Poster | Thread | crsschk Member

Joined: 2003/6/11 Posts: 9192 Santa Clara, CA
| Re: Tozer ~ Spiritual Concentration | | [b]Gazing on God[/b]
When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth. The sweet language of experience is Thou God seest me (Gen_16:13). When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 83) Looking is of the heart and can be done successfully by any man standing up or kneeling down or lying in his last agony a thousand miles from any church. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 85) Many have found the secret of which I speak and, without giving much thought to what is going on within them, constantly practice this habit of inwardly gazing upon God. They know that something inside their hearts sees God. Even when they are compelled to withdraw their conscious attention in order to engage in earthly affairs, there is within them a secret communion always going on. Let their attention but be released for a moment from necessary business and it flies at once to God again. This has been the testimony of many Christians, so many that even as I state it thus I have a feeling that I am quoting, though from whom or from how many I cannot possibly know. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 86) Private prayer should be practiced by every Christian. Long periods of Bible meditation will purify our gaze and direct it; church attendance will enlarge our outlook and increase our love for others. Service and work and activity all are good and should be engaged in by every Christian. But at the bottom of all these things, giving meaning to them, will be the inward habit of beholding God. A new set of eyes (so to speak) will develop within us enabling us to be looking at God while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of this passing world. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 87) I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the hearts intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus, and we can know it too, and comfort ourselves with the knowledge that a habit of soul is forming which will become, after a while, a sort of spiritual reflex requiring no more conscious effort on our part. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 82)
_________________ Mike Balog
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| 2008/6/28 0:36 | Profile | crsschk Member

Joined: 2003/6/11 Posts: 9192 Santa Clara, CA
| Tozer ~ Spiritual Concentration | | [b]The Voice of God[/b]
When God spoke out of heaven to our Lord, self-centered men who heard it explained it by natural causes, saying, It thundered. This habit of explaining the Voice by appeals to natural law is at the very root of modern science. In the living, breathing cosmos there is a mysterious Something, too wonderful, too awful for any mind to understand. The believing man does not claim to understand. He falls to his knees and whispers, God! The man of earth kneels also, but not to worship. He kneels to examine, to search, to find the cause and the how of things. Just now we happen to be living in a secular age. Our thought habits are those of the scientist, not those of the worshiper. We are more likely to explain than to adore. It thundered! we exclaim, and go our earthly way. But still the Voice sounds and searches. The order and life of the world depend upon that Voice, but men are mostly too busy or too stubborn to give attention. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 71)
[b]Safety in Silence[/b]
Whoever will listen will hear the speaking Heaven. This is definitely not the hour when men take kindly to an exhortation to listen, for listening is not today a part of popular religion. We are at the opposite end of the pole from there. Religion has accepted the monstrous heresy that noise, size, activity and bluster make a man dear to God. But we may take heart. To a people caught in the tempest of the last great conflict God says, Be still, and know that I am God (Psa_46:10), and still He says it, as if He means to tell us that our strength and safety lie not in noise but in silence. ([i]The Pursuit of God[/i], p. 74)
_________________ Mike Balog
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| 2008/6/29 8:56 | Profile | BrokenOne Member

Joined: 2007/6/7 Posts: 429 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
| Re: Tozer ~ Spiritual Concentration | | Quote:
Our thought habits are those of the scientist, not those of the worshiper. We are more likely to explain than to adore. It thundered! we exclaim, and go our earthly way. But still the Voice sounds and searches. The order and life of the world depend upon that Voice, but men are mostly too busy or too stubborn to give attention.
[i]But still.....[/i] _________________ Danielle
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| 2008/6/29 9:06 | Profile | crsschk Member

Joined: 2003/6/11 Posts: 9192 Santa Clara, CA
| Tozer ~ Spiritual Concentration | | [b]The Presence of God[/b]
The presence of the Lord is the most wonderful thing in all the world. ([i]The Chief End of Man,[/i] Sermon #4, Toronto, 1962)
We must rescue our own concepts, not rescue God. God needs no rescuers. But we must rescue our own concepts from their fallen and frightfully inadequate condition. ([i]The Chief End of Man[/i], Sermon #5, Toronto, 1962) There comes the love of excellence that you can go into the presence of God and not want to rush out again. You want to stay in the presence of God because you are in the presence of utter, infinite excellence. And so naturally, you would admire. This can grow on you until your heart is lifted into an excellency of love and admiration. ([i]The Chief End of Man[/i], Sermon #5, Toronto, 1962)
If you do not know the presence of God in your office, your factory, your home, then God is not in the church when you attend. ([i]Whatever Happened to Worship?[/i], p. 123) What the Church needs today is a restoration of the vision of the Most High God. Im not just making up a sermon to preach to you. This is sound and can be checked and tested and proved. What we need more than we need anything else is a restoration of the vision of the Most High God. The honor of God has been lost to men and the God of todays Christianity is a weakling a little cheap, palsy God that you can run and pal around with. Hes the man upstairs. Hes the fellow that can help you when youre in difficulty and not bother you too much when youre not. Weve reduced the God of Abraham and Jacob to a stuffed God that can be appealed to by anybody at any time. The clown on the radio can break into his fun and say, Now we will have a minute of prayer. The half-converted cowboy dressed like an idiot will say after hes twanged out some sexy numbers, Now Ill do you a holy number. God is approached by everybody because that kind of God can be approached by anybody. Weve lost the glory and honor of God. (Sermon, [i]Prayer[/i], Chicago, 1956)
_________________ Mike Balog
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| 2008/6/29 23:13 | Profile | tjservant Member

Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: Tozer ~ Spiritual Concentration | | Quote:
We must rescue our own concepts, not rescue God. God needs no rescuers. But we must rescue our own concepts from their fallen and frightfully inadequate condition.
I have never been able to read very much Tozer at any one time. I always find myself staring off into the distance pondering
Anything over a few bites is usually way too much to properly digest in one meal.
Rumination and Tozer go hand in hand.
If Tozer doesnt start you to thinking
you didnt really read it.
Oswald Chambers and William Gurnall also come to mind.
_________________ TJ
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| 2008/6/30 0:22 | Profile |
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