“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 (more…)
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Two words really get me here: rejoice and always. Let’s talk about “always” for a second. Let’s be honest, “rejoicing always” seems to be an idealistic “nice-if-you-could” notion. But Paul lays this out as a command. By default, being that this is in Scripture, this command goes beyond Paul and becomes a scriptural command from the Lord.
First of all, I don’t feel like rejoicing always.
I feel down at times. I feel sluggish occassionally. Even hopelessness tries finding its way into my head and emotions. Rejoicing seems to be a stretch even on occassion when you look at the world we live in and the difficulties we face. BUT!!! there is a very very very (very very very) important phrase that we (more…)
In our spirit.
You may have emotional moments in the manifest presence of God. You may experience physical phenomenon as you sense God’s presence overloading your senses. But for many believers, these really emotional moments in God’s presence have mistaken this the way the presence of God will always be manifested. The result is if we are not ‘feeling’ something, then we must not be in His presence. Our spirit was originally created for God’s presence like a fish was created to live in water. Water is the natural environment for a fish. The presence of God is the natural environment where your spirit belongs. When sin reigned in our life, our spirit was dead due to these transgressions. Awareness of God’s nearness within us was not possible. With the cleansing of our sins when we asked Christ to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, God made our spirit come back to life by the Holy Spirit. Now our spirit has the capacity to house the very presence of God.
Not always with strong emotions.
Yet, often when this presence, that we have gotten so used to be apart from, returns, it can be accompanied with strong emotions and even physical reactions. What do you expect? Your spirit, once dead, is not only alive but is experiencing the love you were always created to know and receive. But as our spirit, soul and body gets accustomed to His presence, we often find less emotions. This can be disturbing at first, since we often grow accustomed to these emotions and associating these emotions with His presence. But it is vital that you move past associating God’s manifest presence with physical and emotional manifestations. By getting settled into abiding in His presence with your spirit, you will find a greater consistency and intimacy with the Lord.
© Copyright by Walt Dowdy
In His presence you can feel His heartbeat for you. You can hear his tone is gentle, warm and straightforward. You can tell this God is your loving Father who desires to see you succeed. The Great Almighty Creator of the universe is in your living room. Your living room becomes his living room. Your heart becomes His meeting place to talk. To correct. To teach. To encourage. To love on you. To be your Dad.
“And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”
- Matthew 3:17
© Copyright by Walt Dowdy
When we are born again, eternal life enters and renews our spirit. Our spirit is made alive by the Holy Spirit’s entrance into our hearts.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. – Titus 3:4-7
This is the first and foundational experience of life in God’s presence. Jesus said he would come to his disciples. He indicated this would take place through the Holy Spirit. He said, I will send another comforter. The word used for ‘another’ means of the same. So that means, just as Christ dwelled with the disciples, conversing, teaching, and breaking bread in fellowship, so the Holy Spirit would be intimately close to us at all times. The Holy Spirit will continue with the role Jesus played in the flesh. The beauty of this is that Jesus was confined to his physical body. Only so many people could experience such intimacy with God through Christ on the earth. But through the finished work of the cross, he made it possible for all who believe to have him just as close to us as he was to the disciples as we read in the Gospels.
One day I was pondering this and I said to the Lord as I was walking out of a building to my car: “Lord, I know you are with me right now by the Holy Spirit. But it would be really cool to be walking with you in person right now.” I felt the Lord interject, “But I am walking with you right now. I am just as real right now as if I was in the flesh.” He continued speaking to me as if we literally were walking side by side back to my car. But my mind began to drift. My thoughts began to drown out his voice. Realizing what was happening, I said, “I’m sorry Lord. That wouldn’t happen if you were walking with me in the flesh.” He responded, “There were many times my disciples heard what I was saying with their ears, but did not hear with their hearts because their minds were distracted.” I realized then, that even the disciples took his physical presence for granted.
Please know that though the Lord Jesus is physically in heaven, he is also here on the earth through the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit in you, he walks and he talks to you. There are many times, being a classic ADD guy, my wife ends a paragraph of what she was saying to me with “what do you think?” I’ve learned she appreciates honesty more than my clever excuses and attempts to be cute. I look at her and say, “I have no idea what you just said to me. I am sorry, I wasn’t listening.” Walking in the Spirit and fellowshipping with Jesus is no different. You are going to miss what he is saying and what he is doing because your mind is else where.
Now note, if you are monk in a monastery and your job is to clean dishes, it may be appropriate to keep your undivided conscious attention on the Lord all day long. If you are in full time ministry, where your work is to pray, worship and intercede, this would be obvious. But for those who are lawyers, engineers, doctors, writers and many other professions that require an extensive amount of focused brain power on each task at hand, do know that the Lord is with us and is not standing behind us with a puppy dog pout because we have to work. Man was created to work. But also note, God calls us all to Sabbath rest with him. This is the set aside time that we focus. Just as I set aside time everyday to just be with my family without any real agenda, I am commanded to do the same with the Lord. Just be with him. Draw close to Him. Shut up and listen. Share honestly with Him. Trust Him. I also set a goal to block off a 24 hour period in the week where it is solely God and family time. Work is not allowed. We may have an agenda of how to spend this time but ultimately our goal is just draw near to the Lord and hear his voice and love on one another as a family. Keep it simple.
From these regular sabbath times with the Lord, you will find His presence abiding throughout the day. And upon appropriate breaks throughout the day, you will find it is an ease to just simply direct the activity of His Spirit in your spirit towards the Lord in praise and thanksgiving and worship. Able to hear His voice. Able to receive His Life at work in your spirit.
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” - Ephesians 1:18-19
© Copyright by Walt Dowdy
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Literally the power of life is in His presence. Creative life. Supernatural Life. Eternal Life. Pure Life. Son of God Life. A River of Life. The Spirit of Life. The presence of God is simply an internal fountain of life watering your insides with God. Our life becomes a garden that displays the beauty and fruit of His presence.
This life, this eternal life is nothing less than the very life of God. It is the life He has possessed for all eternity. Now available to all who believe in Jesus.
“Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Never again will anything be cursed. The Throne of God and of the Lamb is at the center. His servants will offer God service—worshiping, they’ll look on his face, their foreheads mirroring God. Never again will there be any night. No one will need lamplight or sunlight. The shining of God, the Master, is all the light anyone needs. And they will rule with him age after age after age.”
- Revelation 22 1-5 The Message
© Copyright by Walt Dowdy
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Your heart will soften.
You will be humbled.
You will feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin He wants rid from your life.
You will see the Cross of Christ as the only way into His presence.
You will know you are forgiven.
You will see spiritual truths more clearly.
You will burn inside for Christ.
You will feel love for people.
You will experience a removing of bitterness from your heart.
You will be delivered of satanic strongholds.
You will sense God is actually in the room with you.
You will be filled with the Holy Spirit.
You will be anointed with the Holy Spirit’s power.
You will find it that much more easier to operate in the Gifts of the Spirit afterwards.
You will increasingly hear God’s voice for yourself.
You will increasingly hear God’s voice for others.
You will hunger for reading God’s Word.
You will discover truths and revelations of who God is that you have never seen before.
You will praise.
You will give thanks.
You will bow in worship.
You may feel actual tangible, physical occurrences further confirming His presence.
You may feel a certain part of your body have a tingling sensation.
You may have large portions of your body become numb and difficult to move.
You may laugh.
You may cry.
You may breathe heavy as He removes heavy weights from your heart.
You may breathe in deep as you sense the air you are breathing is supernatural.
You may begin to experience a vision.
You may find yourself lulling off to a deep sleep with an overwhelming sense of peace.
You may find yourself dreaming heaven sent dreams.
You may see an angel.
You may sense an angel enter the room where you are meeting with God.
You may become overwhelmed with God’s love for those who don’t believe.
You may find yourself weeping for the lost and hurting.
You may be translated in the Spirit to another place.
You may sense the Lord Jesus Himself walk into the room where you meeting with God.
You may see the Lord Jesus Himself walk into the room where you are.
You may be changed for all eternity.
You will know it was worth it to take the time to draw near to God and enter His glorious presence. Any one of these occurrences is worth drawing near to Him today. Most importantly: He is worth it. He is waiting eagerly for your presence to enter His presence.
© Copyright by Walt Dowdy
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