Power of Being Present

Power of Being “Present”

Key Scripture:  If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.  By this is My Father glorified.”  John 15:7,8

Power Point:

Have you ever been “present” with someone who is not “present” with you? By that I mean, have you ever been in the same room, maybe seated at the same table, and you are engaging in conversation with someone when suddenly you realize that they are not “all there” at all? You may be expounding some great truth that will change their lives (of course) and you begin to notice that their eyes are wandering away, looking somewhere else. Everything you have to say may be really important but they aren’t hearing it. (Husbands are you listening?)

Maybe you’re the one who isn’t “all there”. I can usually tell that about myself when my mind begins shooting ahead to what I want to say, or on the other hand, it shoots backward to some place in my past where I can connect to what the other person is saying. Whew! What a mouthful! At any rate, whether you are on one side or the other, you can understand the pitfalls of not being “present” in the moment.

Have you ever promised to do something and then realized that you didn’t hear everything that they were asking you to commit to?  I did that recently. I was asked to do something and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but after more discussion, I realized that their interpretation of what I was committing to was vastly different from mine. Sticky.

One of the things that Jesus is most adamant about is that we are “present” in the moment with Him. He tells us that the only ones who are able to understand and act on His words are the ones who are “continually present” with Him.  I can imagine that you’ve had times when you were seated at the same table with Him but found later that you just weren’t paying close attention to what He said. I know I have.  The down side to that is, we can miss the very tool He is giving us for the next part of our journey. Or we can miss the blessing.  In fact, in John 15 He uses the word “abide” (which means being “present continually”), fifteen times in the first 10 verses. Yes, fifteen! I think He’s trying to make a point don’t you?

Why is that important? Well, “abiders” bear fruit. “Abiders” are pruned and grow stronger. “Abiders” are continually connected to the Source of flourishing life.  “Abiders” keep His words stirred up at all times in their hearts and minds, and because of that they know that they “can ask what they desire and it will be done for them”. “Abiders” become people of faith. “Abiders” always glorify the Father because there is a continual flow between heaven and earth for them. "Abiders" abide in His presence.

Sometimes it takes extra effort to “abide” with someone. Sometimes we really have to work at listening better and being “present” in the moment for someone else. We have the Holy Spirit in us that is the One who can equip us to do just that. Can we make a pact? We’ll commit to being totally “present” to the people in our lives today. (Surely we can make it through one day!) And let’s commit to being totally “present” to the Words God is speaking to our hearts as well. Who knows what could happen? Let’s ask Holy Spirit to help us to be “all in continually”, to be “present” wherever we are.

Power Thought:

Aren’t you glad that God is always “present”, and all in continually, with you? He's always "here and now" never "now and then".