Presence or Position: Which do you prefer? – Part 5

The Bible says, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Read Psalm 16:11 (NASB). Succeeding in this life, and walking in the path of destiny is found in God’s presence and to overflowing streams of His blessings and protection and provision, and love. Attempting life without the presence of God means, signing up for a life of toil and hard labor, without progress or productivity. Looking at the Bible verse we just quoted in Psalms, the presence is in God, and nothing else. Circular, humanistic thinking seem to pay no attention to the presence of God, and quite frankly some Christians decide to ignore the exhortations from this verse of scripture; instead their focus is on what their energies can generate and attract. Now there is a danger associated with not embracing the presence of God. Before exploring Biblical texts, I would like to share an excerpt from an article I read.

A state in the United States of America called Illinois, has a long legacy of public corruption. Illinois official slogan is “Land of Lincoln,” but an equally apt descriptor would be the “Land of the Greased Palms.” See what a CNBC reporter said, “Its persistence was documented in September 7th, 2006 by the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported that at least 79 current or former Illinois, Chicago or Cook County elected officials had been found guilty of a crime by judges, juries or their own pleas since 1972. The paper provided this tally of the tarnished: three governors, two other state officials, 15 state legislators, two congressmen, one mayor, three other city officials, 27 aldermen, 19 Cook County judges and seven other Cook County officials.” You might be wondering why is this story significant, I did wonder myself, until I began to see the effect of Godlessness in Leadership. Positionally minded people functioning without the presence of God is chaotic and leaves a nation and its people weak and depraved. For those of you reading this blog from a particular country, let your imagination go wild…And people say we don’t need God?

History has been documented for us to see the effects of position with and without the presence of God. Let us make no mistake, “The Lord is a God of knowledge, by whom actions are weighed.” Read 1 Samuel 2:3 (KJV). You and I have a responsibility to lead according to the pattern laid out by Jesus Christ, which is Leadership in Righteousness; and this is only possible when we allow the presence of God influence everything we do. Nations are seriously suffering, children are being killed, people are being displaced from their homes and countries, all because of this one key element missing in Leadership; God’s presence. You might be saying, well what if I don’t know this God, or I don’t care about what He thinks, and I would say, you are perfectly within your right; however, it does not alter the truth that “Jesus Christ is Lord of all.” The Bible says, “This is good and pleases God our Savior, who desires ALL MEN to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Read 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (NKJV). “Beloved, for the sake of a dying world, pay any price, get God’s power and set the prisoners free.” John G. Lake, God’s power being His presence. I am going to be radical, when you think only about the position, you will imprison people, but when you are not positionally inclined, but presence of God driven, you will set captives free.” We are not to use our positions to enslave people, but to serve and honor one another.

Husbands, wives, presidents of nations, sons, daughters, elected officials, business owners, entrepreneurs, ministers of the Gospel or whatever it is you do; covet the presence, go after it, stir it up, elevate God’s presence above all else, because it is the transforming force that will produce victory upon victory, blessing upon blessing and glory upon glory. The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Read Psalm 46:10 (NIV). Stillness, and exaltation comes from abiding in the presence of God.

“The presence of God brings the share joy of His radiance.” Ricky Agba.

I believe the next topical discussion would be about Leadership in Righteousness, and I am looking forward to it.

We write You read Be encouraged.