BOOK REVIEW By Ladislaus L D’Souza EXPERIENCING GOD’S PRESENCE 365 Daily Encounters to Bring You Closer to Him By Chris Tiegreen ST PAULS, 58/23rd Road, TPS III, Bandra West, Mumbai 400 050 - Tel: 2640 3312 E-mail: [email protected], stpaulsmarketing@gmail – Website: stpaulsbyb Yr 2013 / Rs 200.00 / ISBN 978-93-5015-159-4 A ‘page-numberless’ diary or calendar is one thing. But a page-numberless book? A different proposition all together! And that is precisely what this book is: page-numberless! Yet, commendably, it does exactly what it purports to do, viz. make God’s all-pervasive Presence felt to the reader on a daily basis. Seen in that light, the contents, though arranged for each day of the calendar year, are timeless in essence. Faith, for most Christians, consists in a religion of theological beliefs about God and biblically derived precepts and principles, apart from common ritual or devotional practices. There are times when what we call a “relationship with God” feels like nothing more than a mere link with these beliefs and behaviours. We relate to printed words on paper, to people in church, to ministry activities, and to our own sense of obligation to do what is right—and then we call that a relationship with God. Factually, what’s missing is the experience of a real encounter with Him, certainty that we have heard His voice, and a sense of His palpable presence – in brief, a sense of God’s Presence is what all of us truly crave. EXPERIENCING GOD’S PRESENCE fills the lacuna admirably, ensuring that we experience His presence 365 days of the year, 24x7 as the Scripture Index that brings up the rear amply proves! We know that God is everywhere. We couldn’t get away from Him even if we wanted to—which, of course, we don’t ever! Our awareness , however, is merely half of what we need in order to experience His Presence, the other half being up to Him: He comes to us and is manifestly present in every place at all times. Chris Tiegreen leads us in an awareness of the difference between His Presence and our experience of that presence. And he does this by giving us a different perspective of God’s presence, each day offering us a different reflection based on a little morsel of scripture so to say, and concluding with a brief prayer. Interestingly, each of these little prayers is itself an invitation to enter into the truth of God’s presence and to engage Him about that truth. As such, these prayers [which could well be compiled into a small pocket prayer book by itself] make for a further encounter with Him by deepening the reader’s understanding as regards the reality of His presence, and motivate one to pour out one’s heart as it were. Incidentally, you might find yourself considering the very idea of experiencing God’s Presence to be somewhat mystical. So it is! Indeed, isn’t the Christian faith per se somewhat mystical in nature? Scripture refers to Jesus as speaking to his disciples about his oneness with them and about the Holy Spirit coming to speak to them (cfr Jn 14:16-20; 17:22-23), of the two disciples encountering Jesus on the way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13ff), of Paul on the road to Damascus and of receiving inexpressible revelations in the third heaven (cfr 2 Cor 12:1-4)? Clearly, the Bible describes a mystical relationship between Jesus and those who believe in Him. EXPERIENCING GOD’S PRESENCE is about both sides of the mystical reality: becoming more aware of God’s abiding presence and feeling Him up close and personal. The first is what is often referred to as “practicing the Presence of God”—that is, tuning in to the knowledge of His nearness. The second is, so positioning ourselves as to encounter His Presence and literally cherish His nearness. That He is always present is a given. But, what this book will help surface in you is the attitudes and expectations that would prepare you to encounter Him and enable you to explore the various levels and degrees of His Presence and ways to experience “more” of Him.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 06:31:49 +0000
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