How can I live God's presence? Can I detect His unseen hand on my shoulder and His inaudible voice in my ear? How can we grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas taken from JUST LIKE JESUS by Max Lucado:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence.

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence.

Give God your whispering thoughts. . . . Imagine considering every moment as a potential time or communion with God.

Give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God.

OK, now go out into this week living in the presence of God!

The high priest in the Old Testament, when he was ministering in the tabernacle or the temple, was warned not to drink strong drink. When our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin, He did not want in any way to be identified with strong drink. No, He was in full control of Himself. He was the suffering Son of Man.

Do you know what this means for us today? It means that Jesus Christ is able to empathize completely with us; He is able to identify with our pain and our need and our hurt.

Wherever we go, we find people who are hurting. There is physical pain, there is emotional pain, and there are spiritual burdens and battles. My Lord, the suffering Son of Man who cried, "I thirst," has identified Himself with our every need. That encourages me to pray. It encourages me not to quit, because I can come at any time to the throne of grace and find grace to help in the time of need. Remember Hebrews 4:15? There we read, “Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin” (TEV).

Recently, coming home from work, I got off the train behind a college student carrying the obligatory backpack. Among the buttons he was displaying was one reading,

“Study evolution,
learn science.”
 

I felt like tapping him on the shoulder and saying,

“Study creationism,
learn truth”

but I didn’t, it didn’t seem to be the right time and place.

Then I thought, how many of us who believe the Bible is truly God’s Word read and obey it? In his book Living Above the Level of Mediocrity Charles Swindoll wrote,

“God offers instruction, but then it's our move. We must accept His instruction and apply it to our lives. Then, and only then, can we expect to cash in on the benefits of His instruction. So you see, application is the essential link between instruction and change. . . .

“God has sent us His instruction. He has preserved every word of it in a book, the Bible. It's all there, just as He communicated it to us. When He returns for His own, He isn't going to ask us how much we memorized or how often we met for study. No, He will want to know, ‘What did you do about my instructions?’"

How about it, what have you done with His instructions?

Moses wrote in Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (NIV) The Hebrew text suggests that we correctly "account" for our days. Charles Swindoll wrote in his book, STRENGTHENING YOUR GRIP, “I find it interesting that we are to view life by the days, not the years. We are to live those days in such a way that when they draw to a close, we have gained "a heart of wisdom." With the Lord God occupying first place in our lives we accept and live each day enthusiastically for Him. The result will be that "heart of wisdom" the psalmist mentions. . . .

“Because we cannot alter the inevitable, we are to adjust to it. And we do that not a year at a time, but a day at a time. Instead of eating our heart out because a few more aches and pains have attached themselves to our bodies, we determine to celebrate life rather than endure it. Aging isn't a choice. Bur our response to it is. In so many ways we ourselves determine how we shall grow old.”

So let’s have a celebration. Let us celebrate the life God has give us and live it to the fullest by the power of His Holy Spirit.

How are you doing? Really now, how joyful is your walk in this world? How much do you experience of the living God daily? David Jeremiah wrote:

"David would have agreed with the old African-American preacher who said, 'There's no living in the land of the living like living on the living God.' That preacher was right. The land of the living is not a reference to eternity or heaven. It is a reference to living right now. The Bible is written for people who are living in the -and of the living, not for people who dream of 'pie in the sky by and by.'

"The land of the living is where you and I live every day. We rise and face the challenges that the living face, and God is our portion in that land. He does not remove us from the land where we live in order to help us. Rather, He joins us where we are—our private world, our family, our job, our church—to meet our needs. The God of David is our God, and He is still our refuge and our portion."

So go forth with God. Worship Him daily. Thank Him for His constant presence. "There's no living in the land of the living like living on the living God."

In our world we are constantly being bombarded by advertising of one kind or another. Companies pitch products to us telling us about their features and benefits. Features are the characteristics of a product or service. Benefits are those things that directly benefit us when we use the product or service. For instance, a new computer may have incredible speed and large memory. These are features. These features allow me to do things quicker and easier which are the benefits of those features. And people are usually more concerned about the benefits – what it will do for me – than they are of the features.

In Isaiah 48:17 God tells us there are some direct benefits to the features of His character. He is the God who is committed to teaching His children in the way they should go. The verse reads, "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” The benefit of this “feature” is given in the next verse, verse 18, “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

He tells us that the “benefit” to allowing Him to teach us and lead us in His way is “peace” and “righteousness.” Here is a guaranteed promise from God. You will have peace like a river and righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Are you trusting God with the details of your life so He can lead you in the way you should go? Are you allowing Him to teach you from His word? Allow the Lord to control your life, to teach you His way, and watch as He given peace like a river and waves of righteousness in your soul.

We live in a noisy world. The roar of jet aircraft, the clatter of air hammers, MP3 Players, cell phones, transportation, Televisions, radios and countless other sounds bombard us constantly. This affront to the nervous system and the additional sounds we can control are bound to drain our energies. Radios, televisions, and music systems have their place, but they must never crowd out those renewing times of quiet solitude.

Centuries ago, Isaiah wrote, "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (KJV). Spiritual renewal comes through silent waiting on God. His Word and the inner witness of His Spirit assure us of His unfailing love; they tell us where we've gone astray, and how to get back. They show us what new direction to take. But they always speak softly.

Do we escape from silence into a world of sound? Are there "speakers" in our lives that are tearing us down? If so, that may be the reason we cannot hear the. one Speaker whose gentle voice builds us up.

1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy