY FLESH? YES _____
or NO_____
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If the answer is anything
other than “YES” you have reason to doubt your Spirit to spirit connection with
God. The Holy Spirit avoiding an
affirmative answer would make Him a deceiver, if He is really in you. If you do not hear a “YES” within, you doubt the
truth of God and you either need to turn back to God again or turn toward Him for
the first time. Take a minute and settle
that problem now. If God is not within, He
will be the instant you wholeheartedly follow the instructions given in the book
of Acts:
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“Peter
replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. And
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off –
for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:38+39
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Paul gave similar
directions:
“They
replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your
household.” Acts 16:31
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