Lately, God has been teaching me what it means to be in His presence. I was praying the other day, asking God for more of Him and he showed me that there are two different ways to be in His presence. As I was praying, God gave me a vision where at first, I was in the same place as God, and I could see Him several yards away from me. Then, I began to come close and I was in His midst, I was not only close to Him, but I was inside of Him; He was like a cloud that I could enter the way that a plane goes into clouds while it is flying high in the air. Then, I realized that there was a difference between when I saw Him and when I was in Him.
Last week my family went on a trip to Wisconsin from Connecticut. On the way home to Connecticut, I looked at the window and the plane had flown directly into a cloud. I was amazed at how the only thing that could be seen was the cloud, we were completely immersed in the cloud. This is what I am talking about, to be completely immersed in God the way that the plane was immersed in the cloud so that nothing else can be seen.
So often, I have been in a place where it was evident that God was there, and I was satisfied with the knowledge that He was there. I could hear what He said, see what He did, I could even see the emotion on His face; God would meet me right where I was and give me what I needed at the moment. There would be times that I would enter into His presence (be inside Him) but it was not often. Now, I realize that my entire life needs to be in His presence, that I must be so close to Him that I can hear His heartbeat.
I know now, that if I know His heart, not just His actions, or words, but His true heart, that I can live my life for Him as I know He desires me to do. When I pray or worship or read the Bible I must not only enter the temple, I must enter the Holy of Holies, the secret place where God dwells always.
It is not enough to say I will live my life for Christ, I must live completely in God. I must find out what is on His heart, so I can respond to it and live in His will. I must always be immersed in Him so that I know if He wants to pray, read the Bible, or just be still and know that He is there. No matter what He wants, I must be obedient to listen to His heartbeat and act on what He tells me.
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For some reason I'm reminded of Psalm 103. Don't know what kind of version you use or I'd have posted in that. But here's verse 7 from the NLT.
"He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel."
I've always wanted to be someone that knew the character of God, as opposed to His deeds. I think that sort of applies to what you're saying about being in His Presence vs being IN Him. I think most of us prefer to look at the terrible storm on the mountain from affair. We know the power of God (maybe...) but we neglect the charactor of God.
Psalms 25:14 - The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant.
His covenant being His Heart and Mind - His motivation for everything He does. Why His ways are not our ways, but could be if we dwell IN HIM (and He IN us). It has to be the fulfillment of the new covenant; it has to be what we are born into and not just "saved from His wrath".
Anyhow, nice thoughts. Thank you.
Myk
Amen! That was a beautiful analogy about the plane and clouds. I know that for myself, I have a new thirst to learn God's will for my life and this was uplifting! God bless.
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