In His Presence
WHEN King Solomon finished praying, heaven came down in its fullness. Fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices and God's glorious presence (Shekinah) filled the temple so much that the priest could not enter into the temple again. The presence of God came down with fire and cloud. When we do the things we should do, God will manifest His presence in and around us. If you carefully follow these principles we've been talking about, you will immediately spark-off an unprecedented move of God in your life or fellowship. God is always there waiting for us to pull the right cord and His presence will rush towards us. He is ever-ready. When we obey, purify ourselves, praise and pray, we would be enveloped by His glorious presence.
Fire
The first thing that happened when King Solomon finished praying was that fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the offerings and sacrifices (2 Chronicles 7:1). Fire came down! You cannot have dealings with God without encountering the fire of His presence. And his fire will always bring revival, purification, anointing, protection and manifestation of His glory. Moses, Israel, Gideon, David, Elijah, John can all testify to this.
Revival
The fire of God is an agent of revival. Read the bible very well, each time the fire of His presence descends in the midst of His people, they rededicate themselves and vow to keep His commandments. No wonder He manifested so much in this form to the children of Israel between Egypt and the Promised land. They (Israel) had so many challenges and often threatened to return back to Egypt. So, God kept manifesting supernaturally to them in order to keep their faith aglow. Each time they became weak or about to backslide, He comes to 'fire-up' their faith. The fire of the presence of God will always revive our faith and relationship with Him. It keeps our relationship with Him exciting, warm and interesting. Without His presence, our walking with Him will be very boring, unappealing. But when we grow weak, He supernaturally assures us of His presence. It also purifies and transforms every part of our life - spiritual and physical. It is the same with our health and business. When the fire comes, every part of our life will be revived instantly. This is what we need today. We need the fire of His presence in our lives, in our families, in our ministries. We need the fire of God in our church and also in our nation.
Anointing
The fire of God's presence also comes with anointing. Anointing is the divine empowerment to achieve divine purposes or missions. When God gives an assignment, He also equips you by releasing the anointing (grace) to fulfil that particular mission. This is very important because no divine mandate can be achieved by human ability. Moses' encounter with the fire of His presence automatically and totally changed his life. It was during this encounter that God shared His vision to deliver the people of Israel from their oppressors and promptly anointed Moses for the task. Hear Him, "now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt... I will be with you. And this will serve as a proof that I have sent you: when you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt, you will return here to worship God at this very mountain" (Exodus 3:10 -12). The fire of His presence signifies the full backing of God in any circumstance, and also His eagerness to bring about His intentions. We need the fire of His presence today. We need the fire to fulfil His programme for us. Any Christian of this generation without the fire of God in his/her life may not go far in this end-time. Any church without the fire of His presence will not achieve much, and will be an easy prey to the kingdom of Satan. Or haven't you seen churches where agents of darkness are members and are even in control? This can only happen where there is no fire of His presence. The fire will sift the fake from the original.
Protection
The fire of His presence will also bring protection. Yes, the true and dynamic churches and Christians are always protected by this divine phenomenon. You will often hear and see the demonic powers shouting and scampering for safety from the fire of God during deliverance ministrations or spiritual encounters. Yes, sometimes, you may not see it, but they always do. They know the potency. Any dynamic child of God emits fire because he/she has activated the presence and the image of God. We must be like our father. The Bible clearly made us to know that there is a constant emission of fire from God's presence, "And from the throne came flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lamp stands with burning flames" (Rev. 4:5). We have also heard the agents of darkness narrating how 'strange fire' stopped them from reaching Christians.
This fire of His presence adequately protected the Israelites as they left Egypt towards the Promised Land. The bible said that it was with them day and night. Just check out what happened as the Egyptians were about overrunning the Israelites. It provided a very dramatic divine protection for them. Exodus 14:19-20 say, "Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to a position behind them, and the pillar of cloud also moved around behind them. The cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps. As night came, the pillar of cloud turned into a pillar of fire, lighting the Israelite's camp. But the cloud became darkness to the Egyptians, and they couldn't find the Israelites. I pray that the fire of God will always protect you from the enemies - in Jesus' Name! God still does the same today. If we always stay in the presence of God, then tell me that enemy that will risk playing around with us? The word of God said that our God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
Back to Solomon at the temple dedication, when the children of Israel saw the fire and the glorious presence of God, they fell down, worshipped and praised Him. When the presence of God descends people will willingly serve God. It will no longer be all these mechanical worship. They will surrender everything to Him. The Bible says that the people shall be made willing in the day of His power. When the people see His glorious presence they will on their own volition submit to God. To bring down and permanently dwell in His presence is all we need today. With it, we would celebrate like the Israelite and also have peace, joy and rest. Begin now to pray until you see all these coming to pass in your life and ministry. Till next week God bless you!
Gabriel is the author of the book Power of Midnight Prayer Tel: 08037113283 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo