Some believers don't realize how vital it is for them to experience the presence of God. They say, "Oh, I have the written Word and that's enough for me."

But they're mistaken. It's not enough.

If you have a job to do, a divine assignment in the kingdom of God (and all of us do!), you need both the truth of God's Word and the presence of the Spirit to fulfill it.

You can look in the Bible and see that truth borne out in the lives of one great saint after another. Take Moses, for example. He had a great task set before him. In Exodus 33:1, the Lord instructed him:

Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.
(Ex. 33:1)

The Lord told Moses that He would send an angel before the Israelites to drive out the inhabitants of the land. Then He said, "But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way" (v. 3).

So Moses began to entreat the Lord:

See, You say to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me.... Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly]....

If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here! For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us [Your Presence] so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth?
(Ex. 33:12-13,15-16)

Isn't that interesting? Moses lived under the old covenant, but he knew he had to have God's presence in a measure equal to the task that was before him.

In your life as a Christian, you also must have God's presence in a measure equal to His will, plan, and purpose for your life. That divine presence is what keeps you changing all the while so God can and will work His good pleasure in your life. (Phil. 2:13.)

Source: Renewed In His Presence by Lynne Hammond
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers