As God’s children we are called to be carriers of His presence. Only as we learn to live in His presence will this be fulfilled. Jesus, as the Son of man, only ever did the things that pleased the Father, only ever spoke the words His Father gave Him. He was in constant communion with Him, daily surrendering His will, laying down His life and demonstrating how to live in, and carry, His Father’s presence for divine purpose.
We all love to experience the anointing when we meet together for corporate worship and sharing the Word. This is the anointing ON, but when we leave the Gathering and go our separate ways, opportunities arise to be carriers of that presence to our homes, workplace, recreation in daily relationships. This is where what we experienced in the Gathering must continue to be worked IN us as we stay in communication with the Lord. Every day our lives are filled with right choices to be made to Him, in relationships, conversations, agendas etc. It is good to remember we serve an “inconvenient” God. He will require something from me at inconvenient times when I have my own agendas for the day. If I refuse the still, small voice and carry on regardless, I forfeit the awareness of His presence. Only as I surrender my own will in exchange for the Lord’s, (dying daily) will I be learning to live in His presence. A surrendered life brings joy and glory to the Father, but we receive all the benefits of the hallmarks of His presence, His joy and peace.
A sister shared how she took her son to the park. Whilst there she met a lady walking her dog. They engaged in conversation and then the sister asked the lady if she could pray for her. The lady was surprised but then reeled off a string of requests. The sister, being led of the Lord, prayed simply with her. When the prayer finished, the lady was weeping. God had touched her with His love and she hugged the sister several times in a demonstration of her gratitude. The sister, normally quite insular, stepped out of her comfort zone, and became a carrier of God’s presence into that needy lady’s life. As we lay down our life, the life and power of Jesus’ life manifests, extending His kingdom through us, to others.
Hebrews 5:8 declares of Jesus “Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things which He suffered (allowed)”. If Jesus, as the Son of man had to learn obedience, so must I. I learn it by yielding my will in humility to the Lord.
Yielding destroys the impetus of compulsion. I do not want to be compelled to do God’s will, I want to be in the place where I choose to yield. In this place I find my “rest” in Him in the sweetness of His presence. That is the consequence of yielding.
God is working with us all to bring us to the place of making Him to be number one in our lives. We can allow our hearts to make other things, or people, number one, and they become an idol, making God jealous. Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you”. Matthew 6:33 God is not against us having possessions, as long as we hold them loosely, even to the point of giving them away if the Lord requires it. The problem is when our possessions possess us and become an idol having first place in our lives, the position which should be the Lord’s.
There will be times in our lives when we are presented with mundane tasks to complete which, maybe, we would rather not do. These are great opportunities in God to practice the Presence. I can make a choice to the Lord to carry out the task with gratitude that I am able to do it. I can choose to worship Him in “my workshop of life” as I carry out the task. A humble heart of gratitude brings an awareness of His presence to me. He has promised in His word to never leave, nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). Problems arise when in selfwill and pride, I lose the awareness of His presence. The good news is that Jesus has made a way back to set me on the right path again. When I repent of my wrong attitude to the Lord and ask forgiveness from Him, and others, too, if I have offended them, then I can enjoy the sweetness of His restoration presence once again. In maturity, the more I get to know my Saviour, the more I want to choose to please Him, instead of grieve Him by continuing in selfish wrong choices with all its accompanying consequences.
Today, harden not your heart, choose Life…..and practice living in the Presence!
Photo by Sunguk Kim on Unsplash