The presence of God

Father God, thank you for Your Word that is life and truth. Thank you for the entrance of Your Word brings light. May that light shine forth in every area, blessing us with revelation and understanding that settles and transforms our hearts to eternity in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you LORD.

Today's Word is from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)

19. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

20. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Amen, thank you LORD.

A blessed Sunday to you and yours! As always, what a blessing it is to share the good news - the blessing of God's salvation to humanity which includes you and I. Recently, I've been sharing about God's love but the height, the depth and width and length of God's love is sometimes unfathomable (Ephesians 3:18-19) especially when it comes to expressing it in language but with God's help, I'm realizing the crux of this love is - God knows and understands that being a human, living in a world dominated by a sytem created by the enemy is difficult. Simply put, God knows that a life without His presence is a hard life. This explains God's love for the world when He sent Jesus to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16) so that we would be reconciled in relationship and communion with Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). When Jesus walked the earth, He said, come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-29). To reiterate, a life with Jesus as your Lord is easy and light because He leads and You follow Him, amen. Thank you LORD.

The first time we see God's presence recorded is when He was with the children of Israel. In the wilderness, God's presence, His holy, pure presence was with the children of Israel. He did not occasionally appear, no. He was literally with them from when they departed from Egypt and soon after dwelt in a tabernacle dwelling which was always in their midst. When we read the books written by Moses, they reveal the rebellion of the children of Israel. However, despite the rebellion, sin and transgressions that they committed, God's presence never left them. He dwelt with them.

In fact the LORD God requested Moses to bring the children of Israel closer to Him so they would hear His Word and commands. The people appreciated God's gesture but cried out and requested God to speak to Moses. That way, Moses would deliver God's message like he usually did as their leader. They said, "...Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?" (Deuteronomy 5:24-26)

Now here we have the Almighty, holy and Righteous God seeking fellowship and intimacy with His people but notice, God did not reject the people, instead they excused themselves from His presence and I believe it was their iniquity. Nevertheless, God granted the request of the children of Israel because if His presence caused them fear to the point of death, that would be contrary to the heart of His presence in their lives because perfect love casts away fear as seen in 1 John 4:18. It reads, "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." (NLT).

On the other hand, Moses dwelt in God's presence for prolonged periods of time and never died. Moses valued the presence of God.

We see an important lesson here as well that when the Bible says in Isaiah 59:2 tells us, that sin separates us from God, it literally means that. It is not that God's presence will leave when you sin, but sin will cause you to leave it.

Romans 5:8 reminds us that when we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. This means that a messy life and mistakes do not separate you from God. On the contrary, your messy life draws God closer to you, His love draws near to you because how will you then know what love is if you are unable to be loved in the worst of times? The love of God is not high and mighty, it is gentle and humble and Jesus Christ and God's presence is the proof. During Jesus' earthly ministry, He spent time with corrupt tax collectors, prostitutes and I believe it is because they recognized their need for a Savior to deliver and save them. When Apostle Paul was introducing the Athenians to the One and Only true God, he introduced him as the Maker of everything and person in the world and said, "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, "For we are also His offspring.' Paul was telling unbelievers, certified idol worshippers that in God, they move and live and have their being. They were not exempt from God's presence over their lives which ties into the next point.

Today, God says, He no longer lives in temples made with man made hands (Acts 17:24), He lives in you who is a born again child of God that has received the free gift of salvation found in His Son as seen above in 1 Corinthians 6:19.

This is one of the greatest act of humility and love, that The pure, and holy God can dwell in an imperfect being. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul never wrote to us that the Spirit of the LORD departed from the believer who slept with his father's wife (1 Corinthians 5:1) but he was openly rebuked, separated from the rest of the believers and in this was the demonstration of God's love as well that led to this believer's godly repentance.

So when God says, your body is a temple of God, is it a license to sin? - On the contrary, it is an expression of God's love, that I love you and whatever love you think I have for you, it is way more than that. It is God reminding you that do not have to be perfect for me to dwell therein because Jesus is Your perfection. It is a reminder that God understands without Christ, no child of God would be able to make it in this world dominated by the schemes of the enemy and this is the reason He reminds us in 1 John 4:4, "...for greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." God dwelling in us is a reminder that He wants to do life with you, with His presence with you, not apart from you. God's love in you is a reminder that the power that works in the sons of disobedience is broken off of your life (Ephesians 2:2-3) and His presence enables you to walk in obedience making Him Lord over your life. God's presence found in Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit, is a reminder that Jesus is not the One with the final say in your life, Jesus is the One with the only say in your life and the enemy cannot touch you. God's presence over your life is a reminder that He will never leave you nor forsake you because He desires to do life with you. God's presence in your life is a reminder that now you are known by God and saved by His Christ.

Now that you know that God's presence over you is an act of redemption, His kindness and love, a love that does not withdraw but stays regardless of season, how would you respond to His presence? - Remember the above lead Word tells us that "...you have been bought at a price..." (1 Corinthians 6:20) and this price is the precious blood of the new covenant, which is the blood of Jesus Christ. You have been bought at a very expensive price.

I'll end with this Word found in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV)

11. "This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.

12. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.

13. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

Amen, thank you LORD.

Invitation to salvation: If you would like to be born again into God's Kingdom, that is saved and have a personal relationship with God as Your Father and you as His child by receiving His Son, Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, I invite you to say this confession:

"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that; Jesus Christ, the Son of God came in a human body to die for my sins so that I could have a new life where I am dead to sin and alive to God. I repent of my past sins and enter the Kingdom of light where I choose relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour and with God as my loving Father today and forever." AMEN.

Congratulations, YOU'VE BEEN REDEEMED by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. To the glory of the Almighty God. Amen. In case you do not already, please join a church community and get water baptized!