Thursday, April 23, 2015

Closed and Open Doors



Let's Just Shut this Door !!
 
Update:  You will remember last year, I received a letter from the Pastor at the traditional Church I attended, asking me NOT to share verbally any more, stating that I was disrupting the service.  
 
I was not surprised, because God had already told me that my door for ministry there was soon closing. 
 
My daughter Judie invited me to go with her to Bethel, Redding, CA to visit SOZO and the Healing rooms.  This fit in well as I was praying for direction for the New Year. 
 
The SOZO councilor confirmed that I might want to return to my Pentecostal roots. 

I started visiting churches and thought the new Assembly of God church in Old Town might be the one.  Judie and I paid a visit there but the service to my ears was only a mumble and I could not hear most of what was happening.   

So I did not end up where I first thought was to be my new church.  A FaceBook Friend told me about “Open Door Church.”  So I visited.  The Pastor's voice was a welcome sound to my ears. (My ears often don't hear well.)  The head set he wore helped with the transmission. 

I began to attend and my friend told Pastor about my blog and his sermon being posted on my blog.  The next Sunday as Pastor Allan preached – he suddenly stopped, looked at me and said, “By the way, I love your blog.”  I said, Thank you. 

Time passed and I attended the Sunday School Bible study.  Last week I took a few copies of the post Power to BE with me and waited until class was almost over.  Then I stood and raised my hand for permission to speak.  


Get Excited About what Jesus is Doing
The Holy Spirit came on me and said, "These lessons on POWER have been preparing you for the great work God wants to do in this church and in this body of believers. 
 
God wants to do miracles in tandem with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the hosts of angels. I said a bit more and then gave the teacher my copies of the post and to those near me. 

That day a large group of visitors from Jordan’s Crossing, was in the service. (A sort of half way house - not necessarily Pentecostal.)  Many of their men went forward during the worship and knelt and poured out their heart to God.  Our men surrounded them as they prayed.  Women went forward also and stood with hands raised as they prayed and worshipped Jesus.

The Lord told me to tell Pastor Allan to take his liberty and I wondered how I could do that.  To get up and go to the front was unthinkable, so I put those thoughts on the shelf. 

The worship session was almost over and I saw the Bible School teacher go up front and speak to Pastor Allan.  He looked over at me and smiled.  Soon he got up and came to where I was sitting and crouched down and asked if I would be willing to give the "prophesy" that I gave earlier in front of the church; in a few minutes - and asked if I would be comfortable doing that?  I said yes.  

When I knew the worship portion was ending and pastor put down his guitar, I came to the front and he asked me to wait, so he could introduce me.  It was a simple introduction, and again I shared.  The people were shouting and praising God and I believe they were receiving.  I told them to lay aside all the hindrances and worship Jesus and believe for the power to minister in His name etc.  
Get Excited About What God is Doing !
 
Then I turned to the Pastor and said, "Take your liberty brother."   And he did. 

Anyway, I am walking softly and know that I am where God wants me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Always good to find "home" ! While it is important to have a certain decorum, it is my feeling and experience that The Holy Spirit is often sidelined. When the Body works in tandem with the gifts, the Holy Spirit has freedom to move. and move He will if only we don't squelch His mighty presence!

Anonymous said...

No place like home. You just feel the Holy Spirit, when things are right and when things are wrong. Sometimes you got to shake the dust from your feet and move on and trust God that he will put you were he wants you. You will feel a relief, you will know that it is were the Holy Spirit wants you for whatever reason. You are a beacon light of Jesus shinning through you. Don't let satan blow it out. Jesus is the light of the world. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. Satan wants us to give up, and be hurt, and unhappy. We need to choose to be happy, and depend on Christ for all our needs. Judy A.

Floyd said...

How cool! It's amazing to see the powerful hand of God lead us in our lives. Thanks for your obedience and encouragement.