Father has recently been talking
to me about what it means to Host his Presence. It started by Father saying
“When you live in My presence you live a life of power”.
Previously I have used the following
phrase ‘Practice His Presence’. Father asked me ‘How can you practice My
presence? Father was saying it is not possible to ‘Practice His Presence’,
either His presence is with us or it is not.
Ultimately He wants us to spend more time acknowledging His Presence and
living in His Presence.
Father began to show me that when
we spend time in His presence things have to change. When something of His eternal Kingdom invades
or even just touches something of our earthly realm there is a shift that takes
places and the eternal pushes out the earthly. I have heard people ask why do
we need miracles why can’t we just have Him, isn’t He enough? Whilst this may be true He is enough, I
believe Father showed me that it is impossible to have Him without the miracles.
How often do we have the
perception that if we just do this or do that then maybe God will show up? I
believe this is a religious spirit. Father showed me that the idea of thinking we are not good enough;
the thought we have to pray more, read the bible more, or have more quiet times
will somehow make us be better Christians are lies from the devil. Whilst these
are all good disciplines, actually all Father is looking for is open hearts, hearts
that are open to His Presence.
There are times when His presence
is more manifest than others. I believe
the more we acknowledge His Presence, the more we spend time in His Presence
the more we will see and experience His manifest presence.
Maybe you have heard stories of
His presence and thought “I want more of that”. Maybe you have seen the effect
of His presence in people’s lives and thought “I want what they have”. Maybe you have even dipped your toe in to try
and experience this for yourself, but as you dip in, something comes against
you, something knocks you a bit, it causes you to be frightened or not so sure,
the initial excitement fades as the fear or uncertainty kicks in.
I encourage you to spend time in His
Presence, I encourage you to seek Him, and spend time with Him, just allow Him
to do what He wants and to reveal what He wants. Why not just come to Him with no agenda and just
be with Him?
The Psalmist encourages us to “Be
still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Ps 37:7). Father also spoke to
me about what it means to be still. He began to show me that to be still in the
Lord is to rest in Him. He showed me that resting in Him is like when He rested
from His work in Genesis 2. The idea of resting here is to be satisfied with
the work that He had accomplished. He showed
me that to be still or to rest is to be satisfied in His presence.
These are a few of the things
Father has been revealing to me in our initial season here in Malawi and I look
forward to Father teaching me more about Hosting His Presence and subsequently
see His Kingdom come here in Malawi.
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14)
This is really helpful, thanks Mark.
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