Living In His Presence

Living in His Presence always leads us to live a lifestyle where we want to bring His Presence to other people. 

There are three different qualities of His Presence:

The Omnipresence of God

  • God is everywhere! 
  • “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7 (NKJV)
  • You can not hide from God – He can find you anywhere. God is everywhere, yet His Presence is not made manifest everywhere. 

The Inner Presence of God

  • This is when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us. 
  • Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit in John 14:17 (NKJV): “…He dwells with you and will be in you.”
  • The Holy Spirit lives in every born-again believer’s heart. If you have given your life to Jesus, God lives in you through His Holy Spirit. 

The Manifest Presence of God

  • The Manifest Presence of God is His made-known, realised Presence of God.
  • We can live in the Presence of God.
  • Praise and Worship is the primary gateway to God’s manifest presence. 

WHAT IS GOD’S MANIFEST PRESENCE? 

God started everything in the Garden of Eden. God wanted a family, a fellowship and a relationship with His master creations.

But when Adam and Eve committed that high treason against God – when they chose to disobey God’s clear commandment, that sweet fellowship was broken and they lost the glory of God and suddenly they realised: “We’re naked.” 

What did mankind lose when Adam and Eve fell? What did Jesus come to restore? 

Jesus Christ came to restore that Manifest Presence of God to us that Adam and Eve felt everyday. In His Manifest Presence we find everything we need and desire.

Psalm 16:11 promises us three things:

  1. God will show us the path of life
  2. In His Presence is fullness of joy
  3. At His right hand are pleasures forevermore

Sin always tries to make us hide from God’s Presence, just as Adam and Eve tried to hide as they lost the glory of God, sewing together fig leaves.

“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 
– Genesis 3:8-9 (NLT) 

  • Remember God is for you and wants to bring redemption and a new beginning even after you’ve messed up.
  • Devil tries to oppress you and keep you bound. Devil wants you to withdraw from the church fellowship and the devil really wants you to go back to the life of sin, compromise and religion.
  • Jesus wants to set you free from your misery, depression, selfishness, addictions and worldly lifestyle. He wants to set you free from your sin.

“And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 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.”
– Exodus 33:14-16

  • God’s Manifest Presence sets us apart from the world.
  • God’s Manifest Presence is God doing something you can not do for yourself or for others. 
  • Examples of God’s manifest presence: God’s supernatural healing power and ability to deliver people from terrible circumstances; His supernatural provision; the rhema words of God that bring clarity, peace and joy.

“…these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
– Mark 16:17

  • The New Testament Church is called to live in the Manifest Presence of God. 
  • We can continually live in God’s Manifest Presence when we follow His Word and His instruction.

LEAVING HIS PRESENCE 

How can you leave God’s Manifest Presence?

Wilful disobedience is different to making a mistake. It is you not doing what God is telling you to do.

  • Cain left the presence of God when he did not deal with his attitude and he murdered his brother. 
  • Jonah left the presence of God when he went in another direction. God had said: “God to Niniveh” — Jonah went to Tarsis and decided to take a mediterranean cruise. That did not end up well! But Jonah repented.
  • You can repent today. But you don’t need to always learn the hard way. 

Obedience is the key! 

Obedience simply means: DOING WHAT GOD SAYS! 

  • When God speaks to you, do it! Do it right away and don’t argue with God! 
  • You can not really say you’re living in His Presence if you’re not doing what He’s asking you to do.
  • Don’t try to please people. We should only focus on pleasing God. When we do, He will bless us with favour, divine friendships and connections and real financial blessings.
  • To live in His Presence we must learn how to enter His Presence.

ENTERING HIS PRESENCE 

We need to learn to enter into God’s Presence so we can live in His Presence and practice His Presence every day and let God influence every area of our lives. 

How do you enter the Presence of the Lord?

The gateway to His manifest presence is through praise and worship

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”
– Psalm 95:1-2 (NKJV) 

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.”
– Psalm 100:1-2 (NKJV) 

  • We enter into His gates with thanksgiving! He has given you all that you have. He has saved you and now His Holy Spirit lives in you.
  • There’s tremendous power in your words. When you speak and sing His Word, exalting His name with your voice, then supernatural things can happen in one short moment that will turn your situation around. This happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi. 

“But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone’s shackles were unfastened.” 
– Acts 16:25-26 (AMPC) 

  • You don’t need to be a good singer. God wants to hear your voice! Just start to worship Him.  
  • Many times during the worship time you feel the presence of God strongest. 
  • Anointed praise and worship draws even unbelievers. People of the world can sense God’s Presence when God’s people lift His name.

“…when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”
– John 12:32  

  • Jesus is alive – He rose from the grave!
  • When we lift up the name of Jesus and exalt His name through our actions, words and songs using our voice – people will be drawn to Jesus. 

Live in His Presence every day. Learn to worship Him, He is worthy on good days and on challenging days. Don’t just enter His Presence once a week. His mercies are new every morning! 

“But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
– John 4:23-24 (NLT) 

He is looking for those people who would worship Him, and who would enter into His presence. He’s looking for those people whose highest desire is living in His presence.