By night on my bed {this is her reference to the dream she had.} I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. (Song of Solomon 3:1)

The very essence of her dream was the young Shulamite bride and her fiance' were together and then for whatever reason, in her dream, were apart. Her longing, her hearts cry, was to have him…his presence in her life .

This is a very beautiful picture of the child of God in describing our passion; our desire; our longing for the presence of God in our lives.

To the religious person this is going to sound fanatical.

To the hypocritical person this is going to sound foolish.

To the lukewarm person this is going to sound legalistic.

To the unsaved this is going to sound completely of no importance whatsoever.

But…to the person who is desiring a closer walk with Jesus; a walk of such that you are tired of the "norm" in the sense of not finding fulfillment with just church as usual; you're tired of going through the routine and the ritual but there's seemingly no meaning, no love, no longing, no passion in your walk with Jesus…."longing for the Presence of God to be greater and more personal in your life is the heart beat of a love for God that this world knows nothing of or can even offer.

In Exodus 33, the people of God had fallen into sin because of the cal that Aaron had made and the people had worshipped. God decided that He would no longer be with them, but would send "an angel" to go with them in their journey to the promise land. Moses was concerned about this and pleaded with God, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." (Exodus 33:16) Moses wasn't desiring the presence of an Angel to walk with him and the children of Israel, he wanted the presence of God Himself…he wanted God to be with him by His Spirit and His Presence.

David, expresses the longing for God's presence in his life in Psalms 63. While in the wilderness of Judah, fleeing from King Saul, as he was hunting him down like a vagabond, David prayed, "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longing for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the Sanctuary." The hunger of David's heart is for God's presence to be real in his life, even when he couldn't be at the Sanctuary offering worship, he wanted God to be real in his life.

This passion is described in the life of Mary. She set at the feet of Jesus, listening intently to His every Word. (Luke 10:39)

This passion is described in the word of Simon Peter in John 6, when certain of the disciples had left Jesus and no longer walked with the Lord, Jesus said to him, "Will ye also go away?" and Simon Peter responded, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." There is no question about it…in the answer of Simon Peter, "You alone are the answer to our needs!"

What I find in these verses of Scripture, Song of Solomon chapter three, verses one through five, is the longing of a heart for the presence of the one she loved.

This is the description of the child of God here and now…not later in eternity.

When I die as a child of god, I will enter into the presence of God that's not limited by this human body. But until then, here and now, I need His presence in m life. I need Him to make Himself real to me. I want nothing to do with the religious traditions that breeds only form and ritual with no touch from God or His presence.

Give me God's touch; Give me God's presence!

So…until my next blog confabulation….God bless!