LIVE AS IF YOU ARE IN GOD'S PRESENCE

Scientists tell us the universe began billions of years ago with a Big Bang.  All of the evidence points to a massive explosion that hurled the galaxies and intergalactic debris into space.  The problem is they don’t know who or what caused the Big Bang to happen.  The Bible says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  If there ever was a Big Bang, it was God who made it happen.

Evolutionists tell us life evolved on planet earth in a giant cosmic accident.  The reason we are here is because we won the biggest lottery of all eternity.  The Bible says God created all living things, and it was not an accident.  God does everything on purpose.  Accidents happen, but not to God.

THE FINAL ACT OF CREATION – MAKING YOU IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

The creation of the universe was an impressive display of divine power.  The creation of life was a brilliant miracle, and still remains a mystery that scientists seek to understand.  But God didn't stop his creative activity after he formed the universe and created life.  There remained one final act of creation stunningly different from all the rest.  God imprinted his image on his ultimate creation.  God created and put an eternal spirit into man.

God created man in his own image.  The image of God is not the physical body to which we are so attached and with which we are so familiar.  That image is our eternal spirit.  God is a Spirit, and the spirit He placed inside our body is the only part of us bearing any resemblance to him.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

It wasn’t long after God created man in his own image that there appeared a great divide.  In an amazing display of arrogance, the created ones rose up and denied the existence of their Creator.

On one side of the great divide, atheists stand with an inexplicable Big Bang.  On the other side of the divide is the Creator who made the Big Bang happen.

On one side, life is only a cosmic accident in an otherwise meaningless universe.  On the other side is the Creator who loved his creation with an everlasting love, and his presence gives meaning to everything that happens.

You must choose on which side of the great divide you will stand.  If you are only a cosmic accident, then your life has no ultimate meaning.  Your values are merely a complicated fairy tale that evolved over thousands of years.

When you stand on the other side of the divide, you stand in the presence of the One who made it all happen.  He is the One who put an eternal spirit inside your body, and you have the privilege of having a personal relationship with him based on love.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IN A WORLD WITHOUT GOD’S LOVE?

God has loved the world with an everlasting love.  He has never stopped pouring his love into the human heart.  The most powerful force in the universe still is God’s love.  It’s the binding force that holds everything together and keeps the universe in existence.  If God ever withdraws his love from his creation, the world will plunge into profound spiritual darkness.  Planet earth will self-destruct and become a lifeless cinder hurtling through space.

 Even the most optimistic atheist has little reason for hope.  Their short stay on planet earth is like the flash of a meteor in the night sky.  They ride our cosmic merry-go-round on its annual journey around the sun.  If their life is short, they make the trip only a few times.  If they have a long life, they may make ninety trips before they are gone.  No matter how many times they go for the ride, their life is only a flicker before the trip is done.

For atheists, life is an accident that happened.  There is no meaning or purpose governing their existence.  They live in a hostile universe ruled by survival of the fittest.  For them, God’s love is only a fairy tale, and Humanosaurus Rex is the self-appointed ruler of their hopeless world.

 GOD’S UNIVERSE WAS CREATED AND IS RULED BY LOVE

Fortunately, you live in a different universe than atheists.  Your universe was created and ruled by God’s love.  God hasn't given up on his world, and his love still remains the most powerful force in the universe.  It still conquers evil and transforms the hearts and minds of people who open their heart and mind to it.

You must never forget that God loves you and accepts you as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.  God is on your side and there is no limit to how good your life can become when you have a personal relationship with him based on love.

IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, THEN LIVE AS IF YOU ARE IN HIS PRESENCE

If you believe in God, the only sensible thing to do is live as if you are in his presence.  Unfortunately, all around the world people say they believe in God, but they don’t act as if He is really there.

This split in their spiritual personality reflects the fact that they don’t have a personal relationship with God.  They have never opened their heart to his love and dared to call him Father.  They have an intellectual belief God exists and nothing more.  Although they are totally immersed in God’s ocean of love, they act as if they are high and dry in a hostile universe.  They are spiritually blind and deaf.  They can’t see God at work in their world and they have never heard his voice of love.

TAKE A SIGHT AND HEARING TEST

When was the last time you saw God at work in your life?  When was the last time you heard him speak?  If you can't see the power of God’s love at work, and if you can't hear his voice of love, you have a problem with your sight and hearing.  If you stay in that condition, you will lose your awareness of God’s presence and power.

Time will tell whether the twenty-first century will become the blind and deaf century in which people can no longer see God at work or hear his voice of love.

LOOKING WITHOUT SEEING – LISTENING WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING

Seeing and hearing are deceptive senses.  People look with their eyes but don’t understand what they see.  They listen with their ears, but don’t understand what they hear.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus said the same thing.  He said, “By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.”

Most people think their vision and hearing are just fine, but they never see God at work in their world and they never hear his voice of love.  They are blind and deaf to his presence.  They say they believe in God, but don't live as if He exists.

There is a massive difference between saying you believe in God, and living as if He is actually there.  In the first instance, you are saying there probably is a God somewhere, but you don’t have a clue where.  You have never seen him at work or heard his message of love.

In the second instance, you have been born spiritually and have a personal relationship with him based on love.  You grow spiritually every day as you learn how to max out on his love.  The power of God’s love flows into your mind.  You think new thoughts about who you are, and what you can do with your life.  You are now one of God’s children and you dare to call him your Father.  The power of God’s love flows into your heart and heals your damaged emotions.  Your fragmented life disappears as you build your life on the foundation of his love.

Love becomes the driving force in your life.  You send your love back to God through loving other people.  You live every day as if God is your Father and you act as if He is continually present.  You see his hand of love at work in every area of your life and you hear his voice of love showing you the way.

The need to be right no longer dominates your life.  The accountant mentality drops out of your spirituality and you no longer worry about trying to score points with God.  God’s love dominates and transforms every aspect of your life.

 PRACTICING GOD’S PRESENCE MAY SEEM DIFFICULT AT FIRST

Practicing God’s presence may seem difficult at first.  That is normal.  When you first start looking and listening, your hearing will seem dull and your vision will be dim.  But if you continue, his voice of love will become louder and your vision will improve.

When you practice God’s presence, you experience his love.  You feel the power of his love flowing though you to other people.  Each time you give love and assistance to the needy, the sick, the downtrodden, and the dispossessed, you practice the presence of God.  You actually experience the presence of God when you love other people, and you experience his power by letting his love flow through you to others..   When God’s love flows through you, it heals both you and the other person.

When you practice the presence of God, your whole life becomes reorganized around the central fact that God is at work in you and through you by the power of his love.

REMINDER’S OF GOD’S PRESENCE

When you practice God’s presence, you find him everywhere.  You hear his voice in the sound of laughter and joy.  You see the beauty of God’s pallet painted in the sunset.  You see his infinite power in the billions of galaxies He created and hurled into space.  You feel his care in the warmth of the sun that shines on your face.  You see the twinkle in his eyes in the stars at night.  You see reflections of his power in the lightning and hear echoes of his power in the thunder.  Every time a baby is born, you know God hasn't given up on the human race.  You hear God speak in the silence of the desert.  You hear God sing in the songs He gave to each bird.  You feel God’s love in the love you feel for your own children.

All these are ways that God speaks to you.  Everywhere and at all times, God is at work in his world.  Although God speaks in a small voice, you must live each moment as if He is there.

God’s presence makes a difference in your life.  A personal relationship with God reorders all of your priorities and gives you a new perspective.  You are not alone and helpless.  God is present in each moment.  You are connected with the One who created you and knows you better than you know yourself.

Practicing the presence of God is not just for saints.  It’s for everyone.  You don’t have to wait until you are older and wiser before you can have God’s presence in your life.  In fact, God specializes in transforming the lives of the young and foolish so they live long enough to become old and wise.

God has a plan for your life that is better than anything that you can imagine.  God has power for your life far greater than any of your problems.  God is present in your life even if you don’t know He is there.  It’s time for you to wake up and live.

Practicing the presence of God is what happens when you come alive spiritually and you start living as one of his children. 

Affirmation:  The presence and power of God in my world is love.  Whenever I see love, I see God’s hand at work. When I practice God’s presence, I experience his love.  I feel the power of his love flowing though me when I send his love to other people.  Each time I give love and assistance to the needy, the sick, the downtrodden, and the dispossessed, I practice the presence of God.  I show my love for God by loving other people.  I experience God’s love by letting it flow through me to other people.  When God’s love flows through me, it heals two people.  It heals both me and the other person.