God's Manifest Presence

Dear Worshipers,

Last week I challenged you to seek a renewal in your relationship with Christ by asking Him for just that. This week I want to intensify that call by turning up the heat a bit. Get ready, things could get very hot if we all give ourselves over to the Lord in this.

This past weekend at Wind and Fire, a C&MA Men’s Ministry event in Cleveland, I was challenged by this thought; there is a difference between God’s omnipresence and His manifest presence. Of course, we are all aware that God is everywhere present or omnipresent. But how does that differ from His manifest presence?

I have often commented on two of Jesus’ instructions to us to demonstrate this difference. In Matthew 28:20, within the Great Commission, we read, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” He is with every individual believer. And yet, He had already made a promise of a different presence when He said, “where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them.” [Matthew 18:20, NLT] There is something distinct in this presence.

The picture from scripture that He used to illustrate this was that of Elijah and the prophets of Baal from I Kings 18. You know of which I speak. The whole “call down fire from heaven episode.” And a powerful one it was. The difference between the two altars; the fire of God’s presence. That was God’s answer to Elijah’s prayer. “O Lord, let it be known today that You are God…Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You , O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again,” I Kings 18 36-37

Do you sense the desperation in Elijah’s voice? I have prayed prayers like this, but not with that same desperation. I have longed for God’s presence, but not with that same earnestness. I have cried out for God to turn His people’s hearts back to Himself, but not with this kind of passion. That is going to change.

The speaker on Saturday challenged us not to be content with altars with no fire. The distinction of God’s manifest presence is in the fire. Again and again in scripture we see God’s presence symbolized in fire. Hear the challenge today. Do you have an “altar” where you regularly meet with God, your special place for quiet time, i.e. your closet of prayer? If not, find one or make one today. If you do, is there fire on it, or have you settled for an altar with no fire?

Let us seek the fire of God, His manifest presence, in our lives individually, and our ministry corporately. I am tired of worshipping at altars without fire, and I feel confident that you are too. We are not seeking an experience, but instead the very presence of God.

In Christ,

Pastor Scott