Battle for Presence

Out of the first 29 verses in Genesis, 25 times some activity of God is mentioned.  It is truly God who is on center stage in the Creation of the Heavens, the earth, the plants, the animals, and all of mankind.  It is His Presence that is truly the focal point of Genesis, the creation of mankind is discussed in detail but it is God's activity that is the purpose behind the book.  Like the mighty headwaters where many great rivers flow from, the Presence of God is the source for all life and where creatures get their purpose, design, and name.  When Moses asks who do I say sent me when going to Pharaoh, God says "I AM who I AM".  There is the reality that God is and always will exist but we as finite human beings draw from His life in the present.  I cannot live in the past, the future, but only in this present moment.  It is the reality that God is not only present in this moment but that I am in right relationship with Him through Christ.  When we feel guilty we are looking at a past decision that we deem as a mistake, there is no awareness of God in this process.  Fear also exists because I envision a reality where the God of love is not present, yet orphan thinking and living is at the root of so many of our problems.  When we begin a line of thinking apart from Christ, where are in the land of orphans which is where the Enemy operates since he is the first orphan.  Jesus makes the bold proclamation that truly changes our reality, ""I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:18).  Why is this a bold statement, because for 400 years human beings have had limited interaction with God and even throughout Biblical history God's Presence was not always available.  Human beings have perfected our systems of orphan living, relating, and existing.  To say to an orphan planet, that you will no longer have to live as orphans, is like saying in the middle of the Sahara desert that you have found water.  When Jesus says that He will come to us, He never talks about leaving.  He is coming to make His permanent home in a people, that we may be continual carriers of His Presence.  God defines Himself as life, so separation from life means death.  To be in an orphan is to be in the state of death, whereas to be united to Him means being united to the very source of life.  So a big part of orphan thinking is picturing scenes/memories from the past where God is absent and being stuck in the pain.  Also, picturing a future where God is not present or expected to come through on His promises is also orphan thinking/living.  It is so easy to fearful of the future when in our imagination we see future events without the Presence of our loving Father, then this picture can go from a daydream to a vain imagination.  Is there any time where He removes His Presence?  In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon the man of God or prophet for a certain season, an example is the anointing was removed from Saul when he rebelled against God and then the anointing was placed on David.  In Ephesians 4:20 we are told, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."  Since we are sealed and in other Scripture joined to Him and one in Spirit with Him, then He will never leave us.  So there is a fundamental shift from the Old Covenant where God would come on people for a season and the reality of the New Covenant where we are a permanent dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (we are the temple of the Holy Spirit).  So all thinking and living that is not consistent with this truth is lie-based orphan thinking, I am never alone (orphan) and His resources are always available to me.  Thus the Presence of God is central in every believer's life who wants to walk as a son or daughter but it is our choice to come into alignment with the truth.  Worship is one of the ways we cultivate His Presence, not that we are creating His Presence but that we are connecting with the reality and truth that He is present aligning ourselves with this reality that previously didn't exist (before our being "in Christ").  In Hebrews 5 we are told to exercise/train our senses to discern good and evil, which means to having our senses be aware of what God is in and what He is not a part of.  Everything that is not from God ultimately becomes corrupt and evil.

In His Presence,
Bret