The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"He Is Here"
As I preached a message several days ago at a local retirement community, a dear lady who has difficulty in communication spoke clearly enough to express the following:
"He is here with us now, isn't He?"
It was the purest joy to respond with as much fervor and certainty as I could muster, "Oh yes, He is!" Of course, our Lord is with His sons and daughters in Christ always, dwelling with and within us as the very Life of our lives. However, the lady's blessed comment spoke to a special dispensation of God's presence He bestows when His children gather in shared devotion.
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forevermore" (Psalm 133:1-3).
Be it few or many, our Heavenly Father multiplies our experience of His presence and grace when we come together in His Name and for His glory. Frances and I have especially experienced this through the years in the retirement community aspect of our ministry. When a bug (like Covid, but not only Covid) has taken root in such venues, we have conducted services for as few as one or two residents. Frances would agree with me that those times have been no less blessed than services in normal circumstances. We always try to remember that so long as the Lord Jesus attends a service - which He promises to do - it matters not how many others gather. Indeed, Scripture teaches that God weighs rather than counts the spirits (Proverbs 16:2). Remembering this truth helps us to say with our dear sister, "He is here, isn't He?," and expect wonders of His glory that reveal how near the Lord Jesus draws amid His people.
Had the Lord displayed Himself physically, I do not think I would have more realized the Lord's presence than when the dear lady made her comment. Her impairment and difficulty in speaking graced her words with a powerful influence, and yes, with much weight. I won't forget the moment, and hope the memory will remind me in every meeting to come, and in every encounter with a fellow believer, that "precious ointment" and "life forevermore" flows from "He is here."
"Gather My saints together unto Me."
(Psalm 50:5)
Weekly Memory Verse
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
(I John 3:2)
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