One of the greatest gifts of my life has been experiencing the presence of God.

His presence is essential to experiencing and knowing him,

and God has made himself so available to us through all that Jesus accomplished.

May we simplify what it means to experience God's presence today and gain a greater sense of confidence to experience

the presence of God for ourselves at all times. One thing of have asked the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the

house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire

in his temple. Psalm 274.

Experiencing the presence of God sounds like such a mystery. It sounds like this wonderful but

evasive thing that some people get sometimes, but isn't concrete enough to expect or place your hope in.

We associate God's presence with emotions and music, as if it were a breeze so light and momentary,

you almost couldn't be sure it happened at all.

But in reality, God's presence is as simple as being in the presence of a friend

or spouse. It's as simple and concrete as being around a person except for one simple truth. God never

leaves. And just as you can be in the same room as a friend and not know it, you can live

the Christian life apart from experiencing God's nearness, just as you can be sitting across

from a friend and be so busy with technology or your own thoughts to even remember they are there.

You can go through life focused on the busyness of the present circumstances and miss out

on the fact that God is closer than your breath.

But we find hope for encountering the presence of God in Psalm 274.

Scripture says, one thing I have asked the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell

in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple. The pursuit, this action

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