Moses was a Hebrew, but he was raised in Egypt by Pharaoh’s daughter. Not until he was a young man did he take his stand for the Lord. He left the house of Pharaoh and went to dwell among the shepherds in Midian.

Moses came to know God; but he didn’t have great reality in Him until one day as he was keeping the sheep, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed (Exodus 3:2).

Moses was amazed at what he saw; and when he went to take a closer look, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:4-6). God made Himself so real to Moses that day; and from then on, Moses lived in the presence of God.

God had anointed Moses’ rod, also called a staff; and then He told him to go before Pharaoh and tell him to let the children of Israel go. Moses went forth to see Pharaoh with that anointing and his rod of faith. When he held up that rod, God rained down plagues on the Egyptians. When you use your faith, things will happen for you too; but if you have faith and don’t use it, nothing will happen.

Faith Opens Heaven’s Windows

Your faith has to be cultivated and anointed daily if you want it to work for you, and that is where many people miss it. They think once in a lifetime or once in a while is enough, but that won’t work. You get your faith anointed by living in the presence of the Lord, and you can’t do that with any sin in your life. The Bible says, The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (I John 1:7). Notice that says all sin, not just some of it.

When you live in the presence of the Lord, He will always be close by; but you have to believe that with all of your heart and act like it if you want God to move for you. The Bible says, Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10). Some of you don’t seem to be able to open up the windows of Heaven, and it may be because you are still expecting the Lord to do all the work. However, I believe the latch is on your side. Through your faithfulness and obedience to God in everything, you can reach up and open the latch to those windows of Heaven. You can have all your needs supplied and live a glorious life when you live in God’s presence.

Have a Perfect Heart

God is perfect, and He only works in perfection; so if you want Him to give you His best and do a complete work in your life, you must walk upright before Him in perfection. When you fail the Lord in anything, it hinders God from working for you as perfectly as He wants to. Some people say no one can be perfect, and it is true that no one can be perfect in the eyes of man; but Jesus said you can be perfect before the Lord. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

When God told King Hezekiah to get ready to die, he said to the Lord, Remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart (II Kings 20:3). And God didn’t deny it because Hezekiah had lived in the presence of the Lord. So God told the prophet Isaiah to go back and tell Hezekiah, I will add unto thy days fifteen years (II Kings 20:6).

Some of you don’t get answers from the Lord because you only live in His presence some of the time but not all the time. Here on Earth, you come in contact with people all the time; but you don’t live in their presence all the time. Even when it comes to those you live with, you are only in their presence when they are in the same room with you; but you must live in the presence of the Lord all the time.

Be Conscious of the Lord

The Jews found that it didn’t work for them to come in contact with God only once a year on the Day of Atonement because they still couldn’t stay away from sin on any of the other days. Coming in contact with the Lord and staying away from sin just once a week or even a few days a week is not enough for you either. You have to be in contact with the Lord and yield to Him every day. You have to be conscious of Him being there, and then you will seek to please Him. That will make it easy for you to refuse evil and stay away from sin.

People do things they should not when they are not conscious of the Lord being with them. They don’t consider Him when they make decisions; so God said, That soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD (Leviticus 22:3). Just because the Lord doesn’t cut you off the minute you do something wrong doesn’t mean you are getting by. The devil wants you to think you are, and he will point out that you can still feel the Lord’s presence with you; but even sinners can feel the Lord’s presence at times when He is trying to draw them.

Fear God the Right Way

It isn’t enough to feel the Spirit of God, but that deceives many Christians. They think they are walking close to the Lord because they feel Him at times, but feelings can deceive you. You have to be living according to the Word of God. That is God’s road map, and you have to walk His way.

The presence of the Lord affects people in different ways. Some will be drawn to it while others will turn away. Sinners and backsliders can’t come to God unless they are drawn by His Spirit, and no one can be drawn by the Spirit without feeling the presence. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him (John 6:44).

Some sinners will come into the house of God and be drawn by the Spirit and the presence of the Lord. Others may feel very uncomfortable because they have a guilty conscience and are afraid that God’s judgment is about to fall. It all depends on whether a person has an honest heart or a dishonest heart.

When you are right before God, being in His presence is like a heavenly breeze coming down. When you are not right before God, you will fear Him as the Israelites did when they told Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die (Exodus 20:19). They were afraid of God because they knew they had been so disobedient.

Adam and Eve were not afraid of God until they sinned. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:8-10).

When you are living free from sin, you will not be afraid of the presence of God. You will welcome Him to come down and tarry with you. Of course, there will be times when you will have godly fear because the greatness of Him is so mighty and beyond your expectations, but it is not fear that the Lord is going to destroy you. It’s honoring God and being in awe of Him.

Have Childlike Faith

Through the power of the Holy Ghost, you can hold the Lord’s hand all the time. Jesus said, It is expedient [necessary] for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you (John 16:7). Jesus knew that as a man, He could not be with all people all the time. That is why He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of each person who would have Him. The Holy Ghost would come down to dwell in each one of those hearts, and their bodies would become His temple. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I Corinthians 3:16)?

At last, man and woman could once again walk and talk with their God just as Adam and Eve had done in the Garden of Eden. No, you can’t see Him, but you can be just as close to Him as they were through the power of the Spirit. You can feel the same divine love they did and have the same childlike faith toward Him. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein (Mark 10:15). You must become like a little child and have the faith to believe whatever the Lord tells you no matter how unbelievable it may seem.

One day, Jesus told Peter, Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee (Matthew 17:27). Now that would take childlike faith because most adults would think you were crazy. It's sad that some people rely on common sense much more than they do faith.

The Lord Honors Faith

Many people brag about all they know; but the Bible says, And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know (I Corinthians 8:2). When you depend more on self than you do on God, you are in trouble. God wants to be the source of your knowledge, wisdom, inspiration and guidance. He wants you to lean on Him. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5,6).

There are preparations that need to be made to be used of the Lord, and God was preparing Peter to be used by Him. When the Lord tests your faith and you pass the test as Peter did, it will get you ready for greater things.

When Jesus went walking on the water to the disciples, Peter said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come (Matthew 14:28,29). Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter to stay on the boat; He let him try to walk, and he did walk. But after a few steps, Peter started to sink and cried, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him (Matthew 14:30,31).

Jesus didn’t say, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to walk,” and then grumble at having to pull him out of the water. Jesus was proud that Peter had used his faith and walked a few steps. I’m sure the Lord took greater delight in Peter that day than He did in the rest of the disciples who had stayed on board without even trying to use their faith; however, he still didn’t rebuke them for not trying.

When the disciples struggled with their faith, Jesus would say, “Oh ye of little faith.” He didn’t say, “You’re no good, so I will have to choose other men to take your places.” Jesus is so patient with us as long as we are willing to put forth effort. When you yield to Him and His Word, He will surround you with His love and bring you deliverance.

The Joy of the Lord

The Bible declares, Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands (Psalm 100:1). A joyful noise is praising the Lord with your whole heart. Your joyful noise doesn’t have to be in the form of singing or anything in particular, and it doesn’t matter what it sounds like to other people. What matters is what it sounds like to God.

When you make a joyful noise from a pure heart, God loves it; and it will take you into His presence. In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11). You may be saved; but if you aren’t full of His joy, you aren’t living in His presence.

When you are full of the joy of the Lord, there is no room left for you to be full of worry, fear or anything else unlike God. You will talk about the goodness and the greatness of the Lord and about how good He has been to you, but some Christians won’t do that. The Lord can bless them in a great way, and they’ll look like they are going to fly away. Then the next time you see them, they look like they can hardly crawl. That is so sad.

The Bible says, And [God] hath raised us up together, and made us sit together [with Him] in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). You may think that those heavenly places are reserved for when you get to Heaven, but God wants to raise you up to sit in heavenly places with Him while you are still on this Earth. That is what living in His presence is all about.

Let Your Cup Run Over

When a cup of coffee is boiling hot, it can run over onto the saucer below; and it is the same if you are a cup Christian. When you are bubbling over with the love and joy of the Lord, it will spill over onto the saucer Christians below; and they will get blessed. However, they never receive a blessing from the Lord unless that happens.

Are you a cup Christian or a saucer Chris-tian? Are you so full of the things of God that they spill over and bless others, or do other children of God have to run over before you get blessed? You can only be a cup Christian when you are living in the presence of the Lord as David, the Psalmist, was. He said, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over (Psalm 23:5).

David’s cup was running over. When he was going out to face Goliath, he wasn’t inching his way up to that giant in fear. He was overflowing with the joy, boldness and courage of the Lord as he walked confidently out to meet Goliath saying, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel…for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands (I Samuel 17:45-47). And that is exactly what happened because David was full of the Spirit of God, and the Lord used him to bless all of Israel.

Do you want to spend your days waiting for someone else to run over before you can receive an answer or a blessing from the Lord? If so, you will miss so much of the abundant life God wants you to have. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

Never Flee God’s Will

God told Moses and the Israelites, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. (Exodus 33:14). And He is saying the same thing to us today. When the presence of the Lord goes with you, you don’t have to be afraid of anything.

Then Moses replied, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence (Exodus 33:15). You must declare the same thing and mean it. You must not go anywhere, make any significant purchases or do any business without the Lord. You must not make one decision or even one move without Him. You must always wait for the Lord to make your path plain. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path (Psalm 27:11). You must know you are living in His divine presence and in His divine will.

Jonah and Cain are examples of those who chose to leave the presence of the Lord. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD (Jonah 1:3). And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden (Genesis 4:16). Have you ever been guilty of doing that?

Enoch is an example of one who walked with God. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). God took Enoch to Heaven alive because he was so faithful to live in His presence.

Later, Elijah was caught up to Heaven alive. And it came to pass, as they [Elijah and Elisha] still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven (II Kings 2:11).

Seek God’s Will

The Lord has a purpose for everything He does and for every move He makes. As humans, we do things at times that really have no purpose; but God has no time to waste. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The Lord works through different people in different ways, but He always has a purpose. He knows what is best for you, and that is why you must always live in His presence and walk in His will.

When you pray, you must always pray for God’s divine will, or you will have trouble ahead. Remember that the Israelites wanted a king, but God didn’t want them to have one. They cried and begged and cried and begged, so God finally gave them their first king, King Saul.

The prophet Samuel was so brokenhearted over that because he knew that was not what God had wanted; but the Lord consoled him saying, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them (I Samuel 8:7). Unfor-tunately, Saul failed miserably and eventually committed suicide. Most of the Israelite kings after him also failed and caused nothing but trouble.

The Bible teaches us to pray, Father…not my will, but thine, be done (Luke 22:42). If you don’t pray that way, you may receive some answers that won’t be the best for you. God has a divine will and a permissible will. You can choose to live in His permissible will, but you will have to fight many battles God never planned for you. Then some will blame God for their problems, but they will be their own fault.

You must always be willing for God to do things His way. It may look to you that your way is the best way to go, but God has more vision of what is to come than you do. He knows what is best for you; but some of you don’t believe that even though the Bible says, All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Who are you to contend with the Almighty? You must leave everything entirely in His hands and say as the Psalmist did, Thou wilt shew me the path of life (Psalm 16:11). You must want God to use you for His honor and glory.

The Angel of His Presence

The upright shall dwell in thy presence (Psalm 140:13). Nothing but upright living will keep you in the presence of God. When you begin to do things that are wrong, you leave the presence of God; and following the Lord afar off isn’t good enough. The Bible tells us, The angel of his presence saved them (Isaiah 63:9). Yes, the Lord has angels of His presence. And when one of those angels is there and moving, it’s the same as if God is there and doing it. That angel has authority from God to move.

Gideon met an angel of God’s presence. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour (Judges 6:12). Peter met an angel of God’s presence when he was in prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands (Acts 12:7). God let Peter see that angel, and it was the same as if God had walked into the prison house. Then everything worked out as He had wanted it to.

There are actually different realms of God’s presence; and it takes much fasting, prayer and consecration to reach some of them. You may feel that you can never make it, and that’s true if you are not living like the Lord wants you to. Many of the Early Church disciples were so anointed because they lived in the presence of God.

Many of those early Christians also had to give their lives for the sake of Christ. Why?—because they acted like Jesus and were doing His work. If they had let fear take them over and cause them to stop getting together and doing the works of Christ, they probably never would have been arrested; but they weren’t afraid of what would happen to them. They were busy teaching, preaching, healing the sick and casting out devils.

You must be so rooted and grounded in the Word and filled with the anointing and power of God that you are not afraid of the devil. Fighting the devil should just make you pray more, fast more and realize more than ever that you are nothing without the presence of God.

Abraham Obeyed the Presence

Once Abraham began living in the presence of God, he obeyed God in a way that not many men could have done. And he [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of (Genesis 22:2).

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son, and they had waited twenty-five years for Isaac to be born; but still, Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him (Genesis 22:3). How many people would have even started on that trip let alone followed through on it?

How could Abraham have offered his beloved Isaac?—because he lived in the presence of the Lord. And when Abraham was about to bring the knife down on his son, the angel of God’s presence called out to him saying, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest [honor] God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me (Genesis 22:11,12).

Salvation Is the Beginning

God can only be real to you when you are living in His presence, and only when He is real to you will you have the zeal and unction in your heart needed to reach the lost. In God’s presence, the power of the Holy Ghost will give you such a mighty unction to reach the lost that you will be miserable when you are not doing that.

Some people only think of winning souls in faraway places, yet there are lost souls all around them every day. You first have to be a missionary at home before you can become one in other places. God is not pleased for you to let the souls around you die and go to hell. It’s almost time for Jesus to return, so it’s harvest time for the Gentiles.

Living in the presence of the Lord and winning souls begins with salvation. If you are unsaved today, it’s time for you to give your heart to the Lord. Say, Oh, God, I’m a sinner. Save my soul. I am lost and undone without you, and I am so sorry. I believe Jesus died for my sins and that His divine blood washes away all of my sins. Forgive me, Lord, and I will live for you. Come into my heart, Jesus. Come on in. If you meant that prayer, Jesus has come. Start reading your Bible and praying, and doing some Bible fasting will help you too.

It's Miracle Time

If you are sick or afflicted today, it’s time for a miracle. God can heal you no matter what disease or affliction you may have. Death may be raging in your body, but you can be free. You may have AIDs, cancer, TB, paralysis, diabetes or heart problems; but it doesn’t matter. You can receive healing today.

Raise your hand as a point of contact as I pray. Lord, I bring the sick and afflicted to you. You said a believer would lay hands on the sick, and they would get well. Lord, I am laying hands on the people today by faith. I bring them to you in the blood name of your precious Son, Jesus. Flow your miracle power into them now. Heal! in the name of Jesus. God, heal their bodies and bring good health to them. Amen.

The power of God has come upon you, so decide you are going to get well. Then glorify the Lord by telling others about what He has done for you. Rejoice in your miracle and serve the Lord, and I will see you in Heaven one day. Always remember that nobody has ever loved you like Jesus loves you, and nobody has ever cared like He cares.