Carrying Others Into the Presence of the Lord After We spend Time in His Presence Ourselves
This message is about something I just spent the weekend learning about myself. It’s about carrying others into the glory (presence) of Jesus. Like the 4 men who lowered their friend down through the roof to get him help because he was in need of healing. We can take others with us as we go – there are opportunities all around us.
It’s exciting to think about working and ministering to people as we go through our everyday life – house to house, person to person.
Many go to church but don’t get into the presence of the Lord! See Mark 2 about the friends who lowered the sick friend through the roof in front of Jesus.
Mark 2:1-5 NKJV Bible Gateway Online
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
2 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”People need to be carried into His presence.
We can do this in many ways, like…Our listening
Our words
Our time
Our faith
Our money
We can take them to a place they have not been. The friends went through some serious opposition to get the friend in front of Jesus. Even while we are still walking our our healing, God can use us to help others in their journey.
As we help them – the Lord will help us. It’s that giving and receiving law that never fails no matter what we are talking about. God works through imperfect people. It will never be about how much we have accomplished or achieved or what we know.
We must stay alert to those who are right in front of us who need help.
People need to be heard. They need help. We can step out in faith and show the Lord that we have His heart to help people all along the paths that we walk each day.
Our ministry is now! Every born again Christian has a ministry to others in this earth while we are here – regardless of what our main or specific calling may be.
As we move from person to person – rivers of living water will flow from our belly.
We want to be a yielded vessel so He can use us. He wants all the gifts of Holy Spirit to be used in us as we go when we are operating on this level.
We need to care more for others. We spend far too much time on ourselves and what we are facing. Turn that focus outward and let God be God and He will focus on us!
We can use the phone or email, anything that will help us reach out and touch someone.
Whatever you are learning right now can be used to share with others so they can learn along with you.
Be focused house to house, and person to person.
Whether to the people in church or on the street, at the grocery store or at our jobs each day, it can be non stop ministry – like Paul. See the book of Acts.
He made tents and worked and helped those who were with him while he ministered and started churches. He spent his time in the synagogue on the weekend. Wherever he was, he was about the Father’s business.
See Luke 2:49
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
Even as a child, Jesus, while still learning Himself, was about the Father’s house and business in the temple.
Key Point! We must be fed first so that we have something to give to others. Ministry on our own without getting alone with Jesus and feasting at His table will leave us empty and dry.
God is a still small voice. We have to take the time to tune everything else out and be quiet so we can hear His voice. We need to get into His presence.
With that said, I spent the afternoon on Monday starting to rest. After the nap I felt so calm and peaceful as I laid on the bed with Jesus.
But I didn’t stay there long before that enemy called distraction and busyness started to creep in little by little. I only intended to get up long enough to go to the restroom and ended up doing some unpacking from the weekend. Then I began getting my notebook put together from the weekend in the Lord’s presence at the Healing School I attended in Tampa.
As I started to read my notes and continued to hear the song that had resonated in my spirit all day about Jesus coming to take His bride away, I stopped what I was doing and went to lay down for a short time. The song is titled, Even So by Terry Macalmon. Excellent!
By then it was time to walk our doggie and, I thought, to start dinner before my husband got home. However, he called and said he would be late. So even though I didn’t have that soaking in God’s presence in the morning, I could have had a full afternoon and evening of soaking since bedtime came and my husband still wasn’t home.
But instead I got busy cooking and making our dinners along with some baking for the next day.
In reality I could have skipped all that and made my husband a bowl of soup or a frozen entree and had all afternoon and evening in the presence of Jesus – the one place I needed to be the most!
This weekend I had opened to this…
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
When I turned to that this weekend, I didn’t know for sure if that was the verse Holy Spirit was trying to highlight to me. Now I realize it was.
How did I finally see all this?
It just so happened (no coincidences with God) that I received a blog from a well known female in a healing ministry in my email; not once, not twice, but three times.
And what was the blog about? Soaking in the presence of the Lord where He can renew our strength and fill us. That filling we all need and were born for so we can be used by the Lord to help others get into His presence where they too can be healed, transformed and strengthened for the battles of this daily life that try to steal so much from us.
Martha was so busy, but Mary had chosen the best thing that would never be taken away from her. Hence, the picture at the beginning.
Moses spent all that time with the Lord and when he came away from that time alone with God, He was glowing!
I would rather have come through this day with a glow and a flow rather than a short list of unnecessary accomplishments that could have waited until tomorrow.
When these moments come, that spirit of drivenness can come and steal what can never be replayed again; for there will never be another today.
It is spent and over and the choices we made to either come away from Jesus when He is calling or choosing to let Him sit there outside of our heart and just long to come in is a daily choice for us all that we must reckon with.
We heard this weekend that many of us want to be called Christians and have a ministry and time to do all that life requires, but let’s face it head on.
If a car doesn’t get gas, it won’t run.
Conversely, if the born again Christian doesn’t continue to get filled and refilled in the Lord’s presence, we will continue to drag from one day to another in some sort of dry survival mode going from one thing to another with no real joy, peace or satisfaction.
We sang an old rock n roll song this weekend during the meeting. The band leader had changed the words to make it a Christian song. It’s that old song so many of us know from our not so bright past – “I can’t get no satisfaction. The singer added these words that we all sang out – Without Jesus, no, no, no.
How true it is.
So what started my day was a reminder to stay another day “in my Father’s house after a glorious weekend of classes, worship, receiving and healing ministry. I discovered that I really needed to do what the pastor said right before the healing service ended late Sunday evening. Take this glory home and continue to soak in it. Don’t let it fade away.
So as I end this day with regrets that it didn’t go as it could have, I remember the promise of my Shepherd’s voice who has assured me through many scriptures, songs, people and circumstances that He will bring me through this to the other side – the place of glory.
And the only way I will get there is floating on a single board in the deep – not sailing in my big comfortable boat. (Another story for another time)
It’s time for my boat to break up and I will just have to jump in the water with Jesus and let Him get me to the next destination with Him – even though it looks very scary. How about you?
Friend, I hope this encourages you and inspires you like it did me. I am inspired to get into the presence of Jesus every chance I can and remember that I carry Him with me everywhere I go because by His Holy Spirit, He is living in us. He is closer than our breath. He is inviting us with a respectful and gentle knock on the door of our hearts every day.
“Will you let Me come in and fellowship with you? Will you let me comfort you and heal the places where you hurt? Will you let me give you the times of refreshing and the strength that you need to do what I have created you to do?”
Yes, Jesus is calling us into His presence where there is indeed, fullness of joy.
Be blessed my brother and sister in Christ!