LIVING THIS MOMENT, IN HIS PRESENCE

Have you ever thought about the fact that we only have THIS MOMENT?
We don’t have a moment from now—that is in the future; and we don’t have a moment ago—that is in the past. But we have THIS moment and we can choose to live in His presence one moment at a time.

In fact, I came across a couple of verses this morning as I was reading God’s Word that reminded me that not only am I to seek His presence continually, but that He is seeking mine!
1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

God has a drive for intimacy with us and is continually seeking us; desiring to reveal His heart and life to us! When we read His Word our hearts should be delighting in Him as David said many times throughout the Psalms. This will cause us to want more of Him.
Specifically, David desired to ‘gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple’ Psalm 27:4. St. Augustine said, “I have tasted Thee, and now I hunger for Thee.”

The more we taste of His revealed truths [truths He reveals about Himself] the hungrier we get for more—and the more He satisfies that hunger for Him—the more we desire to dwell with Him—the more we receive His promise of joy…….as we simply live in His presence, “ in your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm16:11)

The more we taste….the more we hunger…..the more He satisfies…. the more we dwell….the more we experience the ‘fullness of joy’----simply by living in His presence.
I don’t know about you, but that is where I want to be!

Regardless of life’s circumstances, we can experience the joy of the Lord as we dwell in His presence. The more difficult our situation, the more we need to dwell with Him, moment by moment. This moment.

David Roper’s book, Psalm 23: The Song of a Passionate Heart, quotes Brennan Manning
“When I am in conscious communion with the reality of the wild, passionate, relentless, stubborn, pursuing, tender love of God for me, then it’s not that I have to or I got to or I should or I ought; suddenly, I want to change because I know how deeply I am loved. One of the wonderful results of my consciousness of God’s staggering love for me as I am is freedom not to be who I should be or who others want me to be. I can be who I really am. And who I am is a bundle of paradoxes and contradictions: I believe and I doubt, I trust and I get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel good, and I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty if I don’t feel guilty…It is the real me that God loves. I don’t have to be anyone else. For 20 years I tried to be Brother Teresa. I tried to be Francis of Assisi. I had to be a carbon copy of a great saint rather than the original God intended me to be. The biggest mistake I can make is to say to God, “Lord, if I change, you’ll love me, won’t you?” the Lord’s reply is always, “Wait a minute; you’ve got this all wrong. You don’t have to change so I’ll love you; I love you so you’ll change.” I simply expose myself to the love that is everything and have an immense, unshakable, reckless, raging confidence that God loves me so much He’ll change me and fashion me into the child that He always wanted me to be.”

WHAT FREEDOM!

David Roper says in this book;
“God can never be understood through the intellect. Insight arises from purity of heart—from love, humility, and a desire to obey. It is the “pure in heart who see God,” [Jesus Matt. 5:8]. “If the value of our times alone with God depend on our emotional state, we will always be troubled. We should never worry about how we feel. Even when our minds are confused or our hearts grow cold, we can learn from our solitude. Don’t try to make your heart love God. Just give it to HIM.”

WHAT REFRESHING ADVICE!!!
God continually reminds us of this truth, over and over in His Word!
“I Am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37)
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

An illustration I heard years ago reminds me of our life in Christ.
Picture an egg. There are three parts—the yolk, the white and the shell.
Now consider Col. 3:3 “…your life is hidden with Christ in God”
The shell is God, the white is Christ and your life is the yolk.
You are loved, cared for and nurtured as you are surrounded by the life of Christ in the protective hands of God!

You have all of Him you will ever need! You need nothing more!
LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE TODAY AND EVERYDAY…..MOMENT BY MOMENT
AND EXPERIENCE THE FULLNES OF HIS JOY!