Weekend Review

Pastor Bill and Sue Tatum as well as the congregation welcomed me into the fellowship of White Oak Family Worship Center. Although it was a holiday weekend the local body of believers were ready to recognize God, release their praises to Him, respond to the challenge of His Spirit, and finally receive the blessings that God had prepared for them. Saturday night, July 4th, found us enjoying the power of "spiritual fireworks" as the presence of God invaded the building and many of us responded to His visitation. I am continually reminded about the goodness of God and His desire to love and care for us. We can not afford to miss those declarations that God has made and continues to make toward His children. He is interested in our future and He has prepared direction for our lives if only we will be willing to follow His guidance. I truly desire to follow the guidance and direction of the Spirit. In previous postings I have written about the process that I feel needs to take place in our times of worship whether private or public. I have written about recognizing God and releasing our praise to Him. I want to add a step in that process before we reach the time that the Spirit begins to minister to our lives. I firmly believe that God is calling us to respond to the challenge and direction of the Spirit. As we release our praise to God we open the door for the revelation of the presence of God. But for the presence of God to have full liberty in our lives we must be willing to respond to His presence. We must make ourselves available to God. The enemy of our soul does not want us responding to God. It is when we respond to God that our faith is released into action. Throughout the Bible God called for a response. Christ called for a response as He released the power of miracles in the lives of individuals. The enemy seeks to make us afraid to respond. We are afraid of what others will think, we are afraid that our faith is too weak to receive an answer, we are afraid of failure, and in some cases we are afraid that we are only acting out of the desperation of the flesh versus the conviction of the Spirit. But I encourage you today not to be afraid any longer. Respond to God, allow Him near to your life, and receive all that He has prepared for you and for your journey with Him.