The Gift Is Not Enough Without the Giver

“For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” EXODUS 33:16

 
PONDER THIS

Many today say, “I have salvation. I have eternal security. But I’m not walking in joy. I’m not walking in victory. God is not real to me.” When a pastor asks how many of you know if you were to die today, you’d go to Heaven, you may lift your hand. But if you were honest, you might say, “Pastor, God is not real in my life. I do not have the manifest presence of God in my life. I have His protection, I have His provision, I have His promise, but I do not have His presence in my life.”

Don’t think just because you have provision and protection, you’re right with God. I’ll remind you that even a non-believer has certain provisions: food, air, clothes, and houses. We can be so preoccupied with provision and protection that we fail to seek His presence.

It is an evil thing to seek gifts without the Giver, to seek blessings without the Blesser, to seek the promise without the Provider. We need the presence of God.

When was a time you experienced the presence of God? What do you remember about it?
Do you recognize God’s presence in your life today? How might you seek Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Sit in God’s presence. Ask Him to fill you with His presence every day.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers