Parenting - Seeking God's Presence: It's a Process - Part II

I am a firm believer in the adage that a person can never get something for nothing! Anything worth having is going to cost. An investment has to be made. The same is true if we genuinely seek to know God's presence and his blessing in our lives. We have to be willing to make the investment, to do what God requires.

When David sought to return the ark of God to the nation of Israel, he tried to do so without the proper preparation; the result was one man dead and David leaving the ark behind. The ark remained with Obed-edom for three months, and while it was there, the family knew God's blessings (I Chronicles 13:9-14). David returned to Jerusalem to make proper preparations to bring it "home."

As David prepared the people for the return of the ark, the priests sanctified themselves (I Chronicles 15:12). They brought together the skilled musicians and singers to lead worship for the procession bringing the ark back to Jerusalem (I Chronicles 15:16, 25-28). It was a joyful, loud, exuberant procession of praise and worship. David made sacrificial offerings and blessed the people in the name of the Lord (I Chronicles 16:1-3). Then the priests, before the ark, recalled God's greatness and gave thanks and praise to him in a Psalm of Thanksgiving (I Chronicles 16:4-36). 

The ark represents God's holiness, and he expected his people to approach it with "clean hands," and while we no longer practice the rituals of the Law, God does expect us to come before him with a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-5), with reverence, and with praise and thanksgiving for who he is. Just as David and the children of Israel went through cleansing and preparation to enter God's presence, so must we. 

If we want to know God's presence in our lives, we must first repent of our sins and know salvation (John 3:16; Romans 3:23). Like David, we must remember we serve a holy God and must come before him clean if we expect to know his presence and his blessings. James 4:8 admonishes us to draw close to God because that's when he comes close to us. James tells us to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. Psalm 50:23 proclaims, "Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” Peter tells us that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and that we are called to praise him who has called us out of darkness (I Peter 2:9). We are told throughout the Bible to enter into his presence with praise and thanksgiving, calling into remembrance the greatness of God (Psalms 100:4; Psalm 63; Psalm 89:1; Psalm 92:1; Ephesians 5:18b-21). 

If we truly do want to know God's presence and blessings in our lives, we will make the investment. We will "get clean," and we will enter into his presence with the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for who he is and all he has done. Then, we will know how truly awesome our God is!

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (Psalm 24:3-5)

Heavenly Father, you are worthy of all praise and worship. You are awesome. Lord, we crave your presence. Send your Holy Spirit to show us those places in our lives that need "cleaning up" and to bring to our remembrance your greatness. Help us to have a spirit of praise and adoration for who you are and to give you the worship you so deserve. In your name we pray, Amen.

Parenting - Seeking God's Presence: It's a Process -Part I

We live in a society of people that are in a hurry and looking for short cuts to reach their goals. Instead of getting the proper amount of rest a body needs, we chug "energy drinks" to keep us going. Rather than eat healthily and exercise to stay fit, we indulge in fast food, calorie-free beverages, and "metabolism enhancers" to help us fit in our jeans. "Saving up" for whatever luxury we long for is a concept relegated to history for far too many of us. The credit card industry has made it attractive and easy to "buy now and pay later." We want what we want, and we want it now, without expending too much hard work and effort. We want to skip the personal sacrifice part of the process.

Sometimes I wonder if we don't allow this assumption of instant gratification to creep into our expectation of experiencing God's presence in our lives. After David became king, he wanted to return the "ark of God" to the children of Israel. As a nation, under the rule of Saul, the people had not given the symbol of God's presence among them much thought. David desired to know God's presence and his blessings. He gathered together the people of Israel to travel to Judah to retrieve the ark. In fact, he had a new cart built to transport it. As the procession celebrated and worshiped before God, one of the men driving the cart put out his hand to steady it. He was killed. God wasn't pleased! 

God killing this poor guy seems rather harsh, but David, in his hurry to "get" God's presence and his blessings, tried to short circuit the process God had commanded. In Numbers 4:15, God made clear that anyone who touched any holy thing would die; He described how the ark (Exodus 25:10-22), the testimony of his covenant and presence among his people, was to be transported. This was a big deal! The ark wasn't just any wooden box; it was holy!

David didn't mean to dishonor God; he was in a hurry to do a right thing! But, in his eagerness, he missed a few key steps to entering into the presence of God and receiving his blessings. David had to return to Jerusalem without the ark of God and had to start back at the beginning - preparing himself and the people to be in God's presence.

There is absolutely nothing more awesome than to stand in God's holy presence, to be overwhelmed by who He is! But just as David couldn't go unprepared into the holiness of God, we can't either. We must prepare ourselves. In John 17, Jesus prayed that the Father would sanctify us (make us holy) through his Truth (John 17:17-19). Just as David returned to Jerusalem and got ready to enter the holiness of God, we can too! God wants nothing more than to be among his children. 

Lord, we desire to know your presence. This means we have to prepare ourselves to be a dwelling place acceptable for you to live. Please guide us through your Holy Spirit to seek your cleansing and lead us to offer up sacrifices of praise and worship that make you welcome. Please make us holy as you are holy. In your name we ask, Amen.