PRESENCE

"I don't 'do' emotion. Emotions are overrated. I'm more interested in creating a presence." Clive Owen

Presence: A person's bearing, especially when it commands respectful attention
Dictionary.com

I believe “a presence,” as actor Clive Owens uses the word, and as he manifests it in his movies, is simply this: the silent stillness of singular focus. When one with a presence enters a room, he enters with one mind, one will, one focus. She enters to simply be in the room, to simply be herself in that room. And what does it mean to be herself other than to be in the room? If she stands, she simply stands without fidgeting. If she looks, she looks at one thing, one person. If she thinks, she thinks of one thing.

And if he enters the room, the one with a “presence,” for the purpose of speech, he speaks of one truth, for one purpose. If he enters to act, he performs one task. For he is one man, not two. She is one woman, not three. He and she, being one being, speak and act one thing; think and intend one thought or intention. Are not mistakes made when a person gets ahead of himself or herself? Do we not err when we attempt to do more than one thing at a time, to be more than one place at a time, to say more than one thing at a time?

But I disagree with Owen concerning emotion, as though emotion and presence cannot coexist, though he does not directly say this. I believe the one with a presence, if he or she purposes to express an emotion, expresses one emotion: pleasure or displeasure. I believe the one with presence is without ambiguity, whose essence is clarity; singularity, simplicity.

I believe this because our presence is an image and likeness of God’s presence.

HEAR O PEOPLE OF GOD: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.

He is who He is.

He is.

This is His Name.

God is light.
In Him there is no darkness.
No.
No darkness.
At all.
The presence of God, the bearing of His person that commands respectful attention, is unlike any other presence, the supreme presence indeed. We have all experienced Him, the silent listener of each prayer, the quiet that surrounds us when we are alone in our beds, the feeling of being watched when no one is around. His presence is at times like the presence of a police car behind us, at other times like a constant companion. He fills a room at times, at others He seems no where to be found.

He is God.

On mountain tops He is felt. On ocean docks at night we tremble before Him. In the thunder we hear Him. In the lightning we see Him and fear Him. In the rainbow He smiles. In the rain drops He weeps. To be known by God is heaven. To be ignored by Him is hell. So indeed, in His presence is heaven. And indeed, in His absence is hell.

Where is God? Part 3: The Temple of God

(Part 3 of 6)
And John bore witness:"I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." John 1:32-34 ESV

God, who sent John the baptist to baptize with water, told John that Jesus would have this distinction: The Spirit of God would descend upon Him and remain upon Him. Indeed, Jesus was born of the Spirit, and John knew Him as the One who would baptize with the Spirit. Please keep these truths in mind.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14

Jesus is THE Son of God.
Those who believe in Him are sons of God. (Though the term "son" is masculine, it applies to believing men and women, just as the term "the bride of Christ" refers to the church, consisting of both men and women. My wife is a son of God, and I, her husband, am a bride of Christ. Yet as her husband, I represent Christ, and she represents the church. These are spiritual truths that must be discerned spiritually.)

What distinguished the Son of God and each son of God is the Spirit of God.

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? I Corinthians 6:18b-19a


Where is God? He is in His temple, the body of each believer of Christ. This is the very distinction of God's children. Again, the presence of God with a child of God is what distinguishes the child of God.

Observe:

• Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24
• Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9
• The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. Genesis 39:2-3
• But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. Genesis 39:21-23
• Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. I Samuel 18:12-14
• But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. I Samuel 18:28-29

It was seen and known that God was with Joseph and David. The presence of God with them distinguished them and gave them supernatural success.

What distinguishes a child of God is the Spirit of Christ in him.

What distinguishes a person of God is the presence of Christ upon her.

Where is God?
He is in a child of God, for the body of God's child is His temple, His literal dwelling place. Believe in Jesus, and become a temple of the living God. And if you are a child of God, revere God who is in you, and follow Him. (to be continued...)