Psalm 16:11

"In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore". There is a sense in which we are always in the presence of the Lord. God is omnipresent, which means that He is everywhere at the same time, at all times.

That fact is truly awe-inspiring, but that's not what I want to deal with here. There is another aspect of God's presence- the sense in which the Lord desires to come and deliberately 'be with us', or 'dwell with us'. I'll elaborate on that in a moment, but think about it- what would make the Creator of all things want to do such a thing? His incredible love for the apex of His creation, that's what. I gave up tryng to figure it out a long time ago.

I realized that I'm so much better off simply believing and accepting that He loves me, and acting on that fact. Who can fathom the mind of God? Let me confess something right here- I tend to not love people en masse- we human beings can be so annoying, so unloving, so selfish, so rude- and I find myself asking God, "How is it that You care for us the way the Bible says You do?" I still don't know the answer, and I probably never will, but I know that it's true, and because He deeply loves you, then I need to love you, too. He wants us to love one another, and so I desire to do so. It's just believing God, and acting on His Word. John 13:34 says, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another"....

Now I'll elaborate on God desiring to be with us. As we gather together in His name and adore Him, He willfully pours His Spirit upon us and reveals His awesome Glory to us. In Matthew 18:20, Jesus declares to us, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them". Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, literally chooses to inhabit our praises. We just need to respond to His gentle promptings to spend time worshipping and adorin g Him. He DESIRES us- our heart, our entire being- Is this what we want to give to our Lord? Do we desire HIM in that same way? There is nothing in all of creation that compares to the Glory and Presence of God, and in this day and age, the Body of Christ desperately needs to see that! ...Did you know that there will be no boredom in Heaven? Why? Because boredom is of the flesh, resulting in our seeking after so many other things in this life, and God will often use it to draw our attention back to Him. I've never heard of anyone being bored as thy seek the Lord's face, you simply can't be! ......

I've heard it said that when the lost (people without Christ) stand in judgement before God, that they would be uncomfortable in Heaven anyway, because they chose to live for themselves all of their lives, and would be more comfortable without His Presence. I don't buy that line of thinking for one moment! I believe that when a lost person stands before his or her Creator, that there will be an instant recognition of the One who loved them, but Whom they had refused, and that the torment of that moment, of being in the very Presence of God, and realizing that they will never know the sweet fellowship that the Lord had desired to have with them, will be overwhelming beyond words, and will haunt them throughout all of eternity! You see, we were all made FOR HIM, created to give Him pleasure, and as we do, we fullfill His purpose for us, and the joy that we recieve in return is simply 'unspeakable and full of glory'.

It has been wisely said, "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever"- How true. It's also true that Almighty God will enjoy being with His children forever, and He gives us a fortaste of His eternal Glory by graciously granting His children the pleasure of His Presence as we look to Him in sweet adoration! Whether all by yourself, or in a congregation of fellow believers , make it a point to covet that beautiful Presence of God, and He will not disappoint you. You are the apple of His Eye!

En Agape,
pastor Jim Ewing