"Utmost with the Least Most", In your Presence?~Michael James Stone

DEPENDENT ON GOD'S PRESENCE

They that wait upon the Lord ... shall walk and not
faint.

Isaiah 40:31

There is no thrill in walking; it is the test of all the stable qualities.

To "walk and not faint" is the highest reach possible for strength. The word "walk" is used in the Bible to express the character -

"John looking on Jesus as He walked, said, Behold the Lamb of God!"

There is never any thing abstract in the Bible, it is always vivid and real.  

God does not say - Be spiritual, but - "Walk before Me."  

When we are in an unhealthy state physically or emotionally, we always want thrills. In the physical domain this will lead to counterfeiting the Holy Ghost;

in the emotional life it leads to in ordinate affection and the destruction of morality;  
and in the spiritual domain if we insist on getting thrills, on mounting up with wings, it will end in the destruction of spirituality.  

The reality of God's presence is not dependent on any place, but only dependent upon the determination to set the Lord always before us.   Our problems come when we refuse to bank on the reality of His presence.  

The experience the Psalmist speaks of - "Therefore will we not fear, though . . ." will be ours when once we are based on Reality, not the consciousness of God's presence but the reality of it -  

Why, He has been here all the time!  

At critical moments it is necessary to ask guidance, but it ought to be unnecessary to be saying always -  

"O Lord, direct me here, and there."  

Of course He will! If our common-sense decisions are not His order, He will press through them and check;  then we must be quiet and wait for the direction of His presence.  
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In your Presence?

I love this song:

In Your presence
That's where I am strong
In Your presence
O Lord my God
In Your presence
That's where I belong
Seeking Your face
Touching Your grace
In the cleft of the Rock
In Your presence O God

I want to go
Where the rivers
Cannot overflow me
Where my feet are
On the rock
I want to hide
Where the blazing
Fire cannot burn me
In Your presence O God

I want to hide
Where the flood of
Evil cannot reach me
Where I'm covered by the blood
I want to be where
The schemes of darkness
Cannot touch me
In Your presence O God

You are my firm foundation
I trust in You all day long
I am Your child
And Your servant
And You are my
Strength and my song
You're my song

Seeking Your face
Touching Your grace
In the cleft of the Rock
In Your presence O God
In Your presence 

It is a song, that induces a feeling, that when I am in worship, with my passion, creates a response, and in the presence of other Christians, I am often whisked away to a place I 'feel' like I am in his presence.  

Am I?

God is with Me.
God never leaves me.
God is all about about me.
To my rearward or froward, whether above or below
God is there.

So really, I am the one UNAWARE and He is always THERE.

He is Here, He is now, He is with you.

Together we form a magnificent force, but in stillness and trust the real divinity of the power God is becomes real.

Real because when all about there is a constant activity and need to do something or say something; in quietness and confidence and my strength is made obvious.

It is in Him my faith is whole and all I need do is be aware of:

He is Here.
He is Now.
He is with Me.

Learning to trust enough in that makes me aware that as I go;

I can Ask, Seek and Find, Him willing to reveal not only what he would have me to do or say;

but aware of His presence in the midst of where I am.

Being like that doesn't require a Song, a Church, another person or any other stimulus or feeling at all, but just a simple realization of a Fact he keeps saying over and over again:

I am Here.

He is your God,

Are you aware of Him with you Today?

Michael James Stone