There is nothing like seeing my daughter as she stands on the couch looking out the window crying because she so wants to be going with me. She doesn’t know where I’m going. She just knows she wants to be close to me. This is priceless! She can’t say much yet, but if she could I imagine she’d say something like this. “Daddy, please take me with you. I wanna be with you, Daddy. Where you are!”
In Psalm 15 David asks the question, “Lord, who gets to be with you where you are?”(my paraphrase). David shares some answers he had received from divine inspiration:
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
(Ps. 15:2-5)
Do you want to be in His presence? Does the thought of being in a room surrounded by a circle of loving friends, all singing “How Great Is Our God” or “How Great Thou Art” followed by prayers acknowledging God’s goodness and testimonies affirming His mercy give you a warm feeling. Better yet to be in the presence of the King of Kings as He is seated on His throne and join in with the angels crying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, God almight!” Does that inspire you?
Well the text says you can’t talk down about Suzie and her short skirts or condemn others caught in actions that don’t appear to be as wonderful as your own. We can’t take advantage of the poor knowing they have a hard time getting credit and giving them outrageous terms that they’ll never be able to handle repaying their debt. We can’t lie when people ask us how we feel about issues that have become controversial. And we’ve got to stop playing favorites in our actions if we want to be in the presence of God.
Below I’m posting a song I wrote. I believe in order for us to change the way we worship we have to change our environment. We have to change our thoughts. So I share this song and these ideas for you to meditate on. When you are driving or laying on your bed at night you can reflect on the scriptures, ideas, and songs that we’ve discussed and find that your new thoughts will cultivate new feelings and new decisions. I sing it with my friend Dana Holness. I hope you enjoy the song. Write me a comment and let me know what it means to you to be in God’s presence. Much love to you and happy listening!
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