Even if they believe God exists most people act like He is not around. Sadly there are some Christians like that. Or, if certain Christians acknowledge the omnipresence of God they do not participate in it like they should. One symptom of this problem is loneliness. Another is a worldly response, especially a sustained one, to the death of a loved one who was ready to die. Still another could be a flippant attitude toward sinning, whether sinning publicly or privately.
The fact is God is everywhere. He is in what we might call the best places and He is also
in what we might say are the nastiest. He is there in a crowd and there in the desolate places. Anyone calling themselves a Christian should realize this and joyfully respectfully enter into it. Here are some things we can do to know, and to enjoy, the presence of God.I. Realize There Are Spiritual Realities - Genesis 28:16
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely YHVH is in this place, and I did not know it.’”
Most people consider the world we live in to be a physical reality. To some it is the only reality. However there are spiritual realities, the main one of which is that God is everywhere present. Jacob, who later would be renamed Israel, knew God existed. No doubt he had heard how God spoke to his mother Rebekah while she was pregnant with him and his brother Esau (Genesis 25:22-23). Apparently though, according to what he said as recorded in Genesis 28:16, he felt that while God might see everything from heaven, He was not around on earth -- at least not near him.
The day came when Jacob had to get away from Esau (Genesis 27) so we read in Genesis 28 he was on his way northward to find a wife. On the way, one evening he decided to stop to sleep outside in a place at that time called Luz. He dreamed about a ladder on earth reaching to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. During the dream God gave him the same promise as He did Abraham. “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely YHVH is in this place, and I did not know it.’”
The Holy Bible records numerous cases of the real spiritual realm being present whether we acknowledge it to be so or not. A striking example is recorded in 2 Kings 6:11-23 when the King of Aram sent an army to capture the prophet Elisha. Elisha's servant was very unnerved by this so Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes. Once that happened, his servant saw (verse 17) “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
More subtle, the Holy Bible mentions beings like watchers (Daniel 4:13, 17, and 23). Angels of all sorts can appear in places where one might think no being is there, like the time Gabriel appeared to Zacharias (Luke 1:8-12). Folks can be listening to a preacher and have their reactions recorded and reported (Malachi 3:16-17). Wherever you are at there is some type of spiritual being nearby and, of course, God sees all and knows all. This is reality whether we see it or not, whether we believe it or not, whether we like it or not, and whether we are blessed by it or not.
II. Know For Sure God Is Everywhere - Jeremiah 23:24
“‘Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?’ declares YHVH. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares YHVH.”
It is quite clear from God Himself that He is everywhere in the universe. If there are such things as other dimensional physical realities, He is there too. And while this verse is a warning to the sinful, those that are blood-washed born again in Christ can rejoice that God is everywhere!
He was right there, seeing what cannot be seen, when each of us was conceived. Look at this beautiful portion from Psalm 139:13-16:
“For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”
III. Recognize Your Need Of God - Psalm 70:5
“But I am afflicted and needy;
Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O YHVH, do not delay.”
By the Holy Spirit, David wrote that verse. This same David whom God used to kill Goliath, the same David that became king of Israel, said that he was needy. No matter how well-to-do we are in any way, it is best to recognize we need God, and that we need Him every moment. That type of thinking can help us to desire the presence of God.
The biggest need we have of God is His salvation. Once we surrender to God through Christ we should desire to hear from Him, to speak with Him, to be blessed by Him, and to bless Him. We need His real peace, real hope, strength, guidance, and more. No human, no religion, no group, no friend, or anything else can truly fill our need of God but God. Along with the sin nature, this could be the underlying reason why some divorce and remarry.
IV. Recognize He Is Constantly Present - Psalm 139:7-10
“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
Though I wrote of the omnipresence of God under point II., I address it here on a personal level for each of us. David was born a sinner like you or I, but He realized, and acted upon the fact, that God was personally right there with him no matter where he went. Verse 10 shows us that not only is He with us, but He is active with us.
His presence and His dealings with us become much more noticeable on our part if we have made Christ King of our life, if we have been born again. Once we are born again, we can get more into His presence by speaking with Him throughout our time, thinking about Him and His Word. It is certainly good to have focused times of worship, prayer, Holy Bible study and more {1}, but knowingly do such things throughout the day.
To get into the presence of God more we need to respect His presence. Be careful what you do or say, privately and publicly. Be very careful in the Body of Christ and areas of worship. It was the 1980s when I finally let God open my eyes to the realm of spiritual warfare based upon the written Word. At some point I realized that I was not honoring His presence of the sanctuary of the church we pastored because like most pastors we had the church “business” meetings in the sanctuary. I kept thinking of that word, sanctuary -- a holy place where many made their peace with God, where many wept before Him and joyfully praised His name, where the Word of God was proclaimed, and so many more precious and wonderful things. I decided that from then on, any sanctuary will remain
a sanctuary wherever I minister. I moved the “business” meetings to another room.Also, be constantly ready to sense anything from Him and respond accordingly. God is right there, desiring to guide and direct you. He also is most worthy of worship at any moment. Get to the point in your Christian life whereby you may sense from God at any moment just to pause and worship Him. Be ready and willing to pray for someone, tell them about salvation, or anything else as the Holy Spirit so leads.
By recognizing and participating in the fact that He is constantly present one will have no need to be lonely. By getting into His presence and permitting ourselves to be infused with Him we will further increase His glorious peace within us, a peace we could never get from anything or anyone else.
V. Enter Deeper Into His Presence - Exodus 33:18
“Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’”
The Word of God does not record Moses having a conversation with God for about the first forty years of his life. That does not mean he did not. We do know that after killing an Egyptian he banished himself to Midian and soon became a shepherd. Many people are familiar with the account that one day while in the hot sun he heard the voice of God coming from a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. From that point onward we know that he communicated with God quite often. It appears that his communication with God became daily, and later, seemingly constant.
Though he had been regularly speaking with God, at one point he asked God to show him His glory. God is so great and awesome we will never, at least in our present body on earth, know and personally experience everything about Him. But the whole counsel of the Word of God shows we should have the same heart desire as Moses, that is, if we sincerely love God.
Acknowledging, respecting, the presence of God is a foundation, and if we practice those things mentioned in the previous points we should again realize that we need to love and respect Him in such a way that we shun sinning. To not permit sin, but if you do sin deal with it before God immediately, otherwise you will be less able to get into, and spiritually sense, God’s presence. It is written in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear." So it is good for us to love Him enough to stay away from sin and purge ourselves (1 John 3:1-3).
Sometimes some earthly matters tend to reflect the heavenly. You see a touch of this in the Old Testament when people stood before kings. In most cases, and especially for a king’s servant, they were to come before him joyfully. While God is gracious and very understanding, and we can certainly come to Him whether sorrowful, angry, scared, and more, it is good for us to learn to practice purposely entering deeper into His presence with loving, sincere expressions of praise, worship, adoration of Him.
By the Holy Spirit, David wrote in Psalm 22:3, “Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel." Sincerely praising God helps us to sense the awesome majesty of God. Knowing He rules and experiencing His majesty helps us to have His peace within us. It also focuses our heart and mind upon Him, and not upon any earthly problem. Our problems might not go away when we praise God, but we will gain His strength to face those problems and deal with them according to His will.
When we worship God, praising Him and giving Him our adoration, we actually join in on what constantly occurs before His throne. Revelation 4 shows us this glorious activity before His throne. Here are verses 8 to 11:
“And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.’
9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 ‘Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.’”
Come to God through Christ, giving Him your all. Acknowledge and lovingly respond to His presence. Know He is within you and with you. Get into His presence more and more as you grow in Him.
Notes:
{1} Please read The Triumph Of God Habits at http://holybibletreasures.expertscolumn.com/article/triumph-godly-habits-1 .
Learn more about godly habits that will help you get in, and dwell in, the wonderful presence of God at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/series.html#GetInto
This article was written in the form of a sermon (message) outline with comments. God willing by October 29, 2017 (hopefully much sooner), you should be able to hear the actual message (sermon) by selecting a link at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M469 .
Unless otherwise noted all Holy Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates and adding “(The Existing One)” to readily express the meaning of His Name without making repeated explanations in articles. * = For other versions the spelling of some words is updated for our time in addition to changing LORD to YHVH as it rightly should be when the text so indicates.
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