In His Presence

Sometimes I forget that God exists. I’m not ignoring Him or choosing to move away from Him, He just isn’t in my mind at all.

But, I work on that not being the norm for me.

A monk named Brother Lawrence once wrote a book called, “Practicing the Presence of God.” In it he chronicled his journey of a new spiritual discipline. He wanted to learn to live in the presence of God moment by moment.

If he was in the garden, he reminded himself that God was there too. Whether he was at prayer, taking meals, or when he was with others he worked on recognizing the presence of God always with him. I do the same but I’m not always successful at it.

When I do live in His presence however, it is pure joy. He is joy.

Joy is God’s continuous experience. He has joy in Himself. He needs nothing and no one to bring Him joy. It is His natural state.

Jesus went to the cross “for the joy set before Him” How does the cross and joy ever fit together? His death on the cross would bring us back to His joy. It took away the separation of us from Him and from His presence.

Living daily in His presence is living in absolute joy. It is our joy to live with joy Himself. And it changes us from the inside out. You cannot be in the presence of God and stay the same.

A few years back I was asked to do a church wide teaching on living in God’s presence. For 21 days I sent an email to everyone who signed up. Each day’s email was designed to bring us into His presence and teach us to live there. Wow, did it make an impact.

On Sunday people were coming to me and telling me their stories. “I can’t be a part of some conversations anymore at work because I realize how dishonoring they are to the God present with me.” “I can’t talk to my employees the way that I have in front of God.” “How I am with my spouse is completely different because Jesus is right there.” And, so many other comments. God was changing each as they resided in His presence.

One thing that was surprising to me was that people told me that they didn’t realize how far away they were from living as Christ would in their shoes. They didn’t realize that some of their behaviors and their speech were actually ungodly. They were horrified but also grateful to discover the discrepancy and be enabled to change it.

In learning to live in HIs presence we will transform our lives. That is God’s goal for us too. “You are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.” Our destiny is to think like, speak like, act like and love like Christ. It is easier when He is there to help.

If you decided to practice His presence continuously for the next 21 days, what do you think would happen? I know joy would be one thing you would gain. Are you up for living in joy?

You can support my writing, receive exclusive, in-depth content and even Free printed versions of this book when published, sent right to your door by becoming a member. Want to know more? Click here.