THE SHEKINAH GLORY OF GOD - PART 3

What is the Glory Realm? It is the realm of eternity. It is the revelation of the presence of God. It is the manifestation of His presence. He Is Glory. He is everywhere, but Glory is the manifestation of that reality. Earth has the atmosphere of air, whereas the heavenly atmosphere is Glory, His presence. when Glory comes down, it's a bit of Heaven's atmosphere coming down to us, a taste of His manifest presence.

We don't see the air, do we? But all of us would be dead if we are not breathing it. We are not conscious of the air unless we see the wind blowing the leaves on the trees. Yet, the earth is covered by it. In the same way, not one inch of Heaven lacks glory. Now God is giving us a taste of that Glory, Heaven manifested on earth.

"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14

An extract from GLORY - Experiencing The Atmosphere of Heaven by Ruth Ward Heflin


My goal is not simply to enlighten you the reality of God's Glory, but to ignite you with a passion to see His Glory. Moses was one such passionate person who chased after the Glory of God. He prayed, "Please show me Your Glory" (Exodus 33:18). The fact that God answered his prayer is proof that God is willing to hear and answer our cries for His Glory. The backdrop to Moses' prayer is strategically important. A number of significant events preceded this prayer which deserve our attention. Few men in the Bible had encounters with God's Glory like Moses did. It all began the day that Moses saw a bush that was burning in the wilderness but wasn't comsumed.

Let's review his encouters with God's Glory and power:

- At the burning bush encounter, he heard God's audible voice ordering him to take his shoes off because he was standing on holy grond. God proceeded to call him verbally to lead His people from Egypt to the promised land

- He threw his rod down, and it became a serpent; then he picked the serpent up by the tail, and it was a rod again.

- He put his hand into his bosom, pulled it out, and it was leprous; he returned his hand into his bosom, and when he withdrew it again, it was healthy.

- He watched ten fearful plagues invaded Egypt: blood, frogs, lice, flies, pestilence, boils, hails, locusts, darkness and death.

- A protective misty cloud clung breathlessly to the ground between Israel and Egypt's army while a fierce gale blew over the adjacent sea, dividng the waters.

- They walked through the sea, on dry ground, with a wall of water on this side and that.

- On the opposite shore they watched as the sea returned upon itself, killing Pharoah's entire army.

- The bitter waters of Marah were made potable by casting a tree into tthe waters.

- Manna from heaven appeared on the ground, and water poured forth from a rock when Moses struck it.

- Then, they came to the mountain where God Himself descended in fire and a thick cloud. Huge plumes of smoke billowed into the sky, there was lightning and thunder, the entire mountain shook ... and they heard the voice of God Himself. Then, He said to Moses, "Come on up!" Moses climbed the mountain at God's command and lived for two sets of forty days in the fire of God's Glory upon the mountain.

- Then Moses asked to be shown God's Glory, and God showed him His back

The above chronology is the general increase of intensity in Moses' encounters with God's Glory. There are varying degrees of intensity of Presence, and there are varying degrees of intensity of Glory. For example, when we praise Him together, the Lord sits enthroned among His people. This dimension of His presence is so palpable that we can often sense His presence with us as we worship Him together. And then we enter that sphere where we move from the Presence Realm to the Glory Realm. When God heals a sick person in the midst of worship, we're talking a Glory manifestation.

What Exactly Is The Glory Realm? when we ask to be shown His Glory, what are we asking for? In Moses' encounters we see two-fold description:

The first aspect of Glory is found in His words "I will make all My goodness pass before you" (Exodus 33:19); where it is perceived by one or more of the five senses. It is an encounter where you literally see, hear, smell, taste, or actually feel spiritual realities. Some people have actually smelled a heavenly aroma during worship services. Others have seen a cloud or angels. Others have heard angels singing or God speaking.

The second aspect of Glory is described in the Lord's next phrase of verse 19, "And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you." God was saying, "Moses, I am going to proclaim My name before you in such a way that it goes beyond a physical hearing and becomes a true spiritual hearing. It's not just a sensory experience, but it's also an experience whereby the Holy Spirit supernaturally enables us to comprehend spiritual truth in our inner man so that we might know Him better. Wow!

The two-fold definition of Glory is consistent with the apostle John's experience (as well as many others in the Bible). As per his account in Revelation 1, John literally saw the risen Christ with his natural eyes, but the experience didn't stop there. Jesus then proclaimed His name to John: "I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." (Revelation 1:8, 18). John's heart must have nearly exploded with the revelation insight of Christ's words as He spoke these awesome truths straight into John's spirit. John not only saw and heard, he also undesrtood. This Is Glory!

An extract from GLORY - When Heaven Invades Earth by Bob Sorge

I trust that you now have a deeper understanding on the subject of experiencing His GLORY.
In my next post I will attempt to share on how we can touch the GLORY REALM.

Blessings TPWC

THE SHEKINAH GLORY OF GOD - PART 2

In this continuing message on the Shekinah Glory of God, I thought it might be good to share some ideas both in written and pictorial expressions of people who have encountered His glorious presence

1) Ruth Ward Heflin - GLORY Experiencing The Atmosphere Of Heaven

When I was a young girl, I went directly from school to the church on Wednesday afternoons. The faithful of the church were gathered in prayer from one to four. I attended most of those prayer meetings.

During the first two hours they had been making their petitions and interceding before God. During the last hour they would just bask in His presence. Those were the best times. Every petition they could think of had been made. Now the Holy Ghost took over. Sounds of glory, dropped into my spirit from those years, have kept me as I traveled all over the world in ministry.

I have been in thousands of meetings and heard thousands of sermons, but the greatest influence in my life has been those glory sounds that came forth in the latter hours of those prayer meetings where God's people touched the eternal realm.

As air is the atmosphere of the earth, glory is the atmosphere of Heaven. It lifts us up above the earthly, into the very presence of God.

2) Brownsville Revival 1995 -2003

Pictures of people touched by the Glory of God (pictures used with permission from Sister Cathy Wood - official photographer - www.sisterwood.com)

In His Glorious presence!

When The Glory of God Falls!

Brownsville 9-7-01
There was really no way for me to take photos last night! The Glory began to fall and I made a quality decision to worship instead of work! Pastor was going to preach but we never got there. It became a night like when there's no company and we all are in our pajamas just being comfortable with each other. Oh, we had visitors alright, but no guest was brought in to preach. There was freedom to not think about what we needed to do next. It was like the beginning of the revival. Prayer ministry began very early, before 9:00. It was spontaneous and exciting. Lindell (worship pastor) must have been prayed for because he just sat there, unable to play the keyboard for long time. The sounds in the sanctuary came from voices in worship and joy as the Holy Ghost kissed the crowd. No one wanted to leave. There were people sitting on the steps, all over the floor, on the pews, under the pews ..... We are still hungry. We are still desperate for the move of God.

Breathe

This Is The Air I Breathe

Your Holy Presence Living In Me

This Is The Air I Breathe

Your Very Word Spoken To Me

And I Am Desperate For You

And I Am Lost Without You

Marie Barnett @ 1995 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing

TPWC