Scripture: Isaiah 64 v 1 - 4: "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
2 As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him."
Words are inadequate to describe being in the presence of our Lord Jesus. The very air around us is supercharged with something that is foreign to this world. We don't have to wonder what it is, if we know Him, it can only be Him who has graced us with His presence.
The true presence of the Lord cannot be manufactured, but as He said, "I will always be with you" then we are always in His presence. We don't always feel it but if it were gone we would feel that.
I was moving into a new house and the previous owner kindly allowed me to line the shelves of the cupboards she had cleared. I had been complaining to God that I could not feel His presence for a few days. Suddenly He totally removed His presence, it was (thankfully) for less than a minute but it was the most horrible feeling of death and despair, utter hopelessness and emptiness. I heard Him clearly say, Never complain that I am not with you, I am always here! That was in 1980 and I am thankful never to have lost His presence again.
So if it seems that these blogs are heavy at times concerning the consequences of sin and disobedience to God, it is to spare anyone from having that awful dark feeling for all eternity. Spiritual death is the total absence of God and that's what Hell really is. And it is without a second chance. We have to be right with God in the here and now, its not a debatable issue. Mistakes cannot be rectified later.
Many people seem unaware of the danger of committing their lives to follow Jesus Christ but playing with fire in keeping one foot in the World and the other on a banana skin. The World is full of hidden traps and its so easy to justify our sliding back into habits that defile us. They seem harmless at the time but lead to other things that cut us off from His presence. And it seems to be so hard to find Him again.
The late Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke shared a testimony of a man who came to him for prayer. He had been walking with Jesus down a street, talking to Him, when he came to a house, a den of sin. He asked Jesus to wait outside while he went in. When he came out Jesus was gone and he cannot get back into fellowship with Him no matter repentance and fasting. It's called trampling on the Blood of the Lamb. The Holy Spirit moves on.
We all have a free will and if we surrender it to Satan, as Adam and Eve did in Eden, then we find ourselves out in the cold, seeing the consequences of our folly but our minds cannot work out the solution. The snake is like a boa constrictor squeezing the life out of us. The life of Jesus within us squandered for the enticement of alcohol, sex, drugs, rock and roll. It's why God hated Esau, he gave up his birthright for a plate of food.
In today's world through social media the enticement comes to us undiluted and is available at any hour of the day. Our cell phones contain the passport to all our dreams and occupy much of our lives to the exclusion of time with the Lord.
To enjoy His presence takes discipline, faith and true love for Him. Our mission is to win souls to His Kingdom by any good means. Let's use our ever present cell phones to share the gospel, or these blogs, to help others to know Him, trust Him and enjoy fellowship with Him. Turn these cellphones into vessels of honour and delete everything shameful.
Our God wants our full attention, not the crumbs that fall off the table. He has given us everything we need to be saved, now He needs some effort from us to stay in His Presence and not wander off into darkness. Jesus gave His all, leaving Heaven to be made vulnerable on Earth, to dying a cruel death, for us.
The way into the presence of God starts with pure faith. The Lord lives to see faith in action, trusting Him to meet our needs. Then we praise and worship Him for God dwells in the praises of His people. We become humble before Him for God resists those who are proud and self-righteous but gives Grace to the humble. In this way we know that He hears our prayers and answers them.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You respond to us in the way we treat other people. If we show love to the undeserving, we get a greater awareness of Your love for us. When we see ourselves as lost and without hope until Jesus rescued us, then Your forgiveness and mercy uplifts us. Let us always be humble to enjoy Your presence and grace from now through eternity. In Jesus' name. Amen.