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Hungry for More
Photo credits: 10.20 by dtcchc
Christmas found many people across our nation ‘wanting’ lots of things. This new year will see many people longing for ‘change’ expressed through New Year resolutions.
For us as God’s church, we need to cultivate the same chief desire and longing as Moses when he said to God “If you do not go with us, we are not going”. The presence of God was to Moses the defining ingredient for his life and ministry.
Graciously we do not have to be unsure about whether God will be with us. Jesus made a promise to his fledgling church “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and even more encouraging he said “I have appointed you to bear much fruit”.
Thankfully, assuring ourselves of God’s presence with us, his redeemed people, is not the main issue. Rather our task is to cultivate life and service with a developed sense of his presence.
Jesus was able to say “I only do what I see the Father doing”. By saying this at the same time as being in perfect communion with his Father, he is also modelling to us as man that ‘presence’ shaped life is possible, desirable, fruitful and sensible.
This year instead of a putting on one large Together @-style event, the apostolic team I lead is hoping to stimulate more and more hunger for God’s presence by undertaking a series of events across the churches and nations we work in.
The rather grand sounding ‘Presence of God’ tour, aims to teach principles, spend time in worship and further invigorate through ministry a ‘presence aware’ culture across our churches.
How great would it be to find large numbers of Christians more readily tuned into and responding to the presence of God, both in their personal devotion to God in their daily routines and in mission through local church life?
This year it is my hope that through this tour many of us will be helped just that little bit more, to savour the Lord in all his glory and be increasingly aware that he is really willing to use even us in his purposes!
I am sure we would all acknowledge that none of us have a fully mature experience concerning the presence of God. What we can all have is an ever-increasing appetite and a longing to fully know Him, hear Him, be guided and strengthened by Him. This surely is our chief pursuit in life from which all fruitfulness will flow.
In recent times there has been a multiplication of stories being observed amongst our churches; more healings, more conversions, more ‘on the street’ prophetic encounters. We are beginning to hear ‘whispers’. Let’s pray such things become ‘a shout’. The answer is His presence. Let’s be hungry for more!
For more information on the Presence of God Tour, visit this website.
About the author
Mike is married to Sue and they have a grown-up son. Mike and Sue were born and brought up in Lowestoft and married in 1985. Mike is part of the Eldership team at Lowestoft Community Church and has an apostolic ministry working with churches in the UK and internationally across Europe and into Canada.
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