Things Change in His Presence

Scripture:  Acts 16:25-31 - And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

II Corinthians 12:9-10 -  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

An example of how circumstances can change when being in God’s presence is found in Acts 16:25-31.  Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises/worshiped God while in prison.  Then there was an earthquake, and suddenly all of the doors were opened and everyone’s bands were loosed.  The guard of the prison was so afraid, and he was going to kill himself when he realized the prison doors were opened.  After all, he was responsible for making sure the prisoners did not escape. Paul told the guard not to harm/kill himself because Paul/Silas and others were still there.  The guard then asked how could he be saved.  Paul told the guard that he could be saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ!  The guard and his family were saved because they believed on Jesus the Christ!

On the other hand, when we are going through a lot, and we start worshiping God/being in His presence, our circumstance may not change –  but our perspective can change.  At any rate, things change in His presence.  When you worship the Lord, your heart will get fixed on Him, and in your situation you can say it is well with my soul.  In worship, your attention will be on the Lord, and you will be delivered – whether your situation changes or not.  In your trials, God reveals to us who He is, and He gives us assurance that we can trust Him no matter what we go through.  God is sovereign and has power to deliver us and/or give us enabling grace to go through as it says in II Corinthians 12:9-10 – “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
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I will never forget how years ago my mother was very ill.  She had a heart disease and diabetes.  At first her doctor said that she may have to get her leg amputated, but she ended up getting several toes amputated. She stayed with Robert and I for a while. My mother loved the Lord with all her heart.  She spent many hours per day in the Lord’s presence – praying, reading the Bible, singing, praise/worshiping God.  The only cd she listened to over and over again was CeCe Winans’ Throne Room.  That cd really ministered to her.   Joy,  peace and comfort truly comes from trusting, adoring the Lord and being in His presence.  When flowers bloom, they bloom in the direction of the sun. We bloom/open up and are set free when we orient ourselves to the Son of God – Jesus the Christ. We have to place ourselves in the right direction/path – keeping an upward focus on the Lord in order to sense His presence.  

 We should delight in God because of who He is and what He has done. Intimacy and freedom in worship is about a life of sacrifice and spending a lot of time in prayer. You have to choose this day whom you will serve.  We have to choose each day who you will worship, praise/obey… (Joshua 24:15)  Don’t wait until Sunday at church to worship God.  It is a lifestyle.  (Romans 12:1-2)  Your attitude, motive, and your character will change in His presence. It is not how much you know, but how much you choose to surrender, yield to the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is about spending a lot of quality time intentionally (on purpose) with the Lord.  When we spend a lot of time with the Lord in His presence, we will have high expectations and look forward to our alone time encounters with Him. God is after us totally being changed by Him.  Our changed life will be noticeable to those around us.  The Holy Spirit is the one who change/transforms our lives. When we invite Jesus Christ into our lives, we receive the Holy Spirit –we are placed into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13).  We have access to the Lord at any time.  The Holy Spirit allows us to be close to the Lord.  

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father:  Thank You for making Yourself so real to us.  We couldn’t make it without You in our lives.  Help us to draw nearer to You.  We want our transformed lives to help and affect others around us.  We praise Your name forever.  All this I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

(by Marsha Williams)