He is present...

He woke me with words today...
ministry needing to move forward...

He spoke to me through messages...
preachers teaching through the radio...

He pressed me to pray...
inviting another to join in intercession...

He seemed very present today...

Sometimes He's so quiet...
I wonder if He's near...
but not today...

Where was He present to you today...?

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near...

Isaiah 55:6 ESV

wholly present...

The thought has come several times today...
Be wholly present where you are...
Not in those exact words...
and maybe not in words at all...
more of an impression...

Be wholly focused on what you are doing...

With full days...
distraction... becomes an enemy...
mistakes made...
things forgotten...

One thing at a time...

A reminder to stay where I am...
not think about what's next...
or what's later today...
or tomorrow...
or the day after the day after tomorrow...

Wholly present...
not something I'm really good at...
but wholly important...

He is only present tense...
I AM... His name...
He is only found in our present moment...
even though He is eternal...

We... inhabiting only a single moment at a time...
cannot connect with Him ruminating on the past...
or in the worrying over future...

He is only in our present...
there is no... What if...
there is only... What is...

As His... The Lord's...
I am one who needs His help...

To gain access to His help...
I must be fully vested in the present moment...
in work...
in relationship...
in planning...

Wondering where these impressions...
thoughts are leading...
A preparation...?
A warning...?
Simply a new teaching...?

Whatever... I feel the need to practice...
wholly presence...

A challenge for this poor and needy soul...

(Even now I find myself distracted by something else...
before this is wholly done... I'm back... that voice it said...
One thing at a time...)

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25 ESV

Moment by moment...

wholly present...

present... emotions...

Joy...
Hope...
Discouragement...
Frustration...
Disappointment...
Conviction...
Love...
Concern...
Doubt...
Sorrow...
Impatience...

Emotions... of the moment... just today's... make it difficult... to receive... what's presented... in the present... as a present...

Continuing the challenge... to receive from Him... each moment... as a gift... because He is good...

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV

(my emphasis)

the present challenge

Receiving... everything... presented... as a present... a gift...

The importance of thought-life... has been recurrent... what we think... how we perceive... events... people... circumstances... in our minds... effects our faith... peace... heart...

A current read... a gift... focuses totally on thought-life...

Jesus gave us His peace (see John 14:27), but He said we must not allow ourselves to be fearful, intimidated and unsettled. In other words, peace is present in us, but it must be chosen over what our fleshly mind thinks. We can choose to be peaceful by choosing to think on thing that promote peace rather than things that open a door for worry and anxiety.

---Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind 

A devotional... read this morning... encouraging right perceptions... of Him...

You are My beloved. Although you experience many difficulties in your life, I shield you all day long. You cannot imagine what your life would be like if I were not protecting you continually. The adversity I do allow you to experience is ultimately for your good and My Glory. You can rest secure by trusting that My protective Presence is with you always, no matter what trials you may be enduring.

---Jesus Lives, by Sarah Young

Knowing Him... as the Great I AM... the purely present God... the One Sovereign over all... nothing happens except what He allows...

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?

Lamentations 3:38

And He is good... only good...

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:5

So the challenge... to train the mind... receive everything presented... by Him... as a present....