Staying in God's Presence

How long should I stay?

“…THEY SOUGHT GOD EAGERLY, AND HE WAS FOUND
BY THEM…” 2 CHRONICLES 15:15 NIV

You’ll keep returning only to a place of pleasure, so stay in God’s presence until you create memories strong enough to keep bringing you back. If you don’t, you’ll be lured away by lesser things. Memories of the good times he’d spent with his father were what eventually brought the Prodigal Son back home (Lk 15:17). And the right memories will draw you back into God’s presence, time and time again. “How long should I stay?” you ask.
(1) Until you’ve truly repented. Listen: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret…” (2 Cor 7:10 NIV)
(2) Until your mistakes have been dealt with. Listen: “People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy” (Prov 28:13 NLT)
(3) Until your anger subsides. Listen: “…My [own] peace I now give…to you…stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed…” (Jn 14:27 AMP)
(4) Until your fear leaves. Listen, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you,” (Isa 41:10 NIV)
(5) Until your pain is healed. Listen: “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord…” (Jer 30:17 NIV)
(6) Until your strength is renewed. Listen: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa 40:31).
(7) Until change begins. Listen: “But we all…beholding…the Lord, are changed…from glory to glory…by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18)
(8) Until you understand His plan for your life. Listen, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11 NLT)
(9) Until you recapture your motivation. Listen: “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living…be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Ps 27:13-14 NIV)
(10) Until you receive His wisdom. Listen: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Ps 32:8 NIV)
(11) Until new ideas are born. Listen: “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (Isa 42:9 NIV)
(12) Until Christ becomes the centre of your life. Listen: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:4 NIV).

Have you been spending enough time in God’s presence lately?

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