Jesus must become our focus in Christianity; and not for a mere moment, but every single minute of every single day. In the 17th century, a monk by the name of Brother Lawrence found that he could have as deep of intimacy while washing dishes in the kitchen as when he was knelt at the altar to pray.
It isn’t so much of a duty as it is a desire to realize that the God of the Universe is living and inhabiting one’s very life. As a Christian we are not to “do” or “perform” Christian activities; Christianity by its very design is to have someone (ie: God) in your life, living His life through you. As Christians we are called to live an impossible life … and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the impossible life is possible – not because we attempt, try, and produce; rather, we submit and respond to Jesus and He brings it about in and through us. If we have such a God truly indwelling our lives, we must continually be focused upon Him. Everything we do then becomes an act of intimacy and communion with Him (reading, singing, eating greenbeans, getting ready in the morning, conversations throughout the day, telling the latest joke, whatever). He does not live outside and we go back at the end of the day to tell him what happened; no, He lives IN our lives (literally living our lives). Praying without ceasing IS possible, not because we are mumbling words 24/ 7 but through a continuous oneness and intimacy with our risen Lord and exalted King.
Brother Lawrence’s writing on “practicing God’s presence” was collected and published, becoming a best selling book helping others have daily intimacy with Jesus Christ.
This month I want to give away 3 copies of Practicing His Presence. This particular copy contains a condensed version of Lawrence’s writings along with a 20th century contemporary of Lawrence writing on the same topic. This is one of those books that I return to again and again.
Join the Community to Win
In the past we made people who were interested fill out their name and email in a form which we randomly selected from. All you need to do now to be entered to win a copy of the book is to be a member of the deeperChristian community.
If you already receive deeperChristian quotes, the blog, or the Weekly Digest in your email inbox, you are ALREADY ENTERED! As we continue to shift toward the full “relaunch” of the deeperChristian site – you’ll notice several benefits and bonuses for those who become a part of the dC community.
Interested in becoming a part of the community? Click Here!
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In coming weeks, I’ll let you know more of the bonuses from being a member of the community, but until then, if you haven’t already signed up – Click Here.
The 3 winners of Practicing His Presence will be notified by email on February 1, 2015 and their names will be posted in next month’s giveaway overview.
Here are last month’s winners:
December 2014 Winners!
Congratulations to the following individuals who won a copy of Stephen Manley’s devotional book The Jesus Pusher.
- Jess Stolzfus
- Audrey
- Terri Zelasko
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, deeperChristian will receive an affiliate commission (with no additional cost to you). It is a great way to support the work and ministry of deeperChristian. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will add value to our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, deeperChristian will receive an affiliate commission (with no additional cost to you). It is a great way to support the work and ministry of deeperChristian. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will add value to our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”