God is always thinking about us. David says: “How precious it is, Lord, to realise that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” (Psalm 139:17).
Therefore, God wants us to be always thinking about Him. God says: “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” (Ezekiel 11:5). Indeed, the psalmist provides an essential definition of the wicked: “God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4).
Where is the throne of God? It is not in heaven. It is in your heart. But what sits on the throne of your heart? Anxiety. Worry. House rent. Petrol price. Tinubu. Obi. School fees. Anger. Bad habits. Make room for the Lord in the inn of your heart.
God is so particular; He even keeps a detailed record of how often you think about Him: “Then those who feared and loved the Lord spoke often of him to each other. And he had a Book of Remembrance drawn up in which he recorded the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.” (Malachi 3:16).
For this reason, one of Jesus’ requirements for discipleship is “Deny yourself.” Stop thinking your own thoughts: “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:7). Accordingly, David prays: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14).
Visible God
God may be invisible to the eyes of flesh, but He is visible to the eyes of faith. Paul maintains that: “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20).
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4).
So, there is no excuse for anyone to deny the existence of God. The scriptures tell us that God’s name is Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23). He is Jehovah Shamar, the God who is always there. (Ezekiel 38:45). Moses notes that He has been our dwelling place in all generations. (Psalm 90:1). Paul says: “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).
John echoes this: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4:12-13).
He makes His presence felt in us in different ways. He fills us with His Holy Spirit who guides and leads us. He pours His Spirit on us and we dream dreams and see visions. (Joel 2:28). The Holy Spirit sometimes sings all day long in our heart according to God’s word which says: “(God) will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17).
We sometimes feel the warm blanket of His embrace according to the scripture which says: “He shall cover you with His feathers.” (Psalm 91:4). Moreover, God sometimes uses our mouth to speak, and we realise we are not speaking our own words.
He often plays with our emotions. He gives us the peace that surpasses all understanding. He makes us glad and joyful, and He also makes us sad and remorseful when we upset Him. He makes us laugh and He makes us cry. But most of the time, He makes us smile.
Seeing God
It is imperative therefore that we walk in the consciousness of God. To do this, we must: “Not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
This means we must not believe what we see in this world. That rich man boasting on the television is a lie. He does not know that riches are deceitful and that he is actually a pauper. Even the poor man is a lie. He might be a lot richer than he imagines. That powerful president is a lie. All power belongs to God. That successful entrepreneur is a lie:
“Common people are only a whisper in the wind. Important people are only a delusion. When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing. They are less than a whisper in the wind.” (Psalm 62:9).
A focus on the vainglories of this world impedes us from seeing the glory of God. This was the predicament of Isaiah. He could not see the glory of God until the vainglory of King Uzziah passed away. So, he says: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1).
To live in the consciousness of God, we must embrace the eyes of faith. Do not consider the reports of the flesh. Have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh. Do not pay too much attention to what you see and feel.
The scriptures testify of Abraham, the father of faith, who had his son, Isaac, when he was 100 years old: “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” (Romans 4:19).
Be like the eagle that can see two miles ahead. Socialise yourself to see things afar off, like the people in the Hebrews Hall of Faith:
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13).
As a result, the scriptures testify that God is not ashamed to be called their God. (Hebrews 11:16).
Be always on the lookout for God. If you are born again, ask Him to open your eyes to see what He is doing in the kingdom of God.
Believing to see
Jesus tells Thomas who refused to believe the report of His resurrection from the dead: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:28). And yet, those who have not seen and believed will see. This is because seeing is not believing. In the kingdom of God, we believe to see.
David says: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13).
Jesus told Martha, even though her brother Lazarus was dead and buried: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40).
When Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit to be put on him before his departure to heaven, Elijah gave him a simple prescription: “If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 King 2:10).
Promoting God consciousness
To promote God consciousness, we must pray without ceasing. This means having conversations with God about everything and anything. We must be anxious for nothing and fearful of nothing for fear militates against our consciousness of God. Safety does not come from the absence of danger but from the presence of God.
Therefore, David says: “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalm 16:8). God Himself must be the abundance of your heart. Isaiah says to God: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
God consciousness militates against sin. That is why Paul says: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). God consciousness restrains our thoughts, words, and actions. It ensures that the word of God is not just a principle or precept, but a person.
If we have to quote the word of God in crisis situations, it means the word has not been made flesh in us. But if it has been made flesh, we do not have to bring it to our remembrance to apply it in critical situations, the word of God shows up automatically, and speaks to the enemy at the gate.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Thus, Jesus said to the devil: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4).
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