See For Yourself

Our staff at BridgeWay has a time of soaking in God’s presence each Tuesday morning. It’s a wonderful time for us to gather together as a staff family and spend time seeking God’s heart and his voice for our church and our region. The Lord has been so faithful to speak to us during these times.

At the end of last year during one of these times, the Lord was speaking to me about the importance of each one of His sons and daughters “seeing for themselves”. That was an interesting word I thought so I asked Him for some more information. He began to impress on my heart the profound blessing and importance of us as individuals spending time with Him ourselves, not just attending a conference or gathering and watching others be present with Him. I think at times we can all be guilty of attending a church service or watching others engage with the Lord but our own hearts are not present. I know I have done this before, maybe you have too?

Hebrews Chapter 4 speaks of Jesus as our High Priest (v.14). He has served as the one and only way to get to the Father (John 14:6). We don’t have to wait to see the Father until we pass away either! We have uninterrupted access and freedom to boldly approach the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16) and be with Him ourselves.

If we’re not careful, we can get stuck in an Old Covenant mindset that others (pastors, prophets, teachers, missionaries, etc.) are the ones that meet face to face with the Lord and we can expect them to go be with God face to face on our behalf. Don’t get me wrong, leaders in the body of Christ should be seeking God’s heart for His people, but now under the New Covenant we all have the privilege and ability to meet with the Lord directly. This is what God was saying by “teach people to see for themselves”. God’s great invitation is out to joyfully welcome us into His presence. We don’t have to have qualifications, we don’t have to have a call to vocational ministry, we don’t have to have our act together…He just wants us.

Here are some questions to spur on a good conversation with God…

God, what are you thinking about right now?

Ask God if there are any areas of your life where you created a co-dependance on others more than you have depending on Him?

What are some healthy practical steps you can take to deepen the health of your relationship with God?

Is there anything you’re afraid of bringing to God?

As an encouragement, remember that God is indeed good. He has given His own son to stand in the gap for us and His heart is that we would come and be with Him. The Heavenly Father is not looking for your performance, He only seeks your heart. Let’s all accept the great invitation to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). No one can develop connection with Him for us, we must do it ourselves. May the Lord bless your time with Him and cause your time to be rich and full of His wonderful presence.