Joy

Psalm 16:11 is a great verse to quote and memorize

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

When we walk with God and enjoy his presence (acknowledging that He is with us), he loves this.  He loves to direct our paths.

When we live and breathe and move in his presence (his word residing in our hearts), we are filled with joy in knowing Him and in realizing He is near.

When we experience the presence of God, realizing his glory (magnificence and splendor), we then also realize that all of eternity and His blessings are ours because we belong to Him.

That sounds like a pretty good way to live, a way to rise above all of the junk in life that weighs us down, and a truth that sets us free to live this life well that we’ve been given here on earth…until eternity then begins…

Heard

II Chronicles 34 says Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares theLord.

There are times of joy in God’s presence, like we read about earlier.  Because he’s leading us and with us, we are glad.

But there are times when we are experiencing his presence when it causes us to weep. We feel his love so strongly and his holiness is so overwhelming that we fall to our knees and weep for joy…and yet yearn for humility among ourselves and those who do not ye tknow him.

I’ve been in a place before where the presence of God was so strong that everyone was joyful and celebratory.  But I’ve also been in the presence of God, in those still small whispers, where everyone is weeping and crying because of thankfulness and sorrow – all at the same time – as we long for God to heal, restore, and deliver those still in bondage or slavery to sin.

God’s presence is strong.  His presence changes us.  His presence moves us to leap.  His presence brings us to our knees to weep.

And when we respond to His presence, he hears our cries.

That is one, amazing God we serve.

I love this story in I Kings:

Elijah, a prophet of God, is discouraged.  He tells God that he has been zealous for Him but now people are out to kill him, and Elijah says he’s the only one left proclaiming God’s name.  The Lord replies to him (I love it that the Lord always talks to us!) and instructs him,

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 

This is so cool.  God’s presence came to Elijah in a gentle whisper, after a powerful wind, shattered rocks, and an earthquake!  What?

Elijah heard God’s whisper and again told God that he has been faithful but he’s the only one left serving Him, and people are out to kill him.

It took all of that activity, whispering in Elijah’s ear, and speaking directly to him for Elijah to finally hear his answer he was asking for, which was,

"… Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

This is a powerful story of a discouraged man who is complaining before God about feeling as though he’s the only one left who is faithful to serve.  Have you been there and felt that way?  

But God knew of 7000 others who had not bowed to Baal (a false god).

Sometimes we look for God to speak to us in power, wind, and rain and sweep away our sorrows and answer all of the things that puzzle us.  But very often, his presence comes in a still small voice that we will only hear when all of the other noises have subsided.  And in that voice and in his presence, he assures us that we are not forgotten.  

In fact, we are surrounded with his faithfulness.

Growing Up

I Samuel 2:21 says And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

Hannah was a barren woman, and she asked God for a son, and God granted her desire. Out of that answer to prayer, out of that destitute cry for a son, Hannah raised her son to know the presence of the Lord.

He must have known that he was an answer to his mother’s prayer.  Perhaps she told him this, often.  I’m sure she spoke of God’s goodness to her in earshot of her son, who realized the power of a loving God who visited his people.

Samuel, as we read later, was a little boy who heard God’s voice speak to him and call him to serve him.  And it’s because he learned to recognize the presence of the Lord, even over the voices of his family.

Isn’t that what we want for our kids?  We want them to know that God’s presence has visited us and blessed us, and we must tell them about it.  We must vocalize his blessings to our kids and let them hear of his goodness and glory in our lives.

It’s then and only then that our kids will grow up in his presence and hear his voice at an early age, and walk with Him.

In Everything

Deuteronomy 12 says, There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

In these verses, God is lining out the way the people are to live as they give and and worship together. 

What an awesome picture this verse describes.  Can you see it?

You and your family are in the presence of the Lord (remember the presence that leads you and guides you and comforts you?) and you’re eating together.  You’re rejoicing together over all of God’s blessings in your lives. It’s a great time of celebration!

I’m thinking that on at least one day a year we do this – Thanksgiving – if we’re lucky.  We have family near and we gather around a huge table of food and we give thanks, at least for a moment.

But this verse implies that we can celebrate his presence and goodness in our lives at all times, every time we’re together!

As the holiday season approaches and tensions run high, emotions rise and fall, let’s purpose to enjoy his presence  among each other and celebrate the good things he’s blessed us with to enjoy – daily – moment by moment – until it’s a part of our everyday living.

Glorious Presence

Remember yesterday’s devo?  Moses desired God’s presence.  Today, Moses asks for something else.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.  When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Glory is God’s magnificence, which we cannot possibly comprehend in our mortal bodies.  He is holy and we are not.  And his holiness will consume us if we look upon his face.

But…thanks be to Jesus (our rock)…in whom we can see God’s goodness pass before us, have his glory pass near us, and be held and covered from being consumed…until the day we see him face to face.

God promises that there is a place near him where we can stand on a rock where is glory is present.

I love this story.  Man reaches out to know God, experience his presence, and see his glory.  God responds in the most loving of ways and assures man that he will indeed go before him and lead him and be with him, and that he will cover him and protect him and amaze him with his glory.

What more could a man want?

With You

Look at this dialogue between Moses and God, and be amazed.

"If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."

We see a man desiring to know God’s ways, to find his favor, and to lead his people.

We see the Lord offering this man his Presence and his Rest.

We see the man acknowledging that without the Presence there is no movement forward.

I love this!

When we ask God to teach us and when we have a teachable heart, this pleases him, and his Presence rests upon us.  It’s palpable, it’s real, it’s life-giving, it’s comforting, and it’s directional.

We can go forward into unknown territory, into lands full of giants, into desolate places, and over mountains, when the Presence is with us.

In fact, we should desire to only go forward when He is with us, and to not move if he is not.

Ask him to teach you, ask God to be with you, and he will.

That’s an incredible privilege we have – to ask the almighty God to be our traveling companion – and to hear him say yes.