We, as the people of God, are carriers of His presence. There are a couple of things that happen when you encounter the presence of God. The first thing is that there comes to you a conviction of sin and a need for God. That happens because the unholiness in our life gets exposed by the light of God. When we encounter His presence, we encounter Him. We encounter His Holiness. What it does is that it begins to shine on our unholiness and we start to feel guilty and convicted of our sin, and we see our need for God.

When the gospel is proclaimed, people begin to experience the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God's job is to convict of sin and unrighteousness. He does His job. When Peter preached a message in Acts, it says that people were cut to the heart. They said to Peter and the others apostles, "What shall we do?" They were pierced. They were convicted. All of a sudden, the revelation of Who Christ is and the glory of God was being manifested and they were convicted. That is what was taking place. So when you come to the presence of God, you get convicted of your sin.

There is a second thing that happens. You are drawn to Him. There is a drawing of our heart to God to experience life. How did God design you? He designed you in such a way that you need God. He fashioned you and created every person in such a way that they have a need and longing for God. God designed you in such a way to carry His presence.

That is the design of the Creator. So when the creation gets next to God, even though there is the conviction of sin, they are drawn to Him. Something inside pulls them and draws them because that is how they were designed.

You see I don't really think people reject God. They just reject Christianity. They reject what they see in Christians. They reject organized religion. But then they get next to the real thing, something inside leaps! They realize they need that! That is what I am longing and looking for! God made us so we could be carriers of His presence.

When you read about the earth about the early moves of God and the different revivals and awakening that took place, it is common to read when the anointed people of God went some place, the conviction of God was there. There was a revival that began in the l850's in New York City. It said that the glory of the Lord filled the city so much that when people came into the harbor, they fell under conviction. They didn't even know why. This was conviction.

Charles Finney would just go to the factory, and people would start falling on their knees under conviction, and nobody said a word. What an anointing! He was carrying the presence of God.

In Tommy Tenny's book, "The God Chasers", he speaks of "presence evangelism." The presence of God just goes with you, and you come around people and they fall under conviction. He said it is the residue of God, and you create a "divine radiation zone."

Can you imagine what life would be like if everywhere you went, you carried the glory of the Lord? When that happens, you can tell who is ready and who is not ready to receive the Lord. You can tell whose hearts or open, soft, or hard. Who is the Lord drawing, and who is He not drawing? You can tell by the way people react.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and all of a sudden they start sharing their whole life story? Then they look at you and say they don't know why they are telling you this. That happens to me all the time. Usually I will not share that I am a preacher because that puts walls up. If they ask me, I say that I teach and counsel people and help people fulfill their purpose in life. That explanation seems to satisfy people. People will be drawn to share things with you when God's presence is in your life.

Last year we were in India. We had come to a church service and the people had been worshiping for about 45 minutes by the time we arrived. There was a woman there for the first time who had a sickness and had come to receive prayer. She was also demonized and she began to manifest these demons. Well, what was the difference here? When we came into the room, we brought the glory of the Lord in to the room. Now He was there when they were singing. But a greater measure of anointing came and she was set free that day. It was the glory of the Lord!

There is a reaction to the presence of God. I realize this - that this has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with God. You should not be surprised either because the glory of God wants to walk with you in increasing measure. God wants you to bring His presence in increasing measure.

In Isaiah 60:1, there is a prophetic word for Zion, which is Jerusalem. It is not only a prophetic word for that place, but also for the church. When we speak about the church, we are talking about the body, right? So therefore, this is a prophetic word for you. It is a promise of what God wants to do.

It says, "Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." This is what God wants to do. This is the word for this time. "See, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you." In other words, we are to be carriers of the glory of God. Do you see that? We are to have the glory of God upon us, and we are to be carriers of His glory.

"Lift up your eyes and look about you. All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy." (Isaiah 60:4,5) We are to be carriers of the glory.

The glory of the Lord is to be manifest on the whole earth. How is that going to take place? Look at yourself and say that is part of it! This is the design of God.