¹³ “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”

His presence is the place to be. God’s presence. “I come to You.” What do we find there? In the context of the Upper Room, we can see that in God’s presence there was communication between the Father and the Son. What a place for us to be, as children of God. We are with the One who is not embarrassed to call us His brothers (Heb 2:11). It is there we find acceptance and belonging, as part of the family. Of course we are speaking spiritually when we say, “there.” We are there in a belief, not in spatial positioning. We are there emotionally, psychically. And this is just as real, no, more real than to be physically in a temple or on a high mountain. When we leave here and enter God’s presence in heaven, our personal tangible experience may change, but the reality of being in God’s presence will not. We are there now through faith.

That is why the writer of Hebrews says, “Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). We need to live in the grace and mercy of God, a constant awareness and appreciation. When we are lonely, we “come to You” and by faith, we imagine with our spiritual mind, to be in God’s very presence—because that is where we are and we believe it to be true.

When we are discouraged, we come to Him, the Encourager who can say to us, “I have been where you are, and I can come along side to walk with you. When we are in pain, we come to the Great Physician, who can heal but also sustains when the healing is delayed. But we know that we can know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings (Phil 3:10). When we are arrogant, His presence humbles us as we see Him high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple (Isaiah 6). When we are humiliated, we come to the One who exalts the humble. He lifts us up and puts our feet on solid ground.

When we fear, we come to the One who is our strong tower (Prov 18:10). When we feel insignificant, we come to the infinite Creator God of the universe who knows us by name. When we are anxious, we come to the Alpha and Omega, who knows the beginning and the end of everything, including our circumstances – and, as the song writer says, “He holds my hand.” So when we feel guilty, we should come to His throne room of grace and mercy. He will meet every need we have.

Lord, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps 16:11). Amen.