Thought for the day

"I want to talk about that other place for a short time. That other place being where you are nearer to God:

• So near that you can feel His presence
• So near that you can hear His voice
• So near that you can bring back from that place something you did not take with you

This place is for those who want to experience God in the most intimate way possible.

God is everywhere, all the time. God does not need to leave one place to get to the other, nor does God need to stop one conversation to start another. Nor does God need to stop listening to you to listen to another. God is always communicating with you. God is always present. In a sense you are always in God's presence, but in a sense you are not. You could get into the very presence of God right now, or not, but God is present.

The level of intensity or closeness you experience is determined by where you put yourself in God's presence. You can keep God at a distance, in a sense, or you can ask Him into what you are doing. You can share with God every moment or most moments or some moments or few moments or no moments.

• You get into God's presence when you read the scriptures.
• You get into God's presence when you share your faith.
• You get into God's presence when you worship.
• You get into God's presence when you praise.
• You get into God's presence when you pray.
• You get into God's presence when you supplicate.

In all of these places, you get into the presence of God, not because God wasn't there or isn't here to start with; you get into the presence of God because you consciously bring yourself into God's presence.

James 4:8 "Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you..." John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him, God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must Worship Him in spirit and truth." Colossians 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."

Excerpt from The Power of God Thinking by Keith C. Powell Copyright 2010