Remaining in His presence.

I’ve been reading through some of the letters of Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century monk who wrote with such simple yet profound clarity about life with God. In one letter he says:

“But when we are faithful to keep ourselves in His holy presence, and set Him always before us, this not only hinders our offending him and doing anything that may displease Him, at least wilfully, but it also begets in us a holy freedom...”

There’s a great importance in continually remaining in the presence of God. As Brother Lawrence reminds us, when we live with an awareness that God is near, it doesn’t hinder joy or peace—it actually multiplies them. What it does hinder is the chance of us displeasing Him.

And when he speaks of a “holy freedom,” I believe it’s the very freedom that comes from knowing we are walking with God. It is freedom from worry and anxiety, freedom from fear and doubt. It’s a freedom that opens the door for God’s Spirit to work in us, producing nothing less than the fruit Paul describes in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Remaining in His presence reshapes how we think, speak, and act. It guards us from careless sin and invites us into this Spirit-filled life—a freedom not found in doing whatever we want, but in living near to the God who loves us.