In this week's message, we focus on God's Presence and what it means to be known as a people who pursue His presence. Traveling along with the Israelites through Exodus 13 – 40, we get to see a bigger picture of God's goodness in making His dwelling place among His people. It's extraordinary to see God's hand over His people – guiding, shielding, protecting and sheltering.
It gives us a greater understanding of what Exodus 14:14 means about keeping our peace while the Lord fights for us.
Enjoy this week's message by John Crumpton!
POWERFUL TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE MESSAGE:
"All that we need to sustain us, comes from His presence"
You can either be caught up in the rat race, or step into peace. Stressing causes you to be diminished in your fruitfulness.
Being a people who pursue the Presence of God.
"It's possible to have Jesus stand in front of you, and because you're not focused, you miss it entirely."
The pillar of cloud and fire was a natural sign, something the people could see, that proved God was with them. They could see God's promise and intentions with natural eyes. This was an even greater reality in the spiritual realm.
We can choose to partner with fear, or step into faith and resist fear.
There's a difference between operating out of wisdom and operating out of fear.
The cloud of dust behind us, is no match for the cloud of His presence.
"There's a reason why some people can't see what you can see - because God's presence releases light for your path."
Stand still, God is going to bring about deliverance.
The enemy doesn't know what's happening in the presence.
We were made for His presence.
He designed us to have communion with Him.
God wants to dwell among the people.
"Lord, lead us by Your Presence. We want to be a people of the Presence."
SCRIPTURES THAT WERE SHARED:
SOME POINTS TO NOTE:
The cloud was the visible indication of the promise of God to be with His people.
The cloud gave light to God’s people and they could see things, yet the adversaries were in darkness and things were hidden from them because of the same cloud.
The people trembled because of the cloud of God’s presence
The glory of the Lord was revealed to the people through the cloud. A definition of glory is the “outshining” of the essence of God.
The Lord had given the Law and the principles of the Covenant first, then He gave the instructions regarding meeting with His Presence in a Tabernacle.
The people of Israel chose to follow the cloud (Presence) rather than deciding what to do based on the Law and statutes / principles.
FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What effect does the Presence of God have on the way we can see what is truly going on in the world? 2. What is the difference between living by principles verses living by His Presence?