Presence

Presence
November 12, 2012
Mark 7:24  ". . .  He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret."

There are certain people who enter a room and you definitely know it.  They have a personality that cannot be hidden; it is clear upon arrival.  They may be bubbly people who get noticed for their outgoing personality, or they may be obnoxious and loud and difficult to ignore.  People like this are hard to conceal in a room.  They MUST be made known.  Jesus, though, didn't have that kind of personality.  He wasn't a loud and boisterous person.  His demeanor wasn't gregarious or obnoxious.  He wasn't obtuse or ever overbearing.  If Jesus entered a room, however, you would still know it.

Jesus was made known in a room because of His presence, not His personality.  In fact, there were times when Jesus just wanted to be in a room and blend into the walls.  But that wasn't possible; Jesus stuck out because of His presence.  There wasn't anything notable about His personality, at least as far as we can tell from Scripture, but His presence was the Presence of the Lord Almighty.  If you consider what we know of Jesus: an even tempered, mild mannered person could easily blend in if he tried.  But Jesus couldn't blend in because His presence was strong, since He carried with Him the presence of the Lord.

You and I are supposed to be like Jesus.  Despite your personality, it should not be YOU that is made known in a room; it should be your presence, the presence that exudes through you from Above.  The Lord isn't interested in having you made known; He is interested in revealing Himself through you.  You know what I mean, because you've felt the presence of the Lord through other people, too.  You have noticed something different about them.  You're attracted to their presence, not because they are loud or outgoing or charismatic, but because they carry the presence of the Lord with them; the appearance of God is evident in their lives.  If you spent much time alone with the Lord, like Jesus did, you'd always be filled with the Lord's presence.  His presence would be a part of you, and you would carry it with you at all times.

Examine yourself for a moment and consider what other people see and feel when you enter a room.  Do they see and feel your personality, or do they see the Lord living through you?  Is the presence of the Lord strong enough in your life as evidenced by those around you?  Are you Jesus with skin on, or do people cringe when you enter the room because you demand attention?  It is OK to be known in a room, but what are you known for?  The more attention you get, the less attention the Lord gets through your life.

When people were drawn to Jesus, it wasn't because of His personality, it was the Heavenly presence they felt through Him.
 
Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Luke 2:52, Luke 24:32, John 3:30, John 10:38, John 14:7