What it means to enjoy Divine presence

Messages for May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence

Message for the 1^st May, 2015

Theme: The wonders of Divine Presence

Topic: What it means to enjoy Divine presence

Introduction: Every great story within time has been shown to be rooted in divine presence with a person. Please this would be clearer to us if we do not confuse greatness with the possession of money like the case of the rich fool, fame like the case of people being set up for disgrace etc. A person is only as great as he has received divine recognition as such the opinion of men notwithstanding. Today, we shall be looking at the creator’s manual only to find out what it really means to enjoy divine presence.

Those with divine presence are engraced: As I sought God for understanding of this great topic, here is what He said to me: “Those who have my presence in their lives are engraced. As long as they maintain my presence, my grace remains. If they turn back from following me and start to walk in their own ways, they gradually begin to lose my presence until my spirit can no longer strive with them and I have to leave them to themselves… those who choose their own way would lose my presence and end up in disgrace. Disgrace simply means a lack of grace.” See Gen.6:1-8. In this instance, whereas the wickedness in the world caused men to lose grace with God resulting in the gross reduction of their life span, Noah found grace with God because God considered him righteous based on his walk with God. On the other hand, Samson lost the presence of God through consistent disobedience and was disgraced by the Philistines who plucked out his eyes. See Judges 16:18-21.

What it means to be engraced: The story of Joseph as a slave in Egypt is a very good example of one engraced. Here is what the word says about him in Gen.39:1-6. The following truths are shown here:

1.     The Lord was with Joseph [Divine presence] and he was a prosperous man.  To be prosperous is to be whole; nothing missing and nothing broken. Even though he was a slave, he prospered.

2.     His possession of divine presence was also evident to his master as he saw that God caused things to blossom in his hand. He could be described by his master as resourceful. Things worked in his hands and he could be trusted because the master also observed that his fear of God controlled his decisions which resulted in God’s blessing on all he did.

3.     God caused him to find favour with his master those creating the opportunity for him to serve his master visibly to the master. God also engraced him to deliver on the confidence reposed on him with excellence and integrity.

4.     The leadership of Joseph over the household of the Egyptian resulted in God blessing the entire environment because everything rises and falls on leadership. Because Joseph carried and maintained God’s presence, the blessing of God came on the home and business of his master.

5.     Joseph was so trustworthy that even in his master’s absence; he could be trusted to maintain the boundaries in spite of the Master’s wife’s temptation to do the contrary. 

From the story of Joseph, it is clear that when God is with you, He causes you to do nothing but good to others. Joseph was a blessing to his master and grew to become a blessing to the prison warder, the nation of Egypt and the entire world. This is the progression that the presence of God in one’s life can bring them to.

When the glory departs: If a person or a people carried God’s presence and lose it, the result is usually catastrophic. Let us see a few examples in the Bible:

1.     Adam was disobedient and lost the glory or manifest presence of God [all that God is and has]. He was driven out of his place of honor. He lost his throne as god of this world to Satan and became a prey to God’s arch enemy. See Gen.2:16-17; Gen.3:6-7 and 17-19.

2.     Saul was anointed king over the nation of Israel and therefore enjoyed God’s presence until he ceased being small in his own eyes. God caused him to lose his throne while he was still alive and his place was given to David. He only enjoyed God’s presence for two years. The remaining thirty eight years were years when he was history while still alive. His life was empty; he could no longer hear God’s voice. God refused to speak to him until he died a miserable death and his entire lineage was wiped out. See 1Sam.15:10-35; 28:6. 

Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall be saved:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!