Power Of His Extraordinary Presence

Key Scripture:  "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."  2 Corinthians 4:2

Power Point:

     I know that you have probably heard the good news that God is Omnipresent.  For the Christian, that's a wonderful thing. That means that there is no place where we are that He is not.  You don't have to call Him and say, "Hey God. I've got a little problem here. Could you come over and help me?" Nope!  He's already there, in you as well as around you. He's always at least one step ahead of you, so the answer is already on the way.

     When Jesus was preparing to leave earth for the throne room, He promised that the Holy Spirit was coming. He clearly explained that because of the Cross, we would have the glorious opportunity of having the Spirit of the Father, The Spirit of Jesus Himself living IN us. In other words, everything God was, is, and ever will be, would come to make its home, live forever, in the tiny little containers of His children. Forever. And ever.  He promised that He would be everywhere, in every place where we are, in every place where we carry Him. The glory of the Gospel is that Jesus died and rose again and gave us the opportunity to become children of God.  It didn't stop there Beloved. It was only the beginning. And there is no end. Just as Jesus brought heaven to earth, so can we.   

     As I read the Psalms, as wonderful as they are, I can see David's concern that God would leave him, that the anointing would be removed from him.  It was a logical fear because he had seen it happen.  He only had to look at King Saul to see the tragedy of an anointed man, losing his anointing. In 1 Samuel you can read this sad story.  Samuel, the prophet, comes to Saul after a great disobedience and says, "You have been foolish!  You have been disobedient to what The Lord has told you.  He would have established your kingdom forever but now your kingdom cannot continue. The Lord has sought someone who will be a man after His own heart." The Lord took His presence, His anointing from King Saul and placed it on King David. You can hear David's concern about losing that anointing in Psalm 51 following his time with Bathsheba.  He says, "Please Lord, give me a clean heart again.  Renew a steadfast spirit in me.  PLEASE don't take your presence from me.  DON'T take Your Holy Spirit from me.

And He didn't. 

     Did you know that no matter what "Bathsheba" incident has occurred in your life God will never, never, never take away His Holy Spirit? That's the privilege of the New Testament believer. I guess you could say that we all have "Bathsheba" times in our lives when we do our own thing, in direct contradiction to what God has told us to do, don't we?  That's why the extra-ordinary power of His presence is so significant to us.  We never, never, never have to worry about losing God. Jesus said, "I will never, never, never leave you or forsake you."  That's really good news isn't it?        

     In the Old Testament the Presence of God was dependent on God's choice.  Today it depends on your choice. Whatever you choose, you can never, never never walk away from God's presence because He is IN you, and WITH you at all times. He is still there, working wherever you give Him the opportunity to work. You have the extra-ordinary power of all that God is, and all that God has for you in your own heart.  Your dreams are the dreams that He has for you. Your future is the future He sees for you. You just can't shake God. 

      Have you ever had someone in your life that you just wanted to be rid of?  You don't answer their phone calls, and you avoid them at every opportunity. Sometimes we treat God that way don't we?  But the Truth is, Beloved, you can't shake God.  You can't shake His commitment to you.  You can't make Him leave. You may make the choice to ignore Him but He's still there loving you, and working in you, to let you experience His presence in you.

How extra-ordinary!

     You never need to pray to ask for His Holy Spirit to return. He's been there all along and He always will be. You were born for this time.  You were not born in Old Testament times.  You were born to be a container of heaven on earth.  
     In church this morning Pastor Mark said, "Extraordinary encounters with the Holy Spirit are the gems set in an ordinary life."  

You don't want to live an ordinary life do you when extra-ordinary is fully available?

Power Thought:

Where are you now?  Isn't it wonderful to know that God is there too?  Why not ask Him to show you where He is, and Who He wants to be in your life? I bet He has some extra-ordinary plans.