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"His blessing is His Presence, and that can be felt in abundant worldly prosperity or in the absence of it."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 116.
What do you think of when you hear the word blessing? If you are like me I think of good things happening to me. When I receive good news, I classify myself as blessed. When I earn a good paycheck, I feel like blessing has come my way. When things are going my way I tend to chalk this up to the fact that blessing is what God wants for His Children. How about you? Do you feel this way too?
It is in the times of difficulty that blessing can be an issue that can seem confusion and demoralizing. It isn't that God wants us to see bad times as a blessing - they aren't and looking at them that way isn't something that is particularly useful in our lives. What I'm starting to see in my life that the blessing God promises really has nothing to do with circumstance at all. Blessing can be had in the good times and in the bad as well.
I believe God's blessing is His Presence. God's presence is something we can experience when things are going our way and when things have turned against us. His presence is a mysterious prospect that the victor needs to get into touch with or victim thinking can't help to be a part of our lives.
What is God's Presence? Now there's a question that people have wrestled with for such a long time now. I'm not sure all that wrestling has brought about any clear answers that we can bank on when it comes to identifying God's presence. Sure there are tons of Bible verses that speak to the circumstances that ushered in God's presence in the past but I'm not so sure those stories are there to have us try and duplicate those situations so His presence can be felt now. Formulas for relationship with any one, particularly relationship with God aren't something that puts us in the position of being the loving person others in relationship need in their lives.
Take a look at today's Bible reading and notice some things about God's presence that we need to know for our lives.
You’re all I want in heaven!
You’re all I want on earth!
When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
God is rock-firm and faithful.
Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again.
But I’m in the very presence of God—
oh, how refreshing it is!
I’ve made Lord God my home.
God, I’m telling the world what you do! Psalm 73:25-28 (MSG)
First of all notice what it takes to recognize God's presence. The author of this Psalm states that he has made God his home. God is all he wants on heaven and on earth. I believe that this author has gone through so many trials in life that it use to be so easy for him to question God's presence in ways that brought victim thinking to the forefront. I also believe that the ways God appeared in his life just at the right time made him realize that His presence can be expected no matter how bad the circumstances he may face.
Same goes for you and for me. Wanting God is all that is needed for His presence to be part of our lives. Wanting what God can do for you isn't a guarantee that His presence will be recognized or enjoyed in any situation you are facing. It is as we make our home with the Lord that His presence becomes the blessing He has intended it to be from the start. The more and more we expect His presence to be what God does the more disappointed we will be in our relationship with Him as we will be in a place to question His presence in our lives.
God's presence is for you, it is there for you to be blessed with no matter what you are facing in your life today. Make God your home. Make Him all you want to the best of your ability. Then and only then can our perception of what blessing is be changed from getting from God to abiding in Him. Let the fact that His Presence is there for you be what makes you different to a world stuck in victim thinking. Look for His presence. Enjoy the benefits that presence offers and live the life of a victor that presence affords you today.
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