Powerful Presence

Around the first of this year, I was challenged instead of a “new year resolution” to choose a word that would speak to me all year long. I think the challenge was from a podcast featuring Jon Gordon. Jon Gordon is the Norman Vincent Pealeof our day, in my opinion. The word that came to my mind was “Presence”. I really started thinking about this word a lot. It can speak to me being present wherever I am. I see it mostly as the Presence of God being with me and me being with Him.

Joseph, the son of Jacob (aka Israel) was sold into slavery by his brothers due to their jealousy and envy. He ended up in the household of Potiphar, the captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord was with him as a slave and he moved through the ranks quickly to become Potiphar’s personal assistant. Potiphar’s wife (aka “Hotiphar” :-/) tried to seduce Joseph, but his integrity was strong, and he resisted. She accused him and because of the accusation, he was put into prison, probably to be executed. Check this out…..

¹⁹ Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰ So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. ²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. (Genesis 39:19-23 NLT)

The Powerful Presence of the Lord was a “Game Changer” for Joseph. He found favor in the eyes of everyone who met him.

I believe that the Presence of God in me changes everything. His Presence in me changes how I view others – I can see them as an individual created by God and He doesn’t make mistakes. His Presence in me changes how I handle frustration and accusation. His Presence in me changes how I view people who have a different opinion than mine. (Even though I know they are wrong! :-/) His Presence can give me patience. His Presence can give me deep love for others. His Presence can give me insight to the other person’s position. His Presence can supply me with wisdom and discernment. His Presence can give me deep and abiding peace that is hard for anyone else to understand. His Presence can give me favor from others. His Presence in me reminds me of Who He is and all that He’s doing and already done for me. The Presence of God is the most significant goal/accomplishment/characteristic of my life – period.

Pressing On!

Dwayne