His Presence Sets Us Apart.
3rd JULY 2020
The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest — everything will be fine for you.” Then Moses said, “If You don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You look favourably on me — on me and on Your people — if You don’t go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” [Exodus 33:14–16 NLT]
If there was anything Moses had come to learn from his experience of the burning bush, to Egypt and to the ten plagues that followed due to pharaoh’s stubbornness and hardened heart against God, it is that nothing is possible unless the presence of God goes before and with a person.
Moses was so convinced of this truth that he was not willing to go anywhere if God was not willing to go with them. Why? Because he had come to know that the presence of God in a man’s life makes all the difference. It sets us apart from the world and it brings favour our way, both with God and with men. If one man knew that a whole nation was doomed without the presence of God, how then, can we start our day without the Holy Spirit? How can we live out our purpose, without the presence of the Holy Spirit? How can we speak words of wisdom like Jesus, Stephen and Paul without the presence of the Holy Spirit?
Without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can do nothing.
When we examine the journey of the Israelites in the old testament; the battles the Israelites won and the lands they conquered, one can only attribute it to the presence of God with them. So much so that whenever God withdrew Himself from the Israelites due to their stubbornness and disobedience, the Israelites were either captured, defeated or they lost their possessions.
Under the new covenant, God extended His mercy and grace towards us by sending Jesus to die for our sins and in addition, He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and lead us to our place of rest, peace and victory.
Heavenly Father, teach me to go only where Your presence leads me.
Prophetic Declaration: Psalms 91
Bible In One Year: Isaiah [Chapters 10–13]
