CONSIDER THIS: PRESENCE

"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

CONSIDER THIS:  You know what blows a person away, the very first thing in the morning? It is waking up with the words “Coram Deo” in your mind and spirit after having a vivid dream about those two words several hours before! Coram Deo basically means to live your Christian life or walk IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD! AND you know what? In His Presence – He says in Psalm 16:11 “THERE IS FULLNESS OF JOY”!  How do we LIVE in the very Presence of God, while on earth? We make sure we’re first saved. But more importantly, we love Him with every fiber of our being and SEEK HIM daily through prayer, conversation with Him, reading about Him, talking about Him.

ACTION: So today, make a conscious effort to see and lead others to experience His Presence by seasoning at least 30% of your day sharing about the Goodness of God. He loves you, or you would never be allowed in His Presence. So – talk about Him, shout His Name – from the rooftop if you have to! No matter how cold it is outside, if you’re driving to the store or anywhere, look around at the snow covered hills and frozen lakes and plains and marvel that you and I get to literally LIVE in His world and be a part of His Kingdom!! In other words, Love the Lord Your God -> 24/7.

Oh most Wonderful Father in Heaven, to You be all praise, glory, honor, wisdom, majesty and more. You are Sovereign and rule over all. You cause the winds to blow, the climate to change, the world to spin on its axis and the stars to shine by night. Where can I go and You are not there. Lord, on this day, a gift You, in Your loving grace and love for humanity, has given, I choose to love You with all my heart, mind, body and soul. Lord, above all, we who draw closer see things, know things and experience a new birth of freedom in Christ which we could have ever imagined possible, when we first started this journey. So Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing sinners such as I to live in Your Kingdom and delight in the Fullness of Your Presence, for the unspeakable joy that it brings us daily, and may it be so forever more, in Jesus’ Name amen.

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF EXODUS #4

"SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!"

12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”

17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” (Exodus 33:12-17)

At some point in their journey of faith, many believers come to a point where they doubt. Healthy doubt is not necessarily a good thing, even though it demonstrates a certain lack of faith. In Mark 9:23-24, Jesus encountered a young boy who was possessed by an evil spirit rendered him deaf and dumb. 

The boy’s father asked for Jesus’ healing mercy, grace and compassion and the response of the Lord is classic “If you can, believe, all things are possible to him who believes”. The response of the father of this poor young chap should be the cry of anyone who is struggling in their faith. Whether this struggle is to persevere through trials, tribulations and long illnesses which we have prayed about or other things, we all need this encouragement to know that the Lord our God is with us….that His Presence goes with a before us. After  Jesus said those words (in red) to this man, the man said “I believe, help my unbelief”. Jesus then healed the young boy.

What this tell us that being in the Presence of the Lord is even colored by doubt. However, never let your doubts hold you back from wanting more of His influence and power in your life! At the point of conversion, we receive the same Spirit of God Who raised Jesus from the dead on Resurrection morning. The Holy Spirit is 100% God and we have Him sealed in with our spirit, until the Day of Redemption when we leave this earth to be with the Lord.  

In order to experience the FULLNESS of joy, as the psalmist says, we must allow Him to work in us. That is, we decrease in pride, arrogance and doing things our way, that He might increase (John 3:30). We must also decrease in wanting to do things our way and start doing what we said we do as Christians - submit to the Lordship of Christ. Moses knew that. Moses knew God Face to face more than once. Moses felt the Heartbeat of God because His Spirit moved Moses to write the story of Creation, the Flood, the Patriarchs, the Exodus and more. Because he God intimately, he was the most humble man of all....and the Bible tells us so...read Numbers 12:3 here.

This is one of the greatest lessons for ALL of us, as we study the Life and Prayers of Moses, from the Pentateuch (Torah, Law). He never asked anything for himself. God gave him the most impossible mission - corralling and leading millions of unruly Israelites out of Egypt and through a desert for 40 years. Yet, apart from losing it and striking the rock (thereby losing his life to disobedience), he always did what God told him. All the prayers of Moses we study through Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy show a man praying for his people, so this prayer request in Exodus 33:12-17 was extra special.

Moses said "I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way" (Exodus 33:12b-13a). He wanted to see the Father, literally! We know no one has seen God and lived. However many have seen the Living Christ - Who died on the Cross in 33 AD and rose again. Moses himself spent untold days with Him on the Mountain getting the Law and the first five books of the Bible.

The Father was gracious unto Moses and saved his life by putting him in a rock as He passed by. He did that so Moses could still see His Glory passing by (from His back) yet continue his physical existence. God is amazing. He answered the first request from Moses to "show me Your Way" like this:  And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14). The second time Moses asked the same question but this time included the family of God traveling with him (all the Israelites) and it was only THEN God the Father allowed Moses to see His passing Glory!

That is a good lesson too...as favored and as loved and humble Moses was by God, the only Promise to him from Above was the Presence of the Lord (The Holy Spirit Who also lives in us) and REST (verse 14)!! That's it! But showing the closeness of his relationship with the Lord, you can actually read the TONE Moses uses here, when he expanded his first personal request to include those under his charge.

This is our precise charge to pray. Even if we have children or in some cases, grandchildren who are not saved, let us resolve to pray for them first for salvation and for others to succeed, be healed or for guidance. In that way, we will not only see our own spiritual lives soar, but from first hand experience, I can tell you - you will see more than just Creation out there in the Supernatural. God will give you things to see which not many of His own saints will never see. This is the reward of humility similar to the great lawgiver, Moses.

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