The Gift of His Presence
One of the many wonderful promises in the Bible is that we can be in the presence of God. The great Psalm 23 ends with “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” David writes about a personal and intimate relationship with God that crescendos with dwelling in God’s house forever. I can think of no greater reward than being in the presence of God and in relationship with Him.
A similar promise completes the Great Commission when Jesus said, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As we are servants of the Master who holds all authority, we must go and make disciples of all nations. This can be accomplished only because our Lord goes with us; always!
As we are in the Christmas season we remember Matthew 1:3, “‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” as a reference from Isaiah 7:14. This is not “God before us,” “God interacting with us on occasion,” but “God with us.” He wants to be in intimate relationship with us! He wants to journey through life with us as He equips us, empowers us, builds our character, and transforms us into His image.
And, He wants us to share His love with others!
The great joy of the ministry of Network211 is that we share the love of Christ with individuals one-by-one and are a vital part of their discipleship process. We take those dealing with anxiety, depression, and shame and lead them to Jesus. We believe that if we can get people into the presence of God that their lives with be transformed for eternity. Being in God’s presence changes everything! Here are some examples of individuals who encountered Jesus through Network211 and have seen their lives changed!
· A man in Nigeria wrote, “I have been looking for love and to be loved and accepted through my teenage age and now I am 44 years. I just stumbled over your article and for the first time in my entire [life. I] just discovered are [how] to find true love. JESUS. my approach to true love has changed. I will look at the right source JESUS. You can’t even find it in marriage.” I added the brackets for clarity.
· Woman in Nigeria, “Thank you for leading me to Jesus.”
· Woman in Ecuador, “Your help is important in my life to have a better and stronger relationship with God. He is my strength to overcome difficulties. Thank you.”
As you celebrate the Christmas season with family, please rejoice that you have a personal relationship with God! At the same time, rejoice that you have the honor and privilege to express our love to our Father by sharing the amazing Good News to people worldwide.
God is with us. We will dwell in His house forever. He is with us always, to the end of the age. May we learn to understand deeply the meaning of being in God’s presence this Christmas season and consider strategically how we can bring those from the nations of the world to dwell in His house forever.
Merry Christmas!
Blessings, Mark
Dr. Mark Flattery
Network211 President www.Network211.com
