And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. (Judges 16:20)

One of the signs of a heart that has shifted from God is the absence of spiritual power. If you are like Samson, you will not be immediately aware that God’s power has left you. Only after he tried to defeat his enemies did Samson recognize that something was wrong. He went against the Philistines as before, expecting their swift defeat. But this time the Philistines easily prevailed over him.

If you allow sin to creep into your life, if you refuse to obey your Lord, if you do not reconcile with those who have hurt you, your spiritual vitality is waning. You may assume everything is fine, but when you pray, answers do not come as they once did. You once had a positive effect on those around you, but now your influence is negligible or even harmful. Your life once brought reconciliation, but now you experience problems in your relationships. Those around you who have relied upon your strength are discovering that you are not as helpful to them as you once were. Your lack of spiritual power is not crying out for attention; but you are seeing subtle changes in your spirit and in your relationship with God.

How can you stop this spiritual decline? You must regularly repent of any sin. You must invite God to search your life to see if there are attitudes, relationships, or activities that need to be removed. You must fervently obey His will. If you walk with God in this manner, you will grow in spiritual strength and be used mightily by Him.

by Ken Camp, Managing Editor (The Baptist Standard)

Principles in a book published 20 years ago revolutionized Texas Baptist Men, transforming it from a missions program for men and boys in Texas Baptist churches to a broad-based ministry with global outreach.

In 1990, the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board published an interactive workbook by Henry Blackaby and Claude King titled Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.

“Before, were program-driven. But when Experiencing God came in and we began responding to God’s invitations, our ministries began to expand right and left,” TBM Executive Director Leo Smith said. “It shaped us and made up what we are today.”

Blackaby had just become director of missions for a Baptist association in Vancouver, British Columbia, when TBM leaders first heard about him. Before joining the associational staff, he reportedly had been pastor of a church there that was dying when he arrived but experienced revival and birthed multiple mission congregations after he led members to “join God where he is at work.”

Since Blackaby’s experience dovetailed with the TBM emphasis on lay renewal, the mission organization invited him to speak at the 1987 TBM Convention in Fort Worth.

There, he presented in an early form the basic elements of what he later called “the seven realities” of Experiencing God:

• God is always at work around us.
• God pursues a continuing love relationship with us that is real and personal.
• God invites us to join him in his work.
• God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal himself, his purposes and his ways.
• God’s invitation for us to work with him always leads to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
• We must make major adjustments in our lives to join God in what he is doing.
• We come to know God by experience as we obey him and he accomplishes his work through us.