The Liberating and Empowering Presence

UV 935-10,000 The Liberating and Empowering Presence And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Exodus 33 v 14 The Lord God ‘s presence went with the Hebrew people led by Moses as a cloud by day and a fire by night. The metaphoric meaning of the cloud is that the Lord will shield us from every threat, danger, attack and every type of enemy. We only need to always walk clouded or covered by His presence. He will give us the inner peace or Shalom that the enemy or the world cannot take away. He will give us rest from our bondage to sin as the Jews were freed from bondage in Egypt. He will give us rest from our own inner fears and guilt. He will give us a break from our personal insecurities. The metaphoric meaning of the pillar of fire is that the Lord’s protection and awesome power will surround us giving us both warmth and light or guidance. The presence of God is not stationary in one place but is dynamic and moves when we move. He is ahead of us, around us and behind us. Moses saw the goodness of God or the presence of God passing before him from a cleft in the rock. Jesus is that cleft in the rock from where we can see and taste the goodness of God in our lives. Jesus said, “ Come to me you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” When we are weighed down by our sense of responsibility and feel that the load of our worries are too heavy for us to bear, we need to go to Jesus and obtain from Him the peace of Jesus so that which troubled us will no longer trouble us, that which worried us no longer worries, that which depressed us, no longer depresses us. When the presence of God or the continuing consciousness of being with God is in us, then the mercy, grace, power and wisdom of God will manifest in our lives. Many people seek the presents of God and miss out on His presence. The gentleness and humility of Jesus enables us to approach Him boldly. He is accessible to all at all times. The prostitute could approach Him without fear of reprimand. The sinner and the nobleman, the native and the foreigner, the layman and the priest, the children and the aged, the sick and the healthy, the weak and the powerful –could all access Him and obtain rest or solutions to the vexed questions or challenges that they each faced in life. When we have a personal relationship with God, His presence accompanies us everywhere. Moses talked with God as a man talks with his friend. Similarly, when we are aware of God’ s presence being always with us, we can talk with Him as we would talk to a precious friend. Moses could not talk with God face to face as no man can look upon the face of God. He could only see the back. But we can talk face to face as Jesus is the very face of God. Prateep V Philip