We play too many mind games when we pray. Have you ever looked at the problems going on in your life and said to yourself, “Where did I go wrong? God must have withdrawn His presence from my life because if He were here things would certainly be going better.”   Read More

The only way to truly overcome fears is to welcome the presence of a power that is greater than what we fear—the presence of God Himself. Fear is a force to be reckoned with-- if we don’t handle it, it will handle us.  Read More

It is all too easy when we get caught with our hand in a cookie jar to succumb to the fear of man and respond with a desire to fix it. While sin often has consequences socially that need to be addressed sooner or later, if you start the process of repentance on the horizontal level, it is unlikely that you will ever truly repent.  Read More

Anyone who knows the manifest presence of God will sooner or later be scorched, incinerated, and reduced to dust and ashes. True worship always leads us to an encounter with the manifest presence of Christ, and that encounter will always lead us in honest brokenness of spirit.  Read More

The most horrific consequence of sin is that it forces us to forfeit the manifest presence of God. Hell is the consequence of a life of sin where the ultimate tragedy is realized—we eternally forfeit the manifest presence of God in Christ.  Read More

Don’t ever underestimate the power of praise. Worshiping God may seem weak, harmless, and ineffective, but nothing can be further from the truth. There are times in life when the battle gets difficult and circumstances seem impossible, when the most practical, powerful, and effective thing you can do is praise the Lord.  Read More

When you are in trouble remember, Christ is with you in the trouble. It’s easy to feel God-forsaken. Don’t worry—we may run from trouble, but not God. He is our very present help in trouble.  Read More

There is no place on earth where you feel more secure than in the manifest presence of God. King David was a warrior who faced countless enemies throughout his life. If anyone might have suffered from anxiety disorder, it would be David. Rather than stressing over conflict, however, he ran to the presence of God for refuge. When he said, “God is in the midst of her,” he was not referring to God’s omnipresence because His omnipresence was with every people group. Instead, he was referring to God’s manifest presence, and because of God’s manifest presence, God’s people “shall not be moved.”  Read More

There is no greater joy on earth than the joy a human heart experiences when it encounters the manifest presence of Christ. For this reason, the psalmist refers to an encounter with God’s manifest presence as “fullness of joy.”   Read More

On this day, November 21, in the year of our Lord 1922, Presbyterian minister, T.J. McCrossan received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was so overwhelmed, he fell to the ground, during which time God gave him a spectacular vision. “The blessed Holy Spirit came down upon us. We saw light, far brighter than the noon-day sun – a perfect blaze of glory. Then hundreds of tongues of fire seemed to dart forth upon and around us. Then for an hour or more, great billows of glory, indescribably beautiful from the standpoint of light and colors, began to roll through our soul like mighty breakers over a sandy beach.   Read More

The joy of God’s presence is not referring to the omnipresence, but rather the manifest presence of God. For many good reasons God’s manifest presence brings us true joy. - In His presence we receive His loving kindness. - In His presence we receive His blessing. - In His presence we are more ourselves than at any other time. - In His presence we see life from His perspective. - In His presence we are delivered from evil forces that would steal our joy.  Read More

The friendship of the Lord is not referring to His omnipresence; it’s referring to friendship with His manifest presence. God makes known His covenant and tells us secrets when we learn to attract, welcome, and sustain the manifest presence of God.  Read More

We are all gate keepers—gate keepers over our minds, our bodies, our souls, our hearts, our families, our names, our jobs, community, and local church. A gate represents a sphere of influence and a gatekeeper has authority over a particular sphere of influence.  Read More

In your generation God is not only mobilizing more prayer, He is mobilizing more prayer mobilizers. You and I are living in a day of a crescendoing global prayer movement that exceeds anything in history. Not only are there more Christians today than at any other time in history, a higher percentage of Christians are being stirred in their spirit to seek the face of God. Face-seeking is not in pursuit of God’s omnipresence; Face-seeking is always pursuing God’s manifest presence.  Read More

Once you taste the manifest presence of God, you will want to come back for more. When King David said, “One thing I have asked of the Lord,” he clearly identified that one thing—the manifest presence of God. He clarified God’s manifest presence in three ways—“to dwell in the house of the Lord, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple” (Psalm 27:4). Dwelling refers to living in God’s manifest presence; gazing refers to seeing God’s manifest presence; inquiring refers to wanting more of His presence. We inquire about things we are interested in to learn more, to experience more, to gain more.  Read More

When you pray Your kingdom come you are praying the Holy Spirit to come. Why? It’s quite simple—the Holy Spirit brings the kingdom of God. Every time. No exceptions. Think about it. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom would be a theory but would never become a reality.  Read More

God does not need a house for His omnipresence. Whenever the house of the Lord is spoken of in the Bible, it always refers to God’s manifest presence—where God dwells tangibly in His perceived presence. Does David’s heart cry strike a chord in you? Are you a person who desires “one thing”? More specifically, are you a Christ-follower who desires more than anything else in life to dwell in the manifest presence of your God?  Read More

While the essence of sin is turning away from the manifest presence of Christ, the essence of choosing obedience is stepping into God’s manifest presence. Seeing God is what we were made for. Beholding the glory of God’s manifest presence is the most satisfying, fulfilling, exhilarating sight we will ever see.   Read More

Seeing the face of God is such a normal activity for a believer that the absence of seeing His face is unacceptable. Sometimes we have the idea that encountering God’s manifest presence is a rare occurrence. Don’t believe it! The Psalmist didn’t believe it, and neither should we. The English Puritans would call a moratorium on church business as usual if they went more than a year or two without a major revival leading their people to a fresh encounter with the manifest presence of God. Just as the Psalmist cried, “How long will You hide Your face from me”, the Puritans prayed similarly.  Read More

Healthy Christians not only have a desire to get answers to prayer, but to consistently encounter the face of God. Frequently, the Psalmist prays explicitly for God to make His face shine. This prayer is never asking for God’s omnipresence; it is always asking for God’s manifest presence. Point blank, the omnipresence of God has no face. God loves to manifest His presence to those who want His presence. Part of the activity of the prevenient grace of God in prayer is to stir in us the heart cry to encounter God’s manifest presence.  Read More

The closer we walk with Christ and His manifest presence, the more the veil between heaven and earth thins out—the more of heaven we get on earth, and the more this earth is filled with His manifest presence.  Read More

The essence of idolatry is an attempt to replace the manifest presence of God with lesser things. This is a bonehead choice God’s people have been making through the ages. It’s nothing new, but it is both offensive to God and destructive to us. The downward spiral of fallen humanity hits a tipping point when people chose idolatry.  Read More

The essence of sin is walking away from the manifest presence of God. When Cain walked away from the presence of the Lord, he obviously was not walking away from God’s omnipresence—that would have been impossible. He was, however, walking away from God’s manifest presence. As great a sin as it was for Cain to murder his brother, Abel, God’s unrelenting love still pursued him. When Cain, however, refused God’s pursuing love and chose to walk away from His manifest presence, it was an even more terminal decision.  Read More

On this day, November 7, in the Year of our Lord, 1918, William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born. Billy Graham would go on to become not only the greatest American evangelist, but the person who would preach the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history—2.2 billion people (including live audiences, radio and television broadcasts). The Billy Graham Organization has documented more than 3.2 million people who have received Christ as Savior through the preaching ministry of Dr. Graham.  Read More