Welcoming God’s Presence in Your Life

This morning I was reading the Bible and noticed that at least 16 times in Exodus 39 and 40 we are told that Moses and the people he led built the tools for worship exactly “as the Lord had commanded Moses”. 

Then in 40:33 we read that “Moses finished the work” when he set up the tabernacle exactly as the Lord had instructed.

Then, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (vs. 34).

As Christian leaders our constant prayer should be that our lives and miniseries are marked by the Presence of God. I can think of nothing so sad as a pastor or church doing things on their own strength and wisdom, but not functioning with the presence of God.

I think that often we are praying for the manifestation of His presence, and at the same time we are ignoring specific directives God has given us. But I’m convinced that the blessing of God’s presence and glory are most often attached to precise obedience.

This doesn’t mean that every time we obey God we are going to revel in a tangible sense of His glory; most of us know seasons—sometimes years—of obedience that was attended by silence. These are the times we learn to trust God.

And it doesn’t mean that just because God’s presence seems to show up somewhere that the people where He shows up are doing everything right; we might be calling something God that isn’t Him, or He may very well be “showing up” preparing to unleash his power in judgement.

I’m not always looking for the cloud, or the pillar of fire, or the weight of His glory that does’t let me enter the tent. But I am constantly agreeing with Moses in prayer: “If your presence does not go youtube live sex with us, do not send us up from here” (Ex 33:18).

So it’s not that specific obedience always gets us what we are hoping for or expecting, but without obedience even though I can build a system and structure for worship, it will just be another nice tent. I want a life, and a ministry marked by God’s presence, not my nice structure or system.

So then I went on to read Psalm 15. “Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent; who may live on Your holy mountain?”

And the Psalm goes on to tell us what kind of person is invited into that privilege: Someone who doesn’t speak slanderously, who is honest, who keeps his word, who walks uprightly, who cares for the poor….

What this isn’t giving us is a list of requirements we have to follow if we want to be saved. On this end of the revelation of the Good News, we realize that Jesus paid the price for that. But I am keenly aware that having the deposit of the Spirit to be redeemed after I die is different than living a circumscribed life that strives towards specific obedience to God’s call on me right now.

The Israelites had been saved and delivered from bondage and “baptized” through the red sea, but they still needed to be led by the presence of God into the promised land. In the same way, I’ve been saved and delivered from slavery, but I want to discover His promise for my life as well as a sense of His presence in my life. I think the best way for that to happen is to throw myself into an obedient response to grow into the person He has given me strength to be and has revealed in Scripture that He calls me to be.