Have you ever felt the Presence of God? Maybe you’ve felt unusual calm or peace in a chaotic moment, or maybe you’ve gotten chills down your spine while the worship band played your favorite song among a group of believers. Maybe God’s Presence has met with you in a quiet moment at home with your Bible, or maybe He worked a miracle before your very eyes while you sensed standing on holy ground. The psalmist wrote, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). God’s Presence is always with us.
There are many, many more, but today I’ll delve a little deeper into just six of the distinguishing characteristics of God’s Presence as part of the Characteristics of God series.
In the Lord’s Presence, nothing else matters. Nothing else is important or needs attending to. In His Presence we remember the Truth; that God takes care of us, provides for us, and sustains us; our own strength and efforts are futile. When we experience God’s Presence we are made more aware that we are completely engulfed by His grace and mercy as we take every single breath. It’s in His Presence our hearts can be transformed, and we can build intimacy with the God of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega. We are no longer tied to the things that weigh us down or make us afraid when we know that He is with us. In His Presence, we are free indeed.
1. God’s Presence Makes Us Free
The Presence of God is credited as having set the Israelite captives free from Egyptian slavery (Deuteronomy 4:37). His power, glory, and goodness can be experienced by us today, right now. Worshiping Him with all of our heart or praying in the Spirit are ways that can make His Presence more tangible to us. In the Bible, God’s Presence is also described as “the glory of the Lord” (eg: Exodus 16:10, Exodus 24:16, Leviticus 9:23, Numbers 16:19). He is omnipresent and always available to draw near to, and yet, it can be so easy for us sometimes to miss out on experiencing His Presence.
God’s Presence prompted Moses and Aaron to fall on their faces (Numbers 20:6). The appropriate response to God’s Presence, which is so good and so holy, evokes immediate worship and service to Him; “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:2). In loving, fearing, and serving the Lord we become truly free. By experiencing His Presence, we can better get to know Him well enough to love Him. The living God longs to be present with us; that is why Jesus came! Scripture tells us how Jesus made a Way for God’s wonderful Presence to be with us anytime, anywhere. That’s the Good News.
2. God’s Presence is Available at all Times for Everyone
God wants each one of us to be alive in His Presence for all of eternity; we wouldn’t be here if He didn’t! It’s in God’s Presence He can teach us His heart, overflowing with love and grace for us. The more we spend time in His Presence, the more we are able to align ourselves with His heart (desires, will, and emotions). In His Presence, we are better able to become people after God’s own heart.
There is peace and rest in knowing who we are to God, His loved and cherished children. God spoke to Moses about the rest that His Presence brings to His people: “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Our souls can truly rest when we know we are cared for, loved, and protected. All this is freely available to us in God’s Presence.
3. God’s Presence Gives Us Rest
The joy that comes from experiencing God’s Presence is complete, and makes us unshakably joyful, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). We need nothing more than God’s Presence. It provides all we need, and more. He Truly is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We were specially designed to be in God’s Presence, it’s part of who we were made to be! All of God’s work aligns with and works for us to be able to dwell with God. As God is our Creator, it naturally brings us gladness and joy to experience being with Him. Being in God’s Presence brings safety, wonder, delight, peace, and true, deep joy in our hearts and spirits. “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence” (Psalm 21:6).
4. God’s Presence Makes Us Joyful
It is a promise in Scripture that we will all see God’s glory (Isaiah 40:5). Jesus was in the glory of God’s Presence before the world existed, and He entered God’s Presence and was glorified again after He died on the cross (John 17:5). God’s Presence itself is glorious and brings about glorious things.
The Presence of God gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist (Romans 4:17). Scripture describes God’s Presence with the imagery of mountains quaking, idols trembling, and justice being the only thing that can be done when it is near (Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 64:1-3, Lamentations 3:35). Glorious things happen because of and come from God’s Presence. We can better see God, His glorious nature, and the glorious things that come from Him when we experience His Presence.
5. God’s Presence is Where We Experience His Glory
Of we whose sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus, it is said, “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” (Revelation 7:15-16).
In eternity, we are promised to not only be present at God’s throne, but also sheltered forevermore by His awesome Presence when we are in Christ. We won’t be subject to the suffering or pain of this world anymore in His eternal Presence. Instead, we will be sheltered by Him.
6. God’s Presence is a Shelter
Experiencing His Presence, as we can in worship, prayer, and in other ways, can be so refreshing to our souls because it returns us to our innate connection with Him. David sang, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). God designed us and longs for us so much that He promised to fulfill our need to be in His Presence for eternity through Jesus.
God’s purposes and plans ultimately provide for us to experience His freeing, available, restful, joy-filled, glorious, sheltering Presence, and for Him to enjoy our presence too, for all of eternity. Amen.
“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24).
“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11).
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19-21).
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