SHIFTING GEARS AND
SEEKING TO KNOW YOU MORE
My thoughts on hosting the presence by Bill Johnson
Hosting the presence creates a new awareness
of the kind of relationship that God desires that we have with him and
challenges me to live a Holy Spirit led life. Below are some of the areas in
the book that left a significant imprint on my heart.
The Ultimate
Assignment
It is import
that we welcome the presence of God into our lives because God has given us
stewardship over our lives and therefore cannot impose himself on us. Unless we
welcome him in, he remains an uninvited guest.
‘Our true
nature and personality will never come to fullness apart from his manifest
Presence. Learning to host him is at the centre of our assignment. ‘
I therefore cannot
truly accomplish my purpose or live a fulfilling life if I do not welcome him
and attend to him as my special guest and continuously acknowledge his presence
and contribution in my life.
From a
Garden to a Garden
‘God calls us into a place of strength and
not weakness.’
True warfare is experienced from a place of intimacy
with God.
God did not create us to fight the devil for
him or to get into warfare with the devil, for he has already won the battle
and victory is ours. We therefore do not think about the devil as a threat
because we are not on levelled playing ground, we are superior because of God
who is in us. Our focus therefore is on better things, relationship and
intimacy with our father.
Often times I end up struggling because I am
doing thing in my own strength and sometimes with a victim mentality. My take
out from this is the fact that I need to stop putting my focus on what the
devil can do and live my life with a victor’s mind set.
The Lie of
insignificance
The lie of insignificance is as a result of
not fully comprehending the free gift of salvation. God’s immeasurable and
unconditional love for me. I used to catch myself wondering whether God was
really with me, whether he was hearing my prayer. But the truth is that he
never leaves us.
My desire is that I will grow in my
relationship with God to the point that I do not second guess myself concerning
the things of God, life, and destiny. That I will know my true worth and always
remember that my value is not from man but God. That I will worship and serve
him with no reservation.
A presence
that empowers
My take out from this is that the spirit of
God will move through me according to my maturity and willingness to be used.
I know that I think about public opinion so
much that I hold back from letting the holy spirit work through me sometimes. I
mean I have seen people experience the holy spirit in some ways that I find too
dramatic. I don’t want that. But maybe I just need to let God work, he surely
isn’t out to embarrass me.
I want the presence of God to be my prize! To
be covered and filled by all of him.
Sneak
Previews
‘Because of the Master’s design, everyone
lives to make life better. Some serve the betterment of humankind, and others
merely serve themselves’.
This statement got me thinking really hard
because I realize that while it is entirely true, I have spent the greatest
part of my life merely serving myself. It has been about, how to make my life
better, have some form of security, get an identity out of what I have
accomplished, the list goes on. Sad thing is, there is no real satisfaction in
doing this. There is no end to it.
I need to change focus and apply myself for
the betterment of others. That is what God did for us when he gave up
everything unreservedly to became man that we may share in the blessing of
eternal life. Therefore if I am made in the image of God, Christ like, a child
of God then that is my DNA. That is my greatest calling. A life that pours out to
make other lives better.
My thoughts;
What are the things that are taking up most
of my time? Are they for the betterment of humankind or are they all for
myself?
Answers to
Ancient cries
I have an open heaven over me and therefore
should not live my life in fear of what could go wrong.
Bill Johnson puts it this way, “My attention
must be on the provisions and promises of Christ and the Open Heaven over me. I
believe that keeping my focus on those things describes at least in part what
it means to abide in Christ”
When in doubt always worship.
I am in a space where I am strongly drawn to
make a major decision concerning my career.
This decision has implications on my life, family and a couple of other
areas. While I am almost 80% sure that this is what God wants me to do, I often
get into a space of anxiety and fear of the unknown. Reading this chapter has
spoken to me in many ways. I have an open heaven; all I need to do is to abide
in Christ. That way I keep my attention on the provisions and promises of
Christ.
If I live life in fear of what the devil
could do, then I am giving the devil the upper hand and he will definitely have
a role in influencing my agenda.
The Ultimate
Prototype
‘Some of God’s best lessons can’t be learned
in a class, they can only be learned on a journey.
This means that I need to keep moving while I learn.
Yielded people have the privilege of carrying
(hosting) God into life’s situations.
God responds to our offerings of praise. I
will therefore praise the Lord unreservedly and make it a habit to worship God
at all times in all I do.
Releasing
the Dove
I have learned from this chapter that when
Christ was sending out the disciples, he sent them out without any provisions.
No money, no connections, no clear cut out plan and no capital. They were not
even qualified in the things of God. But because they had nothing, they learned
to depend on the Holy Spirit who was with them.
I have often times failed to move`` because I
need to see the complete picture, I need money or I need connections. But this
has made me realize that that happens because I have not learned to fully
depend on the Holy Spirit. Learning to
host the presence should make walking a Spirit led life so much easier.
The
Practical side of his Presence
I choose to use my faith to discover God’s
abiding presence in my life
The presence of God is discovered in prayer.
God is not looking for discipline in prayer, he desires relationship. Praying
to God versus Praying with God
My fear of being wrong has held me back from trying
something new. I choose to trust God fully and allow myself to bask in his
goodness. I will let him lead the way while I follow confidently like a little
child carried by their mother not worried about how or when they will get to
their destination but living in the moment.
Baptism of
Fire
Jeremiah 29:14 “I will be found by you”
God wants us
to seek him and we will find him where he may be found. Where he may be found is
a place of rest that comes out of the conviction of who he is in us and who we
are in him.
Lord, I choose to seek you, to know you more
and to live for you. I will seek you Lord with all that I am. I set aside the
major destruction of my life because I want to live for you and not me anymore.
I want to experience you every day of my life. I choose you Lord.
Conclusion
Hosting the presence is no doubt a book I am
going to read over and over again. It has opened my mind to a number of
profound things and stirred in me the desire to step out in full confidence of
who I am in Christ. I am excited about the wonderful things that God has in
store for me and learning to host the presence is just what I needed to get me
started on this new journey of walking with God. I am in total surrender and
great anticipation of the many wonderful things that God wants to do through my
life.
No comments:
Post a Comment