Tuesday December 8 2015  “THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY”

Somehow God brings the exact books into my life at the perfect time that I need them.  “THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY” by A.W. Tozer is the one I refer to at present.  Tozer was an avid writer, pastor, and student of the Bible.  Many of his books were actually published long after he died.  Many of the books are compilations of his sermons and other teachings.  He was born in 1897 and died in 1963.  Here is a quote from a website about his life:

“Among the more than 60 books that bear his name, most of which were compiled after his death from sermons he preached and articles he wrote, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. Many of his books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.”

“THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY” is the book I am reading at present.  It is the first book I have read by him.  I plan to search for more.  I have only read the first two chapters but from just what I have read I challenge you to see if you can get a copy and study it closely.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the first two chapters do not make a life changing difference in your life.  Those two chapters stirred my spirit to the point that I just crave to go deeper in the book to discover a new understanding of who God is.  His writing is amazingly simple to follow, yet profound in what it says.  I just wanted to share this bit of news with you in case any of you are interested in a closer, more intimate relationship with God.

Here is the poem I wrote after my chapter study this morning.  Tomorrow I plan to study the same chapter again because there was just too much for me to digest all at once.

 

IN THE SACRED PLACE

By Kathleen Martens

December 8, 2015

 

I am here Lord,

Come and be with me

That this day I may learn

More and more of thee.

 

That in this private hour

With you in adoring silence

My heart is filled with peace.

Safe from worldly violence.

 

And I experience wonder

Of the magnificence of my King

And worship and adore You

As my spirit sings.

 

Just to know You,

And who You are,

The King of heaven and glory,

Life’s Bright and Shining Star.

 

Lord give me awareness

Of the holiness you wear.

That I am still and know my God

As my time with You I share.

 

Let not me entertain

Lowly thoughts of You,

But conceive deep in my heart

All that You imbue.

 

Show me just what to believe

When my thoughts dwell on Your story,

That I never underestimate

The power of Your glory.

 

That I will learn to worship You

Perfectly as You deserve.

That in mind, body, and spirit,

My worship I will not conserve.

 

Let me not imagine

Thoughts of You that are not true.

Open my eyes to Who You Are

So Your truth I may ensue.

 

In my heart I can’t comprehend,

Or am I able to frame,

Just exactly Who You Are,

No face to match Your name.

 

For You are more mighty

Than what I can conceive.

And Your name, though secret

It is through faith that I believe.

 

For when my heart burns

And for God is full of desire,

It is then the gift of the Holy Spirit

Fills me with Holy Ghost fire!

 

And though I cannot see or touch

The God in whom I believe,

In the sacred places of my heart

His loving voice I do receive.

 

This is a low key week and I hope it stays that way.  We are trying to allow our bodies to heal, to get much needed rest from a combined work period of 96 years.  We have both worked all these years and they total the grand sum of 96 years.  It will take a bit of rest to catch up.

Slowly little things are being accomplished around the house and after the first of the year we hope to make a lot of headway.  Today Dave packed up five trash can sized bags with his over-sized clothes, and that is after already giving away several other bags that size.  I plan to drop these off at St. Vincent’s tomorrow.  The others we gave to the homeless shelter. 

Dave made up for the lost time of yesterday.  He felt better so he sat in a chair and replaced three doorknobs.  Slowly but surely we are replacing all the knobs in our house to lever style because my hands no longer easily manipulate the round doorknobs.  We have a lot of doors in our house and so we have been doing them a few at a time so it is not so overwhelming for both time and expense.

My closets are the next challenge.  That will be a big job.  My elbow is not quite ready for that task just yet.  Dave will help me when he is well.  As we sort through THINGS, we are finding items we long ago forgot about.  And I have a feeling we’ll be finding a lot more of those kinds of THINGS before this house is emptied out.  I know the job will be tedious and long, but to me, it is also an adventure.  It will be interesting, fun, and sometimes amazing to see what crops up.

I read a book about a man (true story) who decided to sell every single item in his apartment, take the money from the items, and then go visit each place on the map where the items were purchased so he could meet the person who bought it.  He sold through E-Bay and finally was left with a totally empty dwelling.  He took off on his odyssey around the world to meet everyone, and for the most part stayed in their homes with them.  I think that was one of the criteria attached to buying the item.  He sold everything except for the clothes on his back.  That included partially opened boxes of cereal and food stuff from his refrigerator as well as his trash cans and the trash in them. The book was filled with the pictures of what he sold, and next to the item he included a picture of him and the person who purchased it, holding the item (another criteria at purchase). He included a short bio of who, why they purchased it and where they lived.  This man went to many different countries and it took quite a while to do the trip but I don’t remember just how long it took him.  I just looked it up on life to see if I could find him.  I found others who had sold off all their belongings but for other reasons.  I could not find his story online but I did read the hard copy book. I do not remember the title but I gave it to my son and he may still have it.

I tried to get Dave to sell our things but he would rather just donate them.  He doesn’t like to advertise on Craig’s list because he doesn’t want to draw attention to where our neighborhood is.  We are sort of out of the way from the mainstream and a bit isolated.  He said you just don’t know who you may be attracting to your door.  I think he is wise.  So we will donate what we can’t find a home for. 

Well, I am not getting anything accomplished sitting here writing so I will close and try to see part of a movie tonight.  No time today.  I am at least seeing part of a Christmas movie each day.  Maybe I will get through them all before Christmas 2016.

Good night and God bless you.  Remember, think about looking into reading some of A.W. Tozer’s works if you are not yet acquainted with his writings.  As far as I am concerned I can never read too many books!

P.S.  I just called my son and the name of the book about the man selling the contents of his apartment is “ALL MY LIFE FOR SALE” by John D. Freyer.