The Challenge of God's Presence - Pt.4

The presence of God invites us to gaze at Him and become lost in who He is, just like Mary did at the feet of Jesus. She chose that which cannot be taken away from her. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God and could no longer be found as God had taken him. Enoch was raptured.

The presence of God invites us to a transformation under the radiance of His holiness. We change from living lives ruled by the parameters of our daily lives to living lives from the heart of the Father, radiating the light of the Son, by the Holy Spirit. This transformation will cost us everything. When approaching God with expectation, He always tells me to seek Him above everything. He means above family, ministry, personal needs, mindset, culture, imagination, everything! After all, Jesus is everything.

The person of Jesus is so captivating and beautiful. John says His eyes are like fire, feet like bronze, voice like rushing waters, hair like snow. To spend time sitting at His feet gazing at His beauty is more transforming than years of study and ministry.

More of Him does not mean more time, more money, more work or more preaching. More of Him means dissolving in Him. In John 15, Jesus says "apart from me, you can do nothing". He also says "abide in me". The pace of life can introduce a rushing sensation in our psyche. Although I cannot stress enough the importance of expectation, I also see the importance to avoid the trap of the mind to regain control and bring us into a deception, making us think that we are in His presence or are hearing from Him, when it's all in our minds. A healthy expectation is only satisfied by spiritual filling; something tangible, something that knocks you out of your reality into such a challenging experience where your mind and senses are numb under the sensation of the filling and divine love fills everything.

Joseph and Mary lost Jesus. They found Him in the temple. He was surprised to find out that his parents would not know where he would be: in His Father's house, naturally. The Bible continues to say that "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)

In Jesus is the fulfillment of the original purpose of the Father's house: the temple, i.e. our bodies. The apostle says don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot possibly believe this and not be in expectant fervor for first-hand miraculous manifestations of this truth in us and through us. Paul asks the Corinthians to examine themselves and see whether they feel the presence of Christ within.

Jesus went to the temple as a boy for you and me, for all those who cannot relate to the world they live in, see things differently and are not understood by the world. Jesus went to the temple as a boy for us. There, in the Father's house, he listened, asked questions and gave answers.

"After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." (Luke 2:46-47)

Many have lost Jesus or lost the presence of God within, not that God has forsaken them but for some reason, they do not feel His presence in a tangible manner anymore. The three days are symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection. We are all living in the third day and we need to claim and live out that reality!

We are all different and the world always tries to fit us in a box. Sadly, many churches do the same and cause people to lose their unique ways with God, just like the world does. In Jesus, we see the Messiah as a boy breaking the mold and reclaiming the Father's house for its most essential purpose: a nest for the children of God. Where we and the Father can be together. Our bodies are now His. Jesus has claimed it as His, as a dwelling place for the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

I would like to encourage you to not settle for less and leave you with this verse which I believe is enough encouragement to us all who know what we have within but are reluctant to take the brave step of faith according to what is in us. God bless!

"I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)