More of his presence
The last post about joy in the Lord’s presence was heavy and full of surprises. This section contained some key points.
The Holy Spirit indwells Christian believers, so he’s always present. Do we cherish and acknowledge him? Or do we ignore or reject him.
Experiencing joy in the Lord’s presence is all about trusting and seeing God—seeing his character, his working, his speaking, his leading, his blessings. How do we seek the Lord’s presence continually? We live Proverbs 3:5-7. Read the section called The Word in this post.
The ultimate takeaway from part 12 was how I saw the Lord working and leading—through people the Holy Spirit brought to my mind, what I wrote and what I read. I experienced joy in the Lord’s presence as I saw what he was doing for me; in me—teaching me and changing my mind; and through me. He gave me an unusual assignment to find someone from my distant past and he helped me get started.
I texted my artist friend, Melissa, to let her know I featured her in that post. Her text reply made me laugh out loud. It was great. Look at the beautiful artwork she sent me. El Roi means “the God who sees me.”
Seeing God
Oh, yes. God sees me. And I’m focusing these days on seeing him—his character, his working, his speaking, his leading, his blessings.
This first story demonstrates God’s working, leading and blessings.
Wednesday, January 31
Journal entry
Logan’s called a lot this week to talk about his [master’s] program and life in general. He calls the people in his [master’s] program his cohorts. I love that. It’s a very special program and he knows it. Praise the Lord! He’s doing well, being involved and working hard. We’re so proud of him. (He made a 100 on his last tax quiz.) Lord, strengthen, protect and guide our Logan. Give him a deep peace and warm experiences with you.
Why did I pray for Logan to have warm experiences with God? Because it’s vital for us to see God with our eyes and our hearts.
Key verse
Remember our key verse for joy in the Lord’s presence: Psalm 105:4. We need to seek the Lord’s presence continually.
How do we experience God? We can experience the Lord’s presence in music, peace, nature, revelation/truth, weather, power/miracles, his word, prayer, worship, help and more. (See Peace, Prayer, Miracles, Christian Living and much more in the index.)
The Lord’s help
Lost and found
Let’s start with a short, sweet, impactful story about experiencing the Lord’s presence through his help.
Sunday, June 2
Journal entry
[That afternoon] when it was just starting to rain, Brandon stepped outside and found his wallet in the driveway, wide open. He had no idea it was missing. I told him the Holy Spirit was helping him. He was amazed. He asked, “Is that how it works?” And I said, “Yes.” What a beautiful encounter.
Brandon didn’t know why he stepped outside at that moment. He just did.
Who is our helper? Reflect on Psalm 121.
Your turn
Think about a time when the Holy Spirit helped you. What did you need at the time? How did God help you? Journal or write a list of examples. Pray and ask God to remind you of these important stories. Will you share one of these stories with someone else? Or more than one? Does someone need the encouragement of your stories today?
The dishwasher
My Brandon is a handy man, but our ultimate helper and protector is God Almighty.
Sunday, March 24
Journal entry
This evening, I sat in the kitchen while Brandon fixed our dishwasher. The wiring shorted out. While he was fixing that part, he realized how worn the drain hose was. He got a new hose at Lowe’s and replaced that too.
Was that the whole story? Not hardly.
Tuesday, March 26
Journal entry
What a day! Logan and I had a great talk. His [internship] interview [—the first/short one—] was pretty good. The [other recent] one was better. I told Logan that companies are like friends. Not everyone is meant to be your friend. When you meet people, sometimes you think—Yes. I want to know you. Other times, you think—No way. Other times, you think—We’ll see. I need to learn more. Prospective employers are the same. Not every firm is right for you. I told him our recent dishwasher story.
Several weeks ago, I smelled burning plastic in our dishwasher, but I couldn’t find anything in the bottom. The wiring had shorted out and caught fire in the protective metal box. We didn’t remember or realize that until Brandon took it apart—after it stopped working. The Lord saved us from fire and from flood (loose/old drain hose that Brandon discovered and replaced). I told Logan that the doors the Lord has closed protected him—from a bad boss, a crazy coworker or a wreck on the way to work. God is good.
Closed doors can be disappointing for us. Very disappointing. A broken dishwasher can be disappointing or frustrating. But God is good. He loves us. A closed door or something that’s broken can be God’s tender and powerful hand of protection over his beloved children. He shelters us from harm with his hand of protection.
For more on the Lord’s protection, read part 9 and see Protected by God in the index. I think of God’s protection as his emergency help. Heavy sigh.
Helping and sharing
The Lord’s presence also shines when he allows us to help others. He blesses the helper and the help-ee.
Saturday, May 11
Journal entry
Logan read something to me that he wrote to a friend on the Cru group chat who was very concerned about possibly flunking physics. Logan asked him if he needed encouragement, prayers or assurance (I believe), and his friend replied Yes. Logan wrote vital truths that he himself has learned about his identity and value, the big picture and the future. It warmed my heart deeply to hear Logan sharing these hard-won truths with confidence. Wow!
The day before Mother’s Day, the Holy Spirit led our son to share that story with me. What a blessing. The Lord was present for all of it.
The shift and the prayer
Sometimes the Lord shifts some things in our day so we can be at the right place at the right time. I love this story.
Monday, August 19—the first day of class this fall semester
Journal entry
Logan called me a lot today. It was so good to hear his voice. Three of the entrances to [the business building] were closed for construction. As he walked, and while we were talking, a freshman asked him where the vet building is. I told Logan that I prayed specifically that he would help someone today, and I experienced the answer to that prayer while we were on the phone! Logan acknowledged that if those doors hadn’t been closed and if he hadn’t been inconvenienced, he wouldn’t have been in the right place to help that freshman. Hallelujah and Amen!
Did Logan and I experience the Lord’s presence that day? We sure did. We experienced his working, leading, blessing and helping. Another great aspect of this story was how we experienced the Lord’s presence through my prayer that morning and the Holy Spirit’s immediate, sweet answer.
The gift of prayer
Speaking of prayer, sometimes we don’t really know why we pray a certain something. It may be something we’ve never prayed before. Check this out.
Saturday, May 18
Journal entry
Brandon and I went out to the boat this morning. Before we left the slip, I prayed for God to protect us on our adventure. (I’ve never prayed that before. The word adventure was unusual.) Before we [got through] the channel, the rope that attached the foresail to the boat broke. Pow. Brandon quickly furled our front sail. He tried to sail with just the main sail, but the boat was difficult to control. After a while, we returned to the slip.
The adventure
Talk about an adventure! When your sail suddenly detaches from your boat, you have a major problem. Something you haven’t planned for or even considered.
The Holy Spirit led me to pray for what was about to come—
and I had no idea what it was.
I prayed for God to protect us on our adventure. And he did. We were protected. This photo was taken while we were awkwardly sailing with one sail in a protected area with light winds. Thanks be to God.
I’m reminded of this saying the Holy Spirit gave me while I was writing a post about fear:
“Lord, I’m in your hands and you are faithful.”
Brandon’s skill as our sailboat captain gave me peace too. He has great experience and instincts. We also have a strong two-stroke engine. We can always pull down our sails and use the motor to get where we need to go.
The words
Before we left home that morning, I circled these three words in my daily word search puzzle: Wisdom, Joyful, Quality. Most interesting.
Where our sailing was concerned, we had the wisdom and the joy, no doubt. It was time to add the quality. Brandon had been talking about getting new sails for a while. Ours were super-old and had some performance issues. Thanks to our adventure and broken sail, the time had obviously come to refit our sails, as they say. Besides, summer in Texas is super-hot, so it was the perfect time to wait a couple months for custom sails to be ordered, made and installed. Voilà! It was the perfect time for our little sail-popping adventure.
God’s timing is perfect.
I experienced joy in the Lord’s presence through the prayer he gave me and the very good things that came from our unexpected adventure that beautiful Saturday morning. Do new sails really make a difference? Absolutely. Smoother and much more stable. Bye-bye, shocking slaps of wind. Bye-bye, expletives. Hello, smooth sailing.
Thank you, Lord, for your presence in my prayers.
Wrap-up
This post has focused on joy in the Lord’s presence through his help and how he allows us to help others. The surprise for me was how he helped me to pray the right thing at the right time. That blew me away.
Let’s wrap it up with a tender kiss from Jesus.
A kiss on the head
When I receive something very personal and sweet, I call it A Kiss On The Head from Jesus. Sometimes those kisses come through someone else.
Friday, April 19
Journal entry
Brandon cooked us bacon, cheese omelets and toast for breakfast. It was so good. Early this morning, I’d been thinking about going out for a big breakfast, but eating at home was much better. What a sweet surprise and A Kiss On The Head from Jesus.
Kiss On The Head experiences are the epitome of experiencing the Lord’s presence. Something I’m hoping for or something that gives me special joy pops into my day. And I say, Thanks be to God or TBTG, for short.
You make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11, New Heart English Bible
Amen, amen and amen.
Coming next: We’ll be exploring joy in the family of God. Come back next time to read about Christopher, our Christmas tree, Mitford, and much more.
Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: Deuteronomy 4:9
Song: “Help Us See Christ” by Sovereign Grace Music
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