In His Omnipresence, we have unbroken fellowship.

In His omnipresence, we have unbroken fellowship. I want us to look at one thought and let that stew- God's response to the valley experience is His presence. Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me. So to successfully wade through the valley of pain, of loss, of fear, of trials, sickness, uncertainty, we must learn to access the presence of God. That's your answer. That's your strength. That's your go-to. That's what you want to be dealing with. Access the presence of God. Abide in the presence of God. Draw from the truth of His presence. Know the promises of God that talk about His presence. Every one of us goes through a valley experience, a hard time in life. Every year, every month, something happens. Some deep valley, some dark valley, some shadow of death valleys. We go through that. It's a fact. And our human response is to grow a thicker skin. Man up. Or figure a positive attitude. Look at a positive, you know, the silver lining around the dark cloud. Or learn to fend for yourselves mentally, emotionally. Build walls. Build boundaries. Or just give up on life. Nothing's going to change. Just chuck it. Give up on faith. If God doesn't seem present, He probably isn't. Or even harden your hearts. The only way to protect yourself, harden your heart. Then you won't get hurt. Then you don't have to cry…. Let me tell you this, none of this is God's will. But only He can get us through it and bring good out of it. 

Consider carefully why God does not offer answers, but his presence in our times of pain, loss and fears. When you're facing cancer. When you're struggling with the defeat. When you've just been fired. When you're going through a hard time. Why does God not give answers, but gives His presence? And what good is that? Is it good at all? Consider carefully. 

So let's look at God's omnipresence. It means that God is present to everyone everywhere. God is everywhere present with His whole being at all times. There is not a facet of Himself that is present. There's not one side. There's not one characteristic. He is completely and wholly 100 percent present to everyone and everything at all times. At any given time God is imminently present to anyone. Like you call on His name, boom, He's there anywhere you go. He's not just present anywhere, anytime, he’s not just present to two people at the same time, but He's also present completely in His fullness, in His deity, and in His glory at all times. He is completely holy. There's no part of Him that's missing when He's available to you. When you call on Him, He's there. Fully loaded. All of Him. He's there. 

Psalm 139, 7-12. David asks the question, if there's any place one can escape from the presence of God. And the answer is a resounding - No. 

Verse 8, unlimited space. If I ascend to the heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

Verse 9-10, undaunted by speed. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,

Verse 11,12. Unaffected by darkness. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. It's dark to you, but not to Him. Nothing, nothing, nothing is hidden from His sight. 

Let's get into omnipresence a little bit. Omnipresence doesn't mean that the immediacy of His presence does not vary. It does. He's present on His throne, Revelation 4-2. He's present in Solomon's temple, 2 Chronicles 7-2. He's present in the believer, Galatians 2-20. The proximity changes depending on your relationship, on where you are and what the story is. But God is present. We live in India, let's talk about pantheism. Omnipresence isn't pantheism. The whole universe is God. It is part of God. God is universe. John Toland in 1705 taught that God is the mind or the soul of the universe. But we live in a culture all around us where God is in everything. That is not true. This is a heresy that fails to distinguish the creator and the creation. And this is taught in the very first verse of scripture. 

So omnipresence also differs from pantheism as used by theologians to mean that God's being penetrates the whole universe, yet He is not exhausted by it. So God is present through and through the universe and beyond. He doesn't end with the universe. He is right through and through, present to everything that He created and beyond. He's way bigger, way greater than all of that. I can't even begin to understand the vastness of God. In short, no, God is not present in everything. But He is present to everything. He is complete on His own and present to everything. So no one can escape the presence of God. Now that is a warning to unbelievers and a tremendous comfort to believers. It is a comfort because if God is omnipresent, we can practice His presence in any place, anytime, any circumstance. If you are sitting in church, in your cushioned seat, He's present with you. If you're on a plane, not so cushioned seat, He's also present with you. Wherever you are, you could fly to the farthest parts of the universe, and God is as present to you. But don't say you don't need to come to church because where I am God is present, and it's just me and God. I got a whole sermon for that. But it is true that God is present. So you could be all alone. You could feel all alone and God is completely there with you in all of His being. And I'm going to keep emphasizing that until it hits home. Maybe it'll hit home on a random Wednesday morning, but until it hits home, it's important that we understand that. 

So God has promised His presence. Not only is He present, but He's also promised His presence. 

God the Father, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. 

The Lord Jesus, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. 

The Holy Spirit, He will be with you. He will be in you. 

I like the word imminence, the imminence of His presence. The imminence of His presence says, call on me in the day of trouble, and I will answer you. Draw near to me. You take one step, I take two steps. Draw near to me in the day of trouble, and I will answer you. You ask yourself, why am I dead to God? Why am I not interested in godly things, in spiritual matters? Why do I feel far from God? It's because you are. Hey Pastor Jeremy, you just said He's really close. Yeah, He's close. You are far. Your mind is far from Him. Your heart is far from Him. Remember proximity and promise. Proximity- Those who seek me earnestly, I will be found by you. My sister never knew how to play hide and seek. She didn't get the game. So when we played hide and seek, she would come looking for us, although she was the one supposed to hide and I have to go look for her. And that's how God is. The moment you're like, God, where are you? God says I'm right here. God doesn't play games. God is not a mystery. God is not hiding behind something. He is present. He's right there. Those who seek me earnestly will be found by me. God is looking to be found. Like he wants to put himself in a position where he can be found with you. Even when you go off track, even when you wander off, even when you are running from God, you'll find yourself running into God. I'm not using cliches here. The aspect of his omnipresence simply means that when I'm running from him, I'm also running into him. He's always present. Or sometimes I think he's running with me when I'm running away. And I begin to understand that God is with me no matter what, all the way.Those who seek me earnestly, I'll be found by you.

Why is presence God's alternative to answers? Let me explain this to you. I'm a grown man and I've done life, seen things and when I'm going through a difficult time, I want to understand. And if I am given to understand, I believe I will have the correct response. And I will respond to God. That's what I believe. That's what I think. So when I'm going through a difficult time, when I've struggled with rejection, when I have not gotten that job, when God has given me this sickness or given a loved one the sickness, I need answers. Why are you allowing this in my life? It doesn't make sense, God. I'm hurting. I'm praying. I've been praying for weeks. I'm asking you, why are you not doing this for my daughter? Why are you not doing this for my son? Why are you not allowing this to happen in my life? Why am I not seeing a breakthrough? I want answers. God says I'm present. No, I want answers. God says I'm here with you. No, I want answers.Why does God provide his presence as an alternative, as the answer, instead of academic, emotional, psychological, verbal answers? Why doesn't a voice come out from God and say, this is why I did this. This is why she said no, because I have a much better someone waiting for you three years from today… because if he tells me I can work with that. But he doesn't tell you that. Sometimes there's weeks and weeks, months and months of sickness, and you just go through this. Sometimes you have a mental issue, or you have a heart issue, and God just won't take it away. It's a thorn in the flesh. God won't take it away. You just cannot understand why God has allowed certain things, when I know he's a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Because sometimes God answers, and sometimes God is present. You've got to know the difference, and you've got to be okay with it. And I'll tell you when you'll be okay with it. You'll be okay with it when you enjoy presence more than answers. Like a two-year-old enjoys his mother's presence. Like a nine-year-old enjoys his father's presence. He doesn't need to talk. He doesn't need to converse. He doesn't need answers to everything. He just wants his dad around. When you begin to understand that the relationship is more important than the research, you will want his presence, and his presence will be sufficient for you. 

Let’s say you’re a father. There's a four-year-old in the house, locked in the home, and the child is dead scared, screaming and shouting and yelling and worried. Someone's at the door trying to break in, and there is a threat right at the door, and your child is all alone. You are the dad. You come rushing in, and you open the door, and you come inside, and you assess the threat, and you close the door, and now you are present. What do you do? You sit down and explain to your four-year-old the threat assessment of who is on the outside. What's trying to be done? What's going on? Do you help understand how life works? Why the world is so bad? Why could people do bad things? Why there are such horrible people in the world? Why is it love in the family but not outside? Do you sit and explain the whole thing to him, or do you say to your four-year-old, I'm home. I'm here. I've got you. I'm home. I'm here. I got you. You don't explain anything to him. You give him a hug, and then you expect him to be satisfied with just the truth that you are home. The dad doesn't give him a threat assessment or tell him who he had to fight off before he came in... Are you getting the picture here? He doesn't say anything, but the child is just happy that dad is home, and that is what God wants. Now, he doesn't want naivety: God will take care of it, God will handle it, God will... He's not. He's not talking about a naivety, He's talking about a childlikeness, a trust that God is present. Dad is present. Now, if dad is present, dad's got muscles. If dad is present, dad's got the keys to the house. If Dad is present, Dad is as tall as the burglar. Are you getting where I'm going with this? If Dad is present, then Dad can handle whatever's coming his way. Dad can take care of it. I am short. I am weak. I am a child. I can handle it, but if Dad is there, Dad is not just present, but he's present with his power. He's present with his protection. He's present with his promises. He's present with his wisdom. He's present with his guidance. He's present with his ammunition. He's present with his weapons. He's got power and he can handle it. 

So, it's not just that I'm happy that he's there. It's not just that we are to be at peace that God is present in our lives, but we are to be at peace because God is present with all that he is. So, there is no problem, no situation, no future, no uncertainty, no guidance issues, no nothing, no pain, no cancer, sickness, no hurt, no darkness, no threat that could ever match what he has. He can handle it. And that is the understanding with which God says, do not fear, I'm here. There's not the sense of naivety. There's not the sense that everything will be okay. There's no plan B. 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.Therefore, I will not fear. What fear is he talking about? I will not fear means the anxiety that cripples me when I don't know whether the situation is under wraps. Situation is under control. I don't know. When I know God is present, I know God is above and beyond my situation. He’s not just present, but he's present with his attributes, with his strength, with everything, all guns loaded. He's there because he's there with whatever he has. That is why I will not fear. So there's anxiety. The fear he's talking about is worry. I'm not going to worry about the future because God is present today and God is also present next Sunday. God is also present 10 years from today. God is present in my life. God's going to be present in my children's life. If God has provided for me and has been faithful to me, God will be faithful and provide for my children as well. He's the same God to me yesterday, today and forever. You begin to understand that the presence of God has to do with the character and the power of God. Yes, presence is about proximity, but presence is also about provision. It's about power. It's about God's power through his presence. Mighty warrior, dressed for battle, commander-in-chief, bring us to attention, lead us into battle to crush the enemy. Satan has no authority here in this place, for this habitation was fashioned for the Lord's presence. Jesus has all authority here in this place. 

So why does God provide presence instead of answers? Is it because he thinks you are otherwise? Is it because he thinks you can't handle the information? Is it because he thinks you are incapable, ill-equipped, low on the IQ level? No, he made you. He's not going to think less of you. You are his handiwork and he thinks it's good. So when he doesn't share something with you, it's not because you can't handle it. It's because he already has. Nothing is more ridiculous than a worried four-year-old. You get what I'm saying? When a four-year-old is worried about the house security, the bills not paid, and a four-year-old is worried about the water situation, four-year-old is worried about that knock on the door at 11.15 at night when you don't know who's come, and the four-year-old is worried about the rent. There's something weird there. 

So my brother, my sister, my friend, how do you enter into God's presence? How do you begin to enjoy the presence of God? We have been mis-educated and mis-informed about the presence of God. We think that the presence of God is at a Sunday morning, or at a worship concert, or at a gathering. We think the presence of God is an emotion. We think it's a particular situation. We think the presence of God happens, arrives, and is conducted during a worship session. But know that God is present all the time, everywhere, to everyone, all the time. God is no more present at any given time. You may be feeling the jitters, but He is not more present than any time. You may be loving the song, but you are having a physiological experience to the general fervour around you. You may be feeling what you could also feel at a football game or during sex. You could be feeling the same physiological feelings. It is not the presence of God. No physiological feeling or experience is evidence of the presence of God. God is present by fact, not by feeling. And you need to move all over into fact. And I don't mean not have sentiment. I don't mean not have emotions. I don't mean not sense a love for God. I'm not talking about that, but I'm saying you need to start acting in the fact that God is present. If He's present with the ability to provide, if He said, I will provide for you according to the riches in heaven, I will provide for you. Then why am I worried? I'm not going to be worried. I decide not to be worried. I'm going to get on with my life. I'm going to do the things I enjoy. I've got, what? Twenty- Thirty years left in my life. I'm going to do some things that I can really enjoy life with. Let God take care of this. He's promised to let Him take care of this.

Once I understand why I need the presence of God, once I understand what comes from enjoying the presence of God, everything else will get taken care of. How do you enter into God's presence? Firstly, by His word, not a physiological experience, not a worship-music song-and-dance experience, but by His word. When you hear His voice, He's in the house. Period. Just like how do you know dad's in the house? He said something. That's it. Are your homes filled with the word of God? Are your homes filled with the sound of the word of God? Is there a loud speaking of the word of God in your home? Not private meditation, but the loud speaking of the word of God in your home? When you enter the presence of God, you enter into the word of God. As soon as you can hear His voice, you can feel His presence. How do you hear His voice? Read it loud. That's how you hear God's voice. If you hear anything other than your voice reading God's word, come to me, I have some medication for you. How do you understand God's presence? How do you enter into God's presence? You open the word. The moment you open the word, the word is life. The word is His presence. His voice and His presence are synonymous. Open the word.

The second thing you want to do, if you want to enjoy and if you want to practice the presence of God, is He is present by His Spirit. It is a spiritual thing, not academic, not emotional, not physiological. He is present by His Spirit. His Spirit dwells in the believer. So, communication must be with His spirit. Pray unceasingly. First, open the word. Second, pray. When you pray, God begins to interact with you. The Spirit of God living in you begins to interact with you. You're not sending up wishes. You're communing with, you are dialoguing with, the king of the universe, the one who owns and keeps the world running by the word of His mouth. He's present by His Spirit. So, pray unceasingly. He's present in our praises. When God's people gather, when families gather, they praise God instead of grumbling and whining and whinging and threatening one another, when they praise God together, when they go over the reasons for gratitude, when they go over the good things that happened yesterday or last week instead of the horrible things that happened, when you find reason constantly, deliberately, when you find reasons to praise God, God becomes present. You are now speaking in victory. You don't praise God for what He has done. You praise God in advance because it's a weapon. You're declaring that God is present. You're declaring His praises. So, you praise victoriously. 

First, one, you open your Bible. Secondly, and read it aloud. And then you pray. You pray without ceasing. You never stop the communication with the Holy Spirit. You never stop communicating with God. What do you pray? Whatever you just read in the scriptures. Do that for one month. Don't pray for anything you need. For one month, don't pray for any of your feelings, any of your fears, any of your anxieties. Don't ask God for anything for one month. Just pray what you read. And then get back to me and tell me how it's going for you. I dare you. Praise victoriously. He is here. He is near. He is with us. He is present to us. He is an ever-present help.

Prayer:

Father in heaven, complete this download, even with hearts that are calloused and uninterested, complete the download and maybe someday the lights will come on. But for those who are eagerly understanding and accepting this as the Word of God like the Thessalonians did, those who are absorbing and saying, “ Lord I need this, I want to understand this”. O God meet them at their point of need, every morning in their devotion, meet them, open the word to them, show them wonderful things about your word, let them know that you’re not only present but you’re present with everything you have and are. We are blessed beyond measure because we have you. We are rich beyond measure because we have you. We are certain beyond measure, because we have you. Thank you Jesus, for leading us back to the Father. It cost you your blood, your life and your relationship with the Father, so we thank you. We will never get over what Christ has done for us. This is Christianity, what Jesus has done, not what we do. This is the cross and not me. This is Christianity the centre of my faith and the glory of God, the worthiness of God, not me and my brokenness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.