Have I had nothing to say?
Well, anyone who knows me will testify that this is unlikely.
The truth is that my energy level has been low while my activity level has not.
Beats me what is with my low energy. It has been so low that I have snuck in a couple of naps along the way!
Not like me at all.
Today, however, I am feeling revived to some extent.
How could I not after last night?
At three o'clock in the afternoon I was sitting on a bus bound for The Brooklyn Tabernacle. Traffic was a bear and added an extra hour to our travel. (Is a pattern developing here?)
We arrived in time for a quick bite to eat with time to spare to find our seats.
Normally there is no reserved seating, but our group was the exception so we ended up with upfront seating! Maybe having a pastor along helped....
Honestly it wouldn't have mattered to me where I was sitting. The energy in the building was charged!
The Spirit was in the building! Yahoo!!!!
This congregation takes praying very seriously and it was energizing to be able to experience such faith up close and personal.
Prayer is not something to get through for them. It is a privilege and one to be taken seriously. It is a time of deep connection with the Living God.
A few days earlier I had journaled about what prayer is to me. "Prayer is an intimate connection with God, not a place to seek answers so much as to seek Him."
The pastor, Jim Cymbala urged everyone to remember that we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit to direct and empower our prayers. We seek Him and then He will birth our prayers.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the need in this world. When Papa makes me aware of a need, I write it down. The list is a long one! Truthfully, there are numerous lists! If I tried to cover all of it every day I would be done in. I must depend upon His Spirit to bring to my heart what needs to be prayed over.
If we simply try to get through the list, all we do is gloss over all the needs. When we let Him lead, then we can focus on what truly needs attention and saturate it with prayer.
That is what they do at the Tabernacle.
That is not all they do. These believers love the LORD and love to praise Him, so there was some wonderful time of praise and worship led by the Spirit!
The evening was topped off by a message by this man, who has a heart after God. I was impressed by his humility, honesty and how down to earth he was.
Pastor Cymbala spoke from one verse in Genesis. It is found in the twelfth chapter, the second verse. God was speaking to Abram (Abraham before the name change). He was making Abram some promises. This is right after He had called Abram to leave his country and go where God showed him to go. This is what Papa said to him,
"And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing."The pastor focused on two of the four promises in this verse.
"I will bless you."
"So you shall be a blessing."He asked us to see the connection between the two promises.
God blesses us so that we will be a blessing.
Not so we can sit back and be comfortable and hoard all of it for ourselves.
We were urged not to circle our wagons and keep to ourselves, but allow what we receive to flow from us out to others.
Otherwise we will become like the Dead Sea. Water flows in, but there is no outlet. Its water is heavy and lifeless and not refreshing at all.
If God blesses so that we can bless, then as we do bless, His blessings will continue to flow.
I can testify that this is a fact.
So can many others.
His blessings come in many forms. It is not all , nor even primarily materialistic, but spiritual.
There is nothing better.
Stuff comes and goes. None of it lasts, but His Spirit never fails.
This morning's reading in "My Utmost for His Highest" spoke of being a saint (a believer) who satisfies the heart of Jesus.
That is what I long to be.
Nothing satisfies a person more.
My adventure last night, which was shared by some dear friends, so blessed my heart.
To join with thousands of other voices in worshipping our King is a great joy. To hear the truth proclaimed stirred my heart and gave me great encouragement.
The book of Joel, which I finished reading this morning, closes by drawing a picture of the place where my God dwells. It is one of beauty, plenty, joy, sweetness, life, nurture; it is home!
What blessings!
The privilege of communing with the Living God; being filled, led, taught and encouraged by His Spirit; being a conduit of His blessing and then getting to dwell with Him eternally is too much for this lady to contain!
"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever!"
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