“A continual cry of my heart is that I might always be deepening my intimacy with the Lord. I do not want to become complacent, or even satisfied, in my current relationship with Him. I desire to keep growing in my love and knowledge of God – in essence, I thirst for His ongoing power and presence in my life.”[1] Cynthia Heald
30 years ago, I was floundering on the surface of Christianity trying to find my way into a deeper experience of God. After years of failure, I reached the end of myself and gave up. My spirit stilled, waiting for what might or might not come next.
In my quiet desperation, I began reading Ephesians and writing out my heart. God drew close, materializing out of the fog of my despair, and began His deepening work in my heart. Yet, the deeper He has drawn me, the more I despair of my shallowness and the greater my longing to know God more. For there is no limit, no rocky bottom, no end nor finality to the wondrously unimaginable depths of God. And I feel that I have only splashed in the spreading waves of the surf.
At the gate of 2015, He has again stirred my heart to return to Ephesians and plunge deeper. He has also brought back to me the writings of several of the godly seekers of the deep: Cynthia Heald, AW Tozer, Calvin Miller, and Andrew Murray. Their panting after God has inspired me over the years, and drawn me after them and after the One they pursue.
So, begins the next leg of my journey and rereading Ephesians and writing and, this time, blogging it. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly.] Philippians 3:10a, Amplified Bible
“…now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end.”[2] A.W. Tozer
Anyone else thirst for God’s ongoing power and presence in your life? Anyone else hungry to go deeper into the mysterious depths of the Triune God? He calls us to it. He yearns and waits for it.
[1] Heald, C. (2009). Dwelling in His Presence. Colorado Springs: NAVPRESS, p. 7.
[2] Tozer, A. W. (1993). The Pursuit of God. Camp Hill: Christian Publications, p. 14.
Author Archives: Pam Teschner
First Christmas
One day out of the blue (rather, out of heaven), the angel Gabriel stood in front of a very young woman. If it weren’t enough of a shock for a tall handsome angel to appear out of nowhere, he then announced to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”
She, a virgin engaged to be married, was going to become pregnant with God’s son. Questions raced through her mind. “How in the world is that supposed to happen? How am I going to explain this one, and who will believe me? This changes everything!”
After learning how the impossible was going to happen, she looked up at Gabriel and simply replied, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.” The angel then vanished with a smile.
In response to her absolute surrender, the mighty power of God moved upon her and the glory cloud of His Presence overshadowed her. In that private moment, heaven’s most astounding miracle materialized in secret – hidden in the womb of Mary and obscured by a cloud of glory.
Her heart was overwhelmed by the joy of His Presence and enveloped with His peace. Deity became two cells, then four cells, then eight, and soon the tiny heart of God’s Son began beating and circulating the atoning blood. All the fullness of Deity inhabited the humanity of a baby.
As the days of her pregnancy stretched on, she pondered all these things and treasured them in her heart. She keep turning the incredible message of the angel over and over in her mind – “the Most High God favors me, and I bear His Son…the King!”
While she and Joseph (who received his own personal message from the angel) were in Bethlehem to be registered for the census, the days were accomplished for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Far above the lowly stable, in the black of the night, stood a star as a bright sentinel over the King.
Mary sat in the hay tenderly cradling Jesus under the gaze of a few animals. She counted ten little fingers and ten little toes and marveled at his tiny little fingernails. She held her newborn baby boy…she held the Ancient of Days, the One who named the stars, and she looked in wonder into the eyes of her Creator – the very eyes of very God himself. And they called him Immanuel which means, “God with us.” And so, the light of the world dawned in the darkness of a stable.
The only sounds in the night were the breathing of the animals and an occasional switch of a tail. A cool breeze rustled the hay and caressed the tiny face of God then slipped out into the night whispering the miraculous birth of the King.
An ecstatic multitude of the heavenly host crowded around the portal anxious to charge through and announce the greatest news ever to be proclaimed. Gabriel gestured for silence and for some much needed angelic composure. Then he slipped through the portal and stood before a small group of astonished shepherds. The luminous angel told of the birth of their Messiah.
Meanwhile in the other realm, the angelic order was once more about to disintegrate. The angelic host couldn’t take it any longer and pushed their way through the portal. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”
The stunned shepherds rushed to Bethlehem and found Joseph and Mary in the stable. The scruffy men knelt in the hay before a manger that held God incarnate, the hope of humanity. In that humble hallowed place, they worshipped their Savior and their King.
God so loved us that he opened the treasury of heaven and gave his most precious gift – his only Son wrapped in human flesh. Even now, God draws us to the cradle of his humanity and overwhelms us with the glory of His Deity. How can we not fall to our knees in worship?
For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
The concept of ecstatic angels was taken from Gene Edwards, The Birth, the Chronicles of the Door, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1991.
Scriptures used: Luke 1 and 2, Isaiah 9:6
How Far Can God Throw?
Last week as I reflected on yet another birthday, I pondered God’s gifts to me. The first one He brought to the forefront of my mind was forgiveness. He led me to one of my favorite forgiveness promises – I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34) – and He underscored the last phrase. It’s beyond my ability to comprehend, but His all-knowing mind chooses to delete my sins and never retrieve them….ever. God isn’t forgetful. The Ancient of Days hasn’t misplaced them. He purposefully and irretrievably removes my sin from His mind washing them away with His own blood.
From Jeremiah, He took me to other treasured places of forgiveness: Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 38:7; 43:25; and 44:22. He drew pictures of unreachable unsearchable distances, of blotted stains and vanishing mists. Then He took me to a new place in Micah 7, and I fell in love all over again.
This final chapter of Micah is set within the context of sin and guilt then culminates magnificently with forgiveness and love…
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives…? (verse 18)
Who is this God that fully pardons at no cost to me? All other gods roaming the planet and all those I place before Him are slave masters that imprison and condemn. There is no God like our God who placed all our sin on His Son and condemned and judged it once and for all.
You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (verse 19).
I love the Hebrew word for compassion – racham. It’s a deep stirring of love and tender affection. When God looks at me, He is moved in His core with deep love even when I’m most unlovable and prickly. I can never exhaust His love, and His compassion for me never fails or falters – it’s brand new every morning. So, I drag myself out of bed and revel in the freshness of His racham.
Picture God walking on your sin with complete disregard then hurling the whole and totality of it into the depths of the sea. How far can God throw? To the bottomless depths of forgiven and forgotten and out of existence forever. And He will never dredge them up…so, why do we?
Worn Path
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
Jeremiah 29:13 has been one of my favorite verses, but as I was rereading it recently and digging for nuggets, God uncovered a beautiful gem. The word seek is used twice, but it’s actually two different words in the original:
You will seek (baqash) me and find me = Search for by touching or feeling.
This word is also used in Psalm 27:8. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (NKJV) As though blind and unable to see, I find God by reaching a hand of faith to the features of His face. In that timid reach of faith, God takes my hand and guides it that I might know Him through that touch. But I have to step close and face Him to touch Him and know Him.
When you seek (darash) me with all your heart = Tread a place frequently in prayer and worship.
Do I seek Him so frequently and go so often to that secret place, that my foot falls have worn a path to Him? Am I diligent to spend time with Him, talk to Him and worship Him day after day? Did I yesterday…have I today? Is the path worn or is it overgrown by my neglect? When I stop seeking, I stop growing, my strength drains away and I grow cold.
God wants all my heart not a heart divided by the trivial pursuit of the world’s shiny objects and time suckers. He is jealous for all of me. He longs to draw me close and reveal Himself to me. There is nothing greater, more wondrous and brimming with blessing than finding the God who lovingly pursues me every moment of every day.
Oh God, forgive my divided heart and wandering feet. Set them on the path to know You. Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth. Each day establish my steps to Your Presence. Show me Your face, O God, I want to know You. I want more and more of You.
Psalm 27:8 is quoted from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Prickling Faith
In the soundless doldrums of routine,
Adrift in sameness,
I long for extraordinary…
To be overwhelmed by the living God,
Enveloped in unutterable Love.
To hear the soft pad of Sovereign feet,
The quiet hum of contented Joy.
To feel a stir of air,
A brush of the Unseen against my soul.
Doubt shrieks, “Impossible!”
Faith bows low and waits.
Doubt numbs.
Faith prickles at the movement of Glory.
The Inconceivable draws near,
The Almighty leans in,
The commonplace ignites.
Is it possible or just mystical imagination? The logical mind doubts what it cannot grasp. It’s dependent on the perception of its physical senses and dismisses as illusive what cannot be perceived or explained.
The Unseen Reality waits in a dimension beyond logic. He continually speaks but logic hears only thunder. God waits for faith to look Him in the eyes and talk with Him.
Faith is the conviction and proof of the reality of things that can’t be seen.
Faith sees the unseen, hears the inaudible, and feels deeper than the skin.
Faith unleashes the power of God and opens the door to the unimaginable inexplicable blessing of intimacy with Sovereignty.
…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. John 20:29b
5 More Minutes
Last weekend – October 10-12 – is now a memory of what seems long ago but was just a few days ago. It was a glorious weekend in Cannon Beach. Glorious weather, yes, but more glorious was the palpable Presence of God. His touch melted hearts and the fragrance of the melt rose to Him as a sweet aroma.
If I had five more minutes with the women of Sandy Baptist, I would say this…
Sink your roots deep into the unfathomable love of Christ, and grasp the blessing of abiding in Him. Set your heart and soul to know Him. Seek Him so diligently, meet with Him so often, that your frequent footfalls wear a path into His Presence.
Take time to step out of the fast flowing currents of life and step in behind the Rock. Touch Him and keep your heart aligned with His. He will do the rest. He will keep you close and will do great and mighty things in you and through you.
Andrew Murray in Abide in Christ wrote, “…take time each day…to put yourself into living contact with the living Jesus…so will you give Him the opportunity of taking hold of you, of drawing you up and keeping you safe in His Almighty life.”
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NIV