In our Christian life and church life, the presence of the Lord, His smile, is the governing principle; we need to learn to be kept, ruled, governed and guided not by His secondhand presence but by the direct presence of God, the firsthand presence of the Lord, which is our power and strength to enter into the possession and enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ. Amen!
In the Old Testament the people of God, the people of Israel, we’re guided by the Lord’s presence as they entered into the good land; however, when they lost God’s presence, nothing worked.
They conquered the city of Jericho without even attacking it or strategizing to get it; such a big city fell down and was taken over and destroyed without the people of Israel’s efforts or ability.
However, when they arrived at the small city of Ai, they were not led by the Lord’s presence but rather, due to their sin (which was hidden, for no one knew that Acan took something that was to be destroyed), they were defeated.
Joshua sent spies to Ai to see what’s the situation, and in their estimation, they said that just a few thousand of them should do the job.
We may have a victory as we follow the Lord and are in His presence, and then we may simply assume that we can continue having the victory without the Lord’s leading and without His presence; this will lead to utter defeat, for when we lose the Lord’s presence, we lose everything.
We need to learn the spiritual lesson from Israel’s defeat at Ai, realizing that we as God’s people should always be one with our God, and we shouldn’t hide or keep any hidden sins but deal with anything that causes God’s presence not to be with us.
When the Lord’s presence is not with us when we don’t have His smile, we lose everything, for God’s presence is everything to us.
How can we live in God’s presence, and how can we have God’s presence today? It is by realizing that the Lord is in our spirit, and we are joined to Him as one spirit.
We are indwelt by God in Christ as the Spirit, and we need to practice being one with the Lord, walking with Him, living with Him, and having our entire being with Him.
Our Christian walk, our fight as children of God, and our building up of the church as the Body of Christ, all should be by our being in the Lord’s presence, even His direct presence, the firsthand presence of the Lord.
If we have His presence, His smile, we have everything; no matter what happens, as long as we have God’s presence, everything is fine.
Amen, His presence is our power to go on, and He leads us by His presence to enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ!
We can Enjoy the All-inclusive Christ as the Good Land by having the Presence of the Lord; His Presence is our “Map”
There is no other way for us to advance with the Lord and enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ except having the presence of the Lord.
When Moses and the people of Israel were on the way to the good land, he asked God to go with them, for if He doesn’t go, they can’t go.
The Lord’s promise in Exo. 33:14 was, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
It was not Moses or Joshua who would bring the people of Israel into the good land and into the rest but it is God, for His presence was their living map, their GPS, their live directions on “google maps”.
As long as we as God’s people have the Lord’s presence, we can enter into the enjoyment of Christ as the good land.
If we would enter, possess, and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we must do so by the presence of the Lord.
God’s presence is His way, the map that shows us, His people, the way that we should take.
Many times, however, we lose God’s presence, and we don’t even notice; we may have some hidden sins or unconfessed trespasses, and the Lord’s presence is no longer with us.
We may think that we still have God’s presence, and we may try to do this or that for Him, and the Lord may still bless us and give us some success; however, in our heart, we know that we don’t have His presence with us. Oh, Lord!
We need to repent and return to Him to have His instant, constant, and direct presence; our doing things for Him amounts to nothing unless they are done in His presence, one with Him.
Many times we don’t know which way to turn, what to say, what to do next, and how to handle a particular situation; it seems that there is no way, humanly speaking, but praise the Lord, we can have the Lord’s presence.
The Lord’s presence is the instant roadmap, for when we have His presence, he leads us step-by-step.
The Lord doesn’t show us a lot of things, He may not show us five or ten steps ahead, but He will lead us to know what we need to know.
May we not neglect His presence; rather, may we follow His presence, and may we do all things one with Him. In order for us to fully gain and possess Christ as the all-inclusive land for God’s building, we must hold on to this principle: God’s presence is the criterion for every matter.
It’s not merely about taking the right way or even the best way; it is not merely about doing things in a scriptural way. It is all about having God’s presence.
If we have God’s presence, we have everything, but if we lose His presence, we lose everything (Matt. 1:23; 2 Tim. 4:22; Gal. 6:18; Psa. 27:4, 8; 51:11; 2 Cor. 2:10; Ezek. 48:35).
His presence is His instant, direct presence with us as we live in the organic union with the Lord. Regardless of what we do, we must pay attention to whether or not we have God’s presence.
If we lose God’s presence, we may outwardly do many good things, choose the right way, and reject evil, but the criterion for all things should be God’s presence.
May we forget about anything else and be with the Lord, again and again, fellowship with Him throughout the day, and seek to live one spirit with Him so that we may have His presence with us.
May we never lose His presence but rather, may we consider His presence to be the criterion for every matter.
Lord Jesus, we treasure Your presence with us. We treasure being one spirit with You. May Your presence go with us, so that You may give us rest. We take Your presence as our roadmap, our leading to go on. We don’t want to go anywhere unless Your presence leads us there. We don’t want to say anything unless we have Your sweet smile. Keep us in the index of Your eyes, beholding You and being one spirit with You. Save us from merely doing the right thing or rejecting the evil and wrong things. Oh Lord, Your presence is the criterion for every matter. If we have Your presence, we have everything. Keep us one spirit with You today, Lord, in all that we do and say. Amen, one spirit with the Lord all the time!
Being Ruled by the Firsthand Presence of the Lord to Enjoy and Possess the All-Inclusive Christ
Many believers are full of zeal for the Lord; they may speak for the Lord, they may preach the gospel, and they may even have a large following, for many are attracted and join them in their “ministry” or “church”.
The criterion for all things, however, is having the presence of the Lord. The Lord’s presence, his smile, is the governing principle.
We need to learn to be kept, ruled, governed and guided not by the Lord’s secondhand presence but by the firsthand presence of the Lord.
We may hear others’ testimony of enjoying the Lord or we may listen to a sermon or message related to a certain topic, and we may be inspired and have the secondhand presence of the Lord.
We may be in a meeting with many others and enjoy the Lord with the saints, and we may gather together as a group in home meetings or group meetings to exercise our spirit over God’s word.
However, we all need to come to the Lord personally, even stop our being, be quiet within, and touch the Lord; we need to have the firsthand presence of the Lord, for it is His presence that leads us and guides us in our Christian life.
No one can have the Lord’s presence for us; we need to fellowship with the Lord, we depend on our fellowship with the Lord, and we need to have a direct contact with Him.
His precious presence is the power for us to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land flowing with milk and honey (Exo. 3:8; 25:30; Deut. 26:9; Ezek. 20:6).
Do we have the Lord’s smile? Do we have an inner consciousness of His presence? Is He frowning with us or is He happy with us, with what we do or what we don’t do?
Do we have an inner sense of the Lord’s being happy or unhappy with us, or do we just go ahead and do this and that for the Lord, for we feel that this is what He wants us to do?
Are we in the Lord’s firsthand presence, or do we live in His permissive will, not in His sovereign and perfect will?
We need to learn to know the Lord by learning to know what is His presence.
He wants us to enter into the enjoyment and possession of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land, and He wants us to deal with His enemy by standing in His victory.
However, do we come to the Lord moment by moment to contact Him, be one spirit with Him, and gain Him?
There are many things in the heavenlies, there are many powers of darkness, that are trying to distract us, defeat us, and even deceive us from contacting the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and possessing the Lord as the all-inclusive Christ.
We need the power to overcome these evil powers of darkness in the heavenlies so that we can lay hold of the all-inclusive Christ.
Our power to overcome is the Lord’s presence; when we have His presence, all impossibilities become possibilities, and anything that seems too difficult to us is made possible with the Lord.
The Lord’s presence is not only our direction and our way but also our inward power to fight and possess the good land.
We may have been taught that we need to do this or that to overcome and be victorious, holy, and spiritual, but nothing works; no other way works but having the Lord’s firsthand presence, His direct presence with us. His being with us is everything.
We may still try this way or take that way, and we may learn some spiritual methods and ways; however, being one spirit with the Lord to have the direct, firsthand presence of the Lord, this is the only way that always works.
After trying so many things and so many ways, we may stop before the Lord and tell Him with tears,
Dear Lord Jesus, nothing but Your smiling presence can satisfy us. We don’t want anything but the smile of Your glorious face. As long as we have Your smile, we have everything we need. As long as we have Your firsthand presence, we have the way to go on and the power to defeat the enemies and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ. Amen, Lord, we acknowledge that no other way works except being one spirit with the Lord in everything we do. Keep us in our mingled spirit today to have the firsthand presence of the Lord with us. We want to be ruled and governed by Your presence. May Your smile govern us and guide us, giving us the power we need to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land flowing with milk and honey!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 11 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 4, The Need for God’s People to Seek the Lord’s Direction and Have the Lord’s Presence to Display His Victory for the Building Up of His Body and the Spreading of His Kingdom.
- Hymns on this topic:
– O Jesus, Lord, with me abide; / I rest in Thee, whate’er betide; / Thy gracious smile is my reward; / I love, I love Thee, Lord! (Hymns #208)
– Lord Jesus, I long in Thy presence to live, / From morning to evening my one world Thou art; / O let not my heart be contented or rest / When loving or seeking what with Thee doth part. (Hymns #389)
– Jesus called me one day to the Holiest Place, / To live in His presence divine; / Hallelujah, I’ve heard an encouraging word: / “Abide—you’re a branch in the vine.” (Hymns #1191)
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