Thursday, November 13, 2008

God's presence (part 2)


We continue with the discussion about the different ways we can experience God's presence in our lives. The second way Dallas Willard mentions in his book Hearing God is sensing God's presence.

2. Sensing God’s Presence
Sensing God’s presence is about feeling God is present in a special way. This is the strong impression an individual or groups of people get when they believe God wants them to do something or say something to someone. We had an example of this a few weeks ago in our morning worship service. People felt led, right in the middle of service, to stand and testify about God and they were obedient to that feeling. As a result, the rest of us felt God’s presence in a special way during that service.

Examples of Sensing God’s Presence
Luke gives two beautiful examples of this when he shares the story of Jesus, the young boy, being presented at the Temple. A devout follower, who was patiently awaiting the Messiah, by the name of Simeon was able to sense God’s presence in a special way and recognized Jesus the little boy as the Savior of humankind. Verse 27 in Luke 2 says the Spirit moved Simeon. If Simeon weren’t able to sense God’s presence in his life he would have missed the Son of God.

In the following verses (36-38), we have the prophetess Anna, who lived and worshiped night and day at the Temple. She experienced God’s presence in a special way that allowed her to have an encounter with the Christ-child.

I bet you have stories you have lived or heard of special encounters with God’s presence. I would love to hear them if you care to share!

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