Psalm 46:10 NLT
“Be still, and know that I am God! I will
be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
I’d like to take a short trip down memory lane, but I am not
going to share specifics with you. If
you have read much of what I have written in the past, you’ve heard of the
places that my mind has drifted off to.
They are the places where the presence of the Lord was sweet, refreshing
and where I was inspired.
The last week has been a time of reflection. Maybe this reflection is not what a mirror
does allow you to see yourself. It is
the reflection of a time when God made Himself real and influenced my life in
profound ways. My mind goes there. My heart and soul long for those times, even
to recreate them if that were possible.
Reality is that God wants those times with us. He wants those times with His children, you
and me.
Psalm 42:1 NLT
As the deer
longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
Do we long for time with the Father? Those times when God speaks into your soul
and infuses His life and His love into your life. I believe that is when we gain real passion
for the presence of God.
Without time in the presence of God we will miss the vision
that God wants to give to us. As a
preacher it is easy to prepare to preach, but it is not so easy to simply spend
time along with God and hear from Him for me and only me. He wants those times. My preaching and teaching will flow from my
private time with God. It will flow from
my worship and my desire for God.
The verse above says that I will long for or want God as much
as an animal wants the next drink of what.
What we enjoy and love we will want more of God. Genuine, sweet and revealing time with God
cannot be traded for anything else.
Several of the moments that come to my mind when my time with
God was sweet have to do with water. A
pond in rural south Georgia. A stream in
the hills of Honduras. A riverside in
Arkansas. Beaches in Honduras, South
Carolina and Florida. Even a serene
place on the Colorado River. In those
places I have fond memories of God speaking into my life. I long for more of those.
By getting quiet and focusing on God, I will hear His voice
and be transformed by His presence. In
those moments God moved in my life. In
the moments I give Him God continues to transform my life. I need those moments and so do you. I long for those moments.
Moments and memories aren’t enough. Nothing takes the place of spending time in
the presence of God. That is where we
will enjoy our God who gives us times of refreshment and strength, we will gain
wisdom and passion, and our vision will be enriched and enhanced by God. My prayer is that my moments with God will
infuse such vision into my life that I become less and God becomes more.
Acts 3:20 NLT
Then times of
refreshment will come from the presence
of the Lord, and he will again
send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.
Enjoy the presence of God.
Those moments and memories ought to line our lives with the sweet
presence of God.
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