We are instructed to gather around the Presence of Adonai- not a man’s sermon. From the beginning Adonai’s  chosen people offered what they had to give to Him in His Presence. They sought after His presence. The chosen ones followed after His Presence and knew not to offer Pagan worship to idols who have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear. (Psalm 115:5)

If you consider yourself to be The LORD’S, then you are to follow after His Presence.  One moment in the presence of the LORD is life changing. If your life is not being changed and you are not moving from glory to glory then ask Him where and how to enter into His Presence and where you should fellowship with other people and be aligned with them.

Wholeness is found in the presence of the LORD, which includes Love, Peace, Healing, Joy, Grace, Truth, and Mercy. In His presence we find the Power of the LORD to change any situation. When we enter into His Presence we yield and repent. In John 8:11 The woman caught in adultery was in the Presence of the LORD and her sin was on display. Jesus Himself told her that He did not condemn her and told her to go and sin no more. That is true repentance in the Presence of the Lord. First, to remember that He is always there. Second, he sees everything that we do. However, when we worship Him in His presence and He shines His Light on our sin, no darkness can exist.  The truth about repentance is that when the Presence of the LORD delivers you from sin – you go and sin no more.  The sin stops – the urge to sin stops and we don’t enter back into sin and then run to the altar again and again for the same sin. We fool ourselves if we think that we can to listen to a man’s charismatic words yet leave the church and sin again. In the Presence of the LORD the bridge to sin has been burned and those paths are closed, we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ our LORD and move forward. Never turning back.

If this is not your reality, your place of worship is defiled. If you are caught in a sin cycle and not breaking free, you need to find the true Presence of the LORD and be delivered and go and sin no more. Never surround yourself with people who are comfortable with your sin – who simply accept you in your sin – they are dangerous. You can be delivered and you must remember that sin is sin, it is dirty and defiled and you will never fulfill the destiny that God created you to fulfill while you are in sin.  The same applies to me. Remember this: You can always recognize a religious spirit – they are joyless, they are mournful, beware of them.  God wants us to rejoice. He created us to Praise Him – loudly – praise Him with your entire being. If you are in a place that is not joyful – then run. Proverbs 17:22 (NASB)²² A joyful heart ^[a]is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Everything that we need is found only in His presence. No man, no friend, no place provides wholeness. He makes Himself available to you through His Holy Spirit by the name and blood of His Son, Jesus. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Father of Jesus Christ – the Only Way, Truth and Life.  If you are following anything but the True Presence of the LORD – then you must stop and find His presence.

The truth is that we give our offerings because He gave. Not to get more. He has provision for each of us and we will all reap what we sew. However, when we seek His presence, we find Him and we have to give, oh we have to give because He has been so good to us. Our hearts are open and we worship the One, True, Holy God who has given His best and we offer our best because He gave first.

Adonai only made one way for us to enter into His presence. Only through Jesus Christ, there is no other way. Through the blood of Jesus we can repent, turn from our sinfulness and enter into the Presence of the LORD. Any other way is false and there is nothing holy in it. If you think that you know something more – then you are saying to God that His way was not good enough for you. Please don’t say that. Ask The LORD Jesus into your heart today and lay the false down.

Will you pray this with me?  LORD, I come before You today and ask that You lead me and guide me into all truth. My desire is to worship You in Your Presence. Lead me into Your Presence.  I yield myself to You today. May I bring my worship as a pure offering unto You and find the wholeness that can only be found in You.  Lead me and guide me by Your Holy Spirit to the place and the people that You would have me worship in Your Presence with.  I will worship You alone with my whole heart. You are so worthy. My heart belongs to YOU LORD. In Jesus Name Amen

Thank you for reading my offering unto the LORD.  Be Encouraged and Be Blessed in Jesus name Amen

 ©Beth Auman, February, 2015

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Adonai/adonai.html

The door to the workshop creaked as it opened. I looked up from my work to see who it was. I acknowledged the man’s presence with a nod and invited him in to have a look around. I had never seen him here before and I wasn’t certain what he wanted. He shoved his cap back with one hand but kept the other in his pocket. With a sour look on his face he scanned the room.

“How can I help you? I asked, wiping sawdust off my hands with a rag as I walked toward him.

“Oh, I wanted to see if I could get a small table but all I see in here is junk!” he muttered angrily. He pointed to a dresser and said, “Just look at this piece. The handles are missing and it has ugly gauges all over it. And that chair over there looks like it would fall apart the first time someone sat on it.”

He turned and his eyes stopped at the sight of a couch that was in the process of being re-upholstered.

“Who would want that piece of junk? He said loudly.

“Junk?” A voice sounded from the back. My boss, the master carpenter, came closer.

“Who is calling my work junk?” he asked.

“Well,” the man scratched his scraggly beard, “all I see is broken and banged up pieces of furniture.”

Uninvited, he walked through the shop and pointed out the flaws of each piece he looked at. I cringed with each cutting remark he made. The very things my master and I had already discussed and enjoyed planning on how we would repair them and make them beautiful and functional again.

The master’s eyes followed him and he slightly shook his head. Then he motioned with his arm.

“These are my treasures,” he said, lovingly looking upon each one.

“I’m still working on them. The work takes time. Some of the more finished and beautiful pieces have been in my workshop for quite some time and I’ve spent many hours working on them. Others just came in and I’m in the process of fixing them.

“This table here,” he pointed to an unfinished small piece in the far corner of the workshop.
“I’m working on that one right now,” he said, “it’s not finished yet, but it will be perfect by the time the woman who ordered it comes and picks it up for her daughter who is getting married next month.

“See this chair here?” he pointed to a crooked chair with a broken leg and paint splatters all over.

“This one came in like this. I will strip it of all the paint spots and put a completely new finish on it. The broken leg needs to be replaced and the others just need to be glued back in place. It’ll be better than new.

“And that couch you called junk,” he said, “has faithfully served a family of seven for nearly twenty years. It has been through babies held in their mother’s arms through rambunctious 12 year olds jumping on it to teenagers curling up on it with book for hours. It could tell you lots of stories. The family could have just put it out in the trash but they brought it to me so it could be fixed up. She still has a good many years of service left in her.”

With that the master smiled to himself and nodded happily.

The man still looked skeptical. I could feel my temper rising up. How dare he insult my master like this? It was obvious he had no clue of carpentry work yet he came in here and put down everything he did.

“John,” the master called to me, “bring me the box that came in this morning.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered and quickly turned to get the large box sitting by my master’s work bench. I picked it up and brought it over to where the man stood. Gently I lowered it to the ground and opened the top flaps to expose the pile of broken pieces of wood.

The master reached into the box and carefully retrieved a piece of wood that looked like a short but ornate and beautifully curved leg belonging to a dresser but it was obviously badly damaged.

“A lady brought this in,” he said softly, “it’s a small dresser I had made for a customer of mine. Her husband had broken it to pieces in a fit of rage. She was terribly distressed and asked if I could do something about it.”

“Of course,” he continued thoughtfully, “this kind of repair work takes time. Some parts I have to rebuild from scratch.”

Silently I wondered why my master would put up with this faultfinder and take time away from his important work to explain to this guy how things worked around here.

I watched my master as he gently put the piece back into the box. I remembered when he had made this little dresser. It grieved him when he saw his work torn apart like this. But he was not only good at making stuff, he was an expert at repair work. From watching him work, I knew that a box of broken pieces would not look like the original furniture he had made. My master’s creativity wouldn’t allow it. He had a way of using the broken pieces and making them into a work of art. The more broken and damaged something was, the more he made it into something utterly amazing. I was so privileged to be working along his side and seeing life through his compassionate eyes.

With that thought my rising anger faded away. In the past I would have wanted to call fire down from heaven upon this man who insulted my master, but now I felt only pity for him. He lacked the ability to see beyond what was right in front of him. He had no vision and was completely deficient of faith. But then – if focused on that lack in him would I not be guilty of the same thing as he was? And now I understood why the master took time to open his eyes and that he was giving him right now, right in front of me, the ability to see the pieces of furniture through his own eyes.

The man’s attitude had changed. He lowered his head and politely asked if it was all right if he came back to look around again. My master smiled, shook his hand and told him he was welcome anytime.

©Conny Hubbard, February, 2015

Photos provided by TLC Finishes – tlcalvey@att.net,  https://www.facebook.com/TammiCalveyInspirations

Many times in our lives there are things that hide in the shadows, dark and hidden things that we are afraid to see. Places that we have made tombstones rather than stepping stones.

I pray that today you will Awake and may the LORD Jesus Christ shine on you. May you become a beautiful reflection of God’s glory to be seen by all and may those who see His light shine through you – Awake  and run into the LORD’s light.

Don’t be afraid of those things.  We all need that so much when we feel powerless.  He is there for you today – He Loves you with His Unchanging, Everlasting, Limitless LOVE – Allow Him shine on you today.

I pray God’s great abundant blessing over each of you today. May He pour out His abundant radiant light on all of your shadows, purely reflect all that you need to see clearly, dispelling all darkness so that you can Awake and move forward.

May you see the almond trees budding this season and know that the harvest is ripe. Step into His harvest and don’t be afraid to look at those who are not radiant and tell them to Wake Up – receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and allow Him to shine – shine – shine.  Be Encouraged. Be Radiant.

Love Beyond Measure.

Beth