Life in His Presence

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

When I have been in God’s presence, I’ve noticed there is gentle quality in my interaction with others.  Especially my family.  This is significant since, by nature, I am generally loud and somewhat overbearing.  In moments of frustration or stress, I can even be harsh.

But something happens to me when I linger in the presence of God.  A transformation of my inner qualities.  I am amazed at the transformations that take place in me when I have been in his presence.  And I am equally not ok with the transformations that take place when I have not been in his presence.

Days, weeks, yes even months have gone by in my life without a real encounter with the presence of God.  These are the times that I get reaquainted with my old empty selfish self.  My wife didn’t marry that guy.  She met me when I was walking pretty consistently in the Spirit.  Hey – I was going to Bible college and doing full time ministry!  Now with a family and doing work that does not require spiritual activities, it is easy to find time rolling right along without a breath of fresh air from my Father’s presence.

In these times, my spirit dries up, and my gentleness is evident to none!

Have you been there?  Are you there right now?

Well according to Scripture, God’s loving plan for our lives, it is not ok that we remain there.

Notice Paul does not say “BE” gentle to all.  He also does not say “grow” in gentleness.  He doesn’t tell us how to be gentle or become gentle.  (He does imply that it is the result of the Lord’s nearness.)

He uses the word ”Let”.

You see, gentleness is not something we can make happen.  And gentleness is different from someone with a “sweet” personality.  Gentleness is an inner quality.   It is a spiritual quality that can only come from a true connection with the Holy Spirit through Christ.  It is selfless.  It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  It is the result of his presence in your life.  So, as you are in God’s presence, transformation takes place in your inner world and one of the results is gentleness.  The New American Standard Bible says, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.”

So how do you do this?

(1)  Don’t be ashamed of the gentle nature that comes from your spirit being in His Spirit.

There are times, when living in and dealing with the world, that a gentle spirit is in such a contrast to those around you that you can become self-conscious of your gentleness.  In the world, you will find yourself continually tempted to cutoff the characteristics of Christ in your life because they cause you to stand out from the crowd.  Some of us are uncomfortable with being different.

But notice Paul said the Lord is near.  Your gentleness, which is representing Christ, can bring a certain conviction to hearts.  People are not likely to be very conscious of this conviction.

Another word for conviction is convincing.  When the judge hands a conviction, a sentence if you will, there is no question about it.  You are convinced that the judges words are the final words.  When we live in this world with a gentle spirit, it will bring conviction to others – convincing them the Lord is near.

(2)  You become gentle by being in his presence.

You can’t change yourself and you should never waste your time trying.  You may be able to change habits, but you will never be able to produce the fruit of the Spirit in yourself.

Notice in Galatians 5 that the differentiation is made:  “works” of the flesh and “fruit” of the Spirit.  When we try to be holy in our own strength and efforts, we fail.

When we spend time in God’s presence, through the finished work of Christ, we are transformed inside out.  Our desires are transformed.  Our thinking is transformed.  Our paradigms shift.  Our heart gets soft.  Our inner nature is molded to be more like Christ.  And our outer character, our actions, how we treat others, is transformed.  Just be being with him.  “Being” in his presence.

Haven’t you every heard the phrase, “you become like those you hang around.”  This is so true with God.  He gave his Son so that we would no longer have to be separated from his presence.  Through Christ, we enter in and stay as long as we want.  The result?  A gentler you.  A touched world.  A happier family.

Just “Let” your gentleness be known.