Let me give a little background...
When we were up in Divide at the Worship@8500 retreat, we had Robin Pasley pray for us to find spiritual parents and mentors to lead us and advise us in the whole new world of the Godhead that we had received in the Holy Spirit and in the idea of receiving our sonship and kingdom life. Part of her prayer was that we would be reminded that this would come about in unexpected ways and take any opportunity that came along, no matter how bizzarre.
Fast forward to lunch today...
My sweet, amazing, wonderful, handsome, loving husband decided to take me out for lunch today, since it is our 73rd monthiversary and he wasn't asleep because he had last night off and has tonight off, too. We planned to go to The Olive Garden because we had a gift card and it is close to my work. We got there a bit too late, though, and it was going to be a 20 minute wait. So we bailed and went to Red Lobster instead.
As we were sitting and talking, enjoying our time together, I overheard the ladies behind us talking about their testimonies of how they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This made my ears perk, of course, and I enjoyed a little eavesdropping on some beautiful sharing of lives and love and Jesus. I was very encouraged, especially since they are farther along in life than we are and I have been looking for just such people to turn to for wisdom and guidance. I told my dear husband what I was overhearing. He then "dared" me to go and tell them that I was encouraged by their conversation. I hmmmed and hawwwed for a bit, not wanting to interrupt them or embarrass myself or anything like that. He "triple dog dared" me to do it, joking on the daring part, but insisting that I would be missing out on a blessing if I didn't say something. He also told me that he had a divine encounter yesterday that he wanted to tell me about, but wouldn't unless I say something to the ladies behind us. I guess bribery worked... Or I finally got up the guts lol...
I approached the ladies sitting at the table and told them how we had been encouraged to catch bits of their conversation, as we had recently been filled with the Holy Spirit and are hungry for anything related to learning more about Him and kingdom life as a whole. Wouldn't you know, those ladies were so sweet! They were nearly as blessed as we were, I do believe.
They were 3 beautiful ladies who used to sing together as a trio over 30 years ago and this is the first time since 1979 that they have all been together again! I felt a bit guilty for stepping in on their likely coveted time together, but they were so gracious and truly didn't seem to mind the intrusion.
They asked us about how we came to be filled with the Holy Spirit, how we are doing now, etc. They immediately recognized that we are in need of mentoring in this new area of life (I say "new" more so for myself than for Tom, because for him it is more like re-newed, but it's all very new and exciting to me, just fyi) and suggested some resources to turn to and also the name of someone locally to connect with. We chatted about the truths and the misconceptions surrounding the Holy Spirit and about kingdom life and ministry, etc. Two of the ladies are pastor's wives at FourSquare churches, one in Southern California and one in Glenwood. The other lady lives here in Palisade and attends a local fellowship. They all had such great, encouraging things to say!
One of them pointed out that the Holy Spirit is our teacher, which was a fantastic reminder I really needed today. She told us about how she had wanted to go to Bible college, but when she sought the Lord, He told her that He is her Bible college because He would teach her everything she needed to know. What a beautiful testimony that truly encouraged me.
They all prayed over us and blessed us so immensely. I was moved to tears by the rich blessing the Lord bestowed on us today!
Tom's testimony of his divine appointment yesterday was also an amazing blessing.
Things have been up and down and all around lately, and sometimes I get discouraged and want to give up. Sometimes things seem hopeless and too incredibly hard, but I am constantly being reminded of my Daddy's great love for us, which is everlasting and never ending; He is truly more faithful than the rising sun and gives very good gifts to His children, even when they don't ask!
As Charles Spurgeon put it in yesterday's devotional:
My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think Him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest. My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them... My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of His pipe, when He is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at His feet. There is no love like His, neither earth nor heaven can match it. To know Christ and to be found in Him - oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the less well refined. My Maser does not treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a king; He gives them two heavens - a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him forever... The unsearchable riches of Christ! Thiss is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song of ther harpers of heaven. Lord teach us more and more of Jesus, ad we will tell out the good news to others.
(Based on Eph. 3:8, from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" daily devotion, August 22, 2011)
How grateful I am that our plans were changed today and that I was blessed so richly out of the blue!
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