The Pursuit of God (Review)

I just finished another Christian Audio book.  This one was called The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. I first read this book back in 2004, and it has continued to play an influential role in my life since that first reading.

I just finished writing my review for the Christian Audio site and would like to quote that review here:

In searching for the words to write a proper review for this book, I continue to find that my vocabulary is coming up short.  My desire is to write a review that will point you to the purchase of this book, whether you buy the audio version or the print version it is a purchase that I highly recommend.

I read through this book several years ago, and find that it still holds a place of prominence in my thinking.  His words stirred in me a deeper passion for God and answered questions that I didn't even know that I was asking.  I hesitate writing this way at the risk of sounding over-dramatic, but it had a truly dramatic impact in my life.  Nearly every page of the book is filled with thoughts and ideas that deserve quoting and reveal the accumulated wisdom of this man.

In the preface of the book we hear how there is a scarcity of attributed quotes because this is a work of Tozer's years of study and accumulated knowledge.  In other words, there are ideas that he freely attributes to others, but because of the years of study he can't pinpoint where specific ideas came from.  It is also told that Tozer wrote this book while on his knees.  That position of prayer if felt throughout every page.

Over the last few days as I have listened to the audio version of this book, I have found that it has once again added fuel to the fire of my passions for God.  The voice talent for this book, Grover Gardner, read in such a way that I felt as if I was listening to Tozer himself narrating this book to me while he prayed through these words.

I would like to encourage to you consider purchasing this book.  Especially if you already own the print version, the audio version will bring things to the surface that you have never noticed before.

To go to Christian Audio to see the listing for this book, click here.  You can also go to amazon.com to purchase a print version of this book.  To see a few other posts that I have done regarding A.W. Tozer, click here.

Receptivity

As you may have noticed, I am reading several books right now. I am not reading any of them particularly fast, but I am definitely plugging through them. (If you scroll down the right side of this blog, you can browse the books that I am currently reading.)

One book that I thought would be a drudgery is The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. But I have found it is one of the most insightful books that I have read in a long time. Since it wasn't written in this decade, it is a little bit more difficult to read. Probably because he uses words with more than one syllable. Nevertheless, Tozer has succeeded in, once again, making a point that I would like to share with all of you.

Right at the end of a chapter about the presence of God, he starts talking about this thing called receptivity. He begins by saying:

Why do some persons "find" God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course, the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God but with us.

Tozer then gives several examples of Biblical characters and other famous Christians, "whose testimonies and lives are widely known." Why did they follow hard after God, while others just sat there waiting for something to happen? What is different about these people? Tozer offers a suggestion that hits home...

They differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it. They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response.

I love that part, "...they did something about it." I mean, I can't tell you how many times in my life I have been in the middle of temptation, on my way into sin, and I knew the right thing to do... It was almost like there was that still small voice in the back of my head, telling me "Don't do that!" -- "That's wrong!" -- "It's sin!" And even though I knew the right thing to do, and I knew the voice was yelling at me, I did it anyway. I sinned!

That is what separated me from fellowship with God. I enjoyed it when my lips sang praises to him on Sunday, but I acted helpless on Monday. When I knew what was right, I still didn't commit to it.

I can even think of some times when I have turned that voice off. I didn't want to hear it.

I need to be able to repeat after King David...

"When you said, Seek my face; my heart said unto you, your face, Lord, I will seek." (Psalm 27:8)

Check out the book
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.

the test

I have been reading several books. I read a little of each one each week. The books that I am currently reading are listed on the right side of this page.

One of those books is The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. And even though it was written quite awhile ago, I have found it to still be quite practical, and relevant for today. Just recently I was reading a chapter called "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing" which is the same chapter that I did a post called the treasure in the field. (If you check the dates on these posts, you can see how slow I am reading this book.) This whole chapter is about how you can't pursue God and other things. It is very convicting. He pleads with us to renounce all other things and pursue God.

Through the process, he brings up the idea of testing, an idea that is familiar to all of us, and he makes these statements:

"If we would indeed know God in growing intimacy, we must go this way of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of God, He will sooner or later bring us to this test." And I would say tests! Not just a one-time testing, but an ongoing process of testing. Maybe daily, sometimes hourly testing. Bringing us to the choice again and again. Jesus says to us to take up our cross daily, and come and follow him! "At that testing place there will be no dozen possible choices for us -- just one and an alternative -- but our whole future will be conditioned by the choice..." or choices "...we make.

Even though I believe that this is an ongoing process, and that we are tested daily, I also believe that we can have some real doozies. You know what I mean. Those whopper tests. The ones that really put who we are on the line. The choices that we make during those tests can alter our lives in ways that we couldn't imagine. Tozer uses the example of Abraham and his son Isaac. Imagine how much different his life could have been if he wouldn't have been willing to offer his son upon the altar.

Check out the book, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.

Worship

Now that I have my <blockquote> fixed, I want to share a good quote with you.

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven."
~A.W. Tozer~

I love A. W. Tozer's quotes.

I pulled this one off of the wall in my room. I have printed out quotes and stuck them all over my room. Most of the time they don't get noticed, but every once in awhile I will see a student browsing my quotes.

I have found this particular one to be particularly confrontational. It is sort of in-your-face. Especially if you are one who isn't so fond of your church's worship services. (I know there are other issues to be dealt with in different church situations, but the principle is true none the less...)

But we...

If you look on the sidebar, you will see that I am currently reading more than one book. Now, I don't know what works best for you, but for me it works great to just read a little bit of a book every week. That way I don't get bogged down with the book, and I can also plow through several books at once.

One of the books that I am reading is called The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. It is a relatively small book, but I have been so impressed with it.

I just finished the chapter titled Removing the Veil, and I would like to share a couple of the quotes with you.

"God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we, as well as He, can, in divine communion, enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile. But we..."

Isn't that always how it goes. God has created us and made it possible through the death of His son to have a perfect communion with Him -- Our Creator! But we step in. Like the prodigal son, we want things our way and we want it now, and if we can't get it... We are upset! Here we are as created beings, and all we care about is the created instead of the creator. And that selfish sin has separated us from the Holy God.

In the Old Testament, the temple was separated into two parts. The outer room was called The Holy Place. The inner-most room was called The Holy of Holies. And in those days it was in the inner-most place that the very presence of God dwelt. The two rooms were separated by a veil. And during the time of the sacrifice the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the altar.

When Christ was on the cross, His final proclamation was, "It is Finished!" At that moment the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. In the book of Hebrews we are told that we can now have entrance into the Holy of Holies. We can have communion with God!

But we block the way.

In many ways self keeps us from entering into that communion. There is still a veil there. "It is woven of the fine threads of the self-life, the hyphenated sins of the human spirit. They are not something we do, they are something we are, and therein lies both their subtlety and their power." Our very being separates us from God. "Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are set free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us."

This is why Jesus tells us, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."

Self must die.

"It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet this is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free."

But He died so that we might die.

"The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God."


Check out the book
The Pursuit of God
by A.W. Tozer.

Restless

"Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."
--St. Augustine

Some people look at the Bible and Christianity as a whole and see rules and restrictions. They see barriers to their own personal happiness. They see walls and fences blocking them in.

They want out so bad that it hurts.

And many do "get out." They break free from God. And find themselves enslaved by sin.

Many don't ever recognize their position, their enslavement. They flounder around in sin and degradation, never realizing that true freedom can only be found in Him. And with that freedom from sin, their is true joy to be found.

"God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we, as well as He, can in divine communion, enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile."
--A.W. Tozer

Check out the book, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.

The Treasure in the Field...

When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the and lies our great woe. If we omit the and we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.
We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One.
......

The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.
-- A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God

The Pursuit of God
by A.W. Tozer

Check it out on Amazon.com

The Mercy of God

This week I will be preaching at Edgewood Baptist Church. I have been going through the Sermon on the Mount and I am currently studying Matthew 5:7, the next in the line of Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which states, "Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."

In my studies I always find that I am afforded opportunities during the week to experience, in some way, exactly what I will be teaching. This week has not been any different. I had an opportunity this week to show mercy, but I flopped. Miserably. I am so thankful for a merciful God. I always pray that God will help to understand what I will be talking about, and then He gives me these real-life experiences to do some real learning.

I am saying all of that because I want to share a mercy quote with you. This one is from A.W. Tozer in his book "The Knowledge of the Holy":

"When through the blood of the everlasting covenant we children of the shadows reach at last our home in the light, we shall have a thousand strings to our harps, but the sweetest may well be the one tuned to sound forth most perfectly the mercy of God. "For what right will we have to be there? Did we not by our sins take part in that unholy rebellion which rashly sought to dethrone the glorious King of creation? And did we not in times past walk according to the course of this world, according to the evil prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience? And did we not all at once live in the lusts of our flesh? And were we not by nature the children of wrath, even as others? But we who were one time enemies and alienated in our minds through wicked works shall then see God face to face and His name shall be on our foreheads. We who earned banishment shall enjoy communion; we who deserve the pains of hell shall know the bliss of heaven. And all through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us.

"Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature which disposes God to be actively compassionate... If we could remember that the divine mercy is not a temporary mood but an attribute of God's eternal being, we would no longer fear that it will someday cease to be. Mercy never began to be, but from eternity was; so it will never cease to be. It will never be more since it is itself infinite; and it will never be less because the infinite cannot suffer diminution. Nothing that has occurred or will occur in heaven or earth or hell can change the tender mercies of our God. Forever His mercy stands, a boundless, overwhelming, immensity of divine pity and compassion."

Family Vacations and book reading.

I am currently on my family vacation.

Every year my wife's side of the family takes a little vacation. They always get some sort of cabin or vacation home... something big enough for all of us... and we get together for a few days.

I usually spend the spare moments of this vacation catching up on my reading.

I just finished the book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer. It was a really good book. The first few chapters were the best chapters that I have ever read on the sovereignty of God. At least they were the best that I can remember reading. Maybe I will write an official "review" of this book in a few days.

Since I finished that book, I started reading The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink. (Why is it that so many of my favorite authors go by their initials and their last name? C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, J.C. Ryle, A.W. Pink, J.I. Packer, R.A. Torrey, etc. Hey, I should start doing that!) I just read the first chapter and thought that it was pretty good. He makes a point right at the beginning of the book that I thought was really relevant:

Almost all doctrinal error is, really, Truth perverted, Truth wrongly divided, Truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. This it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions. Here is where so many have failed in the past.

Those words struck a sure chord in my mind. I believe that the issues that I have run into, both with other people and within my own mind, have been issues of disproportion. Specifically when tackling the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. I think that is why I love to read books from both perspectives. I love to be convicted and driven on by those books which lay out my responsibility to obey God's commands, but I also love the reassurance that comes from reading about the sovereignty of God.

I have been thinking about starting a book group (for lack of a better title) that is devoted to reading through the great books of the faith... Books that have been around for a while... That have stood the test of time... That have authors who only use their first and middle initial and then tack on their last name. Those kind of books. I might start it with my church or my family and see where it goes from there. I would especially like to get some men involved, men who want to think deep and tackle tough thoughts...

Anyway, back to the vacation and away from deep thoughts for a moment... For a little leisure reading I just finished reading Peter and the Starcatchers. I know, this sounds a little juvenile, but it was a really good book. I guess that there are a few more in the series, so I am looking forward to picking those up from the library. My mom got me started with these books and now that I am finished with the first one, I can understand why. I think that these might be a good series to read with my boys.

Well, I need to get up from the computer and enjoy a little family time. More later.

M.C. Harmless

an inward principle of self

Here is an A.W. Tozer quote for you: (As Quoted by Jim Berg in the book, Changed Into His Image)

The struggle of the Christian man to be good while the bent toward self-assertion still lives within him as a kind of unconscious moral reflex is vividly described by the apostle Paul in the seventh chapter of his Roman Epistle; and his testimony is in full accord with the teaching of the Prophets. Eight hundred years before the advent of Christ the prophet Isaiah identified sin as a rebellion against the will of God and the assertion of the right of each man to choose for himself the way he should go. "All we like sheep have gone astray," he said, "we have turned everyone to his own way," and I believe that no more accurate description of sin has ever been given.

The witness of the saints has been in full harmony with prophet and apostle, that an inward principle of self lies at the source of human conduct, turning everything men do into evil. To save us completely Christ must reverse the bent of our nature; He must plant a new principle within us so that our subsequent conduct will spring out of a desire to promote the honor of God and the good of our fellow men.

I know that was a long quote, but it was a good one. I thought about just putting up the one phrase, "...an inward principle of self lies at the source of human conduct, turning everything men do into evil." But I wanted to get the whole thing so you could see it in context.

That phrase struck a chord with me. I don't think we realize how important this is in our modern world. We have begun to "take some time for my self" and we have felt that it was important to "build self-esteem". This promotion of self has even crept into our "christian" counseling.

Just think about this quote. If it is true, then it would not be self-assertion leading us to healing, it could only be a "denial of self" that could bring us to the place that we need to be, and aren't those the exact words of Jesus? Are we not to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him?

Serious Malady of the Soul

I just started my next audio book from Christian Audio.  This one is The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.  I read this book several years ago, I think that I even posted about it a few times on this blog.

Well, I was listening to it on the way home from school today and hear this wonderful tidbit:

The idea of cultivation and exercise, so dear to the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture. It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machineage methods to our relations with God. We read our :' chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.

Now, he said this several years ago, and I think that it is even worse now.  I see it at work in me, but God is changing me in this area.  After a year of increasingly less TV and increasingly more Bible study and prayer, I am beginning to see its value.  Especially as I study those men of old, those men who have promoted and lived for the gospel.  I am reminded more and more that God made me for Himself, and to live a life cultivating and exercising myself in this deep relationship with God brings me closer and closer to my purpose in life and closer and closer to Him.

Update:  Just found the entire book online for free here.

For Sandy

"The way to deeper knowledge of God
         is through the lonely valleys of soul poverty
         and abnegation of all things."
~A.W. Tozer

Remember that you serve a God who sees. Draw close to Him, and He will draw very close to you.

Creator -- creature

"Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let thy glory be above all the earth."
(Psalm 57:5)
Have we forgotten the creator?

The creator of the heavens and the earth... and the creator of us! Like Jeremiah the prophet, God could say to us, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you..." (Jeremiah 1:5) He is planning out and orchestrating our lives to conform us to the image of His son. (Romans 8:28-29) He knows the best way for us to be us!

He is the creator, we are the creatures. We can't forget that. In order for us to live the most peaceable, enjoyable experience that we can live, we have got to get that right.

It is true that order in nature depends upon right relationships; to achieve harmony each thing must be in its proper position relative to each other thing. In human life it is not other wise.

The right relationship with our creator would be to have Him as our Lord. Many of us would claim to be in that right relationship with Him. We might call ourselves "Christians" or we might say that we are "saved." We might even "call" Jesus Lord! But is that really true, or is it just words? How does this right relationship begin?

A satisfactory spiritual life will begin with a complete change in relation between God and the sinner; not a judicial change merely, but a conscious and experienced change affecting the sinner's whole nature. The atonement in Jesus' blood makes such a change judicially possible and the working of the Holy Spirit makes it emotionally satisfying.

There are many of us who have been "toying around" with God's grace most of our lives. We have claimed this salvation stuff, but we have never really lived it. It has only been words. Jesus is not Lord.

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image. The flesh whimpers against the rigor of God's inexorable sentence and begs like Agag for a little mercy, a little indulgence of its carnal ways. It is no use. We can get a right start only by accepting God as He is and learning to love Him for what He is. As we go on to know Him better we shall find it a source of unspeakable joy that God is just as He is.

But how can we know if we are on the right path? How do we know that we are claiming Jesus as Lord and really meaning it?

Our break with the world will be the direct outcome of our changed relation to God. For the world of fallen men does not honor God. Millions call themselves by his name, it is true, and pay some token respect to Him, but a simple test will show how little He is really honored among them. Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who or what is above, and his true position will be exposed. Let him be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be exalted above. However the man may protest, the proof is in the choices he makes day after day throughout his life.

Who is your lord? What do your choices say about you? I hope that if Jesus is not really your Lord, if He is simply a figure-head, that you will repent and turn and seek Him. May you be like the prodigal son coming back to the father!

God wants the whole person, and He will not rest till He gets us in entirety. No part of the man will do.

Check out the book
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.