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"And Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give Ithee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."
- Acts 3:6
There is nothing quite like the touch of heaven. We all welcome that special moment when we sense the presence of God or we feel his mighty hand come upon us. Many times I have found myself musing over experiences in my life where the touch of God has come on me so heavily that it has literally changed my life.
My first experience came when I was just a teenager. I had no previous encounters where I remember the presence of God being tangible to me. Although I believed in God, it was more or less a truth I grew up with and not a personal revelation. But at the age of eighteen, God supernaturally healed me of an injury I sustained at school. It was my first visit to this particular church. I went forward on a pair of crutches to be prayed for. The power of God was so strong I couldn't stand up. Suddenly I found myself on the floor. When I finally got up, every symptom in my body was gone. I had "no" knowledge of God as a healer, but on the day I came in touch with the healing power of God.
There are times we sense his presence, and then there are times where we are caught up in his presence. I have had times in my life where the tangible presence of God was so strong that I thought I was about to burst inside. I wasn't quite sure whether or not my body was going to be able to hold up under the weight of it. I have no doubt in my mind that one of the reasons we are going to receive a glorified body at the catching up of the church is because these earthly bodies are incapable of sustaining that level of exposure. We are 93 million miles away from the Sun and yet if we spend too much time out in it our skin becomes burnt. How much more consuming would it be if we were more in touch with it? Our God is a consuming fire. Just spending some concentrated time in his presence can change our lives. What would happen if we were exposed to the full manifestation of his glory! We also would be consumed!
There are four particular ways the Bible describes God's presence.
1. The omnipresence of God. This is that all-invading, all-consuming presence of God that fills the universe. There is nowhere that the presence of God is not present. He fills everything, everywhere whether we feel him or see him.
2. The indwelling presence of God. Once you become born again, the presence of God comes to live in you. You are his temple, his house, a place where he has come to inhabit. Many of God's people know this truth, but it has not become a personal revelation, and so it is undetected or at least very indistinct.
3. The manifested presence of God. We know God is everywhere, but that doesn't mean his presence is felt by everyone. We can create an atmosphere where God's presence becomes tangible, where we feel and know it.
4. The overflowing presence of God. This is that place where we learn to live in touch with heaven. It's one thing to be touched by God. It is another thing to be in touch with God. Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). There is a place where we tap into the flow of heaven where the tangible presence of God overflows in us and through us. Every day God wants to work and move in our lives. It is not just for a brief moment on a Sunday morning during church service. We are to have daily encounters where we experience God's divine embrace.
The Lord is far more interesting in us being in touch with him than on occasion seeking a touch from him. There is a place in our Christian life where we live and operate in his divine embrace. When we finally come to this level of experience, then it becomes more than a touch of heaven. We become a carrier of his divine touch where he reaches out through us to help change our world around us!*
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