My family and I had the privilege of going to Singapore & Malaysia with the grandparents, and we were able to see our family’s history and how they lived. I saw Nancy’s (my mother-in-law’s) family home and the treacherous journey she would take everyday to get to school. It was a little town, which meant that 50 years ago it was a little village. I asked one of the uncles what they did for fun as kids, and he told Justus and I that they would go into the jungle to find spiders to make them fight, “What?!”
I also spent time with my dads’ siblings. They were telling me stories of how they were so poor that all 12 family members lived in a 1 bed, 1 bath, government apartment. I asked my dad’s brother, “When my dad left when he was 24 years old, were you sad? Did you have a party?” He said, “Ah Huat left – now I get a bed! More room to sleep!”
As we explored history, the Lord was showing me progress. No longer does my uncle look for spiders in the jungle to have a spider battle royale. No longer do my uncles and aunties have to share a 1 bed and 1 bath apartment between the 12 of them. The idea of progress and moving forward stuck out to me. When we look at the creation of the world in Genesis; it starts in a garden, yet when we look at Christ’s return in Revelations; he comes to new Jerusalem – a city!
The presence of God is something that has shaped the LifeSpring family. Yet, the presence of God is not a new thing. All throughout the Old Testament, when God’s presence came, there was victory. When we look at the past, the Lord reveals the many steps and requirements it took to enter the presence of God (revealed through the Tabernacle). Today, in the New Testament age, we get to be in the presence of God. And although we don’t need to do all the rituals found in the Old Testament, the principles remain the same.
Please take a listen to hear a comparison of the presence of God then (OT) vs. now (NT) here.
This year, the Lord is calling us to Increase Our Faith. As the Lord has been speaking to me about this, He has been convicting me that His presence can no longer be about visitation, but about habitation. God does not want to be a guest in our lives, He wants to be in and part of it every single day, every hour, every minute.
The presence of God is not something to be taken for granted, nor should it be taken lightly. To move from visitation to habitation requires a purity, a holiness, a righteousness; it means ridding ourselves of any unclean way that is left on the inside.
This can be a painful and frustrating process, but with the power of Holy Spirit and His amazing grace and mercy – we will get there.
As we continue to fast in January, invite the Holy Spirit to increase. In turn, He will show you things to get rid of. This is not condemnation, it is conviction.
Praise the Lord.