FULL-TIME JOB (2)

PSALMIST CHALLENGE: PSALM 56-60

PROVERBS CAPSULE: PROVERBS 12

You may be in God’s service and not in His presence; you may be holding microphone every church service and be out of tune with God. You cannot be God’s mouthpiece when you are not familiar, when there is no relationship between you and God by your appearing and approaching His presence all the time on any issues. One amount to nothing when one counts God’s presence as nothing in his life. The Israelites were led by God’s presence for good 40 years; He (God) led them by the Pillar of Cloud by the day and Cloud of Fire by the night (Exodus 13:21). Do you wish to escape the evil manipulations, machinations and imaginations of men? You must spend quality time in God’s presence.

There is a difference between saying “God is everywhere,” and saying “God is here.” The former is the default category for most Christians. We talk about God’s presence being inescapable and that He is “everywhere present” (Ps 139:5-12; 1 Kings 8:27). But it seems Scripture is more concerned with His presence manifest in relationship and redemption. And though these divine realities are certainly not at odds, the biblical story does turn on God’s being manifest with His people in Eden, the tabernacle/temple, the incarnation of Christ, and the new heaven and new earth.

If we are honest, many of us can think of God as our “magic genie” from time to time. We keep him on the shelf until troubles arise or there is something our neighbour has that we really want. The problem is, real relationships don’t work this way—especially with the triune God. The Lord over all will not be left on the shelf of anyone’s life. Spending time in God's presence requires discipline and desire. Everything within you must desire to be with Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says that when we have searched for Him with our whole heart, then we will find Him.

The Psalmist declares there are freedom and pleasures in the presence of God more than the pleasures in bars, restaurants and clubs. Nothing brings sweet memory like the presence of God. Healing, restoration, revival, establishment, settlement and light can be found in God’s presence more than anywhere else. Devil know how to deal and cheat God’s people, so he will orchestrate occasions that will make one to lose desire for God’s presence.

You can ask God to literary bring you into His presence, you can see and not just feel His presence. The Psalmist said, the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself (the mountain of God) was moved at the presence of God. The earth equally trembles at the presence of God, the wicked fade away from the presence of God. Do you want the enemies to leave your life alone? Rush to God presence (See Psalms 68:8, 114:7, and 68:2). God can move mountains, break bondages, destroy yokes and change situations for a (wo)man who has relationship with Him and His presence.

Therefore, you can get to God’s presence through your daily reading and studying His words, you can as well in praying and in singing hymns and praising Him in Spirit and in truth. You will attain God’s presence by forsaken unrighteousness and living a holy life. Your level of relationship with God will determine how often you go to His presence, but you must know that nothing great come cheap. If you want to see the presence of God in a tangible form in your life, the way Daniel, David, Deborah, Moses, Jesus, the Apostles and Paul saw Him, you must make God’s presence your abode. You must know it is a full time assignment, not a part job.

Word Affirmation: “There is lifting up..." - Job 22:29 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“One amount to nothing when one counts God’s presence as nothing in his life."

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