How many times have you looked at other Christians, watched them being touched by the presence of God (when you weren’t), and thought to yourself, “They are more favored than I am.” or “There must be something in my life that is keeping me from receiving His blessing and presence.”

Maybe it is your past, or possibly something that you are currently struggling with and haven’t been able to get any kind of victory over that makes you think you don’t qualify for His presence. Or  you might have tried to sense His presence before, without success, and feel like you’re not good enough for His favor.

You may even feel like He loves them more than He does you.

Back in Jesus day, there was a man named Zacchaeus who thought a lot like that too. He was a tax collector, which meant that in his home town of Jericho, he was considered an outcast and traitor to his people (as an employee of Rome, he would have been hated).

One day Jesus was passing through Zacchaeus’ home town when He came to a sycamore tree.  As He passed under its branches He looked up and found the little tax collector wedged in the crook of a branch, staring down at Him.

Because of his place in Jewish society, the little man knew that everyone hated and feared him and he would never be allowed to get close enough to Jesus to see him. So to keep safe and still be able to see the Lord, he crawled up the tree and perched in one of its branches.

Now Jesus, knowing by the power of Holy Spirit who and what Zacchaeus was, could have read his mail in front of everyone and shamed him into repenting for cheating the people.  But Jesus never once said anything about the man being a crook or a cheat. Instead, He looked into the hidden treasure the Father had already placed in Zacchaeus life, and spoke to that instead.

Luke 19:1-10 (MSG)

Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.”

And in that moment Zacchaeus went from a man who cheated people with their taxes, to one who not only returned everything he’d taken, but gave back four times the original amount.

In his book The Language of Promise, Graham Cooke (author and prophetic mentor) calls Jesus a ‘Treasure Hunter’.  Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke to the treasure God had deposited in people. He even blessed the spiritual treasure that the person themselves did not realize they had.

When the Father looks at you He doesn’t see your failures, your empty promises or your shortcomings. He’s not fixed on sin (that was dealt with at the cross) and He is not looking for your good works or righteous deeds as the pre-cursor to whether you deserve to spend time soaking in His presence.

When He looks at you He sees the perfect work of His Son Jesus and the treasure of His own inheritance of love and greatness that He’s hidden within you.

It is His love that qualifies you for salvation.

It is His love that qualifies you for His favor.

It is His love that qualifies you for the soaking presence of His love.

ACTIVATION

1.     Find a quiet place without distractions (this would be a good time to play soaking music) and spend a few minutes thanking the Father of Love for sending the Son of His love Jesus to pay the penalty for every sin, adopting you into His family of love and wanting to bring you into an encounter with His love.

2.     Once you feel at peace and your mind is quiet ask Holy Spirit if there have been moments when you thought you weren’t worthy of Abba’s love. Times when deep in your heart you thought you didn’t deserve His presence or His affection.

f there are any, wait in that memory for a moment and ask Jesus to come and stand there with you.  Imagine there being a table in front of you and everything you think can possibly come between you and your Father of Love is on top of that table.  Now see Abba walk up to the table and with one mighty swoop of His arm every single thing is swiped off. The table is clean. Perfect. Not a single thing remains that could ever possibly come between you and Him again.

Now understand that in Christ Jesus, your past, present, and future have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. Because of God’s great and passionate love for you, Jesus sacrificed Himself so that never again would sin, or doubt or fear or wrong choices ever come between you and the Father again.

When the table is clear, see yourself as being as clean and as clear as that table. See yourself pre-qualified for love and Abba’s affectionate embrace. See yourself as: the Beloved, the apple of Abba’s eye, the girlfriend of Jesus, the one all of heaven has waited to see. Remember, nothing can separate you from your Fathers love.

3.     You’ll want to write down your experience so you can come back to it later on.