People of His Presence
"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" - Exodus 33:14 (NIV)God has called His Church to be a people of His presence. In the new covenant, we are the temple in which He dwells by His Spirit. The lives of the people of God is the place where the presence of God is seen, experienced and enjoyed.
God spoke to Moses and said that he would give distinction to His people by allowing His presence to go with them and be with them. This would show that God was pleased with His people. The presence of God is the place of God's pleasure and delight in His Church. God also said that he would know His people by name, a wonderful expression of love and relationship.
God has been speaking to us as a Church about being a community together. We are a people joined in heart and love for the praise of God's glory. As we met last night, God was speaking to us about His presence, that we should be a people who long for and desire His presence above anything else.
God spoke to me about His presence being the place of His pleasure and the place of relationship. Pleasure in that we should delight in God and also delight in sharing the love and grace of God with one another as we meet, eat and worship God together.
The presence of God is also the place of relationship. God knows us by name, so we should know each other's names in the church! This can be quite a challenge in a larger church, but I believe it is important. It's not just nice to know someone's name - I believe it is key to seeing relationships formed that will allow the flow of the presence and the power of God more and more in His people.
As Jesus builds His Church, we will increasingly know His presence being our provision, our purpose and our power as we advance and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth.
The LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." - Exodus 33:17
Labels: Community, People of God, Presence
posted by Gavin White @ 10:41 am
1 Comments:
Gavin, What a neat blog - and great insights...
I'll throw up a link shortly from over the hill in sunny Sheffield!
Great work!
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