I have been places before—classrooms, offices, and homes—where the spirit that came with someone changed the whole atmosphere.  Agitation, irritation, and even a reprobate undertone were created.  My husband and I have spent enough years in the classroom to see the influence of a solitary teenager!  A young man with a vulgar attitude can walk into a room, and immediately the talk of others can go down the gutter with him.

But even more amazing to me is that the atmosphere can be affected by the unseen. 

When I was young, I loved walking.  I would spend hours roaming up and down streets, walking and thinking.  It worried my mother that maybe I didn’t have enough fear to stay safe, so she tried to give me real-life instances of people who were harmed—to show the need for me to be careful.

I usually felt pretty safe, but I kept her warnings in the back of my mind. Every once in a while, I would feel unsafe.  Whenever that happened, I tried to pay attention to my feelings.

Once when I was a young, single woman, I drove my car to Indianapolis.  I don’t remember now why I was there.  I only remember that it was dark when I got out of my car in some unfamiliar neighborhood.  Suddenly, there was an evil feeling!  I had no idea why or what was going on.  I only knew that I had made a habit not to ignore a creepy feeling.  Immediately, I got in my car and left.

I have wondered since then what was going on.  Was someone there who I could not see?  Was someone watching me in the dark?  Someone with evil in their heart?  Because if that is true, then someone had probably opened himself up to so much evil that even if you did not see him, you could feel the evil presence. 

If you have opened yourself up to obeying the flesh and the devil, then it makes sense that the darkness that is in you can be felt and has an influence.  But it is also true that if you open yourself up to God and righteousness, that this can be felt.

When I was seeking to be sanctified, I was not just praying at the altar, but I was seeking in the car, at the job, and in my house.  Early one morning, I had prayed into the presence of God.  I then went in my room as I continued praying.  My husband, Todd, walked into the house, not knowing what was going on, but as soon as he stepped through the door, he sensed God’s presence.  He could not see me nor hear me, but he could feel God!

This is what I want!  I want to carry the presence of God with me.  Even if people around me do not understand what it is, I want them to feel the atmosphere of heaven.  Unless I stay actively connected to the vine, I cannot bring the climate of heaven and God’s peace.

Today let’s carry the presence of God with us!

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  Romans 8:4-5

*Photo courtesy of  Joanna Wheeler