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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : The Presence of God(actually)

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 The Presence of God(actually)


What does it mean to come into the Presence of God? It is such an overused phrase. When a Christian talks of coming into the presence of God, eyebrows are often raised from other Christians. We see in movements like Lakeland and other Florida revivals, people jerking and screaming and barking, supposedly because they are overcome with the Spirit. They often cite example of this from other revivals down through the ages, as if this, somehow, gives it validity.

I am someone who has stood in the manifest presence of God. Now, just to write that in black and white seems strange, I am not sure why. It seems boastful and arrogant, again I am not sure why, it is simply the truth. The Lord has given me visions, many that I have wrote about in this site, and one time He also "took me up," up where? I am not really sure. I just know it was "up," and I was very aware that at the end I was in the throne room of heaven. Is this Scriptural ? I do know that in Hebrews 4:16 it says "Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need." I wrote about this experience and the word the Lord gave me there, here ..... http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/a-vision-and-a-word-from-god/

I never wanted to leave that place. I have experinced it several times in my 18 years of Christianity. A good sister in Christ described it as roadsigns along the way. I knew exactly what she was talking about. The problem with this place is that it is "aweful," meaning full of awe, and it is majestic. It is a place of total transparency, therefore, on your face is a good position. I am not really talking about on your face physically, although I could see that, I mean on your face Spiritually. This poem describes "coming back," and just how hard that is......

Oh reality, why do you flee from me?
Forced into a world that is, yet is not to me
A world of pain, a world of joy in measure
Oh land that was and is and is to come

“Run, I said “Run,” but they do not run
Why wont you hide in the shadows of His wings?
But not just His wings, how I long to see His face
Not just the shadow, which is brighter than a thousand suns
That light which threatens to consume
All things are possible, and then darkness
Only a lingering, longing, oh reality
The knowledge of your inevitable leaving is hard to live with
One day I shall burst through this soil
I shall see the heavens where the rain comes from
I shall see the throne from where my infallible light does shine

You see, there is a price to pay for this kind of encounter. Everytime it is harder to live life, on a certain level, because you have experienced a small portion of eternity and you know the wonder of it. Paul was in a quandry really, he knew how much better it would be for him to go and be with his Lord, but was more mindeful that he was a servant and had a purpose to fulfil.

So, barking ? No. Screaming and rolling around? No. There is perfect peace in Him, in His presence. There is fullness of Joy, which has nothing to do with laughter. There is anguish of heart for the lost, there is a painful reality for the state of the Body of Christ for sure, but only as one is "coming back." There is a feeling of your own insignificance, I personally felt like Mehibosheth ..2Sa 9:8 And he bowed himself and said, What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog such as I?

Yet, praise the Lord, Mephibosheth was restored and sat down at David's banqueting table. Let me state with all the certainly I can muster, there is nothing beyond the presence of God. Once you have tasted of that heavenly gift, the gift of His presence, you will know that He is all in all. He is everything and in Him is boundlessness. Oh the vastness and the majesty of God.

If you want more its because you have never truly experienced the "presence," of God. Your not willing to "sell all that you have," to come into that place. You have to go away sadly, and then fly all over the world seeking for that which is right there. You ignore the pearl of great price and then spend most of your resources trying to find riches that will compensate.

Rather than coming boldy before the throne, you choose to dwell in the soulish realm of your own spirit. If you would move on from that place, if you would lay down your hold on life, if you would surrender into His hands if you would resign your life to Him, then you could come into a place of awe fullness, of majesty, of supreme peace that is beyond even our imaginations, you would lose your fears, fears of death. For you would know that to die would mean that you would go to Him, and you would long for that. Fear of disease because you would know, with a certainly, that your steps are ordered of God and that your not leaving this planet one second before He deems it.

Fear of your finances, because you would know that when He asks you to consider the Lilllie's of the field, how they neither toil nor spin, that He takes care of them and not a single sparrow falls to the ground without Him knowing it, how much more He cares for you. So when you seek Him first and His righteousness, you are able to trust Him fully and follow His commands. Oh the beauty and the simplicity of the Gospel.

If Christians would passover into the promised land, into the most intimate chambers, they must be abandoned to the battle. It is time for the Church of Christ to arise and set their sights on entering into the manifest presence of God. They must be willing to lay down their lives, die to themselves and all of their fears if they are to enter that place where they will be engulfed in the flames of Shekinah glory. This is a higher place than miracles, although miracles will follow in the path of this new generation, but as an unintended consequence of the outflowing of Gods presence. Like a mighty incoming tide the warriors will be swept into His presence. And as with every tide that flows in, it will flow out. And as we flow out on a tide of majestic reverence then we will take a portion of that glory back into the darkness of the world, a world that the Lord so loves.

May all who read this, develop a hunger and a thirst to come into His presence. To lay everything down that would hinder this, and to "sell everything," so that one can attain the treasures of Heaven, our ultimate eternal destination............Frank




 2008/7/7 14:19





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