Text:  Psalm 15 & Psalm 24

Who can ascend into the Hill or Presence of the LORD?  The clear answer is the one who has applied God’s means of Grace and has met Him at the altar and laver.  The one that has committed their lives to Him completely.  That one is ready for a taste of God’s Glory and Presence.

I am Hungry!  I am Thirsty!  I want more than momentary flashes of God’s Glory and Presence, I want His fullness in my life!  David expressed it beautifully in Psalms 42:1-2 – “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”  Jesus echoed it in Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

There must be a cry of release from the heart and the development of a longing for God that only God can fill.  That is a release and relief that can only be found in the Presence of the saving, healing, filling, delivering, baptizing, living, and loving LORD! Sadly, too often we come momentarily into His Presence and then drift away.  But that momentary ascension creates something inside that revolutionizes our lives.  We are no longer satisfied with the ‘status quo’, we want more of God!  That flash of His Glory and Presence and never be forgotten and the yearning never dies.  We either crave more of Him or we run from Him!

Tragically, we sometimes ascend into His Presence and then after a time, we drift back into what is perceived as normalcy.  Remember the disciples who were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and the Presence of God?  Then they came down to the demonic son they could not relieve of his oppression.  Jesus could, but they had drifted from His Presence. 

It’s like a roller coaster.  We are effortless lifted into His Presence by the Holy Spirit and come into places of spiritual splendor that are beyond our imagination.  Places we have never been before, but then we begin our downward descent back to what we deem to be normalcy.  We will repeat the cycle over and over unless we learn to press in or reject Him completely.  I pray that the latter never be a part of your mindset.

MANY HAVE ASKED: “Is This All That God Has for Us?”

Is it God’s ultimate plan and desire for us to come into His Presence for momentary flashes of His Glory then topple back to a norm far below?  I say NO!  Ten Thousand Times No!  God desires and has made available an intimate and abiding relationship and fellowship with Him.  We can have the Atmosphere of Heaven and the Culture of the Kingdom in our lives NOW!

God desires to walk and talk with us as He did with Adam.  He wants us to walk in His presence daily, as did Enoch.  He wants to communicate with us as He did with Moses.  He wants to abide with us as He did with Abraham. 

God wants us to learn to ASCEND out of ourselves and into Him.  Over 160 times the Bible declares that we are IN CHRIST.  Not simply touched by Him, stood before Him, seen Him, experienced Him, or encountered Him but IN HIM!

I want to speak to this one more time and will pause here and address ABIDING in Him in the next devotional.  My prayer is that the LORD will bless your walk and make your day a prosperous and profitable day.

God bless you as you enjoy this day in Jesus!