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Spontaneous Worship

Biblicaly
Ephesians 5:18-21 Colossions 3:16 Psalm 40:3

Cathalisisem
Presence of God is a term also used in Catholic theology and devotion.

In theology, it refers to the belief that God is present by His Essence everywhere and in all things by reason of His Immensity. Furthermore, it also refers to the belief that God is in a special manner really and substantially present in the souls of the just.

In devotion, to put oneself in the presence of God, or to live in the presence of God, as spiritual writers express it, means to become actually conscious of God as present, or at least so to live as though thus actually conscious. Also, the devout soul may be mindful of His Presence in another way, namely, by the exercise of reason directed by faith. He sees God in the earth, the sea, the air and in all things; in heaven where He manifests His Glory, in hell where He carries out the law of His Justice.

A writer particularly associated with this devotion is Brother Lawrence, the author of The Practice of the Presence of God.

Protistintism
The Promise Of the Spirit's Presence

The followers of Christ have been described (James 1:18) as being the first fruit of the new order, the Kingdom. The first fruits were a waive offering (in the temple talk of the Hebrew Scriptures), related to the Jewish day of Pentecost. The Gift of the Holy Spirit was first given to the church at the Christian Pentecost, but had been seen before that: it is said of Christ that "he had the spirit without measure."

In Luke 24:49, in John 14:15-17, and again in Acts 1:4-5, the risen Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. It took Him no more than a few days, on Pentecost (Acts 2), for Him to keep His promises. A theology of the Spirit was the furthest thing from their minds. They had their hands full coping with the Spirit's activity in their lives, and having every believer experience this activity. There has been no repeat of Pentecost -- there is nothing quite like the first time -- but from that moment on the Holy Spirit would be giving people mini-Pentecosts, filling them and showing them what to do with it. In Acts (2:38-39; 10:44; 19:5-6), the Spirit comes with the beginning of faith within the person, and with the action of being baptized. Indeed, that's what Peter promised in Acts 2:38: Repent, be baptized, receive the Spirit.

CORNELIUS' HOUSEHOLD. Acts 10:1 - 11:18. Urged on by a dream sent from God, Peter went to Cornelius to tell his own witness story about the good news of Christ, and offered forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:38-43; Acts 11:4-18). Cornelius and his household and close friends believed (Acts 11:17-18). Peter and the Jews that were with him could easily recognize the newborn faith in Cornelius' circle, but they also noticed something else: these Gentiles were speaking in tongues and praising God all over the place. The joint was jumping. This was strange to Peter and his troupe; they hadn't seen non-Jews this way. Cornelius and his household had received the Spirit, but had not yet been baptized into the church. So, Peter rushed in to have them baptized, making them a full-fledged part of the Church. THE SAMARITANS. Acts 8:4-25. Philip preached the gospel to them in the power of the Spirit, they believed, they were baptized, yet the Spirit didn't fall upon them. They received the Spirit later, from Peter and John, when John recognized the problem. THE EPHESIANS. Acts 19. Paul came upon some former followers of John the Baptist. They had received no Christian teaching or baptism. So Paul availed himself of the opportunity. He baptized them, then he laid hands on them and commissioned them with the Spirit. Notice that the Spirit has a different timetable than the apostles or anyone else. That's because God rules, and can choose to be in the house and in effect at any time. Back To Top

Ways Of Being Here

It appears from what Jesus says in John 16 that the presence of the Spirit is something better, at least in some ways, than having Jesus alive in our midst, even in a resurrected form. (At first blush, such talk sounds like the ramblings of a venerable mystic, but then, Spirit-talk always runs that risk.) Another saying that heads off in a similar direction is John 20:29, in that those who have not seen Jesus (like us!) are blessed.

My guess at this mysterious saying goes like this. When Jesus walked the earth, it was a 'you hadda be there' experience. 'You hadda be there' because it was quite a trip to be around Him and words could not describe it well enough, if the authors of the Gospels are to be believed. But it was a 'you hadda be there' kind of thing in another way: if you were anywhere else than where Jesus was, you were not in the presence of the second person of the Trinity. He took on the limits of being a human being, including those of time and space, with the eventual reality of death. These limits go with being 'incarnate' (being a body-being).

When Jesus Christ left, "the Comforter"/"Supporter"/"Advocate" (the Holy Spirit) came in His place. The Holy Spirit is, of course, SPIRIT, and has never been a bodily being like Christ. There are some advantages to being just a spirit. The Spirit has no limit of time or space. The Spirit is able to work within minds and through people's activities, in the everyday realm everywhere, throughout the centuries. Jesus does what could only be done by a bodily being who is in the Spirit, while the Holy Spirit does what a bodily being can't do by itself. (Whatever the task is, all of God's Persons are at work in the task somehow.)

The Spirit draws us into the presence of Christ, even to the point of creating a relationship between us and Jesus Christ that can be so close that to speak of being in union with Him does not have to be blasphemous. The bond between us and the risen Jesus Christ is a bond sewn by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit won't live in someone who chooses to sin in spite of conscience, or who has no love in them. The Holy Spirit is not found where sin has its way.

When people say God is dead or is a remote being who has fled the scene, God responds in Jesus the Christ, a bodily being in full solidarity with us, and in the Holy Spirit, someone who stretches between the people, places and times to lead us forward in the relationship with God and one another. This is basic to what it means to believe in Christ. Any belief in a dead god or a remote god is belief in another god entirely.

This is a matter of sharp difference between Christian and Muslim. To a Muslim, God doesn't stoop to indwell in His followers; Allah is beyond that. God is not just Totally Other, but separate. When a Christian speaks of the Spirit 'indwelling', it means being in close relationship, and close relationship demands that you reveal not just will and message, but something of your very self. Islam has no room for a God who reveals himself that way. Christians believe that the heart, the character, and the love of God is revealed to us in creation, in the covenant with the Jews, and then definitively in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Getting us to grasp this is the job of the Holy Spirit.

Biblical Use
The Shekhinah in Christianity

In addition to the various accounts indicating the presence or glory of God recorded in the Hebrew Bible, many Christians also consider the Shekhinah to be manifest in numerous instances in the New Testament. The public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, published in 1897, says, Shechinah – a Chaldee word meaning resting-place, not found in Scripture, but used by the later Jews to designate the visible symbol of God's presence in the Tabernacle, and afterwards in Solomon's temple. When the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, he went before them "in a pillar of a cloud." This was the symbol of his presence with his people. God also spoke to Moses through the 'shekhinah' out of a burning bush. For references made to it during the wilderness wanderings, see Exodus 14:20; 40:34-38; Leviticus 9:23, 24; Numbers 14:10; 16:19, 42. It is probable that after the entrance into Canaan this glory-cloud settled in the tabernacle upon the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. We have, however, no special reference to it till the consecration of the temple by Solomon, when it filled the whole house with its glory, so that the priests could not stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10-13; 2 Chr. 5:13, 14; 7:1-3). Probably it remained in the first temple in the holy of holies as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence so long as that temple stood. It afterwards disappeared.[1] References to the Shekhinah in Christianity often see the presence and the glory of the Lord as being synonymous,[5] as illustrated in the following verse from Exodus; And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the glory of Jehovah abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. (Exodus 24:15-17 ASV) [edit]The Spirit of the Lord The Shekhinah in the New Testament is commonly equated to the presence or indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord (generally referred to as the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Christ) in the believer, drawing parallels to the presence of God in Solomon's Temple. In contradistinction with the Old Testament where the Holy of Holies signified the presence of God, from the New Testament onwards, it is the Holy Spirit that reminds us of God's abiding presence. Furthermore, in the same manner that the Shekhinah is linked to prophecy in Judaism, so it is in Christianity: For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 ASV) [edit]The Glory of the Lord Where references are made to the Shekhinah as manifestations of the glory of the Lord associated with his presence, Christians find numerous occurrences in the New Testament in both literal (as in Luke 2:9 which refers to the "glory of the Lord" shining on the shepherds at Jesus' birth)[6] as well as spiritual forms (as in John 17:22, where Jesus speaks to God of giving the "glory" that God gave to him to the people).[7] A contrast can be found in Ichabod, so named as a result of the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines: "The glory is departed from Israel" (1 Samuel 4:22 KJV). [edit]The Divine Presence By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. (Exodus 13:21)