Willard Wednesdays

The Divine Conspiracy: Chapter 3 What Jesus Knew: Our God-bathed World (pp. 76-78)

"God is..seen everywhere by those who long have lived for him.  No doubt God wants us to see him.  That is a part of his nature as outpouring love.  Love always wants to be known.  Thus he seeks for those who could safely and rightly worship him."

"Seeing is no simple thing, of course.  Often a great deal of knowledge, experience, imagination, patience, and receptivity are required.  Some people, it seems, are never able to see bacteria or cell structure through the microscope.  But seeing is all the more difficult in spiritual things, where the objects, unlike bacteria or cells, must be willing to be seen."

"Persons rarely become present where they are not heartily wanted. Certainly that is true for you and me.  We prefer to be wanted, warmly wanted, before we reveal our souls- or even come to a party.  The ability to see and the practice of seeing God and God's world comes through a process of seeking and growing in intimacy with him."

"The heavens progressively open to us as our character and understanding are increasingly attuned to the realities of God's rule from the heavens."

"Certainly mere space travel is not the way to discover the divine richness that fills all creation.  That discovery comes through personal seeking and spiritual reorientation, as well as God's responsive act of making himself present to those ready to receive."

"In a striking comparison, Ole Hallesby points out that the air our body requires envelops us on every hand.  To receive it we need only breathe.  Likewise, 'The air which our souls need also envelops all of us at all times and on all sides.  God is round about us in Christ on every hand, with his many-sided and all-sufficient grace.  All we need to do is to open our hearts.'"