Gathered in His Presence

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -Matthew 18:19-20

I have been very blessed to be a part of several men's groups over the last three years.  Whether it was simply an accountability group or a full-fledged Bible Study, or a work-related men's group, all of them have been great blessings and enabled me to grow spiritually.  Recently, I started a group of men at work that are studying a book together on specific men's topics.  Seven of us are part of this group and we are all followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In just our third meeting together, I have truly felt the presence of God (and therefore the presence of Jesus) in the room with us.  We even had one of our group members say that he needed to leave early for another meeting, but since the discussion got so good, when the time came to leave he stayed.  I asked, "Don't you have a meeting to get to?"  He responded, "Yeah, but this is too good to leave."

I think anytime we are in the presence of God, it is ALWAYS "too good to leave".  When we are there with Him, walking with Him, praying to Him, seeking a relationship with Him, or placing our sorrows and pains at His feet, He is right there to hold us, guide us, protect us and lead us.  I am so grateful for this group of men.  I cannot wait to see what God will do in our lives as a result of this discussion and book study.  It really got me meditating on the verse in Matthew where Jesus said that, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20.
If we (the church) really are the Body of Christ, then clearly when we gather together in His name, He should be there.  It saddens me to think that so many times in my life, I've gathered with others, and not invoked the name of Jesus - either because I was lost, or was afraid of rejection or too busy or too lazy.  How much more could my life and the lives of others be enriched and closer to God if I had invited Christ to gather with us?

So next time you have a group together, invoke  the name of Jesus to guide your discussion and watch the great and remarkable things that He does through all of you!

Have a blessed weekend!

Having faith

Yesterday, I met with two colleagues at work.  About two dozen of us in my department are currently studying About My Father's Business by Regi Campbell.  This book talks about how to effectively share your faith in the workplace or in work-like settings.  The first meeting of our group was last Thursday. During this discussion I was convicted of the sin of spiritual pride.  See, I have a story to tell about what trusting in Christ has done for me.  However, I have not told my story to many people, especially to those at my work.  Yet I work for a place that is very supportive in this type of endeavor and still had fear (False Evidence Appearing Real).  I mean, what would they think about me?  I also was fearful that because of where I came from (until I came to Christ, my lifestyle was very counter-culture to where I work) I could lose my job...how silly of me....God wants us to celebrate and glorify Him.  When we hold onto our stories for ourselves, we are being selfish and prideful, not to mention we aren't putting our complete faith in what He can do.


I found this cartoon in a google search:

This fit perfectly to where I was.  You can find this and others at http://www.jesuseveryday.com/cartoons.htm

Back to my story though, In faith, I approached two people in my group and we got together and I shared my testimony of how I came to believe and therefore, trust in, my Savior Jesus Christ.  Not only did my colleagues not run off, nor did they laugh at me, nor did they breathe fire out and burn me up right there, but also they embraced me, celebrated what God has done! Now I have two great friends, that are not just colleagues, but brothers and sisters in Christ.  How cool is that?!  


I encourage you today to share your story with someone.  When you feel the Holy Spirit move you to share, be obedient.  You'll be surprised what God does when you stop trying to make the outcome the way you want it, and start to trust Him for the results. My prayer is that we as Believers can move beyond the "You of little faith" nickname and become more faithful and obedient to what God calls us to do.  Remember, God will always do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  Sometimes we cannot see the outcome or understand how it could even work out well.  Despite that we need to step forward in faith and courage, remembering that Fear is of the evil one and God told us "Do not fear" 365 times in the Bible.  


God bless all of you today!