The Constant State - Chapter 22a

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"Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ" by Madame Jeanne Guyon

We will begin this chapter with this simple point: Your Spiritual experiences fall into two categories—those that are external (surface) and those that take place internally, deep within your being. There are activities or actions that you form: some are surface; some are deeper.

Your external activities are those which can be seen outwardly. They have to do with, more or less, physical things. Now this you must see: There is no real goodness in them, no spiritual growth in them, and very little experience of Christ!

Of course, there is an exception: If your outward actions are as result (a by-product) of something that has taken place deep within you, then these outward actions do receive spiritual value and they do possess real goodness. But outward activities have only as much spiritual value as they receive from their source.

Our way therefore, is clear. We must give our full attention to those activities that take place deep within our innermost being. These are the activities of the Spirit. The Spirit is inward, not outward. You turn inward to your spirit and in so doing, turn away from outward activities and outward distractions.

Inward activity begins by simply turning within to Jesus Christ, for that is where He is within your spirit.

You should continually be turning within to God.

Give Him all your attention; pour out all the strength of your being purely on Him.

Reunite all the motions of your heart in the holiness of God. (Apocrypha)

David expressed it so well when he said, “I will keep my whole strength for you.” (Psalm 59:9)

How is this done? By earnestly turning to God, who is always there within you.

Isaiah said, “return to your heart.” (Isaiah 46:8) Each of us by sinning, has turned from our heart, and it is only the heart that God desires.

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways. (Proverbs 23:26)

What does it mean to give your whole heart to God? To give your whole heart to God is to have all the energy of your soul always centered on Him.

It is in this way we are conformed to His will.

If you are new in this new voyage, your spirit is not yet strong. Your soul is easily turned to outward, physical things; it is very easy for you to become distracted from the Lord your Center.

How far you turn away from Him will depend on how much you yield to the distractions and how far you allow yourself to be drawn away to surface things. In like manner, the means you use to return to God will depend on how far you have turned from Him. If you have only turned slightly, only the slightest turning again will be necessary.

As soon as you notice yourself straying from the Lord, you should deliberately turn your attention within to the living God. Re—enter your spirit; return at once to that place where you really belong: in Him. The more complete the turning is, the more complete will be your return to the Lord.

Rest assured that you will remain there—in God—just as long as your attention is centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ. What will hold you there? You will be held there by the powerful influence of that simple, unpretentious turning of your heart to God.

Repeat this simple turning within to the Lord again and again, as often as you are distracted. Be assured that eventually this turning will become your consistent experience.

But what will you do until then?

Until then simply keep returning to Him each time you have wandered away. When something is repeated over and over it becomes a habit. This is true even of your soul. After much practice your soul forms the habit of turning inward to God.

In other words, the more you progress in Christ, the more you continually abide in Him, without repeatedly straying and having to return. Your turning will become less and less outward. Eventually the turning will become imperceptible as a surface or conscious, action and will take place deep within you.

What began as something quite sporadic—something that was a conscious, deliberate action—becomes habitual and continuous, without interruption. A continuous inner act of abiding begins to take place within you.*

What do I mean by this continuous inner abiding?

To be continuously turned deep inside simply means that, having turned within to God—by a direct act—you have remained in His presence. You have no further need to keep turning to Christ; You already abide with Him in the chambers of your spirit. The only time you need to make a point of turning again is when your abiding is interrupted for some reason.

At this point in your spiritual life, you should not concern yourself with trying to turn to the Lord by any outward means. You will even find it difficult to make a deliberate, outward act of turning when you have begun this inner abiding.

You see, you are already turned within to the Lord; any outward activity will only draw you away from your union with Him.

To form the act of turning within, that is the goal! When this act has been formed in you, it will express itself as a continual abiding of your spirit and a continuous exchange of love between you and the Lord. Once the goal is attained, there is no longer any need to seek after it by outward acts. You may forget the outward act of trying to love the Lord and to be loved by Him. Instead just continue on as you are. You should simply remain near to God by this continuous inner abiding.

In this state of continually being turned to God, you are abiding in the love of God, and the man who abides in love abides in God. (I John 4:16) You rest. But what does that mean? You rest in the continuously inward act of abiding.

*for some Christians, this abiding with God comes slowly, by degrees. Progress is gauged only as seen over an extended period of time. For other Christians, there is a continuous abiding form the very beginning. It does not matter ahich lot God has decreed for you. Simply keep turning within.

Get the book for yourself!

Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ
Praying The Bible - Wesley Campbell
Good Morning Holy Spirit - Benny Hinn

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