God's Presence in Your Life
Ezekiel 11:5
"And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them."
To have God's presence in one's life should be the desire of every Christian. The verse above says, "And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me,..." What a powerful statement! Ezekiel was not just talking about a desire to have God's presence, but he was testifying about having it. Yet, there were some steps he took before this happened that I would like to show you.
First, he had a good attitude. Verse 1 says, "Moreover the spirit lifted me up,..." The Scriptures didn't say that he was put down, but that he was lifted up. In other words, Ezekiel's spirit had to be one that the Holy Spirit would want to be a part of. You won't find people with God's presence on their life who are always down in the dumps. You should strive to grab God's attention by having a good attitude.
Second, he was obedient to the Spirit of God. Verse 1 continues to say, "Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate..." Notice, Ezekiel had to follow the Spirit's leading. If the Spirit of God had told Ezekiel to go to the east gate, and if he had not followed, then the Spirit of the LORD could not have fallen upon him. God's Spirit will never fall upon you if you don't obey Him. When the Spirit of the LORD speaks to your heart, He expects you to listen and obey. Why should the Spirit of the LORD fall upon you if you don't listen? The Spirit of God will never force Himself upon anyone. If, when He speaks, you don't listen, then He will quietly go away and find someone else who will be obedient. You should be sure that you have such an obedient and yielded spirit that whatever God asks or tells you to do that you do it. You'll never experience God's presence otherwise.
Third, in verses 2-3 Ezekiel went to the people. God's Spirit is not a possession for you to hold; rather, His Spirit is to be a conduit through your life. You will never get God's Spirit upon your life by sitting at home doing nothing. God's Spirit falls upon those who are doing something for God. Let me ask you, what are you doing for the LORD that would cause Him to want to place His Spirit upon you? The purpose of God's Holy Spirit's presence is to help you to help those whom He wants to help. Until you get busy serving the LORD, you will never experience God's presence in your life.
Fourth, verse 4 shows us that Ezekiel prophesied to the people. Christian, get busy spreading the Word of God to people. You can spread It through soul winning, teaching a Sunday school class, helping people who are hurting, teaching people in a nursing home, etc. When you teach God's Word, that motivates God's Spirit to help you make the needed impact on the hearts of individuals.
These four steps took place before Ezekiel could say, "And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me,..." This world needs Christians who have the presence of the LORD on their life. Better yet, your world needs someone who has the presence of the LORD upon their life. Be that person! Daily follow these four steps, and you will find that the Spirit of the LORD will work through your life. You will find that the more He works through your life, the greater impact you will have on the lives of other's.