Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria Grace for Living Devotional Thursday August 17, 2023 TOPIC: I WILL BE WITH YOU

 Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria  

Grace for Living Devotional 

Thursday August 17, 2023

TOPIC: I WILL BE WITH YOU

BIBLE READING:

EXODUS 33:12-17

12 And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. 17 And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.  

KEY VERSE:

“And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33:15  

MEDITATION:

It is God's desire to dwell in the midst of His people. He had earlier said to Moses, "Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8).  

Beginning with when the Israelites left Egypt, God's presence had been with the children of them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night as they journeyed towards the Promised Land (Exodus 13:21). But when the people turned to idolatry, ingratitude, murmuring, and rebellion, God's anger was stirred against them and He decided to withdraw His presence from them.   

The Lord’s presence with us is guaranteed so long as we choose to abide in His presence (Psalms 91:1). When we forsake Him, He will also forsake us (2 Chronicles 15:2). Moses understood what the presence of God meant with them, so he cried in persistent intercession to secure God's presence with them. Infact, Moses was resolute when he told God, he goes nowhere if God will not be part of the journey. He refused angels’ company. It was either God or nobody (Exodus 33:2, 15). Neither can we do less! Only God's presence guarantees effortless victory, advancement and growth.   

We must abide in Him, knowing that without Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5). Then mountains will skip before us like rams, the little hills like lambs, and the whole earth will tremble at the presence of the Lord (Psalm 114:4, 7).  

What can you do to secure God's presence today?  

PRAYER:

O Lord, as I set out today, may your presence go with me.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

PSALMS 39-43, ROMANS 9:22-33