It was early in the morning. I was praying and worshipping God. I kept hearing Him speak something to my heart. Almost a whisper. More than a whisper, it sounded like a yearning. I could hear the yearning in His tone of voice.
He whispered, “the abiding presence of God.”
I began to pray that God would teach me about His abiding presence. It was a sweet time in the presence of the Lord.
As the day progressed, I continued to hear that powerful phrase, the abiding presence of God.
I knew this is what God was wanting from His people. THIS is His desire.
To abide means to dwell, to remain, to continue, a fixed state and a residence.
I continued to dig into the meaning of abide by searching synonyms of the word, abide. Let me share some of them with you; enduring, lasting, persisting, long-lasting, lifelong, continuing, remaining, surviving, standing, durable, everlasting, perpetual, eternal, unending, constant, permanent, unchanging, steadfast, immutable.
This is what God wants from us. He does not want visitors. He wants us to abide in Him and He abide in us. It is a place of abiding, not a visit. It is a place we choose to dwell, to make our home.
We all have people we visit once a week or so. But we do not live with them. We do not abide with them. We have not made our home with them. Abiding is not visiting.
Many of God’s people visit Him once a week. They are happy to be in His presence for a couple hours. They will sing and shout and dance at the joy of being in His presence. But do they abide in Him when they leave the doors of the church? Does His presence go with them? Will His abiding presence be found in their home?
These are the questions I have had in my heart today.
We need only study the synonyms of abiding to find God is seeking a steadfast, unchanging, perpetual, remaining people who desire to be in His manifested presence as much as He longs to be in theirs. Will we be one of those?
John 15:5 says, I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 17:22-23 says, And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
This is God’s desire, not that we visit Him weekly, but that we abide in Him. That we are as much one with God, as God is one with Jesus. Wow! That is an awesome invitation!
I love the part that says that they may be made perfect in one. The word, perfect, means complete. It means wanting nothing necessary to completeness. It is only when we abide in God that we are complete. We are made perfect IN Him and Him in us.
God wants us complete, lacking nothing. He knows the only way we can have completeness is in Him. The only way is to abide in Him. And He longs to abide with us, all the time, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
I don’t know about you. But it is not enough, not near enough, for me to spend a couple hours a week with God. I need Him and His presence every single day of my life. I desire His manifested presence daily.
So how do I do that? I spend time in His presence. I pray and seek His face. I don’t just take my needs to Him and walk away. I thank Him for His presence in my life. I thank Him for Jesus and for Holy Spirit. I tell Him how much I love and need Him. I take the time to talk to Him. And I wait to hear what He has to say to me. I sit quietly before the Lord until I feel I am released. I don’t rush our time together – it is precious to me.
In the challenging times we find ourselves in this is more important than ever. Abiding in God is where we find safety, peace, and protection. This is vital for us and our families.
Today, I hear the heart of God saying, ‘My abiding presence, spend time in My abiding presence. Will you come?” In Him you will find peace beyond measure. In His presence you will find fullness of joy. There is strength in His presence. There is healing and restoration in His presence. Come into His presence today and make Him your abiding place. Create an abiding place for Him in your heart, and in your home.
