Hello Reader,

If you are new here, welcome! I am so glad you have joined us.

Each month I share an inspirational teaching to encourage your walk with the Lord, and often through a story from my own life.

Finding the Right Connection

This month’s story begins in the front seat of my husband’s truck.

His truck has a wireless charging pad built into the console. You simply lay your phone on the console, and it charges.

At least, that is how it is supposed to work. I set my phone down, and it would not connect. I moved it to the left, then to the right, then back again. I turned it over, and still it would not charge.

Finally I took off my phone case and placed the phone on the console once more.

I heard a beep, and a little green lightning bolt appeared on my screen. Power began to flow.

That little bolt reminded me how easily we lose our connection with God.

We never mean to drift, but life simply piles on layers, much like that bulky phone case, and before we know it, the intimate connection we once enjoyed with Him has grown faint.

God Is Always With You

First, hear this: God is with you always. He promised,

His presence surrounds you whether you sense it or not.

Yet there is also a manifest presence of God, a deeper place where your personal spirit awakens to His Spirit, and you meet Him spirit to spirit.

In that place His presence becomes tangible.

You can feel it. You can sense Him near.

The great nineteenth-century revivalist Charles Finney described his own encounter this way,

Isn’t it something that Finney reached for the same picture my phone gave me?

When we connect with God, His life flows into us like current into a battery.

The Secret of Abiding

The verse on my Facebook page today came from John 15, where Jesus says,

This is definitely true about my yard.

A couple of weeks ago, hurricane Isaias swept through our part of Northwest Florida with winds clocked 100+ miles an hour near our house. Trees were uprooted, tipped over, and snapped in two.

Plants that took a direct hit quickly turned brown, withered, and their leaves fell away.

One side of a live oak tree in our backyard turned brown while the other side stayed green.

A local arborist said the wind-damaged leaves will simply drop off, and when spring comes, new leaves will come out.

You see, the roots remain undamaged, and the tree will grow green again.

Friend, storms come to all of us.

Some seem to drain the very life out of us like all the brown leaves in my neighborhood.

We may even need to pull away for a season to heal. Yet when our roots run deep in Him, the damage lasts only for a season.

When spring returns, our good fruit will come forth again in its season.

A Tree Planted by the Waters

Psalm 1 paints a lovely picture of this abiding life. The one who delights in God’s Word

When we are planted in Him, the storms of life cannot tip us over. We draw nourishment from the ground up.

Even in drought, even through the hurricanes of life, we will rise again.

As we learn to abide in His presence, we soak in the living water of heaven.

We dwell in the very presence of our Creator. The same Spirit who breathed life into Adam in the beginning (Genesis 2:7) continues to breathe fresh life into us today.

This is zoe life—the God kind of life.

The Promises of Abiding

Many people in this world never seem to prosper.

Yet Scripture holds out a rich promise for those whose faith and confidence rest in the Lord, those whose spirits are tuned to His presence, His Word, and His voice.

Jesus said,

The psalmist adds,

These promises belong to those who cultivate that intimate abiding relationship with our Lord.

Removing the Layers

Just as my phone could not connect until I took the case off, we may need some layers removed before we can connect with God in that special, intimate, and abiding fellowship.

We may need to lay aside fear, doubt, and unbelief.

Sometimes we need to set aside busyness.

At times we need to turn off TV shows or movies that were never good for us to see.

And sometimes we need to release unforgiveness.

Here is the good news though, our loving Creator Father is always faithful to forgive.

When we acknowledge our errors and turn to Him,

He meets us with outstretched arms, ready to love all our brown edges back to life.

He longs for your roots to sink deep into His sweet presence so you can bear good character, good love, good judgment, good decisions, and a good life.

That abundant life begins right here, in His presence.

Find Your Connection

I will be honest with you. I planned to write a different email this month because I wanted to announce my new workbook. But the presence of God rested on this message.

I sensed the Lord is calling all of us, wherever we are in our walk, into the special fellowship of His manifest presence, where our spirits connect with His in a deeper, more intimate way.

So where do you experience God best?

Perhaps you meet Him out in nature on a walk.

Maybe it is in your favorite prayer chair, in the pages of His Word, or in worship.

Wherever you meet Him, go there this week.

Lay aside whatever layers He shows you, and rest in His presence until you sense that connection click into place.

He is waiting for you, and His love still flows like liquid current to every heart that draws near.

[If practicing God’s presence is new to you and you would like to learn more, I wrote a book to walk with you on that journey. It shares practical ways to cultivate His presence in your everyday life. You can find it here: How to Practice The Presence of God]

With love and blessings,

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Cynthia K. Johnson, Deeper Walk Ministries, Inc.

P.S. November is almost here, and many believers set this month apart to grow in thankfulness.

If you sense hidden walls between you and the abundant life God promised, my book When Thank You Isn’t Enough will walk with you through twenty chapters that move from barrier to breakthrough.

I am also excited to share that the When Thank You Isn’t Enough Companion Guide is now available!

Each chapter includes reflection questions, a weekly Scripture focus, and a gratitude practice with room to write what God shows you.

It also includes declarations, prayers, and a Barrier Inventory so you can see how far you have come by the final chapter. It’s designed to walk alongside the book, and it includes a meeting plan for small groups, too.

Book: When Thank You Isn't Enough: Fresh Biblical Insights on Gratitude That Break Barriers & Bring Breakthrough​

Companion Guide: When Thank You Isn't Enough: A Gratitude Companion Workbook & Guided Journal​

All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

^[1] Charles G. Finney, Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney (New York: A. S. Barnes & Company, 1876), chapter 2. Finney describes his conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit, which took place on October 10, 1821, in Adams, New York.

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