Less Sermon-Hearing / More of God’s Presence

Daily writing prompt

What could you do less of?

Sermon-hearing is a very poor substitute for God’s presence. No one can preach you into inner peace. It only comes from surrendering to God’s presence. Accept no substitute for the actual presence of the living God.

Peace is the fruit God’s presence. (Galatians 5:22-23) Jesus put it this way: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Moses knew something that most Christians today don’t know — God’s presence is essential! Moses said to God: “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?” (Exodus 33:15-16) God didn’t just give Moses and the children of Israel the Ten Commandments. He gave them His presence — cloud by day and fire by night. (Exodus 13:21)

Moses said to God: “Show me Your glory,” (Exodus 33:18) and God did! Paul declared that “the ministry of the Spirit” is even more glorious than the glory that Moses experienced! He said that Christ-followers can now behold the Lord’s glory and be “transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)

Jesus demonstrates His presence (Matthew 28:20) in the world today in and through the Person of God the Holy Spirit. When we ignore the direct inner leading of the Spirit, (Romans 8:14) we humans tend to hide behind religion while our hearts and actions wander far from God’s presence (Titus 1:16) and our lives fill with anxiety. (Philippians 4:6-7)

God never intended for preaching to replace His presence! Preaching is supposed to announce and demonstrate the presence of God, not to replace it. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

Church attendance without ongoing heart-to-heart interaction and intimacy with Jesus is like being married but your only contact with your mate is to hear a Sunday morning lecture about your spouse. That wouldn’t be much of a marriage.

Can a person be a Christian and not be a Spirit-led disciple of Jesus? The Bible doesn’t present that as an option.

Where there’s little or no heart-to-heart sharing and interaction people aren’t truly “assembled together.” (Hebrews 10:25) No amount of sermon hearing can make a Spirit-led disciple. That requires moment by moment surrender and obedience to the presence of the risen Jesus.

About Steve Simms

I like to look and think outside the box. In college I encountered Jesus Christ and I have been passionate about trying to get to know Him better ever since. My wife and I long to see the power and passion of the first Christ-followers come to life in our time. I have written a book about our experiences in non-traditional church, called, "Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible--Ekklesia." If you need encouragement, search for: Elephants Encouraging The Room and/or check out my Amazon author page. Thank you!

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