Evidence of Abiding

Psalm 84
4 Blessed (happy) are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

•⁠ ⁠Truly, those in live/abide in the presence of God are rejoicing evermore and giving thanks in all things. It’s like a litmus test… If you want to know those people who are living in the presence of God, look to see the ones who are rejoicing and singing The Lord’s praises all day long! Unfortunately, it seems to be easier to find those who aren’t.
•⁠ ⁠Grasp this principle/truth: Those who live in the presence of God are rejoicing!! They are joyfully singing His praises from the depths of their hearts! They are NOT just singing songs that make them feel! They are declaring HIM! God’s people today are in desperate need to understand the difference between praising and performing! Praise is an offering, a gift of declaration from the heart! It is to sing and shout God’s glory unto Him and to declare the truth from within! God inhabits our praises but abhors our performances!

Exodus 34
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord.

•⁠ ⁠There was evidence that Moses had been in the presence of God. He had spent so long with The Lord that some of God’s glory had been imparted and was now evident in His appearance.
•⁠ ⁠It is evident when a believer has spent time living in the presence of The Lord. Perhaps there is not the same shining of face as Moses physical appearance but there will most certainly be a shining of the personality in The Spirit of Christ and a beaming character of joy! This evidence is plainly lacking in those who have not spent time with The Lord.
•⁠ ⁠As we spend time in His presence, His glory is imparted to us. The longer we are there, the more intimate the meeting, the more the glory is imparted, the more we will sing His praises! Hallelujah!!
•⁠ ⁠Whatever your circumstance, whatever the trial, whatever the difficulty… If you are not rejoicing, get to Jesus! Get to the presence of God! Abide in Him, practice His presence, be aware of His constant caring… Do not let your mind or heart leave Him! Cast yourself upon His goodness, His promises, His testimonies, His loving kindness and tender mercy…. and stay there; live in the wonder, praise and joy of knowing that you are in Him and that He is in you!
•⁠ ⁠“The only reason we don’t have the spirit of rejoicing is because of unbelief…. If I’m not rejoicing, it’s because of unbelief.” – David Wilkerson

The Lord Has Made Room For Us

Genesis 26
19 Now Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living [spring] water.
20 And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him.
21 Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity].
22 And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

•⁠ ⁠Room (Rest, peace, provision, space) won by fleshly contention will not last. It will soon be contended against again. There will be no peace or safety. It will be a fleshy existence.
•⁠ ⁠Room provided to us by The Lord is unchallenged. It is a space with time to grow, mature and bear fruit. It is joy and peace, praise and worship and a testimony unto The Lord’s glory!
•⁠ ⁠There was no contention for Rehoboth. There was no strife or frustration. The place had been prepared ahead of time by The Lord and Isaac’s rest and trust in His Lord allowed Him to discover Rehoboth. How many times have we fought when we should have moved on? Are we living in frustration or are we living in joyful rest knowing that The Lord has made room for us? “that where I am you may be also” John 14:3
•⁠ ⁠May our faith be at rest in The Lord and ever trusting/looking for His Rehoboths. May we learn not to fight, strive, contend for our own understanding. He, The God of all the earth, has gone before us. He is the Author of our faith and He has written beautiful and wonderful plans for us which He will lead us into as we trust and rest in Him. He has already won every victory and He has already provided every need. Hallelujah! May we be found abiding in Him.

2 Peter 1
3 …His divine power has given to us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue:

Where Is The Blessing?

Matthew 1
19 And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.

We can only imagine the pain, confusion and disappointment before the angel came. We can assume that others noticed too. Her family, her friends, her neighbours, her town… How many would believe her story? A virgin birth?? She was doing the will of The Father, she was being faithful to the call… Where was the blessing?

Luke 2
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5 To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused (married) wife, who was about to become a mother.

Not only had she to endure almost losing her betrothed and the judgement and disdain of others but now a heavily pregnant Mary must make the 4 day journey by foot or donkey to Bethlehem!! How uncomfortable this must have been! Could not The Lord have provided a camel and a cart? Why didn’t God postpone the census? Where was the blessing?

Luke 2
7 And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.

There was no warm room, no warm blankets, no hot water, no nurses… There was no bed!! There was no room!! A new born child, laid in a cold, barren manger ((with no mention of a stable))!! Where was the blessing??!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Our flesh will always look to its own earthly experience and possessions for blessing, justification and comfort.

Mary never asked where the blessing was. She was in possession of the greatest blessing that anyone could ever know!! She had the promised Messiah living within her and no earthly “need” or desire compared to such a precious honour and privilege!! Nothing else mattered! She carried The Lord Jesus Christ and He was so much more than enough! She could trust implicitly that she was the handmaiden of The Lord and that Jehovah was seeing to her every need to fulfil His will in her life.

And where was the fruit of that testimony brought out? In a place where every earthly support was removed. Only when every fleshly comfort and provision was taken away was the life/testimony/glory of The Lord Jesus brought forth. The flesh will look on and see great hardship, poverty and shame but faith sees the precious presence and blessing of Almighty God! Hallelujah! The flesh would have made a temple out of the Inn, but praise The Lord we read of only Jesus and nothing else!

The Born Again believer possesses the greatest blessing that could ever be asked for! The source of all life has come and dwells within us!! Emmanuel!! Hallelujah!! The Lord Jesus Christ living within our hearts!! Nothing else matters! Nothing else compares to the wonder of it all!! The Father is seeing to our every need and He will bring to fruition the life and glory of His Son in our lives as we walk faithfully and obediently in the way, as Mary did, removing all dependence on earthly/fleshly means. Hallelujah we have Christ within! The source of all life, joy, hope, victory and glory!! Let us carry HIS life unto fruition to the place that we are lead to. It is HIS life! And HIS life LIVES!!

1 Corinthians 6
19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,
20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

Faith Rejoices Evermore

Psalm 27
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Faith does not rise from petitioning and crying out before The Lord with teeth still clenched and desperation. Faith rises with joyful, restful assurance that God is indeed already doing exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think.
Faith does not dig in and fight in prayerful frustration trying to force through its own desires. Faith fervently casts and commits the trials, cares and burdens of life to the Almighty God knowing soundly that this is the day that He has made and that He, The Lord, is truly making all things beautiful in His time. That He is Sovereign, Good and working out His will in our lives. At times we must toil and persist and follow our Shepherd into the valley or into the presence of our enemies but faith is always resting in the presence of the Shepherd.
Faith does not strive, work harder and increase self effort to achieve. Faith surrenders to The Lord and casts itself upon His loving kindnesses, tender mercies and compassions and rejoices in being submitted to God and remaining as the apple of Jehovah Jireh’s eye.
Faith rejoices evermore, in all things, in sacrifice and blessing because faith knows, remembers, hopes in and walks before The Lord God Almighty, The Ruler of Heaven & Earth, The Redeemer and Saviour! Faith is rightly related to Jesus and rightly identified with His death and resurrected life! Identified with Him and by Him!

Luke 18
8 … When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?

Only A Little To Offer

John 6
9 There is a little boy here, who has [with him] five barley loaves, and two small fish; but what are they among so many people?

Matthew 14
18 He said, Bring them here to Me.
…
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

A little boy, gave a little gift. No one knows his name. No one knows his life story or his testimony. He was just a little boy with just a little to give.
His gift was not praised or appreciated. What he had to give was questioned and looked upon as useless/hopeless. Even by Jesus’ chosen disciples.
It is really not important who gave, it is not important what his gift was but it is of utmost importance who it is given to!! He gave his little to Jesus! He gave it all to The Lord.
We don’t need to over romanticise his gift either. He did not give all his earthly possessions, we don’t know if he even gave all his food for the day… He gave a packed lunch. He simply gave what he had in his hand. But he gave it all and without reservation or condition.
No one knows the name of the little boy with the despised little gift… But we rejoice and glory still today in the testimony of abundance that Jesus created with the little that was given into His hands!

Exodus 4
2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
…
17 And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].

Oh may we give our little to The Lord, without reservation or condition, without desire for recognition or glory, and may we refuse to doubt what God can accomplish if we would be faithful to give our little things, just whatever we have, to The Lord Jesus Christ! In our hands it is indeed a small and useless little thing but in the hands of The Living God it will be a precious testimony to His glory!