Bringing People into God’s Presence
Ron Hawkins, Ed.D., D.Min.
Summary Before real help is offered that has a biblical and Christ-centered foundation, caregivers must first understand who God is, His nature and the awesome power He can provide in the life of both the counselor and the counselee. This session shares how to value and rely on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in counseling ministry so that others can be led toward freedom and renewal.
Learning Objectives 1. Participants will identify reasons why people need God’s special presence that are applicable in a counseling setting. 2. Participants will examine the relational nature of God in the context of the Trinity and explore biblical examples that will help clients understand why God pursues the fallen. 3. Participants will be able to implement specific strategies for helping clients connect with the presence of God.
I.
Are We Always in God’s Presence? “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.”—Psalm 14:2 A. God is sovereign.
B. God did not walk away from His creation. He is watching over us.
C. God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
D. There is a special sense when we are in God’s presence. Counselors can be used by God as a channel of love and grace to bring people into the experience of God’s presence. 1. This is why it is important that Christians seek counseling from other Christians.
2. Understanding that God is a relational God transforms how we see being in the presence of God. 3. To bring people into the presence of God is one of the highest privileges that Christian counselors have. “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.”—Psalms 61:1-4
II.
Why is God’s Special Presence Needed? A. Because of Where We Are 1. Our world is profoundly fallen.
2. As Christian counselors, we have the opportunity to understand and appreciate where clients are coming from. We do not minimize it, but understand they are living in a word of brokenness.
3. Counselors should function as channels for God to move through with His grace.
4. There are times when we need someone to guide and lead us, in a very special way to the “rock that is higher than we are.”
B. Because of Who We Are 1. Every living human being, in the core of his being, is an image bearer of God.
2. Coming into the presence of God is like coming home. Man is away from home when he is away from God. Part of us is always yearning for home, completion, restoration, and reconnection with the Father.
3. Because we are created in the image of God, we are intelligent, imaginative, and have the power of reason not only of what is, but of what might be. We suffer from “wandering-itis”—we wander away from God and imagine a better world, existence, and way—but we sink deeper in a world that is filled with brokenness. 4. What we need is someone to come along and lead us from where we are (in a profoundly fallen world) and out of who we are (profoundly damaged and broken) into the presence of God (a place of safety).
5. We as counselors help clients begin to resolve the reality that they have been cut off from the source of their being because of their decisions, thoughts, response to their own wounds, and satanic involvement.
C. Because of Who God Is 1. We want people to understand, appreciate, and celebrate the reality of who God is. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”—Luke 9:10
2. The Trinity •
God Himself exists within a community of intimacy and relationship and prays that we may be one just as He is One (John 17:20-23).
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The quest for intimacy and for connection is in the DNA of God.
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God has a passion to be connected with His creation.
3. Understanding God’s character helps us to understand why He pursues the fallen, broken, and wounded in the way that He does. 4. It also helps us to understand why God enlists us, because God wants an army of people who illustrate His heart and passion of bringing people into His presence. We serve as channels and vessels through whom God can speak His truth and grace.
5. We are an extension of the passion of God.
6. God says, “My people are bent to backsliding, but how can I give you up? How can I surrender? I will not surrender you! My love for you is enflamed and I will not give you up!” (Hosea 11:7-8).
7. Beneath all attributions of God is His love. (John 3:16)
8. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are committed to doing amazing work in the lives of people who are brought into the presence of God through the labor of counselors, ministers, worship leaders, and all who labor selflessly to bring people to God.
III.
How God Brings People into His Presence A. God chooses to use people to bring others closer to Himself. People like Hosea…and people like us as Christian counselors.
B. The Example of Hosea 1. God worked through Hosea in an amazingly, marvelous way, and He chose Hosea as a vessel through whom He was going to prove His love for Israel. 2. Hosea was called upon to provide Israel with a pictorial real life illustration of the inexhaustible, in-spite-of, imitative, insisting nature of the love of God. •
It is an Inexhaustible Love (goes back again).
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It is an In-Spite-Of Love.
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It is an Imitative Love (love just like the love of the Lord).
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It is an Insisting Love (demands for what you shall do and not do).
3. God is a God who has standards and gives commandments. But, God is also a God whose love is inexhaustible and who seeks to save those who are lost.
C. Our Role as Christian Counselors 1. It is our special privilege to be a channel through which God can express His love, grace, and message of redemption. 2. No one has the answer for everything, but we can bring people to the “rock that is higher” than they are, which brings peace and healing.
IV.
Connecting People to the Presence of God A. Before we start to seek to lead people to this Rock and bring people into the presence of God, we need to make sure we have experienced God ourselves. 1. It is difficult to give people something we don’t have.
2. We need to deepen our own experience with the presence of God in a very special way. 3. We need to be men and women of prayer, and we need to seek the presence of God as we build our relationship with Him.
B. We connect people to the presence of God through the Word of God. 1. As people read, memorize and personalize the Word, their minds will become clear to know and understand God’s will.
2. The Holy Spirit works through Scripture to reveal God’s truth to us.
C. We connect people by encouraging them to pray for wisdom that is not their own.
1. Solomon confesses feeling overwhelmed when preparing to become king. He felt unready to lead people (1 Kings 3).
2. Often times, it is a good idea for us and for those we are seeking to help to come to a point where we say, “We don’t know what the answer is or how to move forward, but God, You have wisdom and You said if anyone lacks wisdom they can ask of You and You will give it liberally.”
3. God wants to give us wisdom; we just have to ask for it.
D. We connect people through channeling God’s grace, love, and truth.
E. We connect people by instructing them in the spiritual disciplines for maintaining life in His presence. 1. Spiritual disciplines include reading the Word of God, prayer, meditation, solitude, fasting, and the practice of visualizing and personalizing His promises.
2. As mentioned earlier, there is a huge difference between trying and training.
3. There is a training program that is rigid and laid-out. We train daily and we repeat certain activities.
4. We need a willingness to be accountable. Hebrews 10 describes the life of the New Testament Church: •
Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.
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Come together and consider one another, encourage one another, and provoke one another unto love and good works.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”—Isaiah 6:5
F. Our experiences will be somewhat like Isaiah’s. But, it will be very, very different as well. When we start to feel a sense of fear, He will put His hand out to welcome us. We have nothing to fear because we are redeemed.
G. Think about getting out of bed in the morning as a wounded and damaged person, but going into the presence of God, because of what God Himself has done for us in Christ and through the Holy Spirit—it just doesn’t get any better than this!