Power in the Presence

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Today, I have had eternal life and power on my mind and heart. Even this morning on my walk, I had the prayer on my lips: "God has not give me eternal life; He has given me himself, and HE IS LIFE!" That is to say the Holy Spirit does not give power, the Holy Spirit is the power within me. 

Romans 6:9-11 says, "Death hath no more dominion over Him...in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God."

When I finally lay down my own life to be dead to who I once was, the gift I receive is not a new life. The gift I receive is the very presence of God in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is life and power that now resides within me. Any power or life I receive cannot be separated from God's presence or utilized apart from Him because the life and power IS Him. 

When Jesus says in John 15, "Remain in me as I remain in you" I am reminded that the eternal life I have is in this in-dwelling of Christ. That is to say life is in the very presence of God. Power is in the presence of His Spirit, and that presence is at the center of who I am.

When I live in connection and entanglement with that presence, there is power and life in my days. When I am disconnected and distracted, I live my days with less power and life than is actually available to me.

Footprints Left

Perhaps it is a vision statement. Perhaps it is a life mission. Perhaps it an all-inclusive goal setting.

When one day I look back on my life, I want to know I left my footprints all over the lives and hearts of the people I interacted with along the way. I want those footprints to be evident in those who are lost, in my closest friends, and even the strangers I come across only for a moment in any given day. I want to have left my footprints all over the lives of people. 

I do not want my footprints to be for my own recognition, but because my footprints prove I showed up. I want my footprints on the hearts and lives of people only because I came running when I saw God's activity in their lives. When I saw God's movement in different moments, I stepped in. 

That is the influence and impact I want my life to leave. I want it to be unlike footprints in the sand and entirely like footprints in wet cement that dried before the imprint could be smoothed out.