“And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence” (Exodus 33:15).
TEXT — Exodus 33:12-17
Message
Richard Wurmbrand tells the story of a church leader he met while imprisoned in Romania. He was sentenced to 22 years for his goodness. The man, his wife, and six small children were eating breakfast when the police burst into his home. They had just read Psalm 23. When the police arrested him, the minister said, “You are the fulfilment of what we have prayed today. We just read…that God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies. We had a table but we had no enemies. Now you have come. If you would like anything that is on the table, I would like to share it with you. You are sent by God.” The captain screamed: “How could you speak such stupid things? We will take you to prison where you will never come out. You will die there. You will never see your children again.” He responded: “We have also read about this today, that though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” What a courage!!!
The presence of God with this servant of God took away all worries and fears.
The shadow is not something to fear. A shadow of a dog cannot bite you, and a shadow of death cannot kill you. All the threats and challenges we see in life are mere shadows from the above illustration. Moses knew this and placed the most value in the presence of God. Travelling through the desert without their God and Guide would be suicidal! He earnestly sought God’s presence as confirmation that He had forgiven the iniquities of His careless congregation after the ugly incident of making the golden calf.
There is not much we can do without the presence of God. David knew this also after he succumbed to the temptation of lying with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his elite soldiers, Uriah. He didn’t worry much about losing his position as king over Israel; he was more worried about losing the presence of God.
As believers, we should be more interested in having God’s presence than the privileges of this life, including keeping a good position in the church. It is essential to realise that God’s presence with us guarantees a host of peculiar temporary and eternal privileges. It also confers on us the responsibility of watchfulness, prayerfulness, and remaining unspotted.
Thought for the day
God’s presence with us here guarantees our presence with Him hereafter.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
4 comments
I love the courage of the man May God Almighty help us
This was really really useful and I enjoyed it because it’s lessened my stress of Reading in the morning due to my eyesight but I bless the name of the Lord for this innovation thank you so much
I love the courage of the man May God Almighty help us
Wow, this is awesome .it pay to be on God’s present
This was really really useful and I enjoyed it because it’s lessened my stress of Reading in the morning due to my eyesight but I bless the name of the Lord for this innovation thank you so much
I would like to be having these teachings.