Peace In God’s Presence

For the last few weeks, the word peace has been in my Spirit. Every time I would ask God what He wanted me to write about this month, He would say “peace.” I didn’t completely understand what aspect of peace He wanted me to write from, but as I waited, prayed, and spent time in His presence, He made it clearer.

As we all know, there is so much taking place in the world and in the church right now, there are many things being discussed on social media that’s causing much debate and division even among believers. There are many things pulling for our attention, and many things seeking to distract us. Sadly, things are not going to get better, things will only intensify in the coming weeks, months, and years. As the Bible has prophesied, many events will take place before the coming of our Lord. There will also be a great falling away in the church (2 Thess. 2:3), which is slowly taking place before our eyes. Events are taking place all over the world to set the stage for the coming of The Lord.

In a time like this, we have to make sure that we are connected to God, we have to make sure that we are not distracted by all the noise of the world and the things taking place in our personal lives. We have to make sure that we’re truly in tune to the Spirit of God. There are many things vying for our attention, our devotion, and our time. And while we should be discerning, alert, and aware of what’s going on around us, we also have to make sure that our resting place is in the presence of God. We all have to make our home is in His presence.

God has been dealing with me about being consistent in His presence and the importance of intimate time alone with Him. In truth, things will not get more peaceful in this world, things will only become more chaotic. The only place we can find true peace is in the presence of God. If we allow ourselves to get lost in the cares of this life and in the current events of our time, we will find ourselves further and further away from God. We must be alert and wide awake in the spirit! The only way to do that is by making sure we are spending time with God and in tune to His Holy Spirit.   

Where are you finding your peace and rest? What has your attention?

“For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” (1 Thess. 5:3)

We cannot find our peace and safety in anything in this world. Technological advances that offer us greater ease and luxury in this life cannot give us peace. We cannot find peace or safety in our education, our careers, businesses, money, or worldly possessions. Where do your peace and safety lie? What do you go to when you need peace and rest? What is your source of comfort? Where does your sense of safety come from? Does it come from your paycheck, your house, your parents, your bank account, or the government, etc.?

Nothing in this world or that we can obtain in this life will last. True peace and safety can only be found in the presence of God. When everything else is shaking and uncertain, He is the only constant. In fact, when we begin to seek other things and people for peace and comfort, God will allow those things and those people to disappoint us. Those things will naturally disappoint and fail us. It’s like trying to climb onto something that isn’t strong enough hold you or trying to sit on a chair that can’t hold your weight – those things will fail you. God wants us to depend on Him and only on Him. He wants us to find our safety and rest in His presence. Any peace outside of Jesus is a false peace. Any sense of safety outside of Jesus is false safety. We each have to evaluate our hearts and ask ourselves where our peace comes from. If the things we depend on come crashing down, will we still feel secure in God?

It’s so easy to get caught up in everything that’s going on around us. It’s easy to find our peace and rest in the wrong things. It’s easy to always run to our phones or to social media for answers or to turn on the tv to get rest and unwind from the pressures of life. But in a time like this, we must learn to run to God’s presence. Don’t get lost in the cares of this life! Don’t get distracted by what is taking place in the world, keep your focus on the Lord. Don’t let social media pull you out of God’s presence! Satan wants to distract us from seeking God for real. He wants us to get so busy with our responsibilities, he wants us to get tied up with current events and trends, he wants us to get super comfortable with the pleasures and comforts of life to the point that we are spiritually lulled to sleep. When your spirit is asleep, you are not aware of what is taking place in the spirit – you don’t know what God is doing and you’re not aware of what the enemy is doing/trying to do. You are an easy target for attack because your spiritual defenses are down.

1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” If you are not in God’s presence, the enemy can easily devour you. Just when you think you are secure outside of God, just when things appear to be peaceful (if you are not finding that peace and security in the very presence of God) the enemy will pounce, and you will be caught unaware. There are many people all over the world who have a false sense of security, they have no idea that Satan is playing them by giving them everything that their heart desires which causes them to be distant from God. But in the end when the things they found peace and safety in comes crumbling down, it will be too late.

Don’t be caught unaware! There is a real spiritual battle taking place that we cannot see with our natural eyes. Just as God desires our attention, the enemy desires it as well. RUN INTO GOD’S PRESENCE AND DO NOT DELAY!! His presence is the ONLY place of true peace and safety. Don’t allow the things of this world to give you false confidence. The enemy wants to distract us. At this very moment he is distracting and deceiving even the saints. Many believers think that they are secure because they are doing many works for God and they profess the name of Christ, but because they are so far from God and far from His presence, they don’t even realize that they are no longer walking with God; they don’t realize that they have strayed far from Him. When we hide ourselves in the presence of God and allow Him to deal with us there, He will show us things in our heart that’s not like Him, He will do whatever is necessary to make sure we remain close to Him – if we allow Him. But if we are far from Him, He can’t deal with us.

And being close to God has nothing to do with your service for Him, it has everything to do with the posture of your heart. Matthew 7:21-23 says that in the end, He will tell many who did works for Him to depart from Him because He never knew them. They never got to really know Him. It is possible to work for God, confess the name of Jesus, and yet still not know Him.  

There is A CALL to enter into God’s presence!

There is a call in the spirit to enter into God’s presence! It’s more than just spending time with Him from time to time, we need to make our home in His presence, we need to acquaint ourselves with the presence of God; we need to make His presence our home – our resting place!

Years ago, when I was just learning how to really pray and spend intimate time with God, He would always tell me “there is a special place for you in My presence.” There is a special place, with my name on it, for He and I to meet, a special place for me to dwell with Him. He wanted me to steal away into His presence. He desired for me to put away the noise and busyness of my life to be with Him. He wanted me to sacrifice everything to meet Him there. He showed me so many things in His presence, He did so many things in my heart, He healed and delivered me from a lot of things in His presence.

I was going through a very tough season at that time, but when I would run into His presence, He would give me such a peace to the point that I could endure the trials at the time. The peace that came from His presence gave me an unexplainable, supernatural ability, peace, and joy, to walk through those trials. What I was going through at the time did not and could not overtake me because I found TRUE PEACE in His presence. It was and still is, my place of safety. It’s my home and my place of rest. The verse in Philippians 4:7 that says that the peace of God surpasses all understanding is very real and it’s something that each of us can experience. It’s something that God wants us to experience, and it’s one of our birthrights as God’s children, but we can only obtain it when we are in His presence.

God is calling His sons and His daughter to meet Him in the secret place. There is a place, a special place, for each of us to meet with God. In that place, He will give us peace like a river and joy that can’t be explained. In that place He will prepare us for things to come in our personal lives and even in the world. In that place He will make us very aware of the plots and plans of the enemy and give us secret intelligence on how to defeat the enemy. You can’t get this insight when you’re outside of the presence of God. It’s only given to those who are willing to sacrifice their time and comforts to enter in. That’s why I mentioned earlier that Satan seeks to distract you from this place. The enemy will throw so many things in your face – things taking place in your personal life, social media, and the world – because he doesn’t want you to get what God has for you in His presence.

The Father is calling you into His presence, don’t let anyone or anything hold you back!

God’s presence lifts us far above the ground warfare.

There are some things you cannot walk through successfully without being in God’s presence and allowing Him to gird you up in the Spirit. There are things that I have gone through that had I not stayed close to God, could have taken me out or left me damaged. It’s only because of God and His presence that I came out alright.  We all face warfare in this life, especially as believers. There are many things in this world that seek to pull our attention and seep into our spirit. There are unseen battles waged against us in the spirit every day that unless we are hiding in the secret place, will touch us and affect our walk. As believers, we can’t afford to be outside of His presence. We can’t afford to not get into our word, we can’t afford to not pray and spend time in worship before God!

When you’re not in God’s presence or spending time with Him, your spiritual defenses are literally down, and anything can come in, i.e. false doctrine, depression, oppression, fear, and many other strongholds. When we take hold of God in the secret place, the enemy cannot take hold of us! God recently led me to read 1 Samuel 19 and in verse 1-2 Jonathan told David that his father King Saul was seeking to kill him, so he instructed him to hide in a secret place. Metaphorically, God was saying to me through those verses that when you hide in the secret place of The Most High, the enemy can’t find you there. What can touch you when you hide under the wings of The Most High God? No plot or plan of the enemy can succeed against you unless God Himself allows it. God delivers you from the enemy when you hide in His secret place. Psalm 91:1, 3-4 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.” The enemy can’t touch you in God’s presence. We can’t fight him on our own, we need to be hidden in the presence. (I highly recommend you read all of Psalm 91, it’s very powerful and encouraging. It is a promise for every believer that when we hide ourselves in God, He will keep us).

God will lift you up above the ground warfare when you get into His presence. He will give you peace to not be overtaken by what should overtake you otherwise. He carries us in His presence – He carries us far above the ground warfare. When you make your home in God’s presence, the little darts and warfare that used to bother you won’t get to you anymore because you’re in another place in God – you’ve hidden yourself in His Word, you’ve hidden yourself under His wings and you have His peace. The enemy can’t touch you in this place! And there is a special oil in God’s presence to be able to face trials and circumstances in this life. We will go through warfare and the trials but when we hold fast in His presence, He will give us supernatural strength, peace, and ability to endure it.

I have personally experienced this. There are situations that should have caused me to lose my mind or give up on life altogether, BUT GOD!! We can’t do it without His presence!! There is a strength to endure but it can only be obtained when you are close to God. His presence is far above the troubles of this world. You can be going through hell and high water but because you’ve hidden yourself in the secret place and have ascended far above the ground warfare, you can SOAR ABOVE IT ALL! You can walk through it in total PEACE, unfazed!

Peace in the end times.

Many years ago, as I was spending time in God’s presence and in worship, God gave me a word. He said if we don’t learn to get into His presence NOW, while persecution and trials are still generally light, that as things get crazy as we get even closer to the return of Christ, it will be difficult for us to get into His presence. We will be overcome by everything that will go on around us if we don’t make it a practice NOW. We need to learn to get into His presence now, we need to learn to master and practice His presence NOW. If you don’t learn it now, it will be hard for you to get in later. And the only thing that will keep us in those times is His presence (spending time in His presence). Our only source of peace as things get darker will be God’s presence. With the chaos that will be going on all around the world in those times, we will absolutely need to make our homes in the presence of God.

Not only that, in those days, we will need to be able to hear and discern the voice of the Lord all the more! Imagine having to sneak out of your house in the cover of night to go to a safer place or run from one place to another place with other believers because Christians are being persecuted everywhere. You will need to know God’s voice so He can instruct you on when to go, when to stay, where to go, where not to go, and even who you can trust. He can even show you what’s coming up ahead and how to prepare for it.

Let’s not take this time lightly. The Lord is surely soon to return! But before He returns His children will face many things. Persecution has not touched those here in America and other nations yet, but soon it will be global. Can you discern God’s voice? Is His Word hidden in your heart so that you can recall it to mind when Bibles are confiscated and burned? Have you learned how to get into God’s presence when a storm is taking place around you? Have you made up in your mind that even if threated with death, you will not deny Christ?

These are things that God wants to prepare us for NOW! Now is the time to learn, now is the time to make getting into His presence a lifestyle, now is the time to gird (arm, secure, equip) yourself in the Spirit. His Spirit and His presence are what will give us the ability to endure those days. If you are still here during that time, He will anoint you to be able to endure, but you have to start spending time with Him TODAY. Make time in His presence like it’s your second nature.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

There will be no need to fear in those days or to even fear things you are facing today when you plant yourself in the presence of The Almighty. NOTHING can move or sway you when you plant yourself in God’s presence. His peace and joy will overshadow you when you make Him your home.  

Get in God’s presence TODAY!

Peace will not come to this world unless the world repents. And we can’t live a life of real peace unless we live a life of repentance and submission to The Father. The peace that the world system claims to be bringing can only be found in Jesus Christ. There is no world peace outside of Jesus. It doesn’t matter how much nations try to unify or if a one-world religion is achieved, it will only lead to a false peace and great persecution for those who won’t bow to it. They will cry out “peace, peace,” but there will be no peace (Jer. 6:14).

Get into God’s presence TODAY – set aside a time and a space for Him! Discipline yourself, get into His rhythm for your life, cut out whatever you need to cut out so you have more time for Him; get into His word, learn how to worship Him outside of a church service. Learn how to have worship time with AND without music. Make space for Him with your time and in your heart just as He has made space for you in His. All of the answers you looking for are in His presence. The joy, rest, strength, and endurance you need can only be found in His presence. True safety is only in His presence. And the peace that we need and will need all the more as the days get dark, is IN HIS PRESENCE.

He is calling His children to come up to where He is, to meet Him in the secret place. He is calling us into His ark. Are you in His ark of safety? Or are you outside of it mocking those who choose to enter in by telling them that they’re “doing too much” and “it doesn’t take all of that?” Serving God is not a casual or light thing, God isn’t something you pick up when you feel like it. If you are not found in Him when He returns, you will not go with Him. It is a matter of life and death; you won’t be able to make it in this life and in the days ahead without actually being in Him. Leaders are falling, people are giving up on the faith, believers are being wiped out because we have put our minds and eyes on the things of this world instead of planting ourselves in His presence. We need the peace that can only be found in His presence in order to make it.

If you have strayed away from God or have not been spending time with Him as you should, Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” When you repent, He will refresh you in His presence. And as you plant yourself there, you will bloom and grow.