Pursuit of God

My book report on The Pursuit of God, by AW Tozer

Tozer is saying that churches don’t prioritize the manifest presence of God, nor worship the way it’s meant to be. 

He talks of prevenient grace, which is God pursuing us first. As we pursue Him, we are already in His hands. Man must pursue God. We find him and pursue Him at once. Some just accept Christ but don’t pursue Him. 

The self life isn’t the way to go, but complete surrender to God. God made us for himself. We are to glorify God, and worship Him forever. 

Tozer goes after people who have an agenda, and get caught up in the glory of God to make a name for themselves. He warns against it, and would probably cringe at the current state of social media and the personal branding of ministries that takes place. I don’t say like, share, or subscribe on my YouTube preaching videos. I don’t want to promote myself, but let God promote me. He is king. He is the hero of my story. Without Him, I am nowhere near as radiant. 

Faith is a continuous gaze at the Triune heart. When me gaze upon Him, kind eyes look back. Heaven begins in that gaze. 

God will be our dwelling place if we keep our gaze on Him. 

A new power will come on us when we honor God above all. He wants us to exalt Him over all. Jesus words are truth. He spoke out of the fullness of His godhead. He spoke purely, and is wisdom. 

Divine eminence is an important part of understanding God. God is transcendent at the same time as being eminent. 

We need to learn to heed the voice of wisdom. God tells us to be still, and know that He is God. We can draw near to Him. First a sound, then a voice, then the meaning of God’s word. A way to truly embrace Jesus. As God encourages us to trust Him and believe His promises, if we obey we’ll be rewarded. We must believe to be saved. Unbelief has put self where God should be.

When we step out of the world’s parade, we step into His presence.  Blessings pour out on us when we prioritize God’s presence. The proof is in the choices we make every day. Seeking is the most important thing we can do. When we exercise our will to be God’s will, life works in our favor. We don’t degrade ourselves, but gain honor by honoring God over all. We should be servants to God, not sin. The man who surrenders to Christ changes from a cruel slave driver to a kind master. God has a right to preeminence. The Bible proclaims that whoever serves Christ, will receive honor from God. When we’re completely honoring to God, He in turns and honors us. 

I think Tozer is saying this to emphasize what it means to follow Jesus. He wants us to know how important it is to prioritize the manifest presence of God. 

When we don’t understand what it means to surrender and obey, we’re missing out. We can’t let the fear of man stop us from loving God and putting Him first. If we put ourselves first, we are cheapening our relationship with Him. He is pointing out our selfishness and misunderstanding of God’s sacrifice for us. He’s saying our hearts should not be divided because we can’t experience His fullness if that’s the case. Tozer is trying to bring us into communion with the Trinity. 

What I’m learning is to be completely sold out to Jesus, and not to build my brand, but build Jesus’ brand. 

God told me in January to give up sugar. It’s been a struggle, and each time I disobeyed, I repented and felt forgiven. This book showed me in the chapter about rejecting our self and putting God first, is what He was teaching me. I had put sugar, sweets, pastries, etc in my God spot. He was jealous, and wanted my full attention. I get it now! I’m grateful I learned this lesson! 

I am totally free!