Exodus 33:15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

There is something special about having an intimate fellowship with God. Moses understood this well and treasured it so much more than anything else.

If we are going to fulfill the mandate of heaven upon us, we must learn to continually place a demand for His presence, and sustain an ambient atmosphere as well as a high level of sensitivity to His presence.

1 Samuel 5:1-6 [1] Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod…. [6] But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines, there was a judgement upon the land, people died of boils and God glorified His Name in the land of the Philistines.

2 Samuel 6:11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

The ark of covenant only stayed in the house of Obed-Edom for three months and the report was all over Israel that the Lord had blessed Obed-Edom and all that belonged to him.

In 1 Samuel 7:1-2, Abinadab hosted the same ark for 20 years but nothing happened to him in just three months of being in the house of Obed-Edom, his life became a national envy; The same presence, different results.

What did Obed-Edom do that Abinadab did not do? Abinadab took things casually while Obed-Edom considered it a privilege to host God, and so the presence increased him. This is the same challenge we have as believers; we are under the same presence, grace and anointing, but we receive different results.

I pray that God will help us to value and remain sensitive to His presence in us, and that our results will become an envy to the nations.

Matthew 13:54-58 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55- Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?…

58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Jesus returned to his own country to be a blessing to His home. But because they knew Him after the flesh, they were blinded by their knowledge of His upbringing, failing to receive the fullness of the blessing of the Lord that was in their midst. Familiarity blocked them. This is the same story we have in church.

How many people have forfeited their blessings in life because of the veil of carnality that has blinded them from seeing things the way they should have? (Ecclesiastes 8:1)

I pray you will not miss what God has ordained for you. The things that transform our lives and move us to the next level often don’t come packaged in the way we want them to. This is why the Bible says that we can no longer see people after the flesh, lest our day of visitation pass us by and we miss out on what God ordained for us.

Genesis 18:1-15

It was just an ordinary day for Abraham as he sat under the tree when he lifted his eyes and saw three men passing by. He invited them into his house to have a drink, not knowing he was inviting what was going to bring an end to the 25 years of waiting for a son.

What could have happened if Abraham had not invited the angels, who appeared as mere men to come to his house? Many of us have missed opportunities because of familiarity. May God open our eyes to interpret events correctly and remain highly sensitive to His presence.

STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU.

PASTOR BEN OCHOLA.