The presence of the lord
By Pastor Denis Kalungi
Kireka Christian Fellowship Prayer Altar.
At first God had chosen the children of Israel and those who could cross to the holy of Holy where very few, see it herein Hebrews 9:1-5. Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lamp-stand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place.
Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered Ark of the Covenant? This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
But this is the good message I have got for you ever since the veil was removed from heavy curtain in the Temple at Jerusalem was torn when Jesus died. Matthew 27:51. Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. We all can approach the Holy of the Holy
See herein Ephesian 2:19. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, see herein, 1 Corinthians 3:16. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
There is nothing as magnificent or glorious as a child of God carrying the presence of God with them wherever they go. The secret of success, victory and unusual exploits that the anointed servants of God achieve in life, is in the fact that God’s presence is always with them.
When every dream gets shattered, find a shelter in the presence of God. For His presence changes impossibilities into possibilities. “One moment in the presence of God can change many things.” “Time spent in the presence of God is fulfilling.” “The presence of God in our lives provides peace, strength and hope.” “Power, privilege and prosperity comes from God
It’s very paramount to prepare ourselves as holy temples for the Lord, see it herein, “Then have they make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” Exodus 25:8-9.
Herein God instructed Moses, to tell the people of Israel to build for him a tabernacle such that he can dwell among them. See what God did in his supremacy, he shrunk in his size such that he can fit in the ark of the covenant to walk with the children of Israel because Israel was a chosen race Exodus 25: 8-9
This is what God meant in our lives:
When we walk with God, it may not make things easy but it makes them possible. Walking with him gives us assurance of his presence and power in our lives. Our God is powerful and with him all things are possible. We can endure trials and heartache. Because of Christ’s resurrection power in us, we can overcome Mathew 19:26
God made with them the covenant and he never lies see herein. “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people” – Leviticus 26:12
What happens if God walks besides you? He is going through every situation with you. He loves and cares for you and will always stand by your side. Walking with Him will give you the comfort of knowing that He is always there for you. He is always with you when you need someone to lean on and a shoulder to cry on; He is always there with open arms.
The psalmist understood God see what he said “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23: 4
I am a living testimony, when God called me this what he told me. But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Denis Kalungi he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west {Isaiah 43:1-5}. And surely I have passed through fire and deeper water but here I am.
When we dwell with him, No matter what you are going through, God will help you. You can always cry out to him for help. When you are frustrated and angry, cry out to him. When you are upset and feel like you cannot go on any longer, cry out to him. He will always be there to pick you up and move you forward.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16
God is our light. He will show us the way, but without him, we have to find our way through the darkness. Why struggle, when you can have God to guide you?
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
When we dwell with him he will prosper us, see herein 2 Samuel 6:11 what he did for Obed Edom “The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.”
Maximum protection is a sure dear if you dwell with God. See herein Exodus 13:21-22. ” By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Victory and directions to our battles if we dwell with God is a sure deal, see herein Joshua 6:4-6. “Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.
When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.”
As God diminished and entered into the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. It was a shadow that indicated that he is now in our heart and he is dwelling in us that’s why Paul says. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16”
What takes a way God’s presence?
Secret sin hinders His presence. Hidden sin deeply affects and quenches our relationship with our Savior. “When there’s no communion with God, our lives are spent in the darkness. We see nothing. We hear nothing. We have no answers. Spiritual death sets in” let us turn to Joshua 7:10-12
The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions.
That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
It also happen to this Nazarite Samson after the Lord had left him because of dalilah he thought. “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, took out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison Judge 16:20
The fullness of the flesh hinders His presence. Matthew 6:24 reminds us that, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other...” It’s impossible to be full of the world and full of Christ. We can’t be consumed with worldly pursuits as our main focus and be consumed with pursuing Christ — one or the other will prevail.
The TV channels we watch in our homes have chased away God. God is Holy He cannot dwell in an environment where obscenity is taking place. Let me tell you when you enter in the house where there is a presence of the Lord you can easily feel his presence.
Lack of fear of the Lord hinders His presence. When we lack fear about following God, we are demonstrating that the pursuit is not important enough to make it a priority.
Eli’s sons were crooks; they had no regard for the Lord. Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 1 Samuel 2:12-14. Vs 17, this sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
Failure to stand in righteousness hinders God’s presence. Let’s be clear here: “The spiritual battle in which the Christian is engaged is fierce. Satan is intent upon destroying the presence of Christ from our lives. There are no vacations from spiritual warfare. “That is why the fire must be kept burning” Once God lights the fire of the Spirit in our hearts, we must do our part to keep Him burning through fervent prayer: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” {James. 5:16}.
Being too busy hinders His presence. If you’re too busy to wait, too preoccupied to pursue God, and too wrapped up to worship Him, your relationship with Him will be hindered. “He acts for the one who waits for Him” (Is. 64:4), and waiting can’t be rushed.
Waiting is a great way to measure importance. We wait for things that are important to us. Jesus often waited to hear from the Father and went to places of solitude to wait.
Disobedience the spirit of the Lord left Saul because of disobedience see herein. 1 Samuel 15:23, for rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,nor his ear too dull to hear.But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
The sin of adultery and fornication, see herein Revelation 14:1-9. Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder.
The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb.No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The question I would like to ask us is this: Do we have the presence of God with us? Or have we lost His presence? More than anything else in your life, ensure that you have His presence with you always. - Psalm 51:11: Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. This is a powerful prayer. We need to have the presence of the Lord in our lives; it is a wonderful experience. It is essential in our everyday life.
This is what activates or turns on the manifest presence of God
Asking the Lord for the right direction and procedures see herein 2Chro 20:15-24. “These people held a fasting asking the Lord how to go about the forces or enemies who had attached them He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.
For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. What happen is that when you consult God the issue becomes his and it’s like you have given him ownership.
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us 1John 5:14
Listening to God’s instruction. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
Having faith in God calls his presence. Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful. “After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:
Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever. As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. Paul & Silas Act 16:25 also disgraced prison obstacle trough the weapon of praise.
Word presence - God and His word are the same and cannot be separated, the more word filled your heart is the more of His glory that you reflect. Turn with me in the books of John 1:1 and 1King 8:9- 11, Word soaked environment calls God’s presence.
That is why we need to diligently seek Him and study and meditate on the word of God. It is not just the quoting of the word but the dimension of revelation of the truth or Light that floods your heart and that you live by.
Healthy Personal Fellowship - Do not joke with your quiet time. You must plan to have a quiet time with the Lord daily and regularly, it is the time when you will pray meaningfully, study and memorize the word of God diligently.
Love for God (honoring). Everybody naturally wants to be where he is loved and honored, as we love, honor and celebrate God, His presence is announced in our lives and situations in an undeniable way. Turn with me in the books of 1King 3:3
Obedience. No matter the sacrifice you give and your prayers it will not make a difference if you live in rebellion and walk out of God’s will. See herein Ps 40:6 – 11
Sacrifice though some people fear to honor God with their belongings and others sacrifice to buy God. See herein 1King 3:3 – 15 Solomon triggered an undeniable presence of God leading to undeniable encounter with God and He gave him not only what he wanted but all he needed.
Remember God and His will or His word will never change, in order to enjoy His backing for anything we have to align with His plan and purpose first. There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. Proverbs 19:21
Lastly repentance, see herein Acts 3:19, repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
God bless you.
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