Standing boldly in the presence of God…
Tonight I went to a youth group and remembered what it was like to be a new Christian, full of zeal, excitement, and passion for Christ. For whatever reason, as Christian’s tend to “mature,” in their walk with Jesus, they lose that ‘infatuation,’ we could call it. When that “infatuation” starts to wear off, we stop seeking the presence of God like we use to. Now, I don’t mean to make people jealous that have never experienced “the presence of God,” but it is one thing you should be jealous of and want with all your heart. The more people seek God (whether in private or within a group of people), God will show up. He says in His Word, “Seek and you shall find.” I think this is why teenagers so often bring in the presence of God. Often, they are new Christian and they are so passionate about Jesus that they will do anything to be in His presence! Tonight at youth group, the minister called upon the teenagers who really wanted to get serious about being bold in their high schools to come forward. Some may think coming forward or “alter calls” as some may call it is silly, but I think they are powerful. Why? Firstly, when you move forward you step out of the crowd and every looks at you. Not only is this humbling to human pride, but also empowering the Holy Spirit within. When you move forward you say “No” to your flesh and “Yes” to the Holy Spirit! Moving forward is a declaration! It says, “I don’t care what anyone in this room thinks; I am going to serve Jesus!”
Oh, when people “move forward,” God always shows up! God is a sucker for humility! Humility tells God that you love Him more than you love this world and you are not afraid to show it! Now, in “Christian adult world” only a few are willing to move forward, so God may draw near for those few and allow them to sense His presence. However, in “teen Christian world” everyone goes forward when they have tasted God’s presence before! This is what happened tonight. The pastor gave an “altar call” and almost every teen in the room moved forward, some falling to their knees in reverence to the Lord, others expressing the surrender of their will over to God by the lifting of their hands, and others crying out to Jesus with all their hearts!
It was in this moment that I strongly sensed that God was not only close by, He was standing in the room! I know when God is VERY close because the Spirit that lives inside of me jumps! I feel this intensely deep feeling in my gut that is indescribable. All I can do is worship God and cry. It is in these moments that I fall in love all over again! Not that I ever stopped loving God. It’s just that passion, you know, the “infatuation” sometimes needs to be stirred up!
It is not far off from a marriage. When you are first dating and married to your spouse, love is growing, but infatuation is strong! This is the emotion that keeps you together at first. Then, as time goes on, you learn to love unconditionally whether you have those “crazy butterfly feelings” or not. Then, every once in while your spouse will do something to sweep you off your feet and you may say, “I fell in love all over again.” This is basically saying, “I love my husband more than I loved him when we were dating (because love is a choice and a commitment; not a feeling) but today, I feel infatuated with him!
Just like marriages need constant restored passion and excitement, so does your relationship with God! Just as sometimes this means work in marriage, the same goes for ones relationship with God. Work does not imply labor. It simply means that we need to seek God’s presence with all our hearts because it is in His presence that we renew our souls and passion is restored over and over again.
Our relationship with God is the relationship that matters most since it is eternal. We should cultivate this relationship even more than our earthly ones. He is the lover of our souls and we will never be fully satisfied if we do not consistently seek His presence in our lives!
Want to watch someone making a bold move for Christ? Watch this YouTube video of Steve Harvey introducing Jesus Christ! It is seriously amazing!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8srM5DIaJBM&NR=1
