Rest in My presence

Greetings to all my friends in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ!All the glory to my Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ!

Ex.33:14, ‘And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”’

 Like Abraham, Moses was yet another personality with whom God talked to as a friend. When we read the passages from Ex.33 & 34, we realize what God’s presence does and how it influences a man. God is with all of us and He watches us every moment. This is our knowledge about God and the faith we often express and believe. Beyond this, is the realm when a person actually feels the presence of the Lord as truly as he or she feels the presence of any other human being on this earth while being with them. It’s not just in the faith level or the knowledge level, but in the level of experiencing it.

In Ex.33: 9, the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and talked to Moses. In v 10, all the people around saw this and worshipped God. This cloudy pillar which represented God’s presence was visible. But there is a presence of God which though invisible, yet is seen by others. Gen.39:3 says that the Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. Here, no cloudy pillar was seen yet the Lord’s presence was visible through the life of Joseph and through everything that he did. God’s presence in a life is seen as the complete control of the Lord over that life and over all things happening in his or her life. That’s when we become confident of His presence being with us. The things out of our control being perfectly controlled by the invisible presence of the Lord. This is what His presence does and is seen by the people around.

Moses was interceding for the Israelites soon after they had done a big folly of worshipping an idol. And the Lord was ready to destroy this nation with His wrath. The intercession of Moses made the Lord change His mind and agreed to send an angel before them all the way to Canaan who would drive out the nations from before them(Ex.33:2). But Moses would not leave till he was assured of His presence going with them. In Ex.33:15, he pleads so strongly saying that he would not go ahead till the Lord’s presence would go with them. This deep urge flowing out of the heart of Moses catches our attention. The land flowing with milk and honey was ahead. The angel of the Lord who would protect and fight for them was with them. Great promises of prospering were upon them. But all these and nothing else was more important than the Lord’s own presence. Moses was clinging to the Lord more than the blessings, promises and the security of the Lord. He was experiencing heaven in the wilderness. He understood that nothing was more heavenly than the presence of the Lord Himself. Nothing else could fill his heart and nothing else could satisfy him. He was ready to go any further to make this presence a continuous experience of his life.  He thus boldly prays and pleads for two things which he understood was essential to experience this awesome presence of the Lord.

Ex.33:13, ‘Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is your people.”’  Moses prayed to know God’s ways to experience and know God Himself. Further he says in v 16 that it was only His presence which separated them from all the rest of the world. In other words, His presence rests upon a person whose ways are sanctified and separated from the world. Separated from the ways, attitude and culture of the world. Separated from the sins and darkness of this world. Our Lord is holy and so He commands us to be holy, for without holiness none can see God. The way of holiness is a separated way. Compromising in anyway on this ground snatches away the experience of the divine presence from our lives. Chopping off every thought, motives, words, behaviour etc. which does not conform to the Word of God is the way of separation. Though it’s a tough way, there is no other way to know the Lord and experience His purifying presence. Moses desired the entire nation of Israel to be sanctified from the world through His presence which would be with them. The way of experiencing His presence is the way of separation and a way of sanctification.

         Ex.33:18, ‘And he said, “Please, show me your glory.”’ This is how the presence of the Lord influences a man. The more one experiences it, the more one craves for it. Moses was not satisfied with what he experienced. He deeply desired to go further into a deeper presence of God, where he could behold the Lord’s glory. This was a prayer which could have taken his life, for no man could see God and live (Ex.33:20). But for Moses, God’s deeper presence was like more important than his own life. His passion for the Lord was so much that now the whole world seemed to be forgotten or so much smaller in his sight.  In 2 Cor.5:2, apostle Paul writes about groaning to be clothed with heavenly home. In Phil.1:23, he writes about being torn apart between the desire to be with Christ and the desire to be here for the sake of church. These were the souls for whom nothing was more satisfying than the Lord’s rich presence, not even the massive ministry they were doing here on this earth.

The Lord answered Moses. He did allow him to see the glory of God though in His ways. But before that Moses was asked to make the tablets to replace the ones he had broken, which refers to repentance. He was asked to be ready and to come up to the mount to present himself before the Lord. This refers to the preparedness of a life to meet the Lord.  God reveals His glorious presence to the one who repents and renews his mind and who is for ever in a well prepared mode to meet the Lord anytime of his or her life.

The Lord said that His presence will give us rest. Lives who crave, groan and cry out deep prayers for His presence enjoys the rest. Such lives never give much thoughts about the affairs of this world. They have deep faith that all things in their lives are under His control. Moses had a huge task ahead. He knew that he could not do it all alone. He knew that only the Lord could lead such a stiff necked congregation to the Promised Land. So he took all efforts to ensure His presence to be with him and the whole congregation. He did not cry for ability and authority to lead the people. But he cried for His presence, the Lord Himself and thus, Moses had rest. Rest is an attitude where the person enjoys peace that surpasses every understanding. No circumstance can disturb the peace of this soul. For such heart and mind is rooted in His presence and they live here on earth only to fulfill the responsibilities given to them. Their confidence in the sufficiency of God’s presence over all their lives gives them rest. They always long to be with Christ, for nothing of this world attracts them. Their passion is to be with the Saviour in their heavenly home. They make sure to do all things to make themselves ready to meet their Lord, anytime, anyday of their lives. Dear friends, may we thirst for His presence. May we enjoy His presence and may we grow in it, for only He and only His presence can give us rest in this world, which is filled with darkness, wickedness and hatred. Aspiring for His presence is the way to eternal life. And growing in His presence is the way to His glory. Amen.

God bless us all

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