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Eleven years ago our church experienced a welcomed invasion of the presence of God. Invasion is the correct word, because He invaded our same ol', same ol' traditional way of playing church and He gave us something a million times better.
He gave us His Presence. And suddenly I felt as though if I didn't kneel down, I would fall down. So I knelt, along with others around me, and that's when an invisible liquid love poured down upon me. Oh my, the love poured down and I felt love for everyone in that room--even for those I'd barely liked before--and for all people I had ever known.
An hour later I got up, swaggered a bit, and that night God followed me home from church. And He has lived here ever since.
When God lives in your house, everything changes. Usually He starts by changing you, yourself. You can't get over the fact that He walks from room to room with you. It amazes you that He's staying this long, that He desires to be with you--you!-- every minute, whether night or day. You are shocked that He loves you that way. And when you know you are loved, you can do and be just about anything He wants you to do and be.
When God's in your house, you can't get away with what you used to. But then, you don't want to. You want to live better and be better.
His presence changed me. After being in the same room with Him you can't help but open the door and walk out changed. He brings great love and great light--and the light uncovers your heart's ugly junk. You are horrified to see it exposed.
But then--wonder of wonders-- the Light cleanses and heals your heart.
And your house shines from the inside-out, the Light follows you wherever you go, making your city appear different. People look changed and so do you.
It was the Presence of God which softened my stoney-Christian heart so that it could be further molded and changed by His hands however He chose to mold it on down through the years. His Light is like supernatural fire--it even melted the brick wall I'd built to keep Truth and other people outside.
And since God followed me home from church that night, everything remains in a constant state of change. His presence brings change, usually before I understand what God is doing and how and why He is doing it. Life is inside-out and upside-down and seldom logical with His Presence--and all these years later He is still living here.
He uncovers, sears, and then heals. He and His Presence which wakes me in the mornings and lies down with me at night. He and His Presence which, now, I could never live without for even half a minute.
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"He places the cry in your heart, and He draws you--from beginning to end, it's all of Him." ... Bob Sorge
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