Think about a time when the manifest presence of God was extremely strong in your life. Stop and remember a time when you were beyond passionate for God and His word. Can you perceive that time in your mind? Hold onto that thought for a moment.
For some of you, this very day may be the most passionate, presence filled time you have ever had with God. If that is you, awesome! We rejoice with you.
However, if that time lies somewhere in your past, perhaps when you were first born again, wouldn’t you love to have that same passion restored? Wouldn’t you love to have that same level of manifest presence in your life today?
This very subject was on my mind all weekend, as I pondered on how passionate I was for God in the very beginning of my walk with the Lord. I literally ate and slept the word of God and the presence of God. This was not something that lasted a few months for me, it lasted years, many years.
What happened? Life happened. And I allowed the things that happened in life to get my focus.
I continued to seek God. I continued to worship God. I continued to spend time with God and enjoy His presence, but the fire was not the same as it once was.
Frankly, I felt because I am in full time ministry and I seek God daily, pray daily, study daily, that I was okay. That is, until a pastor friend asked me a simple question, one that had nothing to do with this subject. Yet that simple question made me look deep within myself and find what was missing.
There is a scripture in Jeremiah 6:16 that says; Thus says the Lord, stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.
I believe this scripture applies to this subject I am speaking of today.
What were you doing different when the presence of God was stronger in your life? Where you spending more time in prayer? Where you spending more time in the word of God? Where you seeking His face more than His hand? What was different when you saw different results?
I have heard it said, ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
If you need or want more of God’s presence in your life, you may have to do some things different.
If you want of God’s power in your life, you may need to spend more time or at least more, consistent time in prayer. You may even have to look back at what you did before.
Look back at the old path, the previous way you sought God…back when He was more real to you than anything else in your life. Look back to the time when you could not stop thinking about God and His word. What were you doing different then? When you know the answer to that question, you will know what you need to do to begin to restore that relationship.
Relationship with God is the same as relationship with anyone else. You must spend time on it. You must cultivate intimacy. The more you seek Him, the more you will find Him. The more you study His word, the more you will want to study His word. It will take effort but the rewards will be well worth it.
Look for the old path…where the good way is. There is a good way and the Bible promises it will bring peace to your soul. The good way is worshipping God. The good way is seeking God. The good way is meditating on God’s word. That’s the good way.
It is my prayer for you that this year you will experience more of Gods peace, more of God’s presence and more of His promises manifest in your life. As you press into Him, may He give you the desires of your heart and fulfill all His promises to you.
May His presence be so strong in your life that multitude of lives are changed as you walk into a room. May His peace saturate your life until His peace is stronger than anything else in your life. May you become one with Him, just as Jesus prayed. And may you find Him in fullness as you seek His face.
