There is no hiding place from God.
God sent a message to Israel through Moses:
“Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8).
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Moses, what did He say?
He said to prepare a bedroom for Him in your house.
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When is He coming?
Today.
“When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’” (Luke 19:5).
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What would you say?
“Please, can you come next month?”
“Please, let us reserve a place for you at the Sheraton Hotel.”
What would you do?
Would you have to buy new furniture and repaint your building?
“The sinners among my people shake with fear. ‘Which one of us,’ they cry, ‘can live here in the presence of this all-consuming, Everlasting Fire?’” (Isaiah 33:14).
The Holy Spirit does not come and go. He resides with us permanently. Jesus says:
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
This has mind-boggling implications. Listen to how David viewed this predicament of God’s ever-presence:
“Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit? To be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute. You’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, ‘Oh, He even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!’ It’s a fact: darkness and light, they’re all the same to You.” (Psalm 139:7-12).
To live in the consciousness of God is to recognise that there is no hiding place from God. We cannot hide from Him, not even in our thoughts or hearts:
“For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.” (1 Chronicles 28:9).
We cannot sing praises to God in church while undressing the choir’s praise leader in our minds. We had better not do so because God is looking through our eyeballs to see what we see.
We cannot even enjoy sin anymore because God has taken all the fun out of it and left only the guilt. The Holy Spirit is like a jealous wife who wants our total attention. When you go to the toilet, she goes with you. You had better not be caught looking at another woman.
Blackouts
Do you suffer from God blackouts? You went to a party and had a few drinks. When you woke up the next morning, you found yourself in bed with someone.
How did you get there? Where was God when it happened? Where was God when you beat up your wife, or when you slapped your neighbour? The question now is, what level of reality do you operate in?
The Bible says:
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists.” (Hebrews 11:6).
But, to live in sin as a believer, you have to convince yourself momentarily that God suddenly does not exist. Otherwise, the knowledge of the ever-presence of God should constrain you.
The Prodigal Son had the decency to sow his wild oats in a far country, far away from the presence of his father. But now in the reality of the atonement, there is no room again for that kind of escapism. Paul says:
“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30).
The gospel has now brought reality to light. So, how can you continue to act in the way that you do? How do you live with a holy God and watch a blue film? How do you live with a holy God and steal? How do you live with a holy God and smoke dope? Therefore:
“Dear friends, let us turn away from everything wrong, whether of body or spirit, and purify ourselves, living in the wholesome fear of God, giving ourselves to Him alone.” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Observe Jesus’ anger at the money changers and animal merchants in the temple. He said to them:
“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Mark 11:17).
If Jesus was so angry that the temple built with human hands was turned into a bureau de change, how do you think he would feel about masturbation, fornication, adultery and all uncleanness in the temple God built?
“You realise, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God Himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalising God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred- and you, remember, are the temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
Food for Thought
If armed robbers are said to be on a particular road, how would you drive on it? What if the pastor of your church comes to visit you at home? Would it be the time to decide to beat up your wife or abuse your husband?
Certainly not! How then would you behave? What things would you not do while he is in your house? Now bear in mind that God is the One now in your house. Moreover, He is there to stay. He has no intention of leaving.
“Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, He is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.” (Ephesians 4:30).
Dear Heavenly Father, cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit.
Faith With Works
Since God now lives with you permanently, go through your house and remove all those things that do not glorify God.
“Many of the believers who had been practising black magic confessed their deeds and brought their incantation books and charms and burned them at a public bonfire.” (Acts 19:18).
Your life can no longer be determined by what you like, but by what God likes. You can now only listen to the type of music He likes. You can only read the books and magazines He likes. You can only watch the films He likes. You can only speak in a way that glorifies Him. You can only act in a godly manner. Everything in your life must now be determined by the presence of this august visitor who never leaves and will never leave you alone.
Intimacy With God
Now that you have relinquished your life to Jesus, enter into an intimate and personal relationship with God by faith. Recognise that God is living inside you. He sees through your eyes. He listens through your ears. He listens to your thoughts.
“The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.” (Proverbs 20:27).
He knows much more about you than you know about yourself. God knows your motives, your intentions and your attitudes:
“For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are. He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.” (Hebrew 4:12-13).
Sometimes this divine presence can be physically noticeable. You might suddenly discover that you are crying about something or someone without fully understanding why. Or you might find yourself suddenly drawn involuntarily to something.
It is not you; it is the Holy Spirit. He is not there merely by faith: He is really there. So, start talking to Him. Involve Him in everything you do.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Practising God’s Presence
God is God. He knows He is God. He does not like to be ignored. Therefore, do not behave as if He is not there.
You can live in a house with someone and not talk to them. That is the situation with most Christians. They are born again, but they carry on with their lives as if God does not exist.
Can you imagine a man and a woman who got married and live as if they were single? They live in the same house but are not communicating. How can God live with you and you continue to snub Him? Since you have invited Him into your life, involve Him in everything you do. Don’t even think without including Him in your thoughts.
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4).
There must be room for God in the inn of your heart. This is the promise of God.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3).
Is it possible for a man’s mind to be singularly focused on God? Practice makes perfect. Is it possible to keep one’s mind permanently focused on God? Try it for 30 minutes, and then for one hour. Keep extending it.
This means your every thought and imagination must have God at its centre. God should become your living and walking consciousness. This is the heritage of our redemption and atonement. David says:
“I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalm 16:8).
Communion of the Holy Spirit
Do not ignore the Holy Spirit. Because He is God, God must not be ignored. Certainly, God cannot be ignored forever, because you will have to give an account to Him at the end. How can you ignore God, who holds the key to life and death?
The Holy Spirit is the unspeakable gift of God. It is important to show our appreciation for His presence in our lives. Therefore, fellowship with Him.
“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’” (Romans 8:15).
So, Daddy, what are we doing today? Holy Spirit, shall we watch a film? Holy Spirit, shall we read a magazine? Everything you do now should be determined by the presence of this august Housemate. Because of His presence, you can no longer do what you like. You cannot even talk too loudly because it is disrespectful.
Be foolish with your faith. Remember what Hosea says:
“The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad.” (Hosea 9:7).
Jesus spoke to trees and fevers. Speak foolishly to Jesus. The concept of prayer has become too stiff and formal. Therefore, learn to talk to the Lord and not merely to pray. Don’t allow your knowledge of the scriptures to be a constraint. If you have internalised them, they will come out. Just speak.
Living with God means that we graduate from praying to God to talking to God. Remember that King James is dead. But the word of God is living and active.
Prayer is not an exercise. It is not an exercise in holiness. Prayer is not even talking to God. Prayer is talking to your Father. Jesus says, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father.’”
Jesus never taught His disciples how to pray. He taught them to pray.
“It came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’”
No man can teach a son how to talk to his father. Just talk. But some sons don’t talk to their father. They are not interested in their father. They would rather talk to their friends. They do not consider their father to be a friend. They only think of talking to their father when they want something.
Are you like one of these? Jesus says to His disciples:
“I no longer call you slaves, for a master doesn’t confide in his slaves; now you are My friends, proved by the fact that I have told you everything the Father told Me.” (John 15:15).
Silence of God
It is God’s prerogative to be silent occasionally. Don’t be fazed by it. Don’t be deterred by it.
“A woman from Canaan who was living there came to (Jesus), pleading, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, King David’s Son! For my daughter has a demon within her, and it torments her constantly.’ But Jesus gave her no reply- not even a word.” (Matthew 15:22-23).
God is simply stretching your faith and teaching you patience. Whatever you do, never give up on God, confident that God will never give up on you.
The silence of God is one of the best pointers that you are close to Him. Continue talking to Him, whether He answers or not. God answers in many different ways. But He always answers.
Ask to receive.
If you would like to live with the Holy Spirit, He is yours for the asking. Jesus says:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8).
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13).
Say this short Prayer:
Dear Holy Spirit, I invite you into my life. I accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I acknowledge that He died for my sins and was raised from the dead for my justification. Come and be the Lord of my life. Come and show me the paths of life. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!
[email protected]; www.femiaribisala.com
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