What is Atmosphere
Atmosphere is defined as
1. The air in any particular place.
2 The envelope of gases surrounding the Earth or another planet.
3 A unit of pressure equal to mean atmospheric pressure at sea level.
4 The pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or creative work.
5 A pleasurable and interesting mood and finally,
6. An atmosphere is a layer or a set of layers of gases surrounding a planet or other material body that is held in place by the gravity of that body.
These are the physical definition of atmosphere, and scripture made us know that there are two types of atmosphere e.g.
1. The physical atmosphere
2. The spiritual atmosphere
1. The physical atmosphere in the definition given above, which is the atmosphere that we can see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. e.g. Job 4:12-16.
“A word was secretly brought to me; my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice. (NIV).
We can see that the atmosphere that surrounds Job at that particular time was an atmosphere of affliction, fear, and a close death. He can literally see it, sense it, and hear the whispers of the Spirit, and he could see it because the Spirit came in a form and stood before his eyes; he heard its hushed voice.
1b. Another example of a physical atmosphere is in the book of Acts chapter 2:1-4, when the holy spirit came upon the apostles, the sound came like a blowing of violent wind from heaven and filled the whole house. Meaning they heard the sound as it came to where they were sitting. They saw what seemed like a tongue of fire, which was separated ( physical atmosphere of seeing) as it came to rest on each of them. They felt it and were filled with the power of the holy spirit, who gave them enablement to speak in other tongues.
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4(NKJV).
2. The spiritual atmosphere is the one we cannot see with the natural eye or experience it with the rest of our natural senses, but it is very real, and it is vital that we understand more about it, because it is the supernatural power of God Almighty.
There are different kinds of spiritual atmosphere, which I will elaborate few of them gradually.
1. Atmosphere of His Presence
God is everywhere, and he responds to atmosphere as well. But He does not manifest His presence equally everywhere. God manifests His presence when the atmosphere is right. That is why Moses, who understood the deep meaning of God's presence, asked God for his presence. He even told God that if His presence does not go with him, he can't go on leading the people, and God should not send him further because without God's presence nothing will distinguish him and the people of Israel from all the other people on the surface of the earth. God had no choice but to grant him the request, for he knew what his presence could do.
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish your people and me from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (Exp 33:14-17) NIV.
I urged some pastors and ministers to always seek the presence of the Lord for great manifestations.
2. Atmosphere of Glory (which can also be known as Atmosphere of Defence and Protection).
2a. Atmosphere of Defence
How do I know this? When Korah, son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, a Levite, and certain Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth. They became insolent and joined forces against Moses and Aaron, and with them were 250 Israelites men. These men are well-known community leaders who have been appointed members of the council. But all of a sudden, they became insolent. A tool for the devil to cause discord. They opposed Moses and Aaron, telling them that they had gone too far, that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. (This is what I call it: challenging of the anointing) Why then do they (Moses and Aaron) set themselves above the Lord's assembly?
That is why Men of God who are not really called by God find it difficult to respond, react, and challenge rightfully when confronted with a situation like this; they tend to run to the devil for a solution rather than God, because they don't really know who called them. Whether themselves or God, only a few of them run to God for solutions to their problem, like Moses, who talked back to them because he knew who called him and challenged them by telling Korah. “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him”.
Moses was almost frustrated in his calling because they were challenging his leadership, making themselves equal with him. Moses was angry to the extent that he let them know it was God that Korah and his followers had gathered against, not him nor Aaron, and he prayed and told God not to accept their offerings due to all the care about, is the priesthood and the honour that goes with it.
Then Korah gathered his followers in opposition against Moses and Aaron; at the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bible said that the glory of the Lord appeared to defend them. And God destroyed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the earth opened and swallowed them.
Korah, son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
When Moses heard this, he fell face down. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put burning coal-sand incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”
Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”
Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us! Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No, we will not come!”
Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”
Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it, 250 censers in all, and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.” So, each of them took his censer, put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire assembly. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”
But Moses and Aaron fell face down and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”
Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!” (Num 16:1-34) NIV
2b. Atmosphere of Protection
When the atmosphere is filled with worship, God is pleased; he releases his glory of protection. But when the atmosphere is filled with complaining, fault-finding, and murmuring, it’s not inviting to the presence of God. It has quite the opposite. It might even invite the wrath of God or plague.
When the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord's people”, they said. The assembly gathered and was opposing Moses and Aaron; they turned towards the tent of meeting, trying to go and harm Moses and Aaron. Suddenly, the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared to protect Moses and Aaron. Assuming God did not intervene with his glory of protection. The Israelite community would have killed Moses and Aaron.
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, and the Lord said to Moses, “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” (Num 16:41-46 NIV).
Atmosphere of Praise
God loves praises; He loves to be celebrated. He loves the atmosphere of praise and of true worship from His people. The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3). The word inhabits means He is enthroned or feels comfortable enough to sit down in the place where the atmosphere is filled with celebration, praise, and worship.
Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. (Ps149:1 NKJV)
Atmosphere of Healing
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and He is dominating our lives, He creates an atmosphere for His presence to dwell; and also in churches as well, when the atmosphere is right in place and the teaches in pleasing to the lord, He takes control and releases his anointing for healing, miracles, signs, and wonders.
Jesus was teaching one day, and the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick. It was so strong that some men noticed, or rather sensed, the atmosphere and carried their friend who was paralysed for healing, when they saw that there were too many people and there was no entrance for them. They had to break the ceiling and lower their friend to where Jesus was for healing.
Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. (Luke 5:17-20) NKJV.
Furthermore, in spiritual atmosphere, we can also find:
Demonic Atmosphere
This is another realm of atmosphere that can pollute its surroundings and hinder the prayers of an individual. Scripture teaches that there are spiritual battles on earth.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12)
We impact our spirit by the atmosphere we choose. The choices we make with the places we enter can impact the way we get tempted to sin. We should be careful with the places we go to; the atmosphere there might get us to sin. Because every place has its own atmosphere. We should use wisdom and be very alert. When the atmosphere is not conducive to the holy spirit in us. flee!
A demonic atmosphere can attract lust, drunkenness, anger, hatred, and also demonic spirits; likewise, the right spiritual atmosphere can attract holiness, purity, worship, prayer, love, and the Holy Spirit.
In conclusion, people carry different atmospheres depending on the spirit that is controlling them; some are controlled by the holy spirit and collaborate with the spiritual atmosphere for great signs and wonders, while some are controlled by Satanic spirits and are commanded by the devil to do evil things, and their days are filled with demonic incantation in the air to favour them. But we, the believers, have been given the authority and power to speak, and it shall come to pass.
You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So that light will shine on your ways. (Job 22:28) NKJV
Meaning, God has given us Christians the power to control the atmosphere. So control your atmosphere in Jesus' name. Amen.
A Celina Joseph publication
Posts
0 Comments