In Pursuing God’s Presence, Roger Helland explored God’s Holy presence and how we can all live it out where we go. He described kavod as, being heavily honor majesty, power, presence, and glory of God. He discussed Eden and went all the way to the path of Eternity and how God’s presence can be found throughout the entire journey. He looked at Holiness and how important it is to watch what we listen to, watch, and relate with. We must also be careful into falling into sexual immorality and also avoid angry and malice against others. He explored prayer and talk to God, listen to him, and engage in distinctive varies prayer postures.
In the book, he revealed how he grew up as a pagan. His mother was a waitress and she had been divorced three times. His step-father was a realtor and he felt like he was fatherless. He grew up in a non-Christian home and he lived how he wanted to until he was about 18 years old. Everything changed when he was back home from the Army boot camp. He met his high school friend who had recently had become a Jesus Freak. His friend explained to him the meaning of Jesus Christ and led him into salvation. He was on LSD at the time. He felt this dramatic shift happening inside of him and he prayed that if Jesus is real that he wanted to believe. After that he began to read the Bible while in the Army. He shared how he was finally convicted when he was trying to witness to someone while holding up a beer. He explained how he needed to get this story straight and this woke up Roger into dealing with hypocrisy. He explained how he went to Bible college and became a pastor.
One of my favorite chapters was about creating a home-based Bethel, which means house of God. It is meant to be a holy habitation where God dwells. He explained how we are supposed to have Christ at the center of our house. We shouldn’t place our children above God or anything else. We need to model our home in a house of prayer and invite God’s presence to dwell freely in our home. He also shared how we are commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the Church. He discussed how we must be careful if we have overly sensitive children and not drive our children into discouragement by being overly disciple. He opened up about prayer and how we should pray for them daily and teach them about the power of prayer and blessing them. He looked at the topic of peace and designing a home that showcases harmony.
I would recommend this astonishing book to anyone who is ready to live in God’s holy presence and His Glory, also known as kovod. I greatly enjoyed reading about different ways in which you can have holiness in your home and creating a house where God’s presence can be seen daily. I loved the tips and how he enclosed ways in which we can have a Bethel type home. I really enjoyed the topic of blessings and how we can bless our children by using touch and using our words to shape and influence their lives for the better. I also liked the topic of basketing in the presence of God at work. We can dedicate our workplace as a sanctuary and we can seek prayer, listen to scriptures on the way to work or at work if allowed, and view our workplaces as a place to mask in God’s Holy presence. This book was very refreshing in understanding more of the Holy Spirit and living a Christ centered life.
"I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House/ Chosen for my honest review.”
If you would like to purchase a copy, check it out on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Pursuing-Gods-Presence-Practical-Renewal/dp/0800763270/
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