Thinking upon His presence and reading
the book which captured my heart over twenty years ago. Practicing
the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence was one of the first books I
ever read as a Christian. It would set my affections. It would set
my course. It would produce an intrigue in me that even when left
for a period of time, would always resume.
Maybe it is now, after two decades of
seeing other things as it pertains to the ministry of the Lord upon
the earth, that I can once again revisit but stand even more assured.
Maybe that is it....
I do.. I stand more assured that a
people who are willing to wait upon the presence of the Lord will
enter into living the best life a human being can live. I'm not
talking monastery here, I am talking an invitation for the presence
of the Lord to join you within each minute, and within each activity
… To do all, as Brother Lawrence speaks of, for the love of God...
Today I have thought about Ananias and
Sapphira, and I have thought about Uzzah. Then I have thought about
Moses, David, Obed Edom, Enoch, and all of those who walked with and
in the presence of the Lord. I have thought about the victory of
Jericho and then the defeat of Ai. I have thought about the
declaration of the foreign nations over Israel that there God was THE
God of all Heaven and earth.
When I turn my appetites, affections,
desires, hopes and dreams over to Him and in their place purpose
within my heart just to pursue His presence, all else falls into a
most right perspective. I don't desire lazy inactivity as it
pertains to the concept and powerful reality of “resting” before
our God. One can be in the most active physical state and be in
“rest” with God.
To commune with Him as one shops, as
one baths a child, as one prepares a meal... to be with Him and live
with Him and trust Him in all activity. To acknowledge that but He
builds a house, a life, a church, whatever.. unless He builds it.. we
all walk in vanity.
There is no methodology truly to be
followed... It is the age old invitation to abide that Jesus spoke of
when teaching about vines and branches.
What do we place our confidence in? A
board room full of the most successful church planters of our day, or
a granny who has sat for years and prayed. The army of Israel was
rendered of no effect in regards to a giant and yet a shepherd boy
would win that battle...
The hunger and desire for words of
revelation to be spoken fill our air ways and our email inboxes.
There is no word that is written or gotten publicly that if it was
relevant to you that God, Himself wouldn't speak it directly to you,
if you waited upon Him to hear His heart. It is the drive through,
short cut mentality that bottom feeds upon anything other... an
utterance should be a reverberation of what in your gut you would
already know if you allowed yourself to believe. Moses invited the
people into the deep darknesses, to enter into a relationship with
the Lord. They declined and he went and the people fell into
idolatry.
There is no difference today.. leaders
who like their station and people who want the easy revelation.. But
my dear friends how much more we lose when upon Him we do not wait
and go to directly...
I will harp upon these tunes and stand
upon this note... Seek the Lord while He may be found.... Seek Him
and abide in Him, rest in Him, and wait upon Him... and you will
arise with renewed strength, hope and beauty...
Invite the Lord into your moments, and
into all your activities and watch as He transforms your life..
partner with Him, reach out and hold His hand.. He will direct your
path!
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