His Presence

His Presence

Standing between you and your enemy

Life is messy and life continues to be a great teacher. I was thinking about my last post and "the God who is NOT safe" and I stick by that and I find that this is a part of who the Holy God of the Bible is and not something I came up with out of my imagination. One of the messiest parts of life is in relationships. One of the truths of the Bible that not every Christian subscribes to unfortunately is that we do not war against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6). If we can look at our brother or sister in Christ and know this truth, no matter how difficult the circumstances, the person before me is not my enemy then there is a greater chance of working things out with that person. One of the greatest sins of Church of the 21st century is treating and believing that our brother or sister in Christ is the enemy. If the strive between us is too great for God then what kind of God are we serving.

Our earthly fathers are just that, earthly. Families have kids that just can't get along. But if we can see that our Almighty Father God is to be feared by the enemy, the common enemy of believers, namely Satan we will come to a place where reconciliation can happen. Satan is the one who wants us to be at each others throats and when we are able to come together, trembling in the Presence of our Father, He will give us eyes to see who the real enemy is and the peace that surpasses all human understanding will be ours in the Presence of a Fearsome God.

In First Peter it says that we are to humble ourselves under the Mighty Hand of God. We know that this "mighty" hand is also a "loving" hand. I don't know about you but when I am facing the enemy that first Peter talks about, the one who is looking to devour me, I want the Mighty Hand to be there to win the battle for me. Satan is no match for God because God is NOT safe. And saying that does not negate the fact that God is love, God is holy, God is just, God is merciful, God is all powerful and all knowing.

Do me a favor think of 3 people that you know really well, who you love deeply and they love you deeply? Are you not fascinated by who they are as a person? Are you still discovering things about them that you never knew? Are they just one dimensional? Most will answer: Yes, Yes and No. If we are imperfect people and we can say that about these dear ones then we who believe in this Perfect, Triune, Living God must say:

I am fascinated by this God who cares about the details of my life who is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God!

And

If I lived to be 100 years old, I will still be discovering things about this Incredible God until I see Him face to face.

The God who Created the Universe, who held back the Red Sea, who sent His Own Son to die for Our sins, who Raised His Son from the Dead, who chose ordinary people to carry the Message of Our Great Salvation to the ends of the earth, whose Story is written from Genesis to Revelation in a book that has stood the test of time and has been preserved by His Divine Intervention and is one continuous Story woven throughout the lives of those who believe and those who don't, can not be measured.

This is the God who is our Refuge and in His Presence the enemy is anything but safe.