COME YE OUT

John 12:26  "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

Can you remember what you were doing, who your friends were, the places you went when the Lord called you, put His touch on you and told you to come to Him?  I remember, and it is not a place I care to return to.  I can remember all the friends I had at the time, when they were told that I no longer cared to go to the places I had been frequenting or do the same things, most of them just seemed to disappear.  Only a couple remained friends but as we no longer had anything in common, did not come around much.  I can remember it was lonely for a while as the Lord dealt with me one on one.  But then He began to lead me to services at different churches until He found the place He wanted me to fit.

The Lord has a place for each of us in His church.  And I am not speaking of the building, I am speaking of the group of people that make up the church.  Father, I can see this is not going where I thought.  Once again, I yield to Your will, Lord, as You know better than I what is needed.  I had thought this was about being with people of your old man, and needing to come out of that group into one of the Lord's leading, His children, but that is not what the Father wants me to talk about. Perhaps some other time.

As the Lord had me saying, He has a place for each of us in His body, in the church of His children.  Sometimes we will visit a church and thiink that is just the place, everyone is so nice and friendly, the programs are just what you enjoy, and you join that church only to not feel quite right there.  It will seem like before, you will love going, but there will be something missing.  I know that feeling.  I went to a church for years only to find that no matter how much I loved the pastor, loved the people of the church, was so loved in return, there was something missing, a lack in myself when I would leave service, not quite knowing what, just knowing something was missing.

Everyone knows the Lord moved me two hundred and fifty miles away.  Away from family, away from friends, away from my office where all my peers and all my customers cared so much about me.  Moved me to a place where I only had a couple of friends.  Now these are very close friends, thank You Lord, for this, friends that love me deeply, like sisters, so I am not alone.  But new office where no one knows me, fish in a new pond, customers having to learn about me as I learn about them.  And church, well my Lord brings me to a church where I basically know no one, although He had me meet a few people before hand.  But basically, He took me to a church, sat me on the second row and told me on two different occasions that I was home.  And now, I am home there.  Don't know many people, seems strange not to know the ins and outs of the church like I was use to, but this is God's will for me.  But you know what, I leave after service, and there is nothing missing.  Nothing lacks in my soul when I drive home from services.  I drive 30 miles to church one way and on the way home, the smile, the contentment and joy never leave my face.  I go meet my friends for lunch and they don't need to ask how services were, they can see it on my face. 

The spirit of the Lord that flowed in the services is still glowing all over me.  The deep touch that was realized during services still is radiating my soul, causing my spirit to rejoice, over and over again.  It should never be about the people at a church, it should never be about the acceptance of the people, the programs, the location; it should always be about God.  It should always be about the manner in which the Lord is welcomed into the services, sought after and the importance put on His presence.  If you find a church, like I have, where the presence, the embodying presence of the Holy Spirit being given the freedom to turn the service into whatever He wants, being glorified and worshiped by everyone;  and if you leave that service with a deep satisfaction knowing that you were joined together with the Lord in that service, then there won't any question of what and where.

The Lord did not move me right away after He told me I was to be at this church. He sent me back to my home church and had me share the worship teachings He had given me.  It was not easy and I can not say it was altogether successful, but with the Lord's leading, I did this for nine months, thinking it would be a few more months that I would be there, a year perhaps, but then the Lord spoke to me. "Come ye out of there, it is time."  And He moved me. 

Where the Lord is, is where I want to be.  I cannot be where He is not welcome to flow as long as He wants, or to change things about if it pleases Him.  I can only be where the welcoming of the Holy Spirit is the most important objective in the service.  Where calling down the Spirit of the Lord is the desire of the people there, from the pastor to the worship team to the congregation.  It is truly the only thing that matters, the Presence of God, our precious Lord.  If the Presence of God is there, you don't need a lot of words, the Lord can move, He will heal, He will satisfy all with just His Presence.

This 31st day of August, 2011, my Lord, You have blessed me greatly.  You have blessed me with Your Presence, Your drawing me unto You.  I have followed You, I have yielded unto You alone and I delight in each day with You. I love and adore You, my Lord, and I know You love me, I know I am Your beloved child.