In His presence!

Every creature has an optimal environment that allows them to live and thrive. To the fish, it’s the ocean. To the bird, it’s the sky. To the Christian, it’s God’s presence.  Psalm 140:13 “Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence“. In His presence, we are made strong. We are cleansed, We receive His joy. We receive wisdom. We are protected. We receive His mercy. We are protected from our enemies. We are secure. We are loved. We see with His eyes. We feel His heart. We get answers for our prayers. We experience resurrection power. We receive spiritual, mental and emotional healing. His presence is the place where we live and thrive. Have you experienced His presence?

Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy”.

It’s more blessed to do this!

I remember a commercial quite a while ago where the actor was asked for help and he responded: “What’s my motivation? What will it do for me?” In other words, he was more interested in what he could get out of the situation versus how could he help. In Acts 20:35, the Apostle Paul echoed the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said: “‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The Greek word for blessed is multifaceted. It means: supremely fortunate, happier, Part of the nature of being blessed is that it is of the highest good.” So   Jesus revealed that is is more blessed, (more fortunate, happier, it is of the highest good) to give than to receive. Consider how happy we are when we give gifts to our children or to a loved one. I don’t know who is happier; the one receiving the gift, or the one who has given the gift? I remember on Christmas Day, I would be so excited to see my children open their gifts. I could hardly contain myself! As the giver, it gave me great joy to give something to my loved ones that I knew was going to make them happy! In actuality, mankind is at his highest joy when he/she is helping others. Part of our DNA is to give to others. God is the greatest giver. He gave us the greatest gift on the cross! Reject this culture of selfishness and become a great giver. Give love, joy, grace, patience, kind words, forgiveness, revelation, affirmation, help among other things. Remember: it is more blessed to give than to receive!