His Manifest Presence - Part IV By Joel M. Killion Email: joel@innerlifeministries.com Website: innerlifeministries.com
	Intimate Sensitivity At this present time, the “still small voice” of the Lord is “whispering” in the background of our every day life experience.  Those who have “the gift of perception” have a choice: Will thy respond to Him or not?  And will their response toward Him match the intensity His intention toward them? The first test comes when He personally appears in a “form” that we are not familiar with (Lk. 24:13- 31).  If we are sensitive, we will discern Him even if He seems to “sneak” right by us (Mk. 6:48). For example, the Scriptures compare “the appearing [presence] of the Lord” to the visitation of “a thief in the night" (Matt. 24:42-44; Lk. 12:35-40; 1 Thess. 5:2-9; 2 Pet. 3:10).  A careful, thorough study of these particular Scriptures reveals that His personal “appearings” are always “as a thief” (i.e. sneaky). Like “a thief,” the Lord will not always come with “bells and whistles,” even if we ask Him to.  His presence will not be led by the blast of a fog horn, openly advertising His coming for all to see.  Rather His appearing will, most often, be unobvious and mysterious.  Those who are asleep “in the dark” will be “caught off guard.”  Those who are “of the light” - who have wisdom, knowledge and discernment in His ways - will be “ready” for Him whenever He “comes” (Study 1 Thess. 5:1-6; Rev. 3:3; 16:15). I once heard a story of a young man who attended a Sunday morning service at a local church in his area. He told me that a number of intercessors had been at the alter for about an hour before the service was to start.  Upon entering the sanctuary, He immediately noticed a “deep well” of the presence of God which had been dug in that part of the room; the whole room was charged. The weight and warmth of the presence of the Lord was almost impossible to ignore.  But something was terribly wrong:  The entire congregation was going about their regular Sunday routine, totally unaware of the presence of God in their midst. Even the elders of the church were clueless, nonchalantly gabbing about their recent fishing trip.  The whole church was smug and silly, happily going about “their” usual Sunday routine.  No one discerned that God was brewing among them in a tangible way. This young man went on to say that when the church service started, the pastor began by praying.  Yet again, something wasn’t right: The pastor’s spirit was asleep, unaware of the glory which was brooding over the people. He instinctively knew that the pastor was going to proceed into the normal church program, despite the intensity of God’s presence which was carefully cultivated through the intercession of the saints.  It seemed that, even in prayer, the pastor could not perceive the tokens of the living presence of God. Clearly, the Lord has a way of “showing up” when we least expect it.  This is His “Mode of Operation.”   He does this, in part, to “weed out” the sense-less from the sensitive.  When He comes in like a gentle breeze, He watches to see if anyone is going to “notice” His stealthy entrance.  Those who affectionately respond to His “arrival,” will be singled out by the Lord and He will brood over them as a hen over her chicks. Like one who is starting a fire, He will look for the “embers” that have the potential of “becoming” something much more and He will “fan the flame.”  He will put His hands around them – to block adverse winds – and blow on them the breath of Life. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the Lord will “act” as if He is going to “leave.”  This is a test.  He wants to see our response.  He wants to know if we really want Him to “stay” (Lk. 24:28-29).  And while this may sound strange, it is actually quite serious for this is foundational in the School of the Spirit. It is tremendously important that we become intimately sensitive to the “comings” and the “goings” of the Lord for He is always “moving” (Ps. 68:24). Being a “watchman on the wall” has many applications, one of which is to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord.  If we are “watching” Him daily, “waiting” patiently on Him, prepared for His “appearing,” then we will be ready to rightly-respond to Him when He “comes and knocks” on the door of our lives. Sometimes the Lord’s “knock” is louder than others.  Sometimes it is almost non-existent.  Only those who have an “obedient ear,” will know when He is knocking and “open to him immediately” (Study Isa 50:4-5; Luke 12:35-40). In Revelation 3:20 (AMP), the Lord said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears…My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.” Notice, the Lord is “at the door,” outside of His church, knocking, waiting to “come in.”  Sure, His omnipresence is with us all the time - He said He would never leave us.  Nevertheless, His “personal” presence is still “outside” of where we are now living. Yet He is eager to change all of this “if” we are willing to meet His conditions. “If” anyone will hear “and” open, “then” He will “come in.” This is the entrance of His very Person into “where we are,” based upon pure and simple obedience to what we have heard from Him. If we will meet the Lord on His terms and respond to Him when He calls us, He will make Himself known to us. This is His promise. Jesus said, “The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him]” (Jn. 14: 21, AMP). Therefore, let us “…find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph. 5:10 with Jn. 8:29). Some Questions to Ponder Over the last couple of years, the Lord has asked me many serious questions that have caused me to think long and hard about “the manifest presence of God.” Here are some of those questions which I have kept in my journal: 1. If you are in a room with 10,000 Spirit-filled Christians who are all “manifesting” the “presence” of God in some way, shape or form [i.e. shaking “under the power” on the floor, “slain in the Spirit”, barking, speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc.] would you “automatically assume” that the “genuine” presence of God was there? Selah. 2. Do you “know” the difference between “His presence” and “His absence”?  Are you that sensitive?  Or do you just “assume” that He is “always” present when you join with other “Christians”? Selah. 3. If you were “in” the manifest presence of God, would you “automatically” know it just because you are a “Christian”?  (Study Gen. 28:16-17 & 2 Kings 6:15-17). Selah. 4. If you walked with the Lord in His presence for a very long time – over the course of months - and then, all of a sudden, one day, He was gone, would you “automatically” know it? Could you tell the difference? Selah. [Look at Judg. 16:20-21] 5. If the Lord came in a “form” that He had “never” used before – in all of history, from the beginning of time till now – could you still discern it to “be” Him? Selah.  [Look at Job 4:16; Dan. 3:25; Matt. 14:25-27; Mk. 6:47-50; Lk. 24:13-31; 16:12] a. Would you be able to point Him out if He were disguised in a room full of people who were also in disguise? Selah. b. Could you perceive Him by His “scent”?  By His “voice”? Selah. c. Could you “sense” Him beyond the familiarity of appearances, methodologies, ideologies, programs, etc.? Selah. 6. What if the Lord did “not” show up to one of “our” church meetings?  Is it possible?  Would you know it?  And would you be willing to admit it? Selah. 7. If the manifest presence of God “left,” would you be sensitive enough to acknowledge His absence?  Would you have the humility to ask Him to “come back”?  Would you be willing to follow His wisdom in digressing back to where you “had” Him?  Would you be willing to “go back to the ‘first works’” where He was “with” you?  Could you admit your “faults” which caused the Dove to “fly away”? Selah – pause and think on these things.