All Access 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Presence of God … Priscilla Shirer
What I am after is the presence of God. Once you have experienced that you are ruined for church. You will want his hand to work, to hear his voice and to be in his presence.
John 11:55-56a (NLT) ---- It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. 56 They kept looking for Jesus,
People were sharing what God had done and helping others expect God to work again. The year it talked about is because the people were looking for Jesus. They had heard about what Jesus had done. They wanted not just to talk about the past and what Jesus did or the future and what Jesus will do. But they wanted to be with Jesus.
We must realize that people are after the presence of God. They are seeking Jesus. God's presence is all that could rescue them. It Jesus alone who changes lives.
HE IS …..
When people step around us, they are gripped by something and it is God's presence. The presence of God is what people are seeking.
But the presence of God is not always guaranteed.
John 11:56 --- They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, "What do you think? He won't come for Passover, will he?"
Have we forgotten to invite Jesus? Much of the time we people are going in the opposite direction that Jesus is going.
David asked in Psalm 139 where can I go from God's presence. And we know God's presence is everywhere. But we want his manifest presence. That is where you can see His hand, hear His voice and experience His power.
God says do not assume that I am going to be there. See Deuteronomy where is says we need to seek His presence and be magnet that draws the presence of God and begs for His presence. Nothing guarantees the presence of God. We often decorate our churches with programs that we might not recognize when the presence of God leaves.
Moses said he doesn't want the Promised Land without the presence of God (see Exodus). God wants our presence. It is real. He is real!
The presence of God is freeing to those who are in bondage and held by sin and pain.
Why wasn't Jesus there for this meeting?
John 11:47-48,53 (NLT) --- Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation." … So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus' death.
Am I, are we squelching the presence of God? Are we putting ourselves in the place where the Holy Spirit is to be doing the talking? People are after the presence God and not after us. We would never say we think we are God, but at times the way we act says it.
What we need is God's presence. He is not a glorified us. He alone changes people's lives.
What kind of overflow can we expect from God when we don't spend time with God?
John 12:1-3 shares where Jesus went rather than spending time with the large crowd.
Jesus left the masses who wanted to kill him and were interested AND he went to spend time with the few. One who wanted to worship him. One who wanted to serve him. One who wanted to spend time with him.
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