Experiencing the Presence of God

Eido is the Greek word that means “to see” and comes from the root word oida which means to know intimately. Remember Job, who said after all his trials, “I [had] heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear [beginning knowledge of God], but now mine eye seeth Thee [now I have intimate, experiential knowledge of You].”

Remember, the fire of God’s Love not only consumes us, it also enlightens us! When we enter the presence of God, we will “see” (eido) all that we have only known so far by “faith.” The fire of God’s Love will allow us to see and know Him as we never have before. Matthew 5:8 says it perfectly, the “pure in heart [and spirit] shall see God.” In other words, the more our soul is stripped away from our spirit, the clearer we will be able to see Him. Purity is a prerequisite for seeing Him. Only when our soul and spirit are cleansed, can God’s light shine forth and we’ll be able to see Him. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

The presence of God is only seen through faith, not through our own abilities or our own understanding. By faith, we will see Him in every circumstance; by faith, we will be conscious of His closeness all the time; by faith, we will be trying to please Him in all we do; and by faith we will try to be moved only by His Spirit.

A Scriptural Example: Moses

Just like Moses, our goal should not simply be the security of our salvation, but the ability to see God face to face. “He is always before my face, that I shall not be moved.” (Acts 2:25)

The Lord talked face to face with Moses out of the fire. (Deuteronomy 5:4) Moses was so touched and so changed by the encounter that his face shown. His face shone on the outside because of what was happening to him on the inside. And the same thing can occur with us. Maybe, not to the degree that it happened with Moses, but we all have met those special people whose countenance glows because they have been with Jesus. They have been in the presence of God and it shows on the “outside.”

In this wonderful state of seeing and experiencing and knowing God’s presence, we will begin to watch Him repay our painful times with His unfathomable Love and affection. We will also begin to realize that in our dark seasons, He never really left us at all. He had to do what He did, in order to get us to this point of intimacy.

This alone should render us incapable of doubting and give us the assurance that He loves us unconditionally. “…And ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done…saith the Lord.” (Ezekiel 14:23)

Further Benefits of Intimacy

We have previously covered many of the benefits of experiential intimacy with God, but here are a few more:

• “Sight” becomes swallowed up by faith
• Holiness allows us to see God
• Hope grows stronger
• Faith grows more active
• Freedom of spirit
• No more “fleshly” captivity
• Answered prayer
• Distrust of things “seen”
• Unclouded vision

And this list goes on and on….

In closing, look at Ephesians 3:14-19:

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in Love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And, to know the Love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”