God’s Presence #2 — Present for Joy

I have set the Eternal continually before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. … You cause me to know the way of the living. In your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

While the psalmist teaches us to anticipate the full and eternal fellowship we will one day enjoy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he emphasizes that we have fellowship with them now. Therefore we can have joy now. For we are in the presence of God in two very real ways. If we are Christ’s, we are “seated with him in the heavenlies.” So we have immediate access to the Father, and he is free to extend his goodness to us. We have no cause for anxiety, because the Father will never send Jesus away. If we are Christ’s, we have the Holy Spirit living in us. We have the very love the Father and Son share for each other dwelling in us. So, no matter what the circumstances around us, we have access to the full delight of the godhead, which we experience as grace. To the extent that we make ourselves aware of and celebrate this gift, we will experience a sense of the unhindered joy we will one day know in its fullness.

Thank you, Father, for pouring out the joy of your love into my heart. Keep me pursuing the fullness of that joy as I follow along the path of life you have laid out, through Jesus, my Lord. Amen.