God’s Manifest Presence – Some More Basics

His manifest presence - He is especially presence at certain places and times. God's manifest presence is the revelation of Himself or His will to His people

The abiding presence and omnipresence of God are a continuous fact, but His manifest presence is an act of God toward His people that takes place in a certain moment in time (Pss 77:14; 90:16; Jn. 2:11; 14:21; 17:6; 1Cor. 12:7; Col. 1:26; 1Jn. 3:8; 1 Jn. 4:9)

Tozer says: The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. There can be the one without the other. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. He is manifest only when, and as we are aware of His presence. On our part there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work is to show us the Father and the Son—“The Pursuit of God” p. 149.

The manifestation of the Lord is an expression of His love for us

Jn. 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." 

1Jn. 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

The manifestation of the Lord is an expression of His glory (He desires that we will see His Glory)

Jn. 17:24  “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

The manifestation of the Lord is an expression of His power and authority over the enemy

1Jn. 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The manifestation of the Lord will change us into His same image

2Cor. 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The Rabbis spoke of God’s manifest presence as the shekinah. Shekinah is not a Biblical word, but is consistently found in the Jewish Targums (Aramaic translations and commentaries of Bible texts.) Shekinah means, “to dwell.” It was understood that God was omnipresent, but the rabbis recognized God’s desire to manifest Himself to His people. The shekinah is God’s manifest presence.

The manifest presence of God is revealed when His abiding presence is known. In other words, those who have made their hearts a sanctuary for His abiding presence are the ones who are likely to experience His manifest presence.

We need to be aware that God desires to manifest Himself to everyone–He has no favorites. God inhabits the praises of His people as one indication that He is an abiding God, an omnipresent God and a manifesting God.