HOSTING HIS PRESENCE

My motto for this year is hosting His presence and throughout the past weeks that has been all i have been aiming for. I have been able to hear His voice a lot clearer as well as recognize the difference between my voice, God and the enemy compared to when I first started my walk with the Lord. I am in a christian online community. Every month ,we do a 3 day fast to ease our way  into the new month with fresh revelation and new fire for Jesus.I remember going to vancouver the day before my fast for a friend's birthday and we spent the whole day there and got back around midnight.I made a note not to forget my fast but when i woke up the next morning later than usual ,the first thing I did was bite into some of  the buns I got from the korean market the day before . I somehow ended up opening the circle app which is the platform the christian community I'm a part of uses and i dropped this bun so quick.There was only the tiniest bit of this bun left and i remember walking to the fridge  and putting them back in. I was a couple steps out of my kitchen and into my dining area and i hear no food  only water.  My jaw dropped and I was like "what" and for a second was thinking it was my thought but then i  realised I didn't want to  do a no food fast. I had never done it before and I remember praying and i said " Lord if this is from you, sustain me. Do not allow me to get hungry ,tired or exhausted"  and He did.  The Lord convicted me and made me realise that on my previous fasts I had rushed to break my fast instead of staying in that space with Him. Over the next three days of continuous seeking of the Lord and fervent prayer I ended up getting a word from the Lord.  It was not even in alignment with what i was praying for .This was while I was doing the 50 for Christ challenge as well and  once I got out of that fast, I got ushered into another one but 7 days instead.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4 :29

The presence  and voice of the Lord  is readily available to us as long as we seek Him with a hunger and in the right posture. I think of Mary and how she always approached Jesus with an awe and a readiness to hear from Him. While martha was cooking and preparing for Jesus, Mary was sitting at His feet and soaking in the words coming out of our bridegroom's mouth. 

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”. Luke 10 :38-42

Martha had good intentions but she was distracted.She was not focusing on who she needed to  but Mary was. Mary had a revelation about who Jesus is  while Martha was focused on works. We cannot perform or work our way into the presence of the Lord in doing this we miss what He is saying.  The other difference was that in the verse above, it says Martha was distracted  so this means she had allowed her focus to drift away from what was important. When we come into the presence of the Lord we need to be present. That is a sign of worship to the Lord and it draws Him nearer. 

Then Mary took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure ^[nard, and she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12 :3

In one of the versions it talks of how mary had a liter of this perfume spikenard and when I googled the price of this oil it was 1700 cad for 1 liter but I did see one site selling it for 3000 cad.  Mary pouring half a liter on His feet meant that she saw more value in Jesus than this oil and wanted to give Him only the best. She understood the deity of Jesus because in the previous chapter her brother is raised from the dead at the utterance of words. There was a part of Jesus' character that was revealed to her because we see her response to Jesus the next time He comes to her house. There were multiple people that had witnessed this miracle and even martha, mary's sister but the scriptures only talk of Mary's response to the revelation she received. Drawing near to the Lord in humility brings revelation of His character which brings a revelation of who you are .There are rewards to drawing near to the Lord in faith and scripture confirms it.

Hebrews 11 :6  says  "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

I come from an african and asian background  and both these cultures love celebrating. Growing up we always threw these large parties for birthdays and holidays. I know this one christmas my dad invited some of our relatives over and we had at least 50 people over. This is where my love for hosting comes from. See the thing about hosting is that you need to plan in advance  with an intentionality from how many people coming to what food you need to make and drinks going as far as the games and music selection. It is not something that you can stand up and say you are going to plan on the day of. While it is something that can be done but the execution might not be as good as if it had been planned before . The whole purpose of this is such that the guests can have an enjoyable and memorable experience.This is the same for the Lord we need to come into His presence with an intentionality to worship and give Him the glory. This can look like sitting still or praising Him or pondering on what He has done in your life.

So how can we host the presence of the Lord?

• Plan and pursuit. It is essential to plan your days out to give the Lord a space to meet you. If you are just new to the faith ,set aside a specific time every day .where you will just meet the Lord and after a while because you pursue Him, you will find Him going ahead of you and meeting you at that time because He knows it time for both of you to spend with each other.You become more and more aware of His presence the more you keep meeting Him.
• Fast. The Lord loves fasting because it brings a dependence on Him  and sustenance that would not be birthed when you are outside of fasting because you will be looking at food  to supply that for you. You are actively denying your flesh. If you have never fasted before start small with one day fasts only one meal and build up depending on the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
• Sabbath. The sabbath is a great time to honour the Lord and is a day to celebrate rest. Set a specific day every week that you would dedicate to the Lord  and rest. This means no social media, no work , no cleaning just resting and spending time with the lord. Cook and clean the day before to prepare for this day . Anticipate it . This day is always different for each person  depending on your work schedule .Use it to study the word , pray and rest in the Lord.
• Set goals and do not compromise. I like how stephanie ike phrased it; each  day is an opportunity for God's will to be lived out and each night is an opportunity for God's will to be revealed. Do not allow yourself to be so easily  moved in that you make excuses for the things you need to do throughout the day  be intentional.
• Prayer. There is power in Prayer but only if you believe it. The Bible speaks of how if you have faith of  a mustard seed you can tell a mountain to get up and it will move. This is the faith we need to have. Pray that the Lord will reveal to you what areas need to be submitted to Him as well as how He desires to be hosted. That He will open your eyes and ears to hear His voice. Prayer is a form of communication and you need to establish a habit of persistent prayer.

Prayer

Heavenly father, I thank you for every word that has been allowed to be typed. I pray that this word will surround and encompass the people reading thi. That their eyes will be opened to the reality of hosting your presence. That we will fall in love with seeking you Jesus and that you will deepen our desire for you. That we would honour you in mind, body and spirit  in our day to day reveal to us how you desire to be Lord over our schedule. 

Thank you Jesus

I love you