“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” — Psalm 139:7 (ESV)
Receiving His Presence
God’s presence has been made fully available to us by the sacrifice of Jesus, our pure and spotless Lamb. When we become Christians we are made totally new. Second Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We are now able to fellowship with the presence of God in a closer and more intimate way than any people of God before the coming of Christ. We can now have God Himself dwelling within us, His very Spirit fellowshipping with ours.
Ephesians 5:18 (ESV) says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” To be filled with the Spirit is not a suggestion, it is a command. We as believers must continually be filled with the Spirit in order to access the fullness of relationship and life available to us on this earth. We need God’s presence as sojourners on this earth. We need God’s Spirit dwelling within us to live out the wonderful, life-giving commands of Scripture. We need God’s Spirit to experience the fullness of God’s presence available to us through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus.
You see, God’s presence is already here. Psalm 139:7-12 (ESV) says:
“Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You.”
You don’t have to beg for an experience with God. He doesn’t have to come from on high to the earth in order for you to encounter Him. All that we have to do is quiet our hearts, align ourselves with the truth that He is here and available to us, and receive Him. God never forces Himself upon us. He never makes us have any part of Him. But once we open our hearts to Him and ask to encounter Him, He is willing and able to fill us with His glorious presence. He is ready to make us aware of just how near to us He has always been — that He is closer than the very air we breathe.
Psalm 16:11 (ESV) says, “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” May you come to know to greater levels the fullness of joy and pleasure available to you in the presence of your living and active God. May you grow in your awareness of the nearness and unconditional love of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you. May you receive God’s presence throughout your day today and encounter the joy of the God who would lay down His own life simply for you to know Him.
— Craig Denison, First 15
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