10-6-04
What is the presence of God?
What is my role?
What is God’s role?
Is it cool?
What does it feel like?
How do I experience the presence?
We’ll answer these questions in a minute, but first:
What is experiencing the presence of God?
“It’s when your heart touches the very heart of God.”
God desires to be here with you. That is what presence is.
I am in your presence right now and you are in my presence. You are here with me.
Presence means:
- The state or fact of being present; current existence or occurrence.
- Immediate proximity in time or space.
- A person who is present.
- A supernatural influence felt to be nearby.
In order to experience God’s presence, you must invite God into your hoola hoop.
Let’s call this “hoola hoop” your heart.
It goes around you. This is your presence.
Check out these hoola hoop pictures for a minute.
How does God get into your hoola hoop?
-Your hoola hoop represents your life, your heart and your desires.
-It represents who you are and what you are.
-It the area in which you function.
What things are in your hoola hoop?
-Many times we put things in that take up or waste space.
-Some of these things may not be bad things but they take away from the experience God’s presence.
I need some friends/volunteers.
You may have too many friends in your hoola hoop!
You don’t have enough room for God’s presence.
You may have too much stuff in your hoola hoop!
You don’t have enough room for God’s presence.
God wants us to make room for Him.
-Like I said a minute ago, God wants your heart to touch His.
Often times, we as Christians sugar coat the truth.
-We say, as long as I’ve accepted Christ as my personal Savior and I am a good person, then that’s good enough.
-That’s not true
-Everyday we have to get rid of all the junk that fills our hoola hoop so we can make room for Jesus.
-This isn’t easy because it’s a sacrifice.
-Sacrifices are never easy.
In order to continually experience God’s presence, you must continually get rid of the junk in your life.
God wants you to be passionately in love with Him as He is passionately in love with you.
Listen to this story:
Many years ago, there was a very wealth art collector. He had many paintings that were worth thousands, even millions. Priceless paintings from Picasso, Michelangelo and many others. He loved his painting and art but not as much as he loved his own son. They were inseparable. The art collector taught his son everything. He taught him how to catch and throw a baseball, tie his shoes and even taught him how to paint. His son was the center of his life.
When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.
The young man held out his package. "I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.
"Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift."
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son.
The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"
There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted. "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one." But the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"
Another voice shouted angrily. "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!" But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?"
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. "We have $10, who will bid $20?"
"Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters."
"$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!" A man sitting on the second row shouted. "Now let's get on with the collection!"
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, the auction is over."
"What about the paintings?"
"I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"
That’s just one example of how great God’s love is for you.
There is so much in the presence of God.
What you have to do is desire it and make room in your life for it.
3 Quick Steps to Experiencing God’s Presence
1. Make a decision
- Do you want to experience God’s presence
- Set aside all other destrations and make the decision if you want to be in God’s presence.
2. Clean our your Hoola Hoop
-If you haven’t accepted Him as your Savior then do so now.
-If you have, then take the time to rededicate your life to Him by getting rid of all the extra junk in your hoola hoop
3. Set Aside “God Time”
-Make a promise to God that you’ll set aside special time for Him
-This is part of the sacrifice you must do to experience His presence
Take time right now to take the first step.
We’re going to take a “God Minute.”
We’re going to give a minute to God and make a decision if we want to continually experience His presence.