Being in the Presence of God - Hosea 9-11 and Revelation 3

Think of all of the people who bring you joy and comfort when you are with them. You enjoy being with them. Now, think of the people whose presence is not a joy, but a grief. What a huge difference! Why is there such a difference? Mostly, it is the heart condition and the personality of the other person which makes them attractive to us. It is the same way with God. He loves to be with some people, because their hearts are right and they are like Jesus. He welcomes them into His presence any time. The others are rebellious or lukewarm, and He does not want to be in their presence. That is the message of Hosea to Israel and John to the seven churches. If we want to enjoy God's presence, we have to be a person that He likes to be around. If not, He will cast us out of His presence. He told Israel they would be wanderers among the nations. He told the church of Laodicea that He would vomit them out. These are two graphic word pictures that say God did not want them to be around Him any more. That is a terrible situation to be in to be repulsive to God. The good thing is that we can change that situation at any time we are willing to turn our hearts to Him and obey Him. Once we trust Him and He changes our hearts, then, we can cooperate with His ways, and we become like Christ. Then, God loves to have us in His presence. How have you been feeling lately? Do you know the presence of God? When you pray and spend time in the Word is He close? If not, check your life. You may be one of those people who are repulsive to Jesus because of heart attitude or because your personality is not like Jesus. Turn it all over to Him, because there is nothing in this world like being in the presence of God. It is a little bit of heaven on earth.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Hosea 12-14 and Revelation 4.