Psalm 140:13 (NIV) Surely the righteous will praise your name, and the upright will live in your presence.

When you get to know the Lord in a more intimate way that is so much deeper than religion can take you, you begin to love being in the presence of God. You learn to love Him so much that you want to not only come into His presence, but you desire to live in His presence. Not everyone wants to live in God's presence because some people feel that it would be very intimidating and stifling. You would feel that way if your heart is not fully surrendered to the Lord Jesus and if you still want to hang on to your own wants, desires and dreams as opposed to desiring God's will for your life. But those that have learned that being surrendered to God's will is the way to live your best life here on earth also desire to be in God's presence at all times. But how do you do that? The verse above tells us how.

The Word of God tells us that it is the upright who live in God's presence. That's good to know, but who exactly are the upright? Does that mean people who live without making any mistakes and who walk perfectly before the Lord at all times? Thankfully not, because that would eliminate every single one of us. The upright simply are the people who have surrendered their heart and their life to Jesus and who actually follow Him. It is not those who say they are Christians, but those who live as Christ-followers. Someone who follows Jesus gets up every day, picks up their cross, denies himself and gets ready to follow Jesus all day long (Luke 9:23). The upright are those who have determined that Jesus is their life and not someone who is just a part of their life. It's someone who is done with their backsliding and has decided to follow Jesus without ever turning back. It is someone who when they do mess up a little (all major mess-ups are behind them) with either a wrong attitude or a selfish moment, immediately ask the Lord for forgiveness so that they can be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It's someone who leans hard on Jesus for their everyday living.

It is awesome to live in the presence of God. That's where true life, provision, safety, peace and joy all reside. Join the ranks of the people who live in God's presence not by being perfect, but instead by relying on the one who is perfect...Jesus! It is there in His presence that the righteous live and praise His name.

Pastor Joey Vazquez