Present To The Presence

Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!

Luke 24:5-6

We serve a risen, living, present Lord. We don’t have to try to find him among musty laws or stale ceremonies or stagnant rituals. We don’t seek the Living among the dead.

The promise of a vibrant and attendant Savior, who offers his own power, wisdom, and peace in any given moment is the promise that gathers all other promises into one. He offers himself. When we have him, we have everything the Father has to give:

• God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. (Colossians 1:19)
• In [Christ] lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)
• In Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)

He is so present that he is in you, making himself available to you and through you. He is living in your world, your circumstances. Is there any situation for which Jesus is not adequate? Is there any dilemma for which Jesus does not have wisdom? Is it possible to experience any challenge for which Jesus is not equipped? If you have Jesus—the living-right-now Jesus—then you have all you need.

What concerns you right now? What frightens you? Hand it over to Jesus, who is closer to you and more available to you than any mere human being can ever be. Sit quietly, and let the reality of his presence settle on you. Take time to be aware. Be present to the Presence.

Christ in me, let me live with such keen attentiveness to your indwelling life that you are the focal point that defines how I see every circumstance.

On the first day of Pentecost He returned, not this time to be with them externally—clothed with that sinless humanity that God had prepared for Him, being conceived of the Spirit in the womb of Mary—but now to be in them imparting to them His own divine nature, clothing Himself with their humanity. . . . He spoke with their lips. He worked with their hands. This was the miracle of new birth and this remains the very heart of the gospel.

Major W. Ian Thomas(1914–2007), English writer and theology teacher