Someone asked me, "Are you going to the conference?"I answered quite simply, "No."
Wow...have I changed.
I mean just in the last few years.
The way I think, the way I look at things,
my priorities in life...both spiritual and natural.
I believe for the better.
Although some, after reading this will differ in their opinion. They will probably think I have gone off the deep end. That's okay, just means I am getting closer to the Master! I have always been one of the Black Sheep of the Holy Herd!
It seems the more time I spend getting to know my creator, falling in love with my Lord, really learning to understand the will of my Heaven Father. The more I realize I have had it all wrong and I need to turn it all around....my way of thinkg that is.
My way of thinking and my expectations of others, my expectations of God himself. Even possibly expectations of myself, and truly surrender all, absolutely everything without resolve, every day, to Him, Yeshua Hamashiach, my Master, Savior, Friend....who I so boldly confess to live for and would not hesitate to die for.
We live in a day and age unlike none other. The love of God is much needed in the world. I have known this love. I know this love. It would be a sin for me to keep it to myself.
There was a time not too long ago when I would rush to gather together with others like myself who know the love of God, to worship and bask in His presence. Time and time and time again. Godly Gluttony, if you will. I would seek out every worship conference, open heaven conference and bask in the "glory" as long as I could.
~ Please ~ Don't get me wrong worshiping the Lord is a good thing. However, Forgetting about the heart of God is not...and that is what the Lord has been speaking to me.
The heart of God....?...What is it ...WHERE is it...where can we find it????
His heart is in the faces of the poor.....His heart is in the souls of the lost.....His heart is in the broken home...and the reconciliation of the family. All of which can be found and most of which are found, outside of the church celebration services.
When we spend so much time in conferences that we are too tired to share God's love in a practical way....to hear that small still voice so we can be used in those divine appointments;
or if we are spending our financial resources on social gatherings or conferences so we are left with nothing to meet the very real needs of our own neighbors and or missionaries...this is NOT the will of our Heavenly Father.
This is not to say (and I am not saying) that we should not gather together, goodness no!
But of course Paul even tells us , not to forsake the gathering together of the saints!
I absolutely LoVe fellow shipping with my church family!!
It's just that as these last days close in on us and I feel in my spirit a certain heaviness and urgency I would think that the church as a whole would feel it as well and come together to reach out to the community as a whole; believing and non believing alike; to offer the Word in Truth and power in simplicity through the name of Jesus.
Sadly I have not seen this. Instead I have seen a mimicking of the world's ways and desire for the spirit realm with God's Holy Spirit, for what reason I can only think is to try and appeal to a lost and dying generation.
Which I find so very sad, as this does nothing to lift the name of Jesus up or give glory to God for the miraculous that should occur during these gatherings but quite the opposite; it actually brings the name of Jesus down a notch to that of any miracle worker and the miracle itself to the level of any of the new age magic trick .
Simply put...it's not about you.
It's not about me.
It's about them.
Who will GO? That was the question. Not, who will gather over and over and over?
So I was asked a simple question and I gave a simple answer. Although to be perfectly honest my answer was not "simply received". Which is what got me to thinking and praying and now writing this BLOG!
I am going to take the time I would have otherwise spent at the conference with a stranger. The Lord will lead me to them. :)
Time is running out and people need the Lord!
Maranatha!
AmyColleen
