I was having lunch with a friend and she asked me, “How do you learn to experience God’s presence?” That’s a BIG question, and I’m not going to say I have the ultimate answer, but I definitely have an answer based upon the application of God’s Word and my own experience with God. If you’ve read my testimony, you know that for the first 20 years of my Christian life—I didn’t have ANY answer.
Why not?
Because you can SHARE what you don’t KNOW.
If I accepted an invitation to work in the White House and had only met the President once, and then quit—could I ever say I KNEW the President? I’d be lying if I did. But that’s what I did with God. I met Him when I accepted His gift of salvation and then shortly thereafter I ran away because I was afraid to get to know Him. Of course, I kept up the church-going charade, but my heart was far from Him. I was afraid that if I surrendered my everyday life in loving obedience—He would make me live like an unpopular weirdo, or He’d make me live a miserable life devoid of earthly pleasures. So, I pursued life without Him. Finally, when I had chased down every earthly pleasures and accomplishment—guess what?
They NEVER satisfied me.
But there was God. Waiting for His prodigal daughter to return. When I returned to God, I asked Him to show me HOW to know Him. Because knowing God is a daily journey—I still ask. He longs for us more than we long to hold our children and—He loves those prayers. He has glorious plans for us!
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalms 16:11
And wow, wow, wow! How sweet it is to walk in the FULLNESS of God’s steady joy! It’s quite amazing that God allows us to experience HIS pleasure—even while we’re walking this sin torn earth.
And sure, it requires discipline to walk WITH God—but it’s much better than walking WITHOUT Him!!!
To experience the “fullness” of God’s presence, we MUST grow. When our spirit and soul are born again, we are spiritual babies. We must learn God’s language so we can communicate with Him. This is more than just an intellectual pursuit of Biblical knowledge. While His Word teaches us Who He is and how to get close to Him, we—MUST put it into practice. We must learn to talk with Him–just like a baby learns the language of her parents. Similarly, like a child learning to live in the safety of her parent’s rules, we must learn to live in loving obedience so we don’t make our life more painful than necessary.
When we make God our center, we find we are in HIS glorious presence!
“I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.”
Psalm 16:8-9
When we dive into the experience of God’s enduring love, we realize we’ve never known anyone like Him. He offers the perfect relationship. He makes all other relationships better because His presence gives us supernatural—joy, peace, strength, wisdom, and love. The more we experience His presence, the more we want to love Him more than anything or anyone else. The more we experience Him the less we ever want to leave His side. When we pursue knowing Him as we would the greatest love of our life, we enter into a love relationship that is like none other!
In God’s presence, we experience the fullness and satisfaction of enduring love which is greater than we ever imagined possible!
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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One Response
God’s love is everything we could ask for and more.