From the beginning, God has longed to be with his people. God's longing to be with us is His heart cry in the Law and the Prophets. God dwelt in the burning bush for Moses. Numbers 14:13-14 - when the people rebelled, and God threatened to destroy them, Moses reminded God that it was God's presence that went before them in the pillars of smoke and fire. Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Exodus 29:44-46 God's desire to be with His people was the primary reason for the Tabernacle, or the tent of meeting. “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God." The ark of the covenant, the Holy of Holies, even the priests to represent God on earth - these were all driven by God's desire to be with hHis people. I cannot express the profoundness of this idea. God is transcendent. He does not need us. He is exalted high above us. Acts 17:24-25 - Paul preached in Athens “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. God's longing to be with us is most clearly seen in the name of the Messiah - “Immanuel” or “God with us”. Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. And then in the closing chapters of the book of the Revelation we see this unrelenting pursuit of God triumphantly realized in words of victory as John writes, Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God!’” This is the unrelenting longing and pursuit of God; and He will be victorious! God's longing to be with us is evident in the lives of His people. God dwelling in the midst of His people is not simply a doctrine we are supposed to understand or claim on some theological level, but it is rather to be the evident experience of His people. This was the clear testimony of the disciples at Pentecost and throughout the book of Acts. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the reason that the church grew, the apostles healed, and the missionaries endured persecution. The reason the church is the church, the reason people are taught, fed, healed, encouraged, brought to salvation is because of the presence of God in the people of God. When Jesus is in the midst of His people, He will be Himself. He will teach, He will convict, He will forgive, He will cleanse, He will pardon, He will bless, and He will heal. He will call people to Himself, and reveal that we are in Him and He is in us. He desires that our lives and deeds will manifest the reality of His presence.