The glory cloud of God's presence is one of many physical manifestations of God that can be invisible and visible to men. The cloud can be present and felt by people but not seen by them, it can also be seen and felt by people. Although many will become irritated, even angry, by God's presence and want to get away from it, especially when His presence emanates from His people, but many will be drawn near and experience a very real and very alive, Almighty God!
During the Azusa street revival in 1906 through 1908, many eyewitness accounts tell of the cloud that physically manifested in the building and did not leave until years later. One story in particular from the revival talks about how fire descended and ascended from the roof of the building and the neighbors surrounding the building would call the fire department because they thought the building was on fire!
Excerpts Taken From, "They Told Us Their Stories" (The Youth Of Azusa Street) By Tommy Welchel
Some of the greatest miracles were when the flames were above the building. Bones that were cracked and broken were totally healed. Of course, any discussion about Azusa turned to the Shekinah Glory. When I asked about her experience with the Presence of God‘s Glory, Sister Carney‘s face would light up. She described it as being a part of heaven. To her, it was like breathing pure oxygen, and to her wonderment, it was always present. When I asked her to describe the Shekinah Glory Fire reported by many, she told her story.
She recalled the fire department coming because of a call that the building was on fire. When they arrived, they didn‘t smell any smoke or see any evidence of fire. She didn‘t run out with the firemen. She remembered that it was Seymour, Bosworth, Lake, Smith, and Sines that ran out. Sister Carney did go out one time to see the flames for herself. Remember, the fire department had been called on several different occasions, as passers-by would report seeing flames leaping up from the roof of the building. Finally, Sister Carney asked John Lake why the fire department kept coming and looking for the fire. He explained that the fire was coming down from heaven into the building and fire was going up from the building and meeting the fire coming down. Fascinated, Sister Carney went out, walked about a half a block and saw the awesome sight for herself. To her, this divine connection of fire coming down from heaven and going up to heaven was just further evidence of God‘s mighty Presence in that place. Sister Carney noted that although the Shekinah Glory was present all the time within the building, this divine connection wasn‘t an everyday occurrence. Whenever this connection was present, the power of God was even more intense within the meeting.
I asked Brother
Anderson to describe what the Shekinah Glory was like, and he again brightened up as
he came to the edge of his rocker. Anderson told me that the Shekinah Glory was hard
to explain because it could only be described, but not understood. At times he would
come into the building, and there would be kind of a glow. There were times that God
would start moving and working, and a smoke-like substance would begin to glow even
brighter. People could walk through it, and sometimes it would sort of roll. You couldn‘t
take a fan and blow it out, nor was it something you could pick up. Brother Anderson
confessed that he tried because it looked so tangible. He remembered that at times the
mist would get so thick that it would fill the whole building. Anderson also noted that at
times even Seymour was fascinated with the heavy mist that filled the room. In fact,
there were times that Seymour would take his feet and kind of play with the thick
Shekinah Glory.
Brother Anderson was awed by the Glory and finally described it as a
part of heaven coming down. You could walk in it, sit down in it, run your hands
through it, and breathe it into your lungs, but you could not capture it. I pressed Brother
Anderson to tell me about the fire. Although he was not one of the first to go out and
witness the event, he told me that he had seen it. He said it looked like flames about fifty
feet in the air coming down and was also going up out of the roof to meet, merge, and
go on through the flame coming down. Young Anderson would just stand there with his
mouth open.
He didn‘t know how to explain it, but it was real. He told me that the burning bush
described by Moses now made sense.
One event, confirmed by others, that Anderson noted was that whenever the people
worshipped by singing in tongues, the power was greater. Every time this happened the
anointing fell on the service.
Anderson was absolutely awed by the Shekinah Glory. One of the favorite songs sung
by the Saints gathered at Pisgah is intricately linked with their encounter with God‘s
Glory. The song that they sang with great enthusiasm was appropriately entitled, Heaven
Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul.
There is no other hope for mankind, God MUST come down to save to His people, those who look for and long for His appearing. Jesus said, "Unless those days are shortened, no flesh would be saved." Do you understand what this means? It means that human beings left to themselves would completely destroy each other and the human race would become extinct! Just like the dinosaurs!
I pray that you will get in the arc when the call goes out! This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in ALL the world and then the end will come.
Abiding In His Love,
Tyrone
