Sunday, March 6, 2011

Longing for God's presence

Thursday and Friday, I attended a healing conference. It was a powerful time, and we were all so blessed! God desires to heal. We know it from Psalm 103. "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases." We were asked: What is the scope of diseases that God heals. The answer: He can heal any disease. Every disease. Nothing is outside the scope. He heals all our diseases.

But Thursday night, at 3am in the morning, the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. I thought there was even a sadness in His voice. He said: "My people long for my healing. Oh, that they would long for my presence."

I was so convicted by that. It drove me to repentance myself. For that morning, my neck was in acute pain and I had also sought the Lord for healing. Nothing wrong with that, but I believe the Lord is sometimes grieved that we (I) have a greater longing for the gift than the Giver.

And then I was reminded by how foolish we are. For in His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand are pleasures evermore (Psalm 16) When God visits us His presence, every need is met. Every disease healed.

God called David a man after His own heart. And I believe it was because David walked with God in a certain way. The New American Bible translates it as such in 2 Chronicles 7 - where God tells Solomon:

"As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David when I said, 'There shall never be lacking someone of yours as ruler in Israel."

Oh that we would seek His face, and live in His presence.

As I considered these things, we sang this song "Here in His presence" at Cornerstone the past two days. It totally echoes what is own my heart.