January 22, 2020
Those who understand realize that God’s presence is the greatest of all treasures. If you have His presence, you have everything you need—wisdom, joy, power, peace, direction, love, life itself. But if you do not have His presence—if He is not with you—you have nothing that is valuable or that lasts.
GOD’S PROMISES
The greatest promises God has ever made are the promises of His presence. Jacob was being mistreated by his deceitful father-in-law, Laban. One night, God came to his servant with a command and a promise.
Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” (Genesis 31:3)
This was not the first time God had made such a promise. If you read further in Genesis, you will discover that Jacob followed God’s directives and received God’s promised presence. God’s presence delivered him from Laban and protected him from his brother who could have been a mighty enemy.
HIS PROMISE TO YOU
The omnipresence of God is a reality (that God is everywhere all the time). “Where can I go from Thy Spirit?” David said (Psalm 139). And, since the coming of Christ and Pentecost, which was the sending of His indwelling Spirit to all who believe, the true follower of Christ is assured that Christ will never leave them nor forsake them personally. Once the Spirit comes to reside in the believing heart, He is there permanently.
But, it is possible to have our head turned by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We can quench and grieve the Spirit who lives within us. We can ignore Him or resist His leadership. If we do so, we will lose the conscious awareness of His presence. We will begin to operate on our own, not walking by the Spirit, and the results are always disastrous. We get what our humanity brings. Like an unseen guest standing in the shadows, He is still present, but not prominent.
When this occurs, we must realize quickly what we have done, repent that we have ignored the Spirit’s leadership and let Him return to His proper place at the center of our lives. We must ask for His presence to be paramount in us and follow the slightest promptings of His Spirit and the illumination of His Word.
Without surrendering to His leadership and letting His presence flow through us, we can accomplish nothing of value. But when we rest in Him, looking to and trusting His presence, we can do “all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13). As we do, we will know the richness of His promised presence once again and enjoy all that matters and lasts.
Father, forgive me for ignoring Your presence. For being so preoccupied with my agenda, so unsurrendered in my will that I choose against You. Take your rightful place on the throne of my heart. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit. Let me gladly, humbly submit to Your perfect and rightful leadership. And, above all, let me know the conscious awareness of Your presence. It is YOU that I seek. Let me hear, like Jacob, “and I will be with you.”
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