10 BLESSINGS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES
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OUTLINE
1.PEACE
2.PROTECTION
3.PROMISE
4.PULVERISATION
5.PERSPICACITY
6.PROSPERITY
7.PATHWAY
8.PEOPLE
9.POWER
10.PRIVILEGE
THE MESSAGE
10 BLESSINGS OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES
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1.PEACE
The presence of God with us will give us rest and peace. The presence of God gives us rest from all the turmoil and confusion. He will go before us and bring rest and peace in our lives.The presence of God gives us great peace and joy in our lives.Jesus promised us the peace which the world cannot give. This divine peace does not depend on the outward circumstances. When we are inside an airconditioned room we can be cool even though it is hot outside. Similarly the presence of God gives us great inward peace and joy even though the external circumstances may be turbulent.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Exodus 33:14-17
The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
2.PROTECTION
The presence of God with us will give us protection when we pass through fire and water. We need not fear the storms and floods and fiery experiences we go through because God will be with us and protect us.The presence of God is a great wall of protection around us.This is the secret of our survival even in the midst of great attacks and dangerous exeriences that we go through.When God is with us we have a supernatural protection in our lives.He is our shade to
cover us all the time. Even when everyone forsakes us , the Lord will be with us at all times to protect us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
John 16:32
"But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
Matthew 26:55-56
At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.
But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Joshua 1:5
No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
3.PROMISE
The presence of God gives us great promises.Because He is with us we need not fear anything.When we realize that the Almighty God is with us all our fears vanish because He is stronger than any force that can harm us.The presence of God with us gives us the strength we need. He will help us , strengthen us and uphold us. We need not fear that we lack strength and ability because God will be with us to help us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Isaiah 41:10-13
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
"All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.
Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
4.PULVERISATION
The presence of God with us pulverises and destroys all the plans of the enemy and gives us deliverance. We may feel that our enemies are too strong or too shrewd for us . But the Lord is with us as a mighty warrior and destroys all the plans of the enemy. We may feel trapped in some situation with no way out. We may face many snares and hidden dangers. But the presence of God with us will bring deliverance in our lives even in humanly impossible circumstances.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Jeremiah 20:10- 11
I hear many whispering,"Terror on every side! Report him! Let's report him!" All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, "Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him."
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
Job 5:12-16
He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
5.PERSPICACITY
The presence of God with us gives us wisdom . We may face many confusing situations where we feel we do not know what to do. But God will give us the wisdom to take the right decisions. God was with David and gave him wisdom to act wisely in everything and it made his enemy Saul to fear him.The presence of God will make our enemies to fear us because they see that God is with us. The Lord Jesus told his disciples to be wise as serpents because they are going as sheep among wolves.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 18:12-15
Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.
Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.
Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him.
Matthew 10:16
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
6.PROSPERITY
The presence of God with us brings us prosperity and success. He will bless the work of our hands and prosper our efforts. We must recognise His presence and seek his guidance and blessings in all our endeavours.When God is with us there is prosperity and sucess in our lives.God was with Joseph and made him successful in everything that he undertook. A supernatural power was working on behalf of Joseph in his endeavours.The same blessing can operate in our lives when the presence of God fills our lives and labours.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Genesis 39:23
The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
Psalm 1: 1-3
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
7.PATHWAY
The presence of God with us straightens our path and creates a pathway for us. God will go before us and make the crooked places straight. The Lord will remove the hindrances and the strong obstacles that block our progress. We must be careful to follow after Him and not rush ahead of Him. When we allow Him to go before us He will straighten the crooked places for us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Isaiah 45:1-3
“Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings,To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
‘ I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
Micah 2:13
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head."
8. PEOPLE
When God is with us He gives us the people we need to help us. God was with Joseph and gave him favour with people he needed to help him.He had favour with his father, with potiphar , with the prison keeper and finally with Pharoh.God was with Asa and when the people saw it they came to help him. Asa pleased the Lord by removing those things that were an abomination in the sight of God and the Lord demonstrated His presence with Asa.The presence of God in our lives will bring the people we need to help us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Gen 39:21
the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
II Chronicles 15:1-9
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil.
One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple.
Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
9. POWER
There is great power available to us when God's Presence fills our lives. God presence was with Jesus and filled his life with divine power to set the people free from satanic bondage. The presence of God was with the early disciples and confirmed their ministry with signs following. The Lord was with the Apostle Paul and performed extraordinary miracles through him. Without the presence of God in our lives , we are powerless against the devil. The sons of Sceva tried to cast out evil spirits and had a disastrous experience.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Acts 10:38 ,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Mark 16:20
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Acts 19:11-20
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out."
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.
Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.
A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
10. PRIVILEGE
The greatest privilege in life is to have God’s presence in our lives. The Lord wants us to realise this truth and live in that understanding.It is the presence of God with us that we should boast about.The people of this world feel greatly honoured if some great man or ruler or a famous person visits their home.Some shopkeepers hang pictures of the famous people who visited their shop. Others are proud of the autographs they have of great people.But the greatest privilege and honour that we can have is the presence the Almighty God in our lives. Let us value the presence of God and be careful not to allow anything that can remove his presence from our lives.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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Isaiah 57:15 ,
For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
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