I've been reading Greg Boyd's "Perfect Presence, Finding God in the Now". I'm going to share some excerpts from his book that have spoken to my heart.
Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have a "magical" understanding of Christianity that leads them to assume their life is surrendered to Christ because they once pledged to do just that. They pray a "sinner's prayer" and think that this somehow - magically - means they have a real relationship with Christ. But it doesn't, any more than making marriage vows magically produces a loving relationship between two people.
I believe this is the most prevalent and tragic misunderstanding that afflicts contemporary Western Christianity. We make a vow to submit our life to Christ but then spend 99 percent of our time excluding him from our awareness. We make him Lord over our life in theory, but we do not make him Lord over most of the moments that make up our life.
Until God establishes his kingdom on the earth, we can't escape decay and death. But we can, right now, escape fear and dread that many experience as a result of this. For right now, the midst of our perpetually decaying environment, God is present. While we are physically dying every moment, the One who is eternal Life invites us to participate in his Life each moment. While everything around us crumbles to the ground, the One who never came into being and who cannot pass away invites us, each moment, to sare in the eternal sameness and perfect security of his perfect love. While the reign of God will only be fully established in the future, we can make each moment of our life a moment over which God reigns, simply by submitting to him.
Freedom from fear and dread is one decision away, and it can be made in this moment. Freedom is simply a matter of letting go of everything as a source of ultimate worth and significance as we surrender ourselves completely to our ever-present, loving Father.
Begin by reminding yourself that the only thing that is real is this moment and the only thing that ultimately matters is that you are submerged in God's love right now. Remain mindful of the fact that the perfect love that God expressed by becoming a human and dying on a cross to redeem you engulfs you right now. Remind yourself that you could not be more loved than you are this moment. You could not have more worth than you have this moment. Your life could not be more significant than it is at this moment. Remain mindful of the truth that this is not because of anything you have achieved or ever will achieve in your life. It's because of who God is and who you are, as defined by Calvary. Remind yourself that this perfect love never began, never ends, is never threatened and never wavers. As you breathe your next breath, let it represent your decision to breathe in God's loving presence and all these truths associated with it.
As you breathe in God's love, exhale everything else. Because God loves you trust that if there's anything you truly need God will give it to you, as Jesus taught us. Relinquish (exhale) all your possessions, achievements, reputation, future aspirations, health, beauty, relationships, and anything else that could possible be a false source of worth and significance to you. As you relax n the sufficency of God's presence, see all these potential idols evaporate in the light of God's ever-present love, like a morning mist disappearing with the first rays of the rising sun.
Now, while continuing to remaining aware of God's presence, notice what happened to whatever anxiety you may have had. If you are truly present, breathing in God's love and exhaling everything else, you will have found that your anxiety has disappeared. If you are truly present, it cannot help but disappear - just as it cannot help but reappear if you once again begin to cling to idols and get pulled out of the present moment. For as we've seen, our fear and dread are directly associated with our pursuit of idols and, therefore, being pulled out of the present into the past or future. To relinquish the idols and remain in the present, surrender to God's ever-present love.
In this way the practice of the presence of God completely frees us from the fear of death. Freedom from anxiety is one of the surest evidences you are learning how to abide in Christ moment-by-moment. If we remain surrendered to God, we've already died to everything decay and death could ever threaten to take away. Our treasure is no longer in things that moths can eat and thieves can steal. Our heart is no longer set on things that aging and misfortune can affect. Our life is securely hidden in Christ, whose love never changes. In fact, to the extent that we're surrendered to God every moment, we've "been crucified with Christ and [we] no longer live, but Christ lives in [us]" (Galations 2:20).
It is my desire, that I would increase the amount of submitted moments in my day. Now I know that I don't want to stress about the future, so this moment is submitted to God. I breathe in God's love and I breathe out all my anxieties, insecurities, and false sources of worth. I know I can be no more loved by God than I am right now. My life is securely hidden in Christ and I have nothing to fear. For the God who has no beginning, and no end, and who never wavers - loves me.
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