IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
2 Chronicles 7:14 14 If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The
people who are called by His name are believers and God is telling us that if
we want to be filled with his presence, we must do the following things.
Humble
ourselves and pray, seek his face, and turn from our wicked ways. God does not
promise us benefits from disobedience.
God
is saying, stop seeking His benefits and seek Him. We are not to seek His
hands, but seek his face.
Matthew 6:33 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If
you’re not where you need to be this is a good time to get right with God. He
only cares about your answer to one question, “do you want Me?”
God
is coming back to repossess the church and there is only one thing that stops
Him… he is not going to pour out his spirit where he doesn’t find hunger for
His presence.
Psalms 140:13 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name:
the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
This is not a request if we want His presence, we must stay
focused on him as our creator and our God and give thanks unto his name. which
is the great I Am—not I was
Not
being hungry for Him has forced people to live without Him in His fullness. He
will only come when you are ready to turn it all over to him. But you have to
be hungry.
Matthew 3:1-2 In those days came John the
Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repentance
prepares the way and makes the road of our hearts straight. Repentance builds
up every low place and takes down every high place in our lives, church, and
families.
Repentance
also prepares us for his presence. In fact, you cannot live in His presence
without repentance. Repentance permits pursuit of His presence.
It
builds the road for you to get to God, (or for God to get to you). How long has
it been since we’ve laid aside everything that ever occupied us and ran down
the road of repentance to pursue God.
When
you pursue God with all your heart, soul and body, he will turn to meet you and
you will come out of it ruined for the world.
Matthew 5:6 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
If we are hungry and thirst after God and His righteousness,
then we will be filled with the fulness of His presence.
To be in the presence of God is to be in a state of absence
from any worldly thought, or action. To be totally Christ minded or Christ
Like.
If
you are hungry for God, I have a promise from the Lord for you. He said,
blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall
be filled.
The
problem is that people have never really been hungry, so I am not asking what
do you know about Him, I am asking you do you know Him.
When
people get just a little touch of God mixed with a lot of something that’s not
God, it turns them against the real thing. People don’t sense Gods presence in
our gatherings because it’s just not there.
People
have come to the churches time and again only to find too much man and too
little of God there.
Over
and over we talk about the glory of God covering the earth. But how is it going
to flow through the streets of our cities if it can’t even flow down the aisles
of our churches?
If
Gods glory can’t flow through the aisles of the church because of seducing
spirits and manipulating men, God will turn and go somewhere else.
No
matter what you need or feel you lack in your life, what you really need is the
presence of God, and the way to get it is to get hungry for it.
If
we can get hungry, then He can make us holy. There has to be more than what we
are seeing. One reason I know there is more, is because of those who have
encountered more.
Once
you experience God in His glory, you can’t turn away from him or forget his
touch. There will be a driving passion in your heart that will whisper to your
spirit like nothing you have ever dreamed of.
You
will say I know there is more, the reason I know there’s more is because of
those who have encountered “the more”
And
we are never the same after our experience with the Lord.
Once
you have had a “God encounter” you will never rebel against God. That is why
Paul said, “I know whom I have believed”.
2 Timothy 1:9-12 9 Who hath saved us,
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began,
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus
Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to
light through the gospel:
11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles.
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am
not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Even
when facing execution, Paul’s hope and joy never wavered. He knew the power of
God to deliver him to endure. These last days we will need Gods presence and
the word working in our lives as we do have an adversary called Satan who very
much wants to control us.
It
seems that believers have more of a “man encounter” with our programs and
bi-laws, than a “God encounter” with the unforgettable Majesty and power of the
Almighty God.
What
believers need is a Damascus road experience like “Saul or Paul” encountered
with Jesus himself.
Acts 9:3-5 3 And as he
journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a
light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
The
word pricks, comes from a stick on the oxen drawn cart. The stick was to guide
the oxen.
Churches
and most believers want to see the manifest presence of God in their life,
however for divine reasons, God chooses to reveal himself more strongly in one
place than another.
One
reason is; are the people seeking His face, because His presence and his favor
flows wherever His face is directed.
God
told all his people for generations that if they would seek his face and turn
from their wicked ways, “then” he would hear from them and heal their land.
The
only thing that is going to turn the favor of God toward us is our hunger for
Him.
Psalms 32:8 8 I will instruct thee and
teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Most
of the time God is present with you and other believers in a worship service,
but how long has it been since your hunger caused you to crawl up in Gods lap
like a child.
Matthew 18:3 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven.
To
reach up and take the face of God to turn it toward you, that’s what God
desires, His face is what we should be our highest focus.
When
the anointing of God rests on human flesh it makes everything flow better. The
purpose of the anointing is not to make man like you but to make the “King like
you”.
The
anointing, whether it falls on us individually or on a congregation during a
service, is not the end.
The
anointing of God is His presence.
The
purpose of the anointing is to help us make the transition from flesh to glory.
When the glory of God comes, our flesh will be so weakened by His presence that
it is un-necessary for man to do anything other than behold Him in His glory.
Because of sin we can’t stand in Gods glory and live.
Matthew 27:46 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
We
want God to change the world, but he cannot change the world until he can
change us. In our present state, we are in no position to affect anything.
But
something is happening in the body of Christ. More and more of us are unwilling
to play the old religious games.
Something
like a warrior spirit is rising up within us.
Ephesians 6:10-11 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
A warrior natural or spiritual,
A person experienced or engaged in warfare. We as believers are to
be warriors on the spiritual aspect of our lives. That is why we need both Gods
armor and his presence.
Time
and time again we ask, why can’t I win my friends to the Lord, why doesn’t my
family members seem interested in God?
The
answer may shock you, but the reason people who know you aren’t interested in
your God may be because you don’t have enough of the presence of God in your
life.
No
matter what you do, without His presence, you will be just another somebody to
those around you.
Our
churches are filled with people who want Gods things, but not more of God. They
want revival but not the reviver. They want the hand of God but not the Face of
God.
Christians
are not hungry for God. They want all His blessings, they want all His gifts,
they want the best portion, they want, they want, they want. But they won’t
turn from their own way of thinking and/or their wicked ways.
God
wants us to seek His presence and seek His face and to get serious about Him.
At the end of the day we most likely manufacture memorized words, lay back in His
presence just long enough to say our memorized string of words and deliver our
wish list. That is not Christ like.
Then
we Jump up and run off to continue our frustrated rat race lives. Much of the
time many fail to find that place of perfect peace.
All
God wants us to do is seek Him and trust Him. He is waiting to receive our most
intimate worship and praise.
He
has set before us an open door, but we will have to face Him. We cannot back
our way into the door of eternity, we have to walk through the door by our own
choice.
I
am not saying this because you don’t know Gods word, on the contrary, I am
saying this because the Lord wants to develop a new level of intimacy with His
people.
He
wants us to know Him, not just about Him. When will we stop long enough to hear
Gods still small voice saying, “will you just love me”?
