There is a call coming out from God for His people to enter and remain in His presence. Psalm 16:11 says,
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Being in the presence of God is the way to life, both in this world and in the one to come. In the presence of God we will find not just joy, but the full measure of joy, which includes but is not limited to,
- Peace in the midst of every circumstance,
- healing for every ailment whether mental or physical,
- resolution for every issue whether caused by us or someone else,
- redemption for every fault or sin no matter how "great" or how "small",
- safety in places of turmoil,
- strength to endure and persevere,
- mercy that forgives,
- deliverance that makes whole and sticks, and,
- love that banishes guilt and shame.
The presence of God is an awesome place for each of us to dwell. It is the place that we enter by His Spirit, through Christ and where we can constantly commune with Him; the place that He invites us to come and dine with Him every moment of every day. It is a place where we will see beyond what can be seen with the natural eye; the place where we can gain the understanding of life we have been seeking. God wants His people to know and understand Him. That is one of the benefits of salvation. The mysteries of God's Kingdom are mysteries to the world but revealed to His people who will then show the wisdom of God to the principalities and powers of this world (Ephesians 3:9-11).
This is what Jesus did in Matthew 12. The people were caught up in legalism, the law, their roles, timing, who was in charge, who had a "right" to minister or speak a word of life to someone else, what they felt was the right process and who the people chose to honor and exalt. But Jesus, walking in the presence of the Father, exhibited the wisdom of God in healing the man that was stricken, even on the Sabbath. Like the Pharisees, even though we believe, we can let our positions, our roles, our jobs or duties, our possessions, our differences and our attitudes cause us to lose focus on God's wisdom, which He seeks to manifest through us. We fall into these manholes of life, which like the real ones, hold us in dark and low places where it is hard to see the truth. And if you can't see the truth you will definitely have a hard time walking in it. But if we can lift up our eyes and not only read but receive the Word, which is living, we will be able to shift our focus away from darkness to what is most important. What's most important is our relationship with God. And as we humble ourselves and pray, repenting of our sins, He will forgive us without bringing them up again. Then as we seek Him through prayer and the Word with all our heart, and delight ourselves in Him and not the cares of this world, we will find ourselves in His presence.
To remain in His presence we set our hearts first on Him, next on Him and forever on Him. The more of His presence we experience, the more permanent our heart's desire for Him will become. As Paul expressed in Philippians 3:1-11, all the position, education and honor he had in the world became as nothing in comparison to the loving and wonderful relationship he found in Jesus Christ. It may be a press at first to focus on being in God's presence. But with an attitude of humility and thankfulness, make yourself pray, make yourself spend time in the Word and worship so that the Holy Spirit can join in. As you continue in this, you will quickly get to the place where you can't live without doing it and being in God's presence will become as necessary as breathing. Let us all climb out of our manholes of distraction and wrap ourselves in the presence of our God for this is the path of true life.
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