Remaining in the Presence of God
by Jilly Lyon-Taylor
The face of Moses was radiant after he had spoken with the Lord (Exodus 34:29) and today’s verse speaks further about this special relationship that Moses had with God. God would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.
Moses would return to the camp after meeting with God, but we’re told that Joshua didn’t leave the tent. What amazing preparation it was for Joshua, remaining in the presence of the Lord! Later on, Joshua was one of the twelve men sent by Moses to explore the Promised Land (Numbers 13), and while ten of them could only focus on the problems and their own weaknesses, seeing the people there as giants and themselves like grasshoppers, Joshua’s response was completely different. Having spent time in the presence of the Lord, he was able to see things from God’s perspective and have complete faith that God would do what He promised. God was later able to entrust to him the tremendous responsibility of leading the people into the Promised Land.
Do we remain in the presence of the Lord, or do we pop in and out, hastily asking for help for all that we need? God is longing for us to remain with Him so that He can speak to us face to face. The more we do, the more we will see ourselves as He sees us instead of focusing on our weaknesses and problems, and the more we will see the situations we are up against from His perspective.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I have popped quickly in and out of your presence. I want to learn to remain in your presence so you can speak to me, and I want to see things as you see them. Please help me to do this. In Jesus, Amen.
Jilly Lyon-Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training Scheme(NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
