I woke up the other night thinking about this simple thought, Jesus is with me. Now I know that a thought like that does not exactly break new ground in theology or dazzle anyone with its genius, but maybe it should. As I laid there thinking about that I realized that all I was doing was thinking about that, I was thinking about the idea of Jesus being with me. I was not experiencing the presence of Jesus nor was I really with him in that moment. I was just thinking about him from a distance so to speak, as if that is possible.

I realized that I was thinking about that, I was thinking about the idea of Jesus being with me. I was not experiencing the presence of Jesus, nor was I really with him in that moment.

When I realized this it set off a traffic jam of thoughts in my head and heart about the nature of my relationship with Jesus in everyday life. So today, as we finish this year and prepare for the next, I wanted to meditate on the actual presence of Jesus - the Immanuel of Isaiah, a name which means, “God with us”.

And Jesus came and said to them,

As a missionary for over 30 years this passage is very well known to me, I have studied it and I have preached on it, and I have used it to guide my decisions, but looking at it today, it’s the last line that stands out to me. Jesus is with us, that is a fact. But do we live as if Jesus is with us? Do we talk to Jesus like he is actually with us? Or are our prayers more like postcards we drop in the mail? Do we see the world through his eyes as we stand with him? Or do we see the world through the eyes of the media? These are a few of the thoughts I would like to explore today.

Do we live as if Jesus is with us?

If we believe Jesus is alive and with us how does that change things? If we “practice the presence of God” one of the things we need to do is follow the example of the prophets and righteous people of old. One of King David’s disciplines for example was his persistence in “seeking the face of God”. Consider this passage from Psalm 27.

You have said,

Our mind does not naturally seek God, it naturally seeks its own various desires. So it seems to me that the first step toward developing a richer walk with Jesus is teaching ourselves to seek a richer walk with Jesus, we need to practice seeking the face of Jesus in everyday life. Jesus told us that he is with us always to the end of this age. It is a delusional mind that denies reality, and the presence of Jesus is a reality. So we are in effect all mentally ill, in a manner of speaking. We live in the presence of God every day but we rarely acknowledge it. We must discipline ourselves to live in reality, the reality of God and His Son Jesus. To live in reality we must take David’s lead and seek the face of God everyday, until it becomes a habit of mind. As our perspective changes and expands we will finally understand reality as it actually is. And we will know that we are never alone.

Our conversations all take place in the presence of Jesus. When we speak, we speak to Jesus as well. Our troubles are not ours alone, but Jesus is there to comfort us and give us his strength. Jesus is with us if we will believe, He is there if we are willing to take his hand. He is listening, are we listening to him? If not, we must learn to listen.

The Tyranny of Noise

So why don’t we do this more often? The reason I believe these thoughts came to me at night is that during the day the noise and pressures of everyday life deafen and blind us to the presence of God. The world is filled with the voices of unbelief. We easily forget that Jesus himself is with us as we push through the difficulties and distractions of our daily lives. This is why we must do as David did and “seek the face of God”, we must learn to “practice the presence of God” like Brother Lawrence. We need to discipline our weak and beleaguered minds to live in the reality of God’s love and the presence of Jesus.

So this week, no matter how crazy life can be at times, I plan to intentionally take time to seek the face of God, to personally interact with Jesus, to quiet my soul and listen to the one that loves me, who set aside his glory to become a man, and gave his life for me. I hope you can join me in this kind of working/walking worship this week and I pray that you and yours have a truly blessed week, and a happy New Year!

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