Lately I have been preparing for sharing on entering into the Presence of God. That topic has led me to ask myself how do I enter into His presence and stay there?

As I read the gospels I am struck by the walk Jesus had. Once he was baptized and the HS descended upon Him as a dove it just stayed put..  I want to live a life with that same constant sense of His presence and His voice in my ear as Jesus had the voice of the father directing him.

I loved what Bill Johnson of Bethel once said, “ Every step I take is with the dove in mind, to preserve and honor what I cherish most”. Simply having that visual has helped me these last couple of weeks to learn  to be conscience of the Holy Spirit with me, all the time.

I considered the purity of the life of Jesus. He walked a blameless and sinless life. In the natural that is impossible for us but I know I am to strive for purity.

Wikepedia defines purity as the absence of impurity or contaminants in a substance.

To strive towards a pure life in thought and action I must be careful of anything that might contaminate me. A great example is what I think about, watch and meditate on. Allowing bitterness, resentments, criticisms or un-forgiveness into my mind and heart not only contaminates me but also grieves the Holy Spirit.

On our own it is so hard to always think and speak in purity. However,

Ephesians declares that the Lord gave Himself up for the church “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word” Ephesians 5:26. The word of God is both a source of blessing and cleansing in our lives.

David offers a great reminder in the Psalms:

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,

O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.

So much of our lives are dictated by our thought lives.  What I say usually comes from what I have been thinking about. If I think judgmental or critical thoughts they often slip out of my mouth! With my consciousness tightened I am catching myself more often and doing an abrupt about face..

I have the incredible privilege of mentoring women 30 years younger than I am. In doing so I find I am often sharing testimonies of the faithfulness of God in my life. I am reminded of Psalm 145:5 “They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works”. Each time I share the amazing provision of God towards Dave and I and all the times God has healed me or someone in my family I find myself meditating and pondering and thinking of His wonderful works and His incredible love towards us. When I do that I am filled with joy and find myself in His presence. .

God is love and in His presence is fullness of joy. The presence of the Lord also brings Peace. When I notice that those three are missing I just have to take a quick look to see which contaminates I have allowed to seep in and make sure the dove has a place of rest…