The Redeeming Power of Presence

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord for His unfailing love and faithfulness that patiently and endlessly work to free me, just as He does for each of us – to free our true selves so as to know and express His love on this earth. Second, I thank my wife Kathy for her faithfulness to the Lord and to our marriage and family. I am thankful for her gifts of thoughtfulness, relational ways, and expressiveness that continue to challenge and teach me about what nurturance, relationship, and childlikeness are. Also, I want to thank my sons, as well as my parents, for their encouragement and part they played in me being shaped a little more into the person I am today.

In addition, I want to thank those I fellowship with, especially Joel, Michelle, Mike, Laurie, John, and Ben for the ways that their love, acceptance, wisdom, and honesty have supported, challenged, and freed me to grow in the Lord. Thanks as well to my students and colleagues who have encouraged, supported, and challenged me to stretch further in my understanding of the human experience. Also, I want to thank all the forerunners who have participated with the Lord in the way of the cross and in the way of being present and awakened in life. We are all one body who play a part in our collective journey of being present and awakened in true relationship with the Lord.

As far as support for rereading drafts of this book, I especially want to thank Mary Grist and Laurie Carey. Their input and suggestions very much helped to clarify and refine the final messages that you see.

Likewise, the publishing team at Authorhouse, Team Pearl, was very dedicated and skilled in bringing about a quality book. The cover designs are fabulous, and the interior design, as well, was exactly what I was looking for. I want specifically to thank Amanda, Margaret, Erin, Patty, Betsy, and Dan for their contributions that will hopefully make a difference in people’s lives through The Redeeming Power of Presence.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PRESENCE: THE FOUNDATION

OF ALL GOOD THINGS

PRESENCE: HIDE AND SEEK

HIDING FROM PRESENCE

BECAUSE OF THE PERCEIVED CHASM

CHRIST AND HIS PART:

THE PRESENCE THAT DESIRES TO

JOIN WITH THE LOW PLACES

OUR PART: JOINING WITH

THE LORD AND HIS PRESENCE

THROUGH THE WAY OF THE CROSS

OUR PART CONTINUED:

LEARNING TO BE

PRESENT WITH PRESENCE

PRESENCE AND IDENTITY:

ABIDING AND BECOMING

ONE SPIRIT IN HIM

THE UPRIGHT WILL DWELL

IN THY PRESENCE

BEING IN THE PRESENT

MOMENT IS TRUE WORSHIP

AND TRUE SEEKING

BEING PRESENT:

MASTER OF THE HOUSE

WATCHING AT THE GATES:

KEY TO ABIDING IN THE PRESENT

WATCHING BODY PAIN:

BURNING AWAY THE TARES

WATCHING AND NOT JUDGING:

STARTING WITH WHAT YOU DO HAVE

WE WERE MEANT TO BE PRESENT:

SEEING ITS POWER AT A PRACTICAL LEVEL

IF THE EYE IS CLEAR,

THE WHOLE BODY IS FILLED WITH LIGHT: WATCHING IN OTHER WAYS

PRESENCE IS LOVE:

HONOR THE MOMENT

THROUGH ONE-WITHNESS

BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES: HINDRANCES TO PRESENCE

BEING PRESENT AS LITTLE CHILDREN:

PUTTING ON CHRIST

SONGS OF IDENTITY

AND BEING PRESENT

INTRODUCTION

Have you felt like a part of you knows that life is meant to be something more than it currently is? Have you looked around and seen all the suffering and pain, possibly within yourself as well, and thought that life is ultimately to be more than we know as life? Have you sometimes experienced Christianity as a lot of words and yet wondered Where is the powerful presence of the Lord, a living presence that is beyond mere words? I have asked these kinds of questions along my journey as well, especially during times of struggle. Even present day Christianity as a whole was not what I believed the Lord was ultimately after.

To me, there seemed to be some larger purpose and way that we had not yet truly walked into as Christians, a way that looks much more like Jesus walked while on this earth. This way that seemed to open up very quickly to me is a way that powerfully brings redemption and restoration. Deeper healing and transformation into greater likeness of the Lord are truly possible, a transformation that reaches out with and expresses His love that draws all unto Himself.

This powerful pathway that opened up to me, really, that found me, is walking regularly in the present moment with the presence of the Lord. This pathway is more than practicing the Lord’s presence that I had learned in earlier years, which was focused on watching for the Lord and what He does in life. That learning was about paying attention to the Lord’s presence but still overlooked the fact that I might not be truly present with Him so as to receive His presence and, therefore, His grace. That original learning had been very helpful, and yet, I have now experienced a pathway that has produced much greater restoration and freedom than that previous learning, and even more than I thought was possible. I have found that knowing and expressing the Lord’s love as well as His other fruits is only readily accessible when I remain in the present moment where He and His grace abide.

While walking in the present with the Lord’s presence might sound simple in some ways, as you read you will discover that the majority of people rarely remain in the present moment because, like pin balls bouncing around, their minds regularly and seemingly uncontrollably take them into the past or the future; and even when they think they are present focused, they often look at it through a lens from their past. Because the Lord allows free will, we constantly come out of relationship with Him when we leave the present moment in our minds. To be in relationship with the Lord requires remaining in the present moment where His presence reigns as I Am. That is where His grace and love abide. That is where He is truly living water that satisfies beyond mere words.

True redemption and restoration are found in the presence of the Lord. Healing, physically and spiritually, happens through us being joined with the presence of the Lord such that the power of His presence, love, and light can touch and redeem us in the places of darkness and disease. When Jesus healed people, it was through His presence, not through mere words; and it was a presence that was larger than earthly life – a presence that we as yet truly know little about because of not being in the present much with Him.

Jesus’ healing powers resulted from being present with the Father’s presence, and that Presence brought love, light, and redemption into lost places. For us, new light is brought to us through being joined with Christ’s presence in places that lack the Lord and His Love. As a whole, we have not yet really learned the Way of aligning ourselves with the Lord Who is in us and greater than us such that His light and watchful eye from within begin to expose and transform all that is not light. As we learn to walk further in this way of being in the present moment with Him, however, the light of His presence begins to fill our whole body with light – and all must bow to the Lord.

Walking regularly in the present moment with Christ is a powerful way of walking that releases God’s rights and love in and through us on this earth. And yet, for my own journey, I have much to learn about walking this way that Jesus walked. I am not one who has arrived at some glorious place of ongoing presence and unwavering faith. Where Jesus said the ruler of this world had nothing in Him, I am one who has struggled like others to truly leave the attachments of this world such that it would have little hold over me. Still, I have experienced great joy and freedom regarding what the Lord has done in a tremendously short time in my walk of learning to be present in each moment. Learning to be present with the Lord has been a tremendous gift to me and to the others I fellowship with. We are extremely grateful for this gift and believe that the Lord desires, as well, to give this gift to others who have ears to hear.

Becoming more present has been a significant factor in the Lord more powerfully moving me out of the bondage of the old self and into a more victorious place of walking in ongoing awareness of the Lord’s presence and goodness. While this kind of walk is always a process, walking in the present moment with Christ has allowed me to have true choices available that definitely had not been available previously. I didn’t realize that I had a greater degree of choice available to me than I knew regarding not succumbing to unwanted thoughts or emotions controlling me in certain areas. While I outwardly followed Christ fairly well, inwardly I had still been concerned about what others thought of me and I would bow to fear in various difficult people situations. I shut down inwardly while still going through the motions outwardly of doing what I believed the Lord wanted of me. Love was neither experienced by me nor free to truly reach and touch others through me when inwardly I was filled with fear in those ways.

Since learning to be present with the Lord in a more ongoing way, however, those unwanted thoughts and emotions have greatly dissipated. While I still have moments of those distractions at various points, being more regularly present each moment has filled me with the Lord’s thoughts and fruits, enabling me to love beyond the restricted ways I had walked previously. To the extent that I remain present, that is to the extent that I am able to remain awake and to know the Lord’s presence along with the fruits of the Spirit. In areas that I had no real hope of change, I found the Lord miraculously changing me.

To me personally, learning to be present with Christ as a way of walking in life feels like a great secret or mystery that part of me wishes I had known long ago – and yet, I know that Christ’s time is right and that now was the right time and is always the right time. In addition, my sense is that this journey of learning to walk regularly in the present moment with the Lord is a narrow way that is truly a significant pathway for learning some of the greater mysteries of Christ that are still to come.

The mysteries of Christ are great, and learning to be present with Him is one of those mysteries. Christ continues to release more of these mysteries as we head into the latter days. No single voice or gift is the answer. While the Lord is one Lord, His body has many parts. To embrace the fullness of Christ and His gifts to us, we must embrace the various voices and parts of Him that are used for communicating the whole. While we are to discern according to the scriptures His voices that He uses for making us more whole, holy, or complete in Him, we are to continue opening up to fuller revelations of Him. I say this because this book will likely challenge and stretch you beyond the boundaries of what is familiar and comfortable to you – but, it will likely bring many fresh revelations and cause much growth in the Lord as well, whether or not you end up agreeing with some of what has been expressed in these writings. Wrestling through what it is that you truly believe always produces growth.

The reason the latter times will be greater than the former is because the Lord will come in greater fullness in His people than ever before. Greater fullness means greater revelations of Him – which can only occur through opening up to more of Him than we have known of Him previously. Growing into Him is a life-long journey, and anytime we put Him into finite boxes of who we determine Him to be, we disallow fuller revelations of Him. Christ is relational, complete, and the full expression of love. As we continue to hear His voice more fully, we will sense and be drawn more into connectedness, completeness, and love. In contrast, when we hear a voice that is not of Christ, we often experience and are drawn into greater judgment, separateness, and incompleteness. Pay attention to the various voices of Christ that gather people unto Him, for all things will be gathered into Christ in the end.

Along with the scriptures, Christ in you (Col. 1:27), the hope of glory, is your true Guide that leads you in His Way. When the voice of truth speaks, whoever it may happen to speak through at a given point, you will sense your heart resonating with that Truth – for it is He that causes your heart to resonate in that way when He speaks. Just as it states in the scriptures (see 1 Jn. 2:27), You have no need of a teacher, for your Guide, or Teacher, is within you. While there are many voices, there is one true Teacher or Guide. Let your Guide lead and teach you as you read further, for this book is one voice of the many parts of His voice. Becoming present with Christ is one gift of the many gifts for bringing healing and meeting the various needs that He desires to meet. For the more you become healed and whole through becoming present with Him, the more He and His love will be freed to love through you. You will know this truth the more you become present, because the more you become present, the more you become freed, and the more you become freed in Him, the more His love will compel you to leave all and love.

Note: As you read further, you may want to take your time and read aloud because reading aloud tends to engage more of your senses and more of who you truly are, which sometimes deepens your experience and opens more of a way for the Spirit. Slowing down, as well, allows you to be more present and to take in what you read. Also, you will find that this book is not so much a how-to book as it is a book simply to read and let the power of the Lord work what He wishes to work into your life in His time – for striving to attain presence will undermine the very presence and relationship with the Lord you desire. So feel free simply to read and let the Lord do all the work, and to reread the book, if you wish, at a later point for deepening the Lord’s work. Following each chapter, as is the case here as well, are two or three statements in which to be still and present with so as to allow the Lord some time to work His works deeper within you. And if the Lord so chooses, at a certain point, to move you to action regarding applying to your life what you have read, then yield to Him in action as well.

Be still, and be; become aware of your present experience and how the Lord may be stirring your heart at the moment. Know that He is the LIVING God and is truly within you.

PRESENCE: THE FOUNDATION

OF ALL GOOD THINGS

A great teacher of the scriptures, T. Austin-Sparks, once said that when learning about a particular topic in the scriptures, it is important to see God’s first as well as last and final word about the topic. Regarding the presence of the Lord, I would like us to pay attention to God’s final word on the subject and then go back and see the contrast of the first place that that topic comes onto the scene.

"And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them (Rev. 20:11). What is the awesome power that causes even heaven and earth as we have known them to flee away in the end? The Lord’s presence. Whatever is not of God simply will not stand in the presence of the Lord in the end. Only that which is built upon His foundation will stand, for He is the foundation of all lasting things. Only that which is of Him will remain. That is why we will be changed into His likeness. His presence, which is light, will cause all things to become light in the end – and that which is not, will fall away. But what is the power that causes all of this? It is simply the presence of the Lord. In similar fashion to what the presence of the Lord does, the scriptures state (2 Ptr. 3:10-13), But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be