Wednesday, November 3, 2010

WVN Teaching - The Manifest Presence of God

Greetings friends. Tuesday night we had a great Worship Vision Night! More than any other week of the month, the week's with WMV's energize me the most. With all of the work that we put in every week, it's just nice to hang out. Tuesday, we discussed a pretty heady topic, the Manifest Presence of God. The video below is of that teaching. We're still working on getting the "crowd" audio to be better so bear with us. My notes are also posted below. Please comment & let me know your thoughts.


Blessings!



Man-i-fest

1. Readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; apparent; plain.


Pres-ence

2. The state or fact of being present, as with others in a place.


God is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere at all times. David said in Psalm 139:7,


“Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.”


He concludes that there is no place that we can hide from God’s presence.


As well as being omnipresent, God also dwells in the believer. The indwelling presence of God is given to all who believe.


“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16.


The fact that He is omnipresent & we are indwelt with His Holy Spirit does not stop the longing that we have for the presence of God. What we are really talking about is the increased awareness of His presence in our lives. As a follower of Jesus Christ, The God of the universe dwells within you. It’s this mystery that we should seek to be more completely aware of in our lives.


The manifest presence of God is what brings power. It changes lives & reveals the glory of God.


So, how do we usher in God’s presence? SEEK HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART! Deuteronomy 4:29 says...


“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”


By placing ourselves before Him in a place of adoration, we make room for Him, and through focusing our attention on Him, increase our awareness of the presence of God in our lives.


Does God desire to manifest himself to us today like the ancient days of scripture? YES! Just as the cloud filled the tent of meeting in Moses’ time, so He fills & reveals Himself to people individually & corporately today. Christ said in John 17:20-22...


“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one.”


Notice that Jesus said “I have given them the glory”, not I will give them. The gift of His manifest presence has already been given to us. We must simply choose to live in that truth & believe it to be so.


So, should we expect the manifest presence of God in our lives? ABSOLUTELY YES! However, just as it was in scripture, it is a temporal experience that changes our lives as we seek after our God with all our heart. Think of your day of salvation, or when God healed you, or when revival touched your life. It is real, it is powerful, but temporal! Often times, we want to live in this realm permanently. Remember, your life’s blood is His indwelling presence in your life. When God manifests that presence it is to give you a much needed jumpstart in the right direction. Thank Him for it & let it fuel the fire to seek Him more in all you do.


"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

-1Corinthians 12:7

1 comment:

  1. So glad you're talking about this. One of my longings since childhood is to see American's believe God for miracles (and, yes, even people rising from the dead) in our day. Press on, bro!

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