Sitting? Walking!

Part 2

To say that God's working in His trusting children is "dynamic" does not mean that it is necessarily overt. The Holy Spirit's indwelling presence in us is often so quietly unassuming that the affirmations of Scripture are the only evidence of it.

"I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel" (Isaiah 45:3).

Knowing God for who He is requires much experience that seems to be no experience at all. Familiarity with the heart of another most often proceeds from quiet discourse. In our relationship with God, the quiet can be so still that we may wonder if He is even with us. He is, and He is working in us regardless of what we may feel, or how things may appear. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). The promise is sure, and the dynamic working of God on our behalf is ongoing in this present moment, and forever beyond. Again, however, the only knowledge we have of the "treasures" and "hidden riches" may be the Bible's assurance that such abundance exists. If so, let us rejoice that our Lord is working in the "darkness" and the "secret places" to tell us the most important thing we can ever know. He is telling us who He is.

"The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."

(Isaiah 32:17)

Sitting? Walking!

Part 2

To say that God's working in His trusting children is "dynamic" does not mean that it is necessarily overt. The Holy Spirit's indwelling presence in us is often so quietly unassuming that the affirmations of Scripture are the only evidence of it.

"I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel" (Isaiah 45:3).

Knowing God for who He is requires much experience that seems to be no experience at all. Familiarity with the heart of another most often proceeds from quiet discourse. In our relationship with God, the quiet can be so still that we may wonder if He is even with us. He is, and He is working in us regardless of what we may feel, or how things may appear. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). The promise is sure, and the dynamic working of God on our behalf is ongoing in this present moment, and forever beyond. Again, however, the only knowledge we have of the "treasures" and "hidden riches" may be the Bible's assurance that such abundance exists. If so, let us rejoice that our Lord is working in the "darkness" and the "secret places" to tell us the most important thing we can ever know. He is telling us who He is.

"The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."

(Isaiah 32:17)

Sitting? Walking!

I recall reading years ago that "there is a throne in our hearts upon which God desires to sit, and which we must abdicate."

Certainly there is truth in this analogy. The Lord Jesus Christ is our King, and He does indwell us by His Holy Spirit for the purpose of the will of God being consistently fulfilled in our lives. The imagery breaks down, however, as we consider the nature of our Lord's indwelling activity within us.

"Ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).

Rather than sitting on a throne, the God who inhabits our spirits rather walks in us. He is dynamically active in His ongoing determination to glorify the Lord Jesus in our thoughts, attitudes, word, actions, and relationships with others.

"I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (Colossians 1:29).

"It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

"Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Note that the Apostle Paul does not limit the affirmation of God's mighty working to himself. "In you" and "in us" he declares. Consider also that "the power that worketh in us" is beyond our capacity for thought or verbal expression, "exceedingly" beyond. In fact, the redeemed spirit of the born again believer teems with the dynamic activity of the eternally present God who is not sitting in us, but rather walking.

Why then do we not more experience the glory of such truth? Time and space do not allow a full consideration for the answer to this question. However, I am convinced that the primary reason for our failure to more apprehend and express the vibrant reality of our Lord's presence within us is similar to the experience of His own country during His earthly ministry: "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58). Believers are now the "own country" of the Lord Jesus, and our experience of His working in us will be known in direct proportion to our belief in His Biblical declaration of it. "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).

Do we view God as sitting in us? Do we even view Him as dwelling in us? Or is it the consistent affirmation of our hearts and our words that the Christ who forgave and redeemed us is also the Christ who "worketh in me mightily?" Our answer to this question will go far in determining our experience of the blessed reality of grace that made us the scene of God's dynamic activity on behalf of His Son's glory, the blessing of those with whom we live our lives, and the fulfillment of our hearts. Any lesser confidence, or any other confidence, denotes a tragic failure to "lay hold on eternal life," the life of Christ Himself given to us as a free gift of grace (I Timothy 6:12).

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

(II Corinthians 4:7)