Presence: What If Jesus Were Really Here?

by R. Ashbrook

Each one made imaginary attempts to raise some sort of inner antenna or radar or sonar dish, but nothing happened. Soon, they relaxed and just became still. In the stillness they experienced a peace, a safety, and yes, a Presence.

This experiment felt harder to me than the other ones.

The Holy Spirit works very gently; He will not overpower you against your wills. He will wait. So, sometimes you don’t discern me because you’re distracted. But you can learn to become still and wait.”

Barry found the passage and read, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

“What we’ve just heard stands as bedrock in our relationships. I’m not only present WITH you, I’m present IN you. What’s more, you are present IN Us.

While I can appear to people externally, as I did with Saul on the road to Damascus and with John on the island of Patmos, our normal and ongoing relationship remains internal.”

“Control provides another important reason my followers fail to experience my Presence. At the very core of human sinfulness lies the desire to control one’s life and destiny, and even to control God.

Or, there’s the one that goes like this: ‘Okay, Jesus, I’m very busy. I’ve managed to work You into my schedule for the next few minutes. Most of that time I will talk and You will listen. If there’s time and You want to say something to me, You’d better get to it. Oops, sorry, I gotta run.”

Jesus went on, “You see, I love you too much to let you get away with it, to reinforce that kind of behavior. It would be like giving a two-year-old candy anytime she asked for it.

Most people have to become desperate to know my Presence to the point they’re willing to surrender and let me lead them as their Shepherd. Even for believers, control is so ingrained that surrender has to be an ongoing process. Unfortunately, I often have to let people wait a very long time. It’s not uncommon for people hold out until they’re literally on their deathbeds and have lost everything before they can let themselves experience my Presence, their Shepherd and Lord.”

It may sound easy to simply ‘walk with Jesus,’ but people forget that they start off blind, lame, and without strength. It takes time to learn to let the Holy Spirit help them see spiritually, heal wounds that disable them, and empower them to respond. It takes some concentrated time and practice. In fact, the best way to learn to follow me begins in the prayer closet. You must make time to draw apart with me, learn to listen, and sense my Presence without all the external distractions. Once you have learned to listen and discern when you’re in prayer, you will begin to discern me in the busyness of daily life.”

Barry leaned forward with a question. “But what about the Bible? I thought the Scriptures contain Your word to us and that we’re supposed to hear from You in your Word.”

Some try to completely limit their experience of the Creator of the Universe to the written words of the Bible. God can never be contained in a book, no matter how holy or inspired it is. You were created to have fellowship with God, not just a book about Him. Some people even end up in a form of idolatry—they worship the book about God, My Book, rather than God Himself.

The Bible remains important, even vital for my children, but it was never intended as a substitute for me personally.

This dismissal of the Bible often starts with one particular teaching that the person or group doesn’t like. For example, many people resent that I have designed sexuality as an expression of the love between a man and a woman, as a gift of the pleasure of participating with me in creation. So, they dismiss those teachings and replace them with what they think seems more reasonable. Others stumble over the story of Creation and get distracted by the time it took. So, they dismiss the creation story. And so it goes, until some of my followers find themselves left without any authority but their own. They deny the clear teaching of God and reap the disaster that comes with ignoring the operating instructions of the Manufacturer.”

Between now and the time we meet next Thursday, I want you to practice becoming attentive to my Presence. You’ll need to plan for a specific time each day to work at it, a place with as few distractions as possible. Once you’re settled, say what you need to tell me, but keep it simple; I already know. Then just become still and attentive, just as you did in our practice session a few minutes ago.” Jesus grinned and went on, “During the rest of the day and at church on Sunday, watch for me. Listen and see with your hearts what I’m trying to say and do in you and around you. Become intentional about following my shepherding. We’ll talk about your experiences next week and then continue our discussion about the Holy Spirit and how He works to make you warriors for my Father and lovers of souls.”

They each had to admit that “church” began to feel quite different. Instead of going for the part that interested them, such as the sermon or the music or their friends, they now watched for Jesus in every aspect, letting the Holy Spirit point out discoveries to be explored.

Barry, Lillian, and Jim were struck by the amazing “coincidences” between one or more of the texts and their discussions with Jesus, or an issue that had been simmering in their lives.

Barry and Lillian noticed a dramatic change in the new depth of Pastor Jim’s preaching. First, they sensed a new depth of humility in him. Now he often illustrated his points with stories of his own struggles or failures. They also observed that he no longer focused on merely conveying information or attempting to get people to adopt some new behavior. No, Jim spoke about Jesus—messages from Jesus—calling his hearers to a deeper and more personal relationship with Him.

Prayer changed from an often rote part of the liturgy to a profoundly moving experience. Each person felt prayed for and blessed personally, sensing that the prayers somehow contained power that began to accomplish what they spoke.

While I love each of you dearly, I must also rule you and lead you. Although I’m your friend, you must obey me in every aspect of life if you’re to realize all that I have for you and celebrate God’s victory with me in heaven. Will you follow me as your King?”

Stand on your faith, not on what you think should be some successful outcome.”

“Think about it. How did I get people to believe? How did you see the Apostles do it?” Jesus went on before anyone could answer. “We told people about the love of God and then we demonstrated that love through power. Sometimes people experienced that power through the love of the community. Sometimes they saw it in miracles that showed that God is real and that He loves them. These miracles acted as signs that pointed to a greater reality. Many people came to me because they needed something and had no other way to get it. Some came out of curiosity. The result? Hungry people found food. Lost people discovered hope. Lonely people received love and a family. They actually experienced the reality of adoption and transformation in the community of my followers; they weren’t just told about it.

Once they experienced the truth of the Kingdom, they wanted it for themselves; they wanted to believe. When people want to believe, the Holy Spirit helps them.”

Jesus shook His head and continued, “Yet, a lot of people insist on modifying those passages, at least as they interpret them. Many of my followers look at wisdom, knowledge, and faith as mere human abilities. Then they argue about miracles, healing, tongues, and interpretation until the topics become so controversial the ‘supernatural’ can no longer be mentioned, or people leave churches who believe in ‘that kind of stuff.’ It breaks my heart that so many of my people choose playing it safe rather than risking to bless others.” That’s one of the differences between practicing a religion and following me.” Jesus was clearly grieved, and sat for a few minutes as the group waited.

“Religion. It’s what I fought while I was on earth, and it’s what I’m still fighting today. By religion, I mean the practice of rituals and the propagation of doctrines and memberships in factions without the reality of the power of God.

“People who desperately need me usually seek me out among my people. Many times, however, instead of finding me and my loving power, they find only religion.

But we’re not a charismatic church; we don’t really know about miracles. We’re afraid of their misuse.

I know it’s much safer to conduct church in a human way.

If you want to follow me, you must also take up your cross—the very things that may get you rejected and ridiculed—and follow me.”

But now Jesus was asking them to follow Him into a new level of radical risk and radical trust, into the world of the Holy Spirit—to become knights of the King.

Jesus smiled at them and something in them knew that the wondrous and life-changing visitations had come to an end. Their hearts sank and tears welled. They wanted to jump up and scream, “No!” but all they could do was sit there, numb. Would it really end like this?

He’d left them unable to return to the past and terrified of the future.

I don’t want to be a pastor anymore.” His head knew that wasn’t true, but it expressed his feelings perfectly.

Strangely, these three followers of Jesus did not speak to one another for the next three weeks.

Of course Jesus and the other two never left their minds, but they kept their grief buried deep enough to control the pain.

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. I am the way, and the truth, and the life; the works that I do you shall do also; and greater works than these shall you do. And whatever you ask in my name, that will I do. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Arise, let us go from here.

Barry experimented with his prayer time by sitting on the hay bales in the barn, riding on the tractor, and finally found that walking with Jesus down the road or across the field felt most satisfying. He would usually begin the walk by asking Jesus, “Where to today, Lord?” Then he’d follow his first instinct and walk in that direction. Occasionally, Barry would imagine Jesus actually walking inside him, enjoying the fertile earth, warm sunshine or cold rain.

They knew that they probably wouldn’t audibly “hear” anything from Jesus, but that His thoughts would come to them from within.

While in a given prayer time, it may have seemed that no real exchange took place. Only later might they realize that God had spoken to them about the current matter in their earlier times of prayer.

All three also noticed how Jesus seemed to highlight certain parts of their thinking during prayer. With all that had been going on, their minds were filled with questions, doubts, and fears about what it would mean to follow Jesus going forward. Barry, for example, kept asking Jesus, “What do you want me to do now?” but received no discernable response. However, he noticed his thoughts returning to the men at the bar he’d interviewed some months before and wondered how people like that could ever learn to experience Jesus as Present.

So, when fears or negative thoughts about someone came to mind, for example, they knew they hadn’t come from the Lord.

“When I try to make something happen, I can’t sense Jesus. But when I relax and just enjoy being with Him, all sorts of things come to mind and lines of thought take shape that I’m sure came from Him. When I trust Him to be Present, I experience His Presence!”

People will believe it’s true when they experience it as true. It’s up to us to show them, not just tell them. How the he__, uh, dickens are we going to do that? So that’s the first thing rumbling around in my head.”

Other people function the same way we do; they have to experience it; they have to know His Presence to realize that they can’t live without His love. If Jesus won’t appear to folks physically, then they need to experience His love through us. Once they know what God’s love feels like, then they’ll want to taste the Presence of Jesus.”

“I’m excited about what the Lord’s been telling you. I’m moved by the way you’ve taken it to heart, and I’m hearing Jesus’ heart in you as well. You really do care about these people and what keeps them from the Lord. I guess I’m also encouraged because I know that the Lord wouldn’t move you in this way unless He intended to do something about it. Barry, I think you’re the best man I know to team with Jesus about this. We all need to pray for ongoing insight into what the Lord wants you, and us, to do. I know it seems impossible, but has the Lord ever left us in the lurch so far?”

Most of the Christians I know don’t really believe that God speaks to people today, or if He does, it only happens through the printed pages of the Bible.

In fact, I’m discovering that ‘abiding in the vine’ provides the best analogy for understanding prayer, both talking and listening.

But someone has to teach people how to experience Jesus personally. Actually, I think lots of people hunger for a real relationship with Jesus, both in and outside the church.”

For example, He says that His sheep will hear His voice. That’s not just a possibility; that’s a promise! It just takes transformation of the ears of our hearts and the time, experimentation, and patience to learn how to use our new ears, but it’s possible.”