Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Presence of the Lord


As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God

-          Psalm 42:1

There are many things we need --- simple things, good things, but blessed is the man who realizes what he needs most is the presence of God. To be sure, we need the basic necessities of life: food, air, water, shelter, but before all those we need the presence of God. As believers, we need to cultivate our faith through prayer, reading the Word, and Christian fellowship, but before all these we need the presence of the Lord. All of these are empty if we are not encountering the magnificence and power of Christ. If we possess all the trappings of life; if we possess all the trappings of faith but are not experiencing the presence of Christ, we are merely religious puppets --- moving, but lifeless and wooden. It is only in encountering the Holy One that gives us life; that sparks lasting change in our behavior. Anything less is merely window dressing and will not persevere over time. Let us beg the Lord to show Himself to us. Let us pray that He would convince us that He is all we need. Let us go out into our day yearning to encounter Christ --- to revel in the presence of the Lord.

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