This post in particular means a lot to me. It's a written version of an old message. Hopefully it speaks to you as much as it spoke to me.
Exodus 33:11
And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun,
a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
In the above verse, we read about Joshua being a young man, but even as a young man he had decided where he wanted to be. Joshua desired to be in God's presence. It says he "departed not" out of the tabernacle, he longed so much to be in the presence of God that he would just linger in the tabernacle. He would throw out his schedule and busy-ness of life and just saturate in God's house. In the totem pole of priorities in his life, being with God was at the top.
It was this very same Joshua who stood before the children of Israel in Joshua 24:15 and proclaimed “Choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua did not wait for someone else to step up. Joshua knew where he wanted to be. He knew what had priority in his life, and no matter what anyone else around him decided to do, he had to have an encounter with God. I can't speak for everyone, but I hope I am: I desire to be in the presence of God. There is nothing else that can compare.
Joshua desired to be with God, but entering into His presence and being with God doesn't just happen by accident. In order to be with God, we are going to have to seek Him.
1 Chronicles 16:10-11
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that
seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Psalms 119:2
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
In the previous few verses, we are instructed--in a way we are commanded--to seek God. It's not always easy to seek after God. It takes time, energy, focus, intentional effort. We must lay our ADHD brains on the altar and stop the noise of life and bring our attention into laser focus on God. Turn the phone off, set it aside, and set a time every day to seek after God. I recommend early morning, before life begins to pour itself into us. Before we begin to fill ourselves with life and us-things, before we check the phone and fill ourselves with news and social media… the first thing we should do when we wake up is fill ourselves with God and seek after His will. God, empty me of everything and fill me with You. Empty this earthen vessel of me and my dreams and my thoughts, and pour Your Spirit into me.
Psalms 14:2
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
In the above verse, we again find that we should be seeking God, but we ALSO find that GOD is SEEKING THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
I can just picture in my mind, God high up in heaven looking down on earth with a bird's-eye view, and He is scanning the earth, He is searching and looking for people who desire to be in His presence. He is actively seeking for those who are seeking Him!
If you need God's attention, there is no better way to get a hold of Him and get on His radar than seeking after Him. Since He is seeking for those who seek Him, the moment you start seeking after Him, you'll ping and pop up on His radar and He will come meet you.
There are certain principles taught in the Bible that we can follow to ensure we enter into the presence of God. Let's examine a few of these.
1 Corinthians 1:29
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
One thing we must understand about God is that He is a jealous God and He will not allow other gods before Him. In the same way, we can elevate ourselves in a manner that receives glory, glory that belongs to God. Our pride and our egos desire to be lifted up, and it is a constant battle of taking that spirit of self into captivity and laying that on the altar before God.
To use a musician example, we can sing and play in the house of God, which is a great service, but if we are making it about ourselves, if our flesh is being glorified, if we are receiving the glory instead of God… guess what, God says no flesh will glory in His presence. So if our flesh is receiving glory, guess where the presence of God ISN'T?
But O, if I humble myself before God, if I lay down my pride and my flesh, I create an environment where God alone can receive the glory and He will meet me there. God says He resists the proud, I don't want God to resist me. I want God to flow and respond and hear me when I cry out. I must decrease, so that You may increase. Teach me to be humble, God.
There is a time to stand and praise, to run and shout, but there is also a time to worship and bow down, to kneel and lay flat on our faces to humble ourselves and seek the face of God, to hide our face in the presence of God.
Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. -Jesus talking
In the same way that we consistently need the alone, 1-on-1, prayer-closet encounters with God, we also consistently need to bind together with our brethren in one mind and gather and worship and learn about and seek Him. This is why we come to church: because if we have two or three of us there, God will be there with us, God's presence will show up and move. So I will gather together with my church family, because I will be in the presence of God.
Psalms 22:3
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
The phrase "God inhabits the praises of His people" comes from this verse. If you've ever wondered why we praise and worship so much, it is precisely because of this verse. Because if I praise and worship my God, it says God will come and inhabit my praise. And I must be in the presence of God, so I will praise Him. I will lift Him up and magnify Him and create a cloud of praise for God to come and inhabit. Hear my praise, O God. Come meet me where I am.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
What does it mean to seek Him? The word seek in the above verse means many things: it means to search out, to investigate, to worship and carefully enquire of, it means to demand, it means to crave. This "seeking," it is about a craving.
This is not an ordinary type of seeking that we are talking about: this is a deep-rooted desire to be with God. This is an irresistible craving to be in God’s presence, this is an all-or-nothing type of seeking. God is looking for hunger. It is a hunger so strong we can hardly sit still, we feel uncomfortable if we can't feel His presence. It's about putting your plans on hold and saying "I'm sorry, you'll have to give me a few minutes. I need to find a quite place to pray. I need to be in His presence for just a bit." How hungry are we?
Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
This verse teaches us that our search and seeking after Him will not be in vain. It is so beautiful. If we seek Him, we will find Him. He will not leave us hanging. Our search cannot be half-hearted, however; we read that only when we search for Him with ALL OUR HEART, will we then find Him. O God, with all my heart, I will search for you. With all my mind, I will seek after you. With everything that I have, I will reach out to you.
I will seek Him, I will search for Him, and it is a promise that I will find Him. It is a promise from God that He will show up. I must be with God. I must know God, and actually know Him. I must have God know me. I must be in His presence so often that God knows exactly who I am when He hears my voice.
In much the same way we physically need to eat and drink, we need to eat and drink for our spiritual selves. We cannot live physically without sustenance, how can we expect to live if we spiritually starve ourselves? Let's say you don't eat for a week, at the end of the week you are going to be very weak. And let's say some rough tough guys decide they want to fight you, you aren't going to be fighting very strongly because you have not been intaking the energy to fight. Same with spiritual battles, we cannot starve ourselves spiritually and expect to win spiritual battles.
It’s about a hunger, a driving force. It’s about a burning desire. An unquenchable fire in our hearts. More than anything in this life, more than the next heartbeat, more than the next breath I breathe. The spirit and presence of God is so precious, it is the greatest thing to experience. No matter what happens, no matter who I am or where I go, no matter where life takes me, NO MATTER WHAT... I MUST BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD, I must find myself in the presence of God.
There must come a point in our lives where we become so desperate for a move and touch of God that nothing else will do, nothing else can take His place. There needs to be a desperation deep down in our souls and spirits. Our hearts should cry out, “I NEED YOU GOD!”, “I NEED YOUR PRESENCE!”
I will not get up from this altar of worship, I will not get up from my knees in prayer until You release me. How would our lives and prayer lives change if we would say that? I will stay right here and search for YOU... and I will not stop until I find You.
