Total victory in God’s presence. Part 1

The Lord God of heaven is mighty. In his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. You cannot experience God’s presence and be the same again. John the beloved beheld the glory of God and his life was not the same again.

Revelation 1:17 - "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last".

When John saw the Lord, everything carnal in him died. His life changed, his heart was transformed and the Holy Spirit was in total control of his life. It was after this experience that he wrote the epistle and the gospel of John.

It is a good thing to desire the Lord and be conscious of his presence. In his presence is the knowledge of him and everything that we need for life and godliness. We become partakers of his divine nature the more we encounter him and this makes us godlier.

2 Peter 1: 2-4 - "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust".

The power to live a godly life is obtained in God’s presence. The bible talked about a certain man who had an infirmity for 38 years. Jesus healed him but then he did not recognise Jesus and he did not make any effort to find out about the person that showed him this great compassion until the Jews started questioning him.

John 5:8-14 - Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.” Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Jesus told this man to go and sin no more. The power to sin no more however lies in the presence of God. Jesus had to warn this man seriously about going back into sin because he failed to seek Jesus who has the power to make him live a godly life.

I heard that about 90% of those who are healed in healing services ultimately lose their healing. This I believe happened because they did not continue to seek God. When the enemy came back they did not have the power to resist him. Blind Bartimaeus followed Jesus after he was healed (Mark 10:52). The Gadarene demoniac’s heart reached out to Jesus after he was healed (Mark 5:18). Certain women followed Jesus after they were delivered of demons (Luke 8: 1-3). In the presence of God there is total freedom from sin, sickness, slavery, poverty, and religion.

Enjoy the blessings of God

Levels of relationship with God

God is the creator of heaven and earth. He created man in the beginning to have an intimate relationship with him. This relationship was going well between God and Adam in the Garden of Eden, until sin was found in Adam. Even though physical relationship with God continued, Adam could not relate with God again with his sprit and so found it difficult to comprehend the things of God. God however, continued to seek relationship with man. If you study the bible, you will discover four different kinds of relationships that people can have with God.

1. The first level is when man relates with God as Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. Man perceives himself only as one of God’s creatures - his workmanship. He is aware of God’s sovereignty, might and power. Man believes that he can only worship God from a distance and he is only familiar with the thunderous voice of God saying “thou shall not do this or that.” This kind of relationship is usually with great fear.

2. The second level is when man relates with God as his Lord and master. You obey him because of his royal position and you perceive him as the head. In this kind of relationship, there is usually conversation between man and God. Most of the prophets in the bible had this kind of relationship with God. You don’t really know much about the master’s business; your duty is to follow instructions. In this kind of relationship you have the perception that God loves you according to your performance.

Exodus 6: 2-3 - And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them.

God appeared to Moses as Lord, but to Abraham he appeared to as God. You will however discover in Genesis 18 that when Abraham continued to grow deeper in his relationship with God, he eventually knew God as his Lord.

3. The third level is man relating to God as his father. In this kind of relationship all God has is yours and all you have is his. This father and son relationship has been made possible by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the first born son of God and he has brought us into his inheritance as adopted children of God when we believe in the gospel. In this type of relationship, there is no fear and so we have boldness to come before God. Children of God are being led by the Spirit of God. The father loves you not because of your performance but because you are his son.

Romans 8:14-16 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

Some children are only after what they can get from their dad and they don’t have their dad’s interest at heart. The story of the prodigal son in the book of Luke 15:11- 32 is a good example. I believe that for many years, the prodigal son had a servant mentality. He then woke up one morning and realised that he was a son. The first thing that came to his mind was the entitlement to him as a son. He did not take time to process the father and son relationship and what is expected of him as a son. The only thing that attracted him was what he could gain from that relationship. The elder brother to the prodigal son also had a servant mentality, because unconsciously he was rendering service to his father to gain his father’s love and favour. He was not aware that all the father had was his and all he needed to do was ask. Luke 15:29-31.

4. The forth level is man relating to God as his friend. I believe that this is the deepest kind of relationship you can think of. God revealed himself to Moses as Lord but Moses continued seek God until they became friends.

Exodus 33:11a - “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

Abraham also eventually become a friend of God because he continued to seek God and their relationship became deeper.

Isaiah 41:8 - “But you Israel are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.”

John 15:14-15 - "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you".

The relationship between David and Jonathan was stronger than the relationship Jonathan had with Saul who was his father. Friends of God are often in the secret place with Him. That is the place where God shares His heart with them. We need to go deeper in our relationship with God. The God of heaven and earth wants to be our Lord in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died to reconcile us back to God so that we can become adopted children of God. Hence, as children of God we receive the Holy Spirit who is our comforter, helper and teacher. He invites us to walk with him (Romans 8:4-5) because he wants to be our friend. The Holy Spirit has some many things in stock that he reveals to his friends. Are you ready to be one of them? Begin today by seeking him in the secret place.

Enjoy the blessings of God

Hallowed be Thy Name

Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray and this model of prayer is found in the book of Mathew chapter 6.

Matthew 6:9-19: “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The will of God for the earth, is to be as it is in heaven. He wants the reign of his kingdom in heaven to extend to the earth. This happens when man cooperates with God by coming into agreement with him. When man begins to hallow the name of God and lift him high, very soon, God shows up and reveals his glory. His glory is revealed in so many ways especially in miracles, signs, wonders, peace, joy, pleasures and blessings. I believe that the manifestation of the kingdom of God depends on the extent of how much his name is hallowed. How much is God’s name hallowed by our thoughts, words and actions? How much regard or respect do we give to him? Do we esteem him higher than everything else?

The level of our reverence to God depends on how much we know him. If we don’t know that something is of value, we tend to pay less attention to it. Things that we know are of value are usually greatly treasured by us. Look at the examples given in the bible.

Matthew 13:44: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

This man knew that what he found in that field was a treasure and that is why he bought the field. Many people had the opportunity to buy the field, but they did not because they failed to identify the treasure in it.

Matthew 13:45-46: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

This man wouldn’t have found anything had he not searched. He searched, he found and then was able to identify what he found as very precious and he gave all he had to have it.

We would know how precious and wonderful God is when we begin to seek him. The bible says that when we seek God, we will find him. He wants us to come to him with all confidence and without fear. That is why he wants us to be reconciled back to him through Jesus Christ his son, who was crucified on the cross for our sins. Jesus Christ has reconciled us back to God, who has adopted us as his children. We can only know much about God when we identify him as our father. In this kind of relationship, there is no fear and we are being led by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:14-16: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

In this relationship, all God has is yours because he is your father and all you have is his. You honour him as God; respect him as your master but also you are free to approach his presence because you are his son. You have the confidence because his spirit in you is bearing witness that you are his child. “Our Father in heaven hallowed be thy name.” As you hallow his name, expect his kingdom to manifest in that situation or that circumstance in your life. In God’s kingdom, impossibilities become possibilities, disabilities turn into abilities, tests are converted to testimonies and obstacles turn out to be stepping stones unto the next level in your life that will bring great honour and glory to God.

Enjoy the blessings of God