God's presence Archives - Pastor Terry Lema's Daily Devotions

My last thoughts on Joy! for now. I touched just a bit on it yesterday as I thought about the Joy! that will be ours when we stand in the presence of the Glory of God Almighty…that Joy! that will be ours when we see our Savior and our LORD face-to-face.

“Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy.” [Jude 1:24 HCSB]

Jude reminds us that Christ Jesus is able to protect us from stumbling. He is able to make us stand in the presence of God’s glory. He is able to make us blameless and fill us with great Joy!

As I have aged, and as I have been beset with these auto-immune diseases, I find that the danger of stumbling is much greater than it used to be. I must be ever vigilant to maintain my balance and not trip over things. I have also discovered that standing is much more a chore than it used to be! That is in the natural, governed by the rules of my body and situations.

In my spirit, however, my LORD’s protection is abundant and merciful. His Holy Spirit in me warns me, guides me, enables me to walk without stumbling and to stand firm in Him. One day He will present me blameless (not because of anything in me, but because of all He has done for me through His cross). Then my Joy! will be great and it will be complete.

How I long for that day to come! Amen & Amen!

“Give us today our daily bread.” Wow(!), if there was ever a prayer for our current situation, it is this one. With the shelter-in-place orders many businesses have had to shut down and furlough or lay off employees. People who live paycheck to paycheck are especially hurting. Those who have a little savings are seeing that deplete rapidly.

Fear has driven some to hoarding things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, bleach. Others are searching everywhere to find those items. Our daily needs have consumed us and taken over much of our daily endeavors. When, if, the economy starts up once again, it may take quite a while for it to get back to where it was prior to the fear-pandemic. There is the looming specter that it may never do so.

Jesus tells us that in our relationship with our Father, we are to pray to Him and depend upon Him for our daily needs. We are to rely on Him for our daily care. We cannot change what happened yesterday, we cannot control what will happen tomorrow. We have this day and this day only. We must learn to seek and be aware of God’s presence and care for the day in which we live. We cannot put that off to the future. To do that means we may never be aware of it.

I must admit that as I watch the rolls of toilet paper on my garage shelves dwindle that I become a bit anxious. But then I remember that God already knew about my circumstances this date, April 19. He is mindful of my needs. I need but seek Him to find the assurance of His care for me today.

What is your greatest need today? May I be so bold to tell you that it may not be what you think it is? Your greatest need, my greatest need, is simple – to have the wonderful presence of God’s Holy Spirit within. When we live in the awareness of His presence, fear of “what may happen” is banished.

God’s presence

The Presence of His Glory …

Today’s Needs