Exodus 33:11 – “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”
As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, two words tugged at my heart – Presence and Faith. Are they connected? Yes!
In Exodus, Moses spent a lot of time in God’s presence. Exodus 33:11 informs us that after Moses heard from God, he left the tent (presence), but Joshua stayed in the tent. In verses 13-15, we see how much Moses valued God’s presence. God promised that His presence would go with them to the place of promise. Moses said, “If Your presence does not go with me, don’t let us go up from here!” The preciousness of the presence is expressed.
The presence of God inspires Faith. Mark 11:22-25 is incredibly revealing about faith and how it operates or manifests. It is FAITH, not faith in faith. Faith flows from God’s presence, not from our performance. In God’s presence, we see into the unseen, and there we see the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. In His presence, the self dwindles, and sight transitions from the seen to the unseen.
God’s presence transforms us into His image. Mark 12:28-31 reveals a powerful truth. The progression is astounding and liberating.
We try to love people, but the flesh resists. We nurture our hearts, hold on to our memories, and console our bruised egos and pride. But if we love God with our ALL, His presence enables us to move beyond ourselves and become expressions of Him. If we love God rightly, we can have a right view of self, and out of that we can love people rightly.
God’s Presence enables us to surrender to Him fully; in surrender, we can trust, and in trusting, we manifest faith. Mark 16:11 gives a revelation we tend to miss. When reports came about Jesus’ resurrection, “they refused to believe.” That reveals that belief is a choice; therefore, faith is a choice, not some spectacular spiritual activity. It is simply deciding to believe what God has said. He says something, and we say, “Amen,” and then, “Thank You!”
Therefore, God’s presence is vital. Matthew 6:33 becomes even more powerful. Moses’ declaration needs to be ours. “If Your Presence does not go with us, we don’t want to go.” In His Presence, there is peace, power, protection, and provision. So, let us make His Presence precious to us.
LORD, help us press into Your presence so that we can have Faith!
