What It's Really All About

[aron]

Originally Posted by Igzy

So where is that impact? How is the world being turned upside down by us? Where are we having anything like the impact Jesus had?

Two personal stories. First, was when I was down and out, essentially unemployable. Discouraged, confused, frustrated. I got a job mopping floors, minimum wage, no benefits, part time (12 hours/wk). Living in in a shelter. No where to go.

One day, this lady came in the place and I was mopping in front of the ladies room, with my little yellow triangle warning "wet floor" and "piso mojado" with the image of the guy slipping, and my cart with a trash bag and a mop bucket. You have to understand that once I was "somebody", an up-and-comer in the world (and yes, with an attitude).

So this little old lady walks up to the bathroom door, and I got out of her way, and for some reason I decided to be nice. I don't know why, but for some reason I decided to smile and say, "Good morning", like I was the doorman at the Ritz-Carlton. Complete with the little head-nod. She stopped, looked at me, smiled, slowly nodded her head and said gravely, "Good morning." Then she went into the bathroom and I kept mopping.

That moment changed my life. That moment I realized that I could be happy and smile, instead of frown. I could say, "Good morning" and give somebody courtesy. Didn't matter my situation.

And that moment began a complete transformation of my career. Instead of trying to be somebody, I try to help others. I live to serve. The Lord clearly showed me, "It is better to give than to receive.", and "What you do to others will be done to you." Instead of "Me, me, me" I began to think, "How can I help others?"

Now here is my point. Who was that little old lady? Did she travel around the world, smiling and saying, "Good morning" and transforming lives, one by one? Nobody knows or will know. It doesn't matter. . . the point is that God can do amazing things with the smallest gesture. Trust God. Be nice and love your neighbor. God can use that love, however ephemeral, to transform the world. And yes it may involve material giving. It may involve spending time, paying attention, weeping with those who weep.

God wants to transform the world, but He does it by saving people. So let Him deal with the first part, and take care of His command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Forgive, pray, care for, etc. And yes, give. Give to your wife, your children, your parents, your siblings, your neighbor, your church, your local non-profit. But more than money give yourself.

Second story: about 4 yrs ago I was in the ministry (not LsM, another), and they were going over a prophetic utterance that was quoted in the NT, and suddenly I felt a presence that made me get on the floor. I had tears pouring out of my eyes, I was sobbing. I was in the presence of holiness and love. I knew that the word was about Jesus, but suddenly I knew the 'presence', not of Jesus but of the Holy Spirit who was declaring the truth about Jesus through the prophetic word. It was, if you will, "the Spirit of Jesus". Slowly, I came to my senses and sat back down. Re-evaluated the word, and found myself on the floor, again, sobbing. This happened about 4 or 5 times.

I was simultaneously aware of my wretched sinfulness, and God's perfect holiness, and my utter separation - "depart from me, for I am a sinful man" - but at the same time I felt love coming through that holiness and reaching me in my sin, and keeping me in its power. It was right there in the word, all along, but I never felt it. Now I felt it. So I wept, like a child restored to his parent, both acknowledging his wrongness that separated him for a moment, and the Father's seeking and embracing love that overcame the wrongness.

The word became the framework, or the vehicle, of the Holy Spirit to declare the Son, not in a way of knowledge but in reality; and in the Son I could "see" or sense or experience, and re-connect the Father, lost for so long but now found again. . . It was the most amazing experience of my life.

Now I come to the point of the second story. Where is the issue? Who got touched by my experience? Has anyone else fallen on the floor, weeping at God's holy presence, as I shared this (or any other) prophetic word with them? If no, why not?

Has my living changed? Can anyone see the issue of this? Can I say, as Paul put it to Agrippa, that I have not been unfaithful to the heavenly vision?

I do know that my speaking, thinking, and message began to change dramatically after that (and there have been several other, similar events as well), but how much or in what manner the Lord will reveal at the end. My point is this: God can in an instant change everything. Saul, breathing threats and murder, gets knocked down, sees a bright light and hears a voice - it can happen to anyone. That is how God works. The question is, Does He work through me? I met the Lord; now has anyone else met the Lord through me? Or did the passage of the Holy Spirit stop with me? Let it not be so! Lord Jesus, let it not be so! Lord, make me an instrument of Your will!

God doesn't need our $165 Billion; He needs us to "infect" our neighbor with the divine fire. And yes, infection may involve monetary transfer; it may involve many things. But at its core it is God's presence making itself known in our lives so that, like those who got touched by Jesus in the gospels, we cannot contain our story, or His glory, and go around declaring to one and all that the kingdom is here. We have to pour ourselves out, we have no choice. The Spirit's presence is too strong.

All of this, of course, is just my opinion, today. (and yes, I did watch the video).