ARE YOU A REFUGEE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD?

I thank God for bringing all of us here today and for His grace and mercies. As we can see, my blog looks different today. All thanks to my twin brother Samuel. As one of my birthday presents, he surprisingly upgraded and completely changed my whole blog setting and I just want to say a big thank you to Him. When you read this Samuel, I appreciate it so much. May God bless you. The question today is:

ARE YOU A REFUGEE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD?

Refugee in the presence of God? What does that even mean? A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their country or home and is afraid to return. Being a refugee in the presence of God means you got forced to leave the presence of God and now you’re afraid to go back. In the presence of God, there’s fullness of joy, there’s laughter, there’s unfailing love, there’s everything. But choosing to stay in His presence isn’t as easy. Hence why most of us struggle to stay. 

Sometimes, we feel like we can’t be ourselves in God so we leave. We feel like living a religious lifestyle is very boring and we need to YOLO our way out. We feel like everyone around us is judging us because we don’t want to do certain things so now we’re uncomfortable in God and the only option is to leave. My friends Kofi, Fanita and Linda always say “being a Christian isn’t easy but it’s worth it”. To be honest, I agree with them. Sometimes you see something and you want to do this but the Holy Spirit prompts you not to do it and if you choose to do, that’s you disobeying God. Everyone around you is having the best time of their lives and you’re just there looking at them. Sometimes they may even tempt you, and if you’re not strong enough you’ll end up doing whatever it is.

Don’t ever feel attacked by society and leave the presence of God. People will make you feel like you’re overdoing it or you’re just boring only because you are choosing to follow God but it is fine. I am a bubbly person, full of energy and “dumbness”. I can fool for the whole day if I’m allowed to. When I fully gave myself to God, I thought since I’m a “new person”, maybe I should change my personality. I tried to be a quiet person but let me say this, I felt weird and lost. I did not feel like myself at all. Giving yourself to God and following His way doesn’t mean you have to completely change your personality. The society thinks when you decide to be a follower of God, everything needs to change. You’d have to change one or two things that don’t please God but it doesn’t mean you’ll turn into someone else. Don’t let anyone make you feel weird about yourself. Don’t let anyone let you leave your purpose. 

Let’s look at Moses. After killing someone and fleeing away from Egypt, he returned. Even though he feared Pharaoh would kill him and that people will point at him for what he did, he was willing to go because God told him "He will go with him". We may feel like people will point fingers at us because they know what we have done in the past but let God direct you back to Him. 

Don’t ever feel like a refugee in the presence of God. Don’t feel like you will be unable to return to him. Don’t be afraid and think God will persecute you. He will always welcome you with open arms. If you lose your way, ask him to guide you back to Him just as Psalm 16:11 says “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever”. You can always build a house in God and stay. 

Refugees don’t have protection. They are scared for their lives and they feel lost. When you are not in God, you will feel lost. Allow Him to protect you. Allow Him to give you comfort and warmth. The prodigal son left home but when he arrived, his father didn’t push him away. Instead, he “runs” to meet his son. God will run and meet you when you decide to come back home. He won’t leave you wandering. He loves you. 

Prayer: Dear God, we come before you today. Bring us back to you. Don’t let us feel like refugees in your presence. Help us feel safe and welcomed whenever we are you in presence. We thank you, amen. 

Testimony: I thank God for adding another year to me and my twin's life. It has been a great week full of love and encouragement and I just want to thank God and thank everyone He sent to ensure I was smiling through the whole week. I pray this new age brings us (my twin and I) more and opens doors for us. I thank you in Jesus name. 

Appreciation: The person who created this blog is Farida. Her snap is Fariri_xx 

Thank you so much, Farida. This girl offered to a free promotional video for me. I love this blog and your kindness and may God help you to use this talent to achieve greatness and may He bless you.