"That God is present in all places, that he sees every action, hears all discourses, and understands every thought, is no strange thing to a Christian ear... 'Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?'"
"'Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.'"
"Am I a God near at hand," says the Lord, "and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the Lord. "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord.
"Suis-je un Dieu de près, dit l'Éternel, et ne suis-je pas aussi un Dieu de loin? Quelqu'un se tiendra-t-il dans un lieu caché, sans que je le voie? dit l'Éternel. Ne remplis-je pas, moi, les cieux et la terre? dit l'Éternel."
Jérémie 23:23–24 · Louis Segond✦ A God Near and Far
The French says Suis-je un Dieu de près... et ne suis-je pas aussi un Dieu de loin? — Am I a God near... and am I not also a God far away? Both. Near in Jarnac-Champagne. Far in eternity. Near in the motorhome. Far beyond the galaxies. And in both — present. Filling heaven and earth.
Yesterday Le discovered: intentions are not so private to God after all. Today Taylor explains why — because there is no place where God is not. No secret place. No hidden thought. No private intention. He fills heaven and earth — and the motorhome parked on Rue de la Jeunesse. 🙏
"God is wholly in every place; included in no place; not bound with cords except those of love; not divided into parts, not changeable into several shapes; filling heaven and earth with his present power and with his never absent nature.
So that we may imagine God to be as the air and the sea; and we all enclosed in his circle, wrapped up in the lap of his infinite nature; or as infants in the wombs of their pregnant mothers: and we can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being."
✦ Not Bound Except by Love
Not bound with cords except those of love. Ten words — and the whole gospel. God is not forced to be present. He is not obligated by law or necessity. He is present because He loves. The cords are love. The wrapping is love. The womb is love. The air we breathe is His love made present.
Le's conversion: Father Joe James. Midnight. Lubbock. The 500 denari soul — loved before she chose to love back. The cords of love were already wrapped around her before she knew they were there. And they are wrapped still — in Jarnac-Champagne, in the motorhome, in every task and every breath. 🙏
✦ Wrapped — Enclosed — Unable to Leave
Taylor's three images are each more intimate than the last:
The air. God is as the air — surrounding, invisible, essential. We breathe Him without thinking. We live inside Him without effort. The air does not come and go. It is always there.
The sea. God is as the sea — and we are enclosed in His circle. Fish do not leave the sea. They are inside it. It is inside them. The presence is not a visit. It is the environment.
The womb. God is as the womb — and we are infants, enclosed, held, unable to be removed. We can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being. The presence is not optional. It is as permanent as existence itself. 🙏
"For in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
"Car en lui nous avons la vie, le mouvement, et l'être."
Actes 17:28 · Louis SegondThe French says en lui nous avons la vie, le mouvement, et l'être — in Him we have life, movement, and being. Three words. Three dimensions of existence — all inside Him. The life is in Him. The movement is in Him. The very being — the existing — is in Him. Not alongside Him. Not near Him. In Him. 🙏
In Him we live and move and have our being. Busy with the motorhome tasks and He is helping me. We are never desolate. We make plans but He directs our paths. 🙏
✦ He Is Helping Me
Busy with the motorhome tasks and He is helping me. Not: He is watching me. Not: He is near me. He is helping me. The presence is not passive. The presence works. The dishes from Tuesday — hallowed by intention. The tasks from today — helped by presence. The God who fills heaven and earth also fills the task at hand.
Psalm 121:1–2 — I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. The same God who made heaven and earth helps Le in the motorhome. The Creator does not delegate. He helps. 🙏
✦ We Are Never Desolate
We are never desolate. John 14:18 — I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. The pilgrim in France is not alone. The presence travels with the motorhome. The presence fills Jarnac-Champagne. The presence is not left behind at the last church or the last prayer. It is here — now — in the task at hand.
The journal's oldest thread: home is wherever He is. Psalm 139. Guyon's closet that is not a room but a heart. Taylor today confirms: we can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being. Home is not a place. Home is the Presence — and the Presence cannot be left. 🙏
"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."
"Le cœur de l'homme médite sa voie, mais c'est l'Éternel qui dirige ses pas."
Proverbes 16:9 · Louis Segond✦ We Make Plans — He Directs
Le cœur de l'homme médite sa voie, mais c'est l'Éternel qui dirige ses pas. The heart meditates its way — but the Eternal directs the steps. The planning is human. The directing is divine. Le and Roger planned France. Le and Roger planned Brittany. But the path — Caldas to Pedreiras to Salamanca to Saint-Paul-lès-Dax to Rouquette to Jarnac-Champagne — was directed, not just planned.
Le's word from day one: even when things are new, the purpose never changes. The plans change. The roads change. The locations change. The Presence that directs — does not change. The same God who directed the path out of Caldas directs the path through France. The plans are the offering. The direction is His response. 🙏
"We can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being."
Jeremy Taylor · Le · Never desolate · He is helping me · He directs our pathsWrapped in His Nature
As the air. As the sea. As infants in the womb. Enclosed in His circle. Not bound except by love. We cannot be removed from His presence.
Never Desolate
Home is wherever He is. The presence travels with the motorhome. The presence fills Jarnac-Champagne. I will not leave you orphans. He is helping me.
He Directs Our Paths
We make plans. He directs the steps. The path from Caldas to France was directed, not just planned. The plans are the offering. The direction is His.
Jeremy Taylor's seventh day — the Practice of the Presence of God. The foundation beneath the foundation.
The seven-day arc — complete: Day one — wholly God's (identity). Day two — the arithmetic (inventory). Day three — care of time (instruction). Day four — no idleness (warning). Day five — purity of intention (the soul of action). Day six — signs of purity (the tests). Day seven — the Presence (the ground beneath it all).
Taylor and the journal's oldest thread: Home is wherever He is. Twenty days of unrelated sources — Exodus 33, Song of Songs, James Smith, Psalm 84, Psalm 139, Philippians 3 — all confirming: the presence is not a place. Taylor today says the same: we can no more be removed from the presence of God than from our own being. The motorhome is home because the Presence is home.
Not bound except by love: Ten words from Taylor's Augustine. God is present not by obligation but by love. The same cords that held the 500 denari soul at midnight in Lubbock hold Le in France.
Le's testimony — He is helping me: Not watching. Not observing. Helping. The presence is active. In Him we live, and move, and have our being — and do the dishes, and drive the road, and make the plans that He directs.
Le's new friend — seven days: Jeremy Taylor has taken Le from identity to examination to presence. From Portugal through Spain to France. Filling everything with His present power and His never absent nature. 🙏