YouTube: An Eye for God
[Note: this week we ran into difficulties projecting the graphics. This issue should be resolved with the next program.]
Step 9: I treat each day as an opportunity to see and experience God in all people, places, and things.
For those who think of God as the man upstairs, this 9th step may seem impractical. However, when Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) he was presenting a different kind of picture. The Greek word for spirit is pneuma, which can translate as breath, wind, spirit, or soul. The author of Job was in line with this idea when he wrote, “It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand” (Job 32:8). Likewise, today’s dictionary defines spirit as “an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms.”
When we think of God as the omnipresent, animating, vital principle that permeates all aspects of life, we understand how it is possible to see and experience God in all people, places, and things. A simple affirmation like, I am in God and God is in me will help us tune into this truth. What is true for us is true for all. There is no place where God is not. I am now in the presence of pure Being.
As we go through our day, it is very easy to lose the awareness that in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). In our spiritual recovery, we can utilize triggers that help us remember what is true. Someone rightfully said that we are not to pray to God; we pray from an awareness of God. We live in a vibrant field of energy that, like the breath, is unseen but intuitively felt as the living essence of all things.
Instead of thinking specifically of people, places, and things as entities that exist apart from one another, try thinking of every aspect of your life as the activity of God. Remember Jacob awakened from his dream with the revelation, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it … How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen. 28:16-17). Our own revelation may not be this dramatic, but how we think of God can have a profound influence on how we think of our life.
Treat each day as an opportunity to see and experience God in all people, places, and things and see what a difference it can make!