BY GREG CRUM

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” I Corinthians 12:7

God desires to manifest, to reveal Himself, to show Himself as apparent in our midst. It takes a suspension of belief in Biblical reality to think otherwise. From Genesis to Revelation, we read of God’s various manifestations in the congregations of man, culminating in the incarnation of the Second part of the Godhead, the Son, Jesus Christ.

Why does God do this? Just to prove that He exists? No, primarily to be a benefit (profit) to man. This should come as no surprise friends, but whenever God shows up on the scene, things get better for those who belong to Him!

Last week we wrote that God does not want us to be ignorant concerning matters of the spirit realm. (I Corinthians 12:1) There is a natural world, the one we utilize our five senses to interact with and in. It is what the majority of humans are most familiar with.

With that said, there is a reality beyond this one, one that our five senses do not readily recognize, but that is more real (in that it is eternal and not temporal) than the one we currently abide in. It is the realm of the spirit, where God reigns supreme. Once we commit our lives to Jesus, we become dual citizens of these two worlds and can interact with the realities of both in our daily lives.

Did you realize this? Do not feel bad if you did not; you are not alone. Most Christians today are woefully undereducated concerning the world on the other side of the veil. We do not have to be a part of that “most,” though. We can become more familiar with the moving of the Spirit of God in this Age of Grace we are living in. And we can learn to follow God’s lead so He can show up more frequently and more intensely in our lives.

So, how can we get to this point of knowing and flowing with the “Rivers of Living Water” inside of us? (John 7:38) First, as we mentioned in closing last week, we must know the Lord on a relational level (be born again), and then daily cultivate that relationship through reading of the Scriptures and prayer. It is so much easier to follow the lead of someone you are right beside!

Secondly, and this is a point that seems mostly lost to our generation, we need to understand there is a right way and a wrong way to conduct ourselves in the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. God is not shy, and He is not easily offended. He is the Creator of the Universe and the Ruler of all. There is a level of respect and appreciation that He is due when it is evident that His presence has “appeared” in a more tangible way in our midst.

What would you do if some great world leader that you admire walked into a room you were in? How would you respond?

There is none greater than our God, and there is a proper and fitting way for us to acknowledge Him when He enters the rooms we inhabit today.

What is proper and fitting for such a Majesty? Well, to be frank, more than we could muster in our current finite capacities, but there are a few attitudes of heart and corresponding actions that we can demonstrate to show our willingness to honor such a King for His graciousness to be among us.

First, when it becomes evident that God’s presence is intensifying among us, we can choose to be present for His presence. When we come together to worship for instance (think church), we need to focus on the moment at hand. We cannot let ourselves be in the past or in the future. We need to be in the “right now.”

The devil is the master of distraction, but we must resist the temptation to allow our minds to stray from the worship of the moment. Think about this scenario. Jesus is coming to visit. He knocks at your door. You answer gladly and welcome him in. You ask him to take a seat on the couch and you ask if he wants something to drink. He begins to share his heart with you, and then your phone buzzes, the ballgame you were watching is at the two-minute warning, the food that you were cooking smells like it is done.

What do you do? Do you tell him, “Hold on, Jesus, I will be back with you in a few minutes”? Absolutely not. We lock in to the only one that matters in those moments, right? Yes, we do!

So why should it be any different in those moments when we are together with the Lord in his house? We refuse to be distracted, we lock in, and we cherish the time we have in the Lord’s presence.

Greg Crum is the pastor at Calvary Temple in Lovely.