Spirit: Path To Praise - The Overflow DevoMfano

Holy Spirit (Francesca Battistelli)

Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your Presence Lord

Consistently throughout God’s Word, there are accounts of people being “overcome” by the Presence of the Holy Creator God. The experience is always undeniable, and often includes terror, weeping, and even falling to the ground as if dead. However, we also learn in God’s Word that “in His presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11 ESV). How can these vastly different categories of experience co-exist?

The way that Moses responds to God in Exodus 33 provides significant insight into the mysterious power of God’s presence. After being told by God that God’s presence would not continue with the people, Moses says to God in Exodus 33:15: “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” In the original language, the word for presence is the word paniym, which also means face.

The presence of God is His Holy Spirit. And the word face (paniym) reveals to us that the relationship with God Jesus offers doesn’t simply allow us to enter God’s cold and distant proximity. The relationship that Jesus offers us with God is a “face-to-face” type of relationship. In the Jewish culture, the “face” of God would have indicated an unthinkable and terrifying level of relational intimacy between Creator and creation. The “face” of Jesus is what makes this type of relationship between filthy sinners and a holy God possible.

Consider: 2 Corinthians 4:6: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Sinners like us have been given the radical invitation and privilege to see, enjoy, and be satisfied by the presence of God right now in the face of Jesus Christ through the power of His Spirit.

Jesus longed for us to experience the power, comfort, and nearness of His Holy Spirit. So much so that in John 16:7 He would go so far to say, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus knew He couldn’t be physically present at the same time with the people that He loved, so He sent us a better solution, His Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our great Comforter and God’s great power, working in us and through us to help us experience intimate, face-to-face relationship with Him daily and the power to love the world the way Jesus loves.

Would you call out to God today? Are you asking Him for more of His presence, His comfort, His power, His “face”? He is a good Father and He loves to give good gifts to His children. Let us ask with confidence, through the name of Jesus, and see how God responds!