3Ds of Gods Presence

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF GOD’S PRESENCE
The presence of God is manifested in three dimensions. An understanding
of these three will help our knowledge of the dynamics of God’s presence.
These three dimensions of God’s presence are; His omnipresence, His
indwelling presence and His manifest presence.
HIS OMNIPRESENCE
God is everywhere at all times. This establishes the supernatural nature of
our God. Being everywhere at the same time, nothing escapes His eyes. He
therefore sees what everybody does at all times. It makes it possible for
Him to hear prayers rendered to Him simultaneously from people all over
the earth. He can also fight for His people all over the earth at the same
time. With Him, there are no secrets because He sees everything even
those deeply buried in the heart of men. It is with this understanding that
King David said in Psalm 139:7-13;
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I
make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand
shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness
hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the
darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast
possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's
womb.
When Jonah tried to run away from God’s presence, he discovered that
even in the belly of a fish, God is very much present.

What does this mean to us believers? It means that there is nowhere we
can hide our sins that God will not see them. He sees everything everyone
does. The whole world might not know what we did in secret but God
knows. It also shows that we are never alone. That even in the mist of the
despairs of life, the Omnipresent God is very available and able to deliver
us. You are safe in the hands of God, regardless of where you are. It does
not matter whether there is a physical manifestation or not, the truth is
that He is there.
The Bible says that God’s eyes run to and fro the earth to show Himself
strong on behalf of them whose heart are perfect towards Him (2
Chronicles 16:9). That means His eyes are ever focused on the earth and
the activities of men. If your heart is perfect (holy) towards God then you
have nothing to fear because He will always show Himself strong for you.
That is the power of His omnipresence.
HIS INDWELLING PRESENCE
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless
you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for
without Me you can do nothing - John 15:4-5 (NKJV,
emphasis mine).
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16
(NKJV, emphasis mine).

God’s indwelling in a man is a mystery especially considering the fact that
He is very mighty with the heaven as His throne and the whole of the
earth His footstool (Isaiah 66:1). God indwells a man through the Holy
Spirit who lives in the man once the man becomes born again. It is not too
easy to comprehend it that a mighty and immortal God will dwell in a frail
and mortal man given to too many imperfections. But that is our God for
you. It is His choice to make us His temple and this choice no man has a
right to question. We should rather be more interested in getting Him to
always dwell in us. Our interest should be to find out the needful
conditions that when fulfilled, will attract Him to dwell in us.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name: - John 1:12
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God - Romans 8:14.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own? – 1 Corinthians 6:19
These three scriptures put together reveals that the fundamental
condition to have God’s presence dwell in us is to become born again and
continue to live holy. That is the only way you can have God in the person
of the Holy Spirit reside in you.
John 15:4-5 makes it clear that without God dwelling in a believer, success
will sure be difficult to attain. Without Him we are nothing. We are

completely dependent on Him every day. The unbeliever might succeed in
his life endeavours without God’s indwelling but not a believer (of course
the unbeliever has the backup of his master, the devil). So the believer will
sure need the backup of his own master, God Almighty.
Through His indwelling presence, God shapes our character and helps us
to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The gifts of the Holy
Spirit also operate through us as a result of His indwelling presence. It is
the Holy Spirit in the life of a man that gives and operates these gifts. So
the day the Holy Spirit (God’s presence) departs from the man, he
becomes empty of these gifts. All that can happen is that the devil will take
over the man manifesting the demonic counterfeit of the original Holy
Spirit-inspired gifts.
HIS MANIFEST PRESENCE
Severally in the Bible we see God’s manifest presence. In this kind of
manifestation, we see God manifest through natural phenomena like the
elements of weather and climate (wind, thunder, lightning, rainbow, cloud
cover), audible voice, bodily form, dreams and visions. One of such cases
is the one that has been under consideration, the Burning Bush
experience of Moses. Others include God’s appearance to Jacob at Bethel
(Genesis 28:11-22), His appearance to Abraham, Samuel and, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. God’s manifest presence is for
special events. It does come either heralding the commissioning of a man
for a special task, to hand down a special message, or to deliver someone
precious to Him. It is often temporal in nature but leaves permanent
glorious testimonies.
When it happens, we see an instant change in the life of its recipient.
Hardly has anyone experienced God’s manifest presence and remains the
same. It appeared to many who were terminally sick and they received

instant healing. The manifest presence of God can be a very frightful sight.
When the children of Israel saw it in Exodus 32:7-14, they repented and
begged that God should cease to talk to them directly but should continue
relating with them through Moses. For the enemies of the person for who
the manifest presence of God is meant for, it means destructions, pains
and sorrow. The army of Pharaoh was a good example. The manifest
presence of God spelt their doom at the Red Sea. When He manifested at
Mount Carmel for Elijah (1 Kings 18), God was glorified, Elijah was
honored, but the prophets of Baal were all destroyed.
During the dedication of the temple we read in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 that
the glory of God which appeared as cloud heralded the manifest presence
of God;
…then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so
that the priests could not stand to minister because of the
cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
In Acts 9:3-9 we read of Saul’s encounter with the manifest presence of
the Lord that changed everything about him. When Jesus prayed on the
mountain he was transfigured as the manifest presence came down (Luke
9:29).
Presently, we often witness God’s power flowing in Christian meetings,
touching lives, healing many and delivering others from the yokes of the
devil. My sincere desire and prayer is that every believer will develop his
relationship with God to the point that he will begin to witness the
manifest presence of God in his favor.