Category Archives: Christian Walk with God

In previous posts we looked at

the effects of sin on experiencing the presence of God

and the importance of God’s presence in a ministry.

So, what are indications of God’s presence? What are the blessings of God’s presence?

Acrostic with Indicators of the Presence of God in Our Lives

The following qualities give evidence of God’s Presence in our lives. Walking in the light of His presence truly is a blessed way to live!

Peace (Rom. 15:33; Phil. 4:9)

When you know His presence, you can have an inward calm despite chaos around you because He is the God of peace.

Rest, Refreshment (Matt. 11:28; Acts 3:19)

When you acknowledge God’s presence, you can “cease striving” because He is God (Ps. 46:10, NASB).

Encouragement (Ps. 16:11; 21:6)

When you are aware of God’s presence, you can’t help but be full of joy and gladness because with Him come eternal blessings.

Shelter (Ps. 16:8-11; 31:20)

When you acknowledge His presence, you can feel secure because when you are with the all-powerful One you know you are protected.

Enlightenment (Ps. 89:15; 90:8)

When you get in touch with His presence, you can know which way to go as He lights your path.

Nearness  (Ps. 145:18; James 4:8)

When you bask in His presence, you can feel a sense of warmth and comfort because you know He accepts you and you belong to Him.

Contentment (Heb. 13:5)

When you experience His presence, you can be satisfied because you know you have all you need.

Endurance (Ps. 46:1; Isa. 41:10)

When you spend time in His presence, you can feel renewed as you find His strength and help to keep going, knowing you are upheld by Him.

What a difference it makes in our individual lives and in a church or ministry characterized by these qualities.  Likewise, what a difference it makes when they are absent.

When we read through Scripture, we find a God who wants to be in a relationship with people. Their sin, however, kept blocking fellowship with Him since a Holy God does not abide in the presence of sin. Repeatedly, however, God provided a way for people to be restored and experience His presence anew in their lives.

How God Made It Possible to Experience His Presence Despite Their Sin

In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were able to freely walk with and in the presence of the Almighty God who had just created the heavens and earth  — until they sinned.  With innocence lost, they now realized they were naked … physically and spiritually.  They knew they were no longer acceptable to be in the presence of a holy God so they sewed some leaves together to cover themselves and hid from God.  (Gen. 3)

God’s Solution:  confronted their sin; condemned their sin; covered them with animal skin which required the shedding of blood

Despite man’s sinfulness, God still called a people to Himself (Gen. 12-50).  While in Egypt the people grew in number as He had promised which became a threat to the Egyptian king who made them slaves.  “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob” (Ex. 2:24) and He delivered them out of Egypt guiding the way with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  Despite many visual demonstrations that God was with them, they continued to rebel, blaming their leaders, blaming God Himself, and making their own god of gold.

God’s solution:  judgment of their sin; put them under the jurisdiction of the ten commandments and the sacrificial law in which animals would have to be sacrificed for the atonement of their sin  (Exodus, Leviticus); journeyed with them in the tabernacle which had to be made to His specification and in which was a Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, where once a year the high priest would enter with “blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance” (Heb. 9:1-7)

God still wanted to reign in their lives even though they desired to be like the people around them and have an earthly king.  He nonetheless sought to make His presence known among them, allowing them to build a permanent dwelling for Him among them, the Temple, in which He would dwell, which also contained the Most Holy Place into which a high priest could enter once a year as Moses had commanded.  Yet, the people would still follow after other nations and their gods.

God’s Solution:  exile for His people and 400 years of silence from God due to their sin and then the entrance of Jesus into this world to die once and for all for the sin that has separated people from the presence of a holy God.

Today we are no longer under the law.  We do not need to offer animal sacrifices to make us right with God.  Because of Jesus, our high priest, the veil is torn in two, and we can now “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb. 4:14-16).

Imagine God with us (Immanuel) in the person of Jesus, dying on a cross and rising again so our sin could be forgiven.  “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who would receive him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:10-12).  This Jesus had to return to heaven, to no longer be with His disciples.

God’s solution:  the Holy Spirit to not only be with us but in us (Jn. 14:17)

Despite God’s repeated attempts to make a way for people, sin kept getting in the way of them enjoying and knowing the power of His presence in their lives.  Today, we have the Holy Spirit within us so we can experience the presence of God unlike those who have gone before us.  Will we “live by the Spirit” so we do not “gratify the desires of the sinful nature?” (Gal. 5:16)