His Manifest Presence - Part I By Joel M. Killion Email: joel@innerlifeministries.com Website: innerlifeministries.com
	There is presently a stirring within the heart of the Lord toward His people.  He is actively whispering His intentions, seeking an audience with those who have an “ear to hear.”  As with Moses in the desert, the burning bush is “off to the side,” detached from our daily routines, patiently waiting for us to “turn aside” and see (Ex. 3:1-4, KJV). At this time, the Lord is standing at the main door of our lives, knocking.  He is standing behind our wall (the one we use for protection, to hide behind), showing Himself through the lattice.  He is “behind the scenes” calling, hoping, waiting. “…It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh…” And this is what He is saying, “Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night…rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” (Song 2:10; 5:2, KJV). He has been waiting “all night” for us and He is still waiting, hoping, whispering, sighing – He wants to “come in” – He wants to be with us. Yet, what is our “response”? When He calls you personally, seeking to “be with you,” what is your “initial” reaction? Are you sensitive enough to know His “knock” from every other knock? Do you know His “sound” from every other sound? The Sound of the Lord It is only through spending time with the Lord in personal, quiet solitude that anyone can be taught the “…distinction in the sounds…” (1 Cor. 14:7, KJV).  “Morning by morning” He opens the ear of those who “sit under His tutelage,” causing them to “hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4-5, KJV). There is a way for us to learn this “distinct” sound.  There is a particular “sound” which inherently, yet quietly, vibrates within the subtle stillness of God’s tangible presence; this can be referred to as being a “token” of His nearness.  Those who are intimately familiar with this “sound,” who know “His tone,” can readily discern when He is near and when He is not. The Lord Himself described this “sound” in 2 Samuel 5:24 (KJV) as “…the sound of a going…”  This “going” is the “sound” of the Lord at work, moving in His purpose in our midst.  Those who have “ears to hear” know this “sound” and when they hear it, they “bestir” themselves into action alongside the Lord, thereby working “with” Him and not just “for” Him. In John 3:8 (AMP), Jesus spoke of the mysteriousness of the “sound” of the Spirit: “The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jesus compared the operation and sound of the Spirit with the intangible quality of wind or breath.  No one can see wind or grasp it with their hands.  It can only be felt by those who feel it, and it can only be heard by those who hear it.  No one can tell where it is from or where it is going.  Those, however, who have “honed” their sense of “hearing” and “touch,” can personally know the wind. Spiritually speaking, those who are “born of the Spirit,” who have ears to hear and a heart to perceive, will be just like the wind – intangible, unexplainable and unfathomable.  Therefore, many (even within the church) will not “understand” them.  Nevertheless, they will be tremendously sensitive to the intangible wind of the presence of the Spirit of Christ. Humanly speaking, it is useless for us to attempt to decipher all the “ways” God sounds.  It is futile to try and “nail Him down” into one particular mode of communication or operation.  Rather it is best if one spends quality time with Him so that the substance and value of His heart can be indelibly impressed upon the fabric and texture of their heart; then, and only then, will His “heart-sound” be truly known to their ear. The First Voice Throughout the Scriptures, the Lord opened the heavens and spoke clearly in a “way” that many were not accustomed to. The prophet John heard this “certain sound” in Revelation 4:1 (AMP): “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future.” In this case, John heard “the first voice” which is literally “the chief voice;” he heard the highest voice which outranks every other voice in the world. In 1 Corinthians the apostle Paul said, “There are…so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification [meaning].” There are “many” voices but according to John, there is only one “chief voice.”  Throughout John’s revelation, He heard the communications of the Lord through such things as “…lightnings and thunderings…” (Rev 4:5, KJV).  He saw dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of colors and heard dozens of sounds and knew, because of his relationship with the Lord, that these “sounds” where “distinctly” His. Those who spend quality time with the Lord in quietness and isolation will learn through an ever- increasing experience the substance, depth and tone of “the first voice.”  Those who sacrifice “their” time and “their” energy and give themselves whole-heartedly to knowing His distinct “sound,” which is unlike every other sound “in the world,” will be properly prepared by Him to work with Him in His end- time ministry. John heard and experienced some of the greatest epiphanies known to man because he had learned the secret of “being close to the Lord.”  Remember, He was the one who laid his head on Jesus’ bosom (Jn. 13:23); therefore, he learned over time, the sound of the Lord’s personal “heart-beat;” he learned the necessity of nearness above his brethren. Many times, the sound of the Lord resounds in the midst of the “many kinds of voices in the world;” this “collage” or “jumbling” of various sounds, which is oftentimes confusing to the untrained ear, is most often heard within the typical church service.  “The first voice” whispers subtly - as “a thief in the night” - in every church meeting, amidst the “clamouring noises” of religious suggestions.  When the Lord speaks in this way, His voice acts as a discreet invitation - a “still small voice” - calling us to “draw near.” The Lord is a gentleman who will “first” invite us.  If we accept, His nearness will intensify.  If we say “yes” to His “first” whisper, He will take us higher and deeper.  If we say “yes” to the next level, He will take us higher still, until we come up into the glory of His manifest presence.