Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
God Will Meet You Now

God Will Meet You Now

Last updated on: April 17, 2018 at 1:04 am by Keith Giles

God Will Meet You Now 2018-04-17T01:04:22+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Now is a holy moment. In fact, now is the holiest moment of all. Because now is the exact point in time where you and God are both together in the same place.

God is here, now. You are here now. Now is the only time you can ever meet with God.

Perhaps this is why the scriptures tell us that “Now is the time of God’s favor” and “Now is the day of salvation.” [2 Cor. 6:2]

Yet, for some reason, most of us really don’t spend our time focused on being here now. Instead, we either dwell on the past or we place our hope in the future. By doing this, we refuse to actually be in the present moment and experience the glorious miracle of now.

A few years ago I got caught in that endless feedback loop myself. I had been laid off from a job I really loved nearly a year previously. All I could do was dream about finding another job situation that mirrored this experience. In fact, I was so focused on recreating the conditions of that previous job that I was unable to let go and receive what God had for me in the present moment. Once I realized that I was allowing that experience in my past to rule my thoughts I let go of that and stopped trying to relive those glory days. That’s what allowed me to move forward.

We can also be guilty of living in the “what if?” of tomorrow and become a slave to the future. In other words, we put our lives today on hold because we’re waiting for something to happen first. We think that our lives will really begin once we fall in love, or get married, or have children, or get our Master’s degree, or become missionaries, or write that book, or…fill in the blank.

The problem with this, of course, is that by placing all of our attention on tomorrow, we forget to really live in today.

I can remember thinking that when I graduated from High School I would be a different person. But I wasn’t. I felt the same. Then I thought that I would feel different when my band released our first album. But I didn’t. I was still the same.

Then I thought that I’d be different when I got licensed and ordained. But I didn’t. I was the same person.

Then I thought I’d be different after I got married. But that didn’t change either. I was always the same person, no matter what I experienced.

So, I eventually let go of those expectations that some future event or condition could really change how I felt or who I was on the inside.

The future is always a day away. It’s forever out of our reach.

The past is always a memory. We can never really go back there.

But now is here no matter what we do. It never goes away. It is always now.

That’s the good news. We are citizens of the eternal now.

If we embrace this truth, and really start to focus our energies on being intentional about it, we can actually receive this as a gift.

You see, God cannot meet you in the past, because you are not in the past. You are here now.

God cannot meet you in the future, but you are not in the future. You are here now.

God is here now, too. Both of you are here – now.

Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Let yourself really soak in this moment.

Embrace the holiness of now and receive it as God’s gift to you.

Now is the time. The time is now.

God will meet you now.

Are you ready?

Keith Giles is the author of several books, including “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb”. He is also the co-host of the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean. He and his wife live in Orange, CA with their two sons.

Unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more on my Patreon page.

Please, join me at one of these upcoming events:

*Organic Church Conference with Neil Cole, Ross Rohde, Dan Notti and Keith Giles on Saturday, May 12 in Long Beach, CA. Register here>

*Jesus, the Bible and the Holy Spirit Conference with Jon Zens, Tom Atkinson, and Keith Giles, on May 18-20 in Seattle, WA. Register here>

*The Nonviolent Love of Christ: How Loving Our Enemies Saves The World, with Joshua Lawson and Keith Giles on Saturday, June 16 in Portsmouth Ohio. Register here>

*Crucifying Our Politics with Keith Giles on June 24 in Cleveland, OH. Register here>

Cosmic Christ

Following Jesus

General Christian Topics

Previous Post

April 14, 2018

All I Really Know

Next Post

April 18, 2018 What Makes Our Experiences Real?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lost Sheep The Prodigal Son The Pharisee The Rich Young Ruler

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »