This is a guest post from our friend Zach Zipfel.  He’s been an inspiration to us to continue speaking up about the bondage of religious traditions that have enslaved so many.  Enjoy his insights!

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“Before I begin, please understand, I am not attacking anyone, I’m not trying to discourage anyone, I’m not boasting. All I’m trying to do is change the way you think, and the way you judge your relationship with God.

Did you know, the presence of God can actually become an idol?

People, especially in the charismatic and pentecostal streams, view God’s presence as the “it”.

People tend to live from feelings rather than faith…

Feelings are not bad, it’s fun to actually feel God’s glory and His presence, no doubt, the few times I have it was amazing.

But to tell you the truth, I haven’t had those “drop to the floor in awe and shake uncontrollably encounters with God.” I expect to sometime, but it has yet to happen. And I know there are many people who live this way as well. They’ve never experienced God’s presence, or at least that level of it.

Through all this, people build up this idea, that if you aren’t having these experiences and living in that area with God all the time, than you’re a sinner, or God doesn’t care, or maybe He’s abandoned you.

None of this is true.

See, I myself used to feel like that, I felt like something in me is broken. Maybe God didn’t care about me or whatever.

But I started noticing that not everyone experiences God’s presence, so I started asking God questions of why, and listening to people like Joseph Prince, and Dan Mohler, and Todd White who all talk about living by faith.

Let’s define faith:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

- Heb. 11:1

It’s believing, and TRUSTING, beyond circumstance and feelings. Believing also means “being 100% convinced.”

It takes renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:1-2), reprogramming your thoughts…having FAITH, that God loves you is being totally convinced that God is always there, He’ll never leave you, nor forsake you, as Jesus PROMISED (Matthew 28:20).

For those who live out of feelings, I know it’s fun to experience God’s presence, but what would you do, if you woke up one morning, and the [sense of His] presence was gone?

Well, if you’re one of the millions of Christians in the Charismatic movement, you’d probably think you’d done something wrong, or committed some sin. Let me assure you, God is still there, and He won’t ever leave, there’s nothing you can do to drive God away.

He might be teaching you to live from faith. For me, as I said before, I never lived out of that place in feelings.

But only recently I’ve gotten to that place in faith that I’m perfectly fine that I don’t experience the presence, it just gives me resolve of knowing that, I’m perfect, I have faith that God is right here, He lives inside me, I’ll never lose Him, He’ll never leave me.

Just learn how to think, remind yourself that God is there, spend time resting in His thoughts for you. It’s about a relationship, not about a feeling.

I’m now 100% convinced God loves me.  It’s taken me time. God has had to break mindsets out of me, thinking that if I wasn’t falling on the floor that I was broken, or there was a big secret I was missing, but nope. I was just idolizing someone else, and building up an idol of what the Christian life should be like.

God loves you, and you don’t have to be flailing around, laughing hysterically on the floor. It’s about resting in His love for you, knowing you are in UNENDING UNION, uninterrupted oneness, union, communion with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

Don’t build an idol out of drunkenness, laughing, etc. Just because someone tells you something, that’s not how it is all the time. It’s Love, joy, peace and knowing that He loves you.

It takes building up of faith, and so enjoy the times of not feeling His presence, as much as you do the times of being totally knocked out by His presence. But feelings of it are not what we build upon.

“The devil lives in the realm of feelings, God lives in the realm of faith.” – Joseph Prince

Remember He loves you, so when you’re feeling down, speak up and declare God’s love and favor over you, because you are His son/daughter.”

- Zach Zipfel