Winter
1995
Entering His Presence
Wade E Taylor
We were redeemed through the shed blood of Jesus upon the
Cross. Judicially, through His death and resurrection, we
are complete in Him. But, experientially, we are to grow into
all that He accomplished upon the cross in our behalf.
Thus, there is a continual, upward drawing of our being to
the Lord Himself, into the realm of the Spirit. We are being
called upon to become a separated people during this hour
of perplexity that is upon the world. The Lord will guide
us as we experience this "set-apart" place of knowing
Him and abiding in His presence.
There is a point in our upward progression where all activity
on our part ceases and we rest in His presence. It is here
that we enter into that place of pure Spirit where the Lord
is doing the work and we are being quickened, changed, and
released into all that He intends for us.
As we move through the veil into His very presence and He
becomes our all in all, we must be careful not to grieve His
presence or run ahead of Him. As we rest in Him, acknowledging
His presence, He will quicken us and unfold before us His
ways.
The Lord's presence has been grieved so many times that He
is reluctant to reveal Himself in visitation. Some have exploited
His presence for their own purposes and He has withdrawn.
When He is satisfied that we are sincere in our desire for
His presence, the Holy Spirit will guide us in becoming responsive
and available for the outworking of a cooperative relationship
with Him.
Our normal state relates to the omnipresence of the Lord.
As we pass through the veil where our activities cease and
He becomes active, we begin to experience His manifest presence.
The omnipresence of the Lord is a fact. He fills the heavens
and the earth.
"Can any hide himself in secret places that
I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not
I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD" Jer 23:24.
There is another aspect of his presence. "Behold I stand
at the door and knock, if any man hear ... and open the door"
Rev 3:20a. This speaks of His manifest presence in which He
seeks to make Himself known to us as a person.
He who created and fills the universe seeks to come into
our lives and reveal Himself to us. This is a mystery we cannot
fathom, but one to which we can respond and of which we are
to partake. It is right for us to thank the Lord for coming
to our worship service. This may seem strange, but it is an
aspect of His manifest presence and it will touch His heart.
To enter His "manifest presence" means that He
is making Himself known to us through one or a combination
of our five physical senses. We become "manifestly"
aware of both His person and His feelings.
It is glorious to walk with the Lord as we respectfully maintain
our sensitivity to His presence. It is while we are in His
presence that the greatest changes come. This happens because
His manifest presence includes the creative aspect of His
being which changes us and brings us into an alignment with
His intention for us.
In His manifest presence, every cell of our being responds
and feels the warmth and glow of His presence. This produces
within us a greater opening to His presence, and we are further
changed and become even more sensitive to Him.
"But we all, with open face beholding as in
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord" II Cor 3:18.
We must make room for that which is important. Unless we
have this understanding, we will miss and grieve the Holy
Spirit.
"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me
shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him" John 14:21.