Friday, July 21, 2006

GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS

Two nights ago—Wednesday night church—was a glorious time for me.

Let me back up a minute. Even though I'm the pastor's wife and have been saved since the womb (it seems), sometimes I wonder if it's worth it to go to Wednesday night prayer service. It's only an hour long, and by the time I spiff up and change clothes and then drive there, and then drive home, well, it sometimes makes you think, Is it worth it? Maybe God lets me have these feelings because they're what church members feel. I feel like I'm radar and reading them, and by choosing to do the right thing, perhaps I can encourage them to also do right.

Well, at church that night, it was confirmed to me (actually, every Wed. night this happens) that if it took an hour to get there (which it doesn't), it would be worth it. Wednesday night church is the gas (spiritual life) my car (soul) needs to drive the rest of the way (complete the week in victory).

I can attest that after last night, I'm ready to face the rest of the week with encouragement and even confidence that I will do His will.

Our service started with faith-building songs. Then Milton preached. His topic was "God Is Not a Respecter of Persons." He had us read the scriptures that establish this. Then he talked about the common human feeling we sometimes have of wondering if God favors some people over us. If God isn't blessing us like He is So-And-So, we tend to feel slighted. Some feel jealous. But he preached a stem-winder of a sermon on the fact that that just isn't so! What He does for one, He'll do for all, that He has promised to meet our needs and help us through the storms of life.

That reminds me of the old hymn, It Is No Secret What God Can Do. The lyrics of the chorus are:

It is no secret,
What God can do
What He's done for others,
He'll do for you.

With arms wide open,
He'll pardon you,
It is no secret,
What God can do.

Let's tweak the lyrics:

It is no secret,
What God can do
What He's done for others,
He'll do for you.

With heaven's bounty,
He'll bless you too,
It is no secret,
What God can do.

As the truth "God Is No Respecter of Persons" sinks into our souls, our attitudes change, and THEN God can work. And does!

After Milton preached, we took prayer walks. We walked all over that hall, praying and calling on God for ours and others' needs.

Then we sat down, and Milton led us in responsive praying that sent our souls soaring.Then, a personal word from the Lord came. That means someone stood up and gave a prophetic word, that God wanted us to say "Amen," and he expounded on that for a minute or two, and it was powerful.

As he spoke, I flipped to a reference in my Bible about "Amen." When he was finished, I signaled to Milton that I would like to say something. I approached the lectern then read this scripture:

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

Then I read the commentary at the bottom of the page:

"The concluding 'Amen' of the Christian's prayer and proclamation expresses confidence in God's love and faithfulness and the certainty of his promises. It is the voice of faith, reaffirming and identifying with the truth of Christ's unshakable gospel. In Revelation 3:14 the Lord Jesus is called the 'Amen.'"

That gave me chill bumps!

And it blessed the people, from their pleased expressions and audible words of confirmation.

Then we had another short-though-exhilarating season of prayer. Maybe you could call it warfare prayer, but whatever it was, it was…well, exhilarating.

Then Milton blessed us as he always does at the close of a service. He does this because the patriarchs did this a lot in the Old Testament.

Then we floated out of there.

Are you in need of being reminded that God is no respecter of persons? Then let this powerful truth sink into your soul!

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