Today I want to talk to you about chasing the presence of God. One of the things that guys were been talking to me about for the last 6 to 12 months is being intentional with my time.
It is so easy to get caught up in good things that we sometimes get distracted from spending time with Him. I also have felt strongly in my spirit that the church as a whole has been neglecting to chase God and His presence. We have become almost numb in how we approach Him. It is almost as though we have become too familiar with God and have discounted the importance of how often we approach Him. I believe we have done this unintentionally. Yet this does not excuse our action or inaction.

We must remember that God desires for us to remain in Him. When we remain in Him, He remains in us. Just like in a marriage or friendship, when you do not spend time with each other that relationship suffers. When you go back and begin to spend time with that individual many times you can pick up where you left off. It’s not like you have to completely rebuild the relationship. However, intimacy can be damaged if you do not maintain and invest in one another.
In the same way, we need to take the same intentionality with our relationship with our Father God and pursue Him with intentionality. When we fail to do so, we place the other things in our lives as idols. Whether it is entertainment, our family, our work, sports, or anything else that we put as first place in our life; those things become an idol when they become more important to us than God.
I can almost hear someone say I don’t put things before God. However, the way you spend your time is a testimony as to what is most important to you. If you make time in your life intentionally for God, then He is a priority for you. Remember, if music, entertainment, sports, or anything else is more important or you focus more on these things than you do God; then you have set that thing up as an idol in your life. Our lives must be lived out intentionally. I know I’ve said it many times as an example, but God is a lot like a tree planted by a river, His limbs go high and His limbs stretch out wide. He gives us a large shadow to sit under. If we move out from underneath His shadow, we have chosen to move further away from Him. If we wish to get back underneath His shadow for His protection; we must be intentional enough to move ourselves back into closer proximity with Him. The time is here for us to stop making excuses, as to how we spend our time.

We need to intentionally press into His presence. This does not mean that you must spend hours every day. I would say that we need to change our habits so that we have intentional moments throughout our day. These are moments where we’re thinking about and reflecting on and spending time with Him.
I challenge you today, to take inventory of your life and look for areas where you can be more intentional in your relationship with God. Take notes and make a plan as to how you can improve the quality of your relationship with Him.