Abiding in God’s Presence

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“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” —Isaiah 40:31 Time magazine once had a cover article that showed the hollow face of a University president. As a matter of fact, it was the president of Harvard University.  The title of the headline article... Exhausted. The article went on to describe that from presidents to plumbers to homemakers to schoolteachers, all of us are facing more demands than ever. With all the emails and texts and the information explosion. People are bombarded day by day with sound and noise and fury. The pressures and the stresses of daily life are making people chronically tired. Many are running on empty and are just sputtering through life, wondering if you're going to get to the next destination or not, wondering if you're going to be able to accept the next assignment or not.  With all the responsibilities of life you feel worn out, maybe even burned out, broken down and depressed. So many believers are struggling because they've never made the wonderful discovery of the spirit filled, Christ-filled life. If that sounds like you, or even nearly like you, cheer up because God has a word for you today. It is one of the most joyous promises in all of the Word of God. The Lord will renew your spirit. He is the source of our strength!   THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT HARD: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS IMPOSSIBLE IN YOUR OWN STRENGTH.

Abiding in God’s Presence

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

John 15:3–5

I read about an evangelist who was preaching in Aberdeen, Scotland. His hosts took him around the city, showing him the ancient buildings and the fine architecture. They entered a poorer part of town, and his guide pointed out to him a room where an elderly widow lived in poverty, but who was known throughout the town for her love for Jesus. He went in to talk to her and said, “They tell me the Lord Jesus Christ visits this place.” “No, you’re wrong,” she replied. Thinking she had not heard him correctly, he repeated the statement, but again she said, “You’re wrong.” Deciding that she might be hard of hearing, he asked much louder, “Doesn’t the Lord visit your home?” Shaking her head she said, “You’re wrong. He bides here.”

The devil doesn’t greatly mind if we go to church on Sunday as long as that is the extent of our focus on the things of God. It is when we live with the awareness of the presence of God and allow His Spirit to control our lives that the devil gets upset. It takes much more than a couple of hours per week to be a godly Christian who makes an impact on the world. It takes sustained time in His presence. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

Today's Growth Principle: 

Constant awareness of the presence and nearness of Christ changes everything about the way we live.