Laid Down Lover

I love being in the presence of God. 

He just fills up every empty space in my life with overflowing joy. 
Then my spaces are no more and I'm completely full of Him. 
There's no replacement for that kind of fullness. 
Only Jesus will do. 

"You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 16:11

Nothing else matters when I'm in His presence.
I feel alive. I feel new. I feel thankful. 

Yes, Jesus lives in me and technically I'm ALWAYS in His presence...

But I'm NOT ALWAYS aware of it.

And He said, 

“My Presence will go with you, 

and I will give you rest.”

-Exodus 33:14

When we're not tuned in to Him:

We lose sight of the best kind of joy, love, and hope available...

One of my favorite hymns says, 

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace."

What does that mean?
That my life is full of life when I'm focused on Him and not on my life.
Yeah, say that 5 times fast. :)

God says that when we lose our life, we find it. (Matthew 10:39)
Hard? Yes.
Impossible? No!

We can truly live every day we are here on earth!
Even when bad things happen, we can experience peace.
We just have to be aware that He is with us.
ALL THE TIME.

There are many things in the world today that try to imitate His presence . 

Drugs
Sex
Money
Entertainment

We, as weak humans, put a price on this type of cheap imitation.
It's a temporary fix to a permanent problem.
But we pay for it.
Because that's the best this world has to offer.
And we give up far more than money when we allow these artificial gods to fill us up.

But the presence of the one true God is free!
His son, Jesus Christ, paid the highest price so that we wouldn't have to.
Nothing in this world can make a better promise than that.
His presence makes life worth living.
Because He is what life is all about after all.

Why pay dearly for a fake that only offers short-lived relief?
We can get the real deal that offers everlasting life for free!

I'm a laid down lover of my Savior.
I will sacrifice all the labels, money, and pleasure this world has to offer 
for just a second in His presence.

Then, and only then, will we truly live!


"One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
    beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
    than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
    generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
    It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies."
-Psalm 84:10-12 (msg)