25/12/09

Having the presence of the Lord to lead us

Exodus 33:14 - And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.


Moses understood what it meant to have the presence of the Lord and to be without it; he refused to bulge without the Lord.

When Moses meant the presence of the Lord, he did not mean the physical presence of the Lord. The word translated as 'presence' is translated more times as 'before' & 'face' and even 'countenance'. Sometimes (21 times) it has personified so much that it has been translated even as 'person'.

It really meant the glory of God and the favor of God. Moses knew without the favor of God or the glory of God on the people, the people would not survive in the world. The world hates God and also God's people, therefore Moses knew that it was only the favor of God which would sustain them in their journey ahead.

We Christians should realize that we are not loved by this world and this world will do all it can to destroy us. It does not necessarily mean kill us but could mean killing the faith in us and therefore removing our names from list of those who will inherit from the Lord (remove us from the Book of Life).

Having grace and having favor is different. As believers we all have received grace, grace is given unto us but favor need to earned. It does not mean by our work we will receive favor. It means we need to maintain right position with God to earn favor. It is only when we have righteous standing in the Lord (doers of the Word) will we receive the favor of God.

Remember when we call ourselves Christian and act as Christians we risk ourselves against this world, and to survive in this world we desperately need the favor of the Lord on us.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord God, peace with You is more important than everything. It is only when we have peace with You we can have peace in this world. Lord, to have your peace we need to walk in righteousness and You know we are weak in our flesh. We may not be perfect in our walk in You but your Word says our consistent efforts are sufficient for your favor. Lord we ask your favor be on us not because we deserve it but because we stand in You and You gave your Word...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Acts 2:44-47
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)