Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser
Manifestation of God is bringing God to our physical reality. It’s the revealing of God’s power and glory through His people. It’s also a way for God to reveal Himself to His people and make His presence known. One of the ways God reveals Himself is through His children. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mathew 5:13). Our light is an indication of the existence, reality, or presence of God. The good fruit we bear is one of the most obvious manifestations of the Lord.
Manifestation of God can take many different forms, such as miracles, healing, and answered prayers. These happen through the agency of the Holy Spirit. You are not a separated personality; you have a team – God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. You have the power you can call on any time you need. You have unlimited power if you are a born again Christian baptised in the Holy Spirit. You have the power to send away the devil and destroy his works that are bothering you, power to resist him, and power to walk in victory. Sadly, some Christians don’t know what they have (Hosea 4:6).
You can let God manifest through you to minister to other people. You have the power and the anointing of God in you, but how do you get it out to other people? There are several scriptures we can start with. In Philemon 6, Paul is praying that “the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” The very first step in having the power of God manifest through you to other people is that you first acknowledge the good things that are inside you. It’s important to know who you are and what you have. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
You can’t give away what you don’t have, but once you know what you have on the inside, things will automatically begin to happen. You’ll begin to share with others your excitement, give testimonies of what God has done in your life, and automatically some people will be helped. The Holy Spirit comes with God’s power for you to manifest (Acts 1:8, Luke 24:49, 1 John 4:4, 13, 17). “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).
God wants us to manifest His presence in this world. The primary manifestation of God is light because God is the light of this world. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).
In His ‘I’m statements’, Jesus said “I’m the light of the world”. He has therefore given us His light to manifest Him and to bring glory to His name (Mathew 5:13). He commands us not to hide our light under a basket. Jesus describes Himself and His disciples in the New Testament as the light of this world. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). Jesus said “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
We manifest God by letting our light shine. Another way to manifest God is to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of the main reasons that the body of Christ hasn’t made a greater impact on our generation today is because of our failure to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Without a doubt, Jesus and the first apostles used the gifts like an alarm bell, calling people to their message and confirming that God was truly the One speaking through them.
" We manifest God by letting our light shine. "
There are different manifestations of the Holy Spirit through His people, and we need to desire them. One of the most important steps to manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to earnestly desire them. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:31, “But earnestly desire the best gifts.” Again, he said in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Desire spiritual gifts.” It’s important to know that as long as you can live without flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you will. You have to seek these gifts with all your heart (Jer. 29:13).
Hebrews 2:3-4 says, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” The Lord bore witness to the accuracy of their message through miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Mark 16:17-18, Jesus said all true believers would flow in the miraculous: “And these signs will follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” If a Christian’s life isn’t supernatural, it’s superficial.
The book of Mark goes on to say that messages based in God’s Word would be confirmed by signs following: “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following”. Jesus even said, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not” (John 10:37). The vast majority of preaching done in the name of the Lord today is without the power of the Holy Spirit manifesting through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is not the way the Lord intended it to be.
Jesus said to His disciples, wait until you are endued with power. Another way of saying this is, don’t go anywhere to testify of the things you have seen and heard until you are endued with power. Even though you have an incredible story to tell, wait until you are baptised in the Holy Spirit. It’s absurd to think that we can be effective without the power of the Holy Spirit confirming the preaching of God’s Word. If Jesus and the early apostles needed their preaching validated, how can we do any less? Even the non-denominational churches have fallen away from ministering in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts that operate in most “Spirit-filled” churches are simply words of exhortation or prophecy. There is much more.
The Lord has used the gifts of the Holy Spirit mightily in my life and ministry to confirm His Word. It’s very important to understand that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are always manifesting. The Lord is always ready to manifest through us in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It’s just like praying in tongues. We don’t have to wait for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to come on us to speak in tongues. We can pray in tongues at any time. It’s not us turning on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always on and giving us the ability to speak in tongues. Therefore, whenever we turn ourselves on, the gift of tongues is there to allow us to communicate with our heavenly Father. Praise the Lord! That’s the way it is with all the gifts.
In 1 John 4:7-8 the Bible says, 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. The manifestations of God perfectly reflect the attributes of His divine nature into the human world for God’s glory and for the progress and advancement of His kingdom through the agency of Holy Spirit. Anytime you feel love flow out of you toward another person, that is God manifesting out of you toward them.
