Prioritize The Presence
Dear family, partners and friends,
"Life won’t always be rosy when you’re a Christian, but with Jesus, it will always be amazing." - Cherise Marler
Last Sunday evening, when I shared a short message at Ps. Daniel Hagen's Fire Church, Sunshine Coast, I opened with the statement, "We must prioritize the presence of God." During the worship that evening, while people were sharing prophetically what was on their heart, I heard the word 'priority' and 'presence' a number of times. God that afternoon, had been speaking to me about prioritizing His presence.
Recently, I was asked, "How can we be Rapture Ready?" Now, first of all, I like to say, we need to plan our lives like Jesus isn't coming for a hundred years, but we need to live our lives like He is coming today! Now, what must we do to be Rapture Ready? Well, I will take you to the words of Jesus.
"Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41).
"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may [a]be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
And again Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
I believe when we watch and pray, we are prioritizing the presence of God, by spending time with the Lord. I believe by praying in the Holy Spirit and meditating on the Word, we are empowering our spirit to overcome the flesh and its temptations.
- When we pray, especially in tongues, we are prioritizing the presence.
- When we meditate the Word, love the Word, feed on the Word, we are prioritizing the presence.
- When we pray and seek God's will and Word on the matters of life, we are putting first the Kingdom of God.
- When we seek God's way of doing things over man's way, we are seeking first the Kingdom and prioritizing the presence of God.
- When we take time out of our busy days to commune with the Spirit, soak in the Father's love and fellowship with Jesus, we are seeking first His Kingdom and prioritizing the presence of God.
We see from the teachings of Jesus that Martha was very busy in service, this is a good thing, but Mary had chosen the Word! She had put the Word first place and was commended by Jesus for this.
"But Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:40-42).
Life can become so busy; ministry can become so busy, it is easy to get distracted away from the most important things in life, like our relationship with God or our spouse and family. This can even happen through the importance of work or getting caught up serving others. Mary had chosen the better part. That is putting God and His Word first, sitting in His presence, feeding on His Word and fellowshipping with His Spirit. This is what I call "prioritizing the presence". Seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, watching and praying, will cause us to be 'Rapture Ready'.
Our ministry and service must be birthed out of the will and the purposes of God by prioritizing His presence. Obedience is birthed out of seeking Him first. Joshua prioritized the presence, and his obedience to God was birth out of this place. Next week, I will do part 2 on prioritizing the presence and delve more into Joshua's relationship with God.
I dare you to prioritize the presence of God this week. Today, if you hear His voice, open up your heart, fellowship with Him and His Word and take time out to listen. I dare you to take time out of your busy day and the distractions of life to harken and hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
This has been a power blog, to empower and enable you to win in life through Jesus Christ.
God bless and much love,
Ps. Shaun Marler
Apostle World Harvest Ministries
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