A holy, clean, light , refreshing atmosphere felt at church.

by Pnutty on 2016/4/5 15:54:21
A holy, clean, light , refreshing atmosphere felt at church.

Is that the presence of God? Because that is how I have taken it to be.

But this happens even in very imperfect churches. Ive experienced it in Word of Faith Churches, non-denominational, Roman Catholic churches of all sorts.

If that is Gods presence then why does he bless his people by filling His church with himself in places where I feel uncomfortable with the church itself, and as for myself I move on.

Is it just the desire to worship God and gather together being the greater approval of God (than all the music and preaching differences that one could agree or disagree on).

What do you make of this?

God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. If you feel His presence it could be because you are taking His presence with you. You are His temple. A Christian can feel peaceful and refreshed, in any physical location even inside a "fiery furnace" or a "den of lions".

Just to balance it out, there are no barriers to the Holy Spirit who is always looking to draw men to Jesus Christ. He can't be locked out of North Korea or Iran, or false churches or imperfect churches (which is basically all of them).

Sensing His presence in a particular physical structure does not validate the structure, but it does let you know He is there with you and that has to be comforting.

by Pnutty on 2016/4/5 17:13:39

If you are correct J that sure clears up a lot of confusion for me. And has incredibly humbled me. It NEVER occurred to me that it wasn't about the entire place. And why it feels the way it feels is because I am the common denominator. Big Duh on me. I am lifting up my heart, and it doesn't matter the place.

So maybe, just maybe I don't have to keep trying so hard to find a church, the church? Maybe it is all right. And maybe I can "make church" lifting myself in adoration, here there anywhere?

pnutty,

You can go anywhere the Holy Spirit is leading you! Look at Jesus' life and where He went and who He associated with.

I knew a brother a long time ago in California and he actually came from New York. He had an incredible testimony and used it wisely to get into many churches that really needed to hear the gospel. Many churches that put on a very entertaining "show" on Sunday morning, replete with the best band and music in town, and always very "exciting" guests loved to invite him and wow the people with his testimony. But, he always had something else in store for them. He knew the Lord was opening doors with his testimony and the Lord always gave him a special word for a particular congregation. He was invited to very well known churches, one of which was the Crystal Cathedral. A lot of people will write the people in churches like this off but he felt the Lord wanted him to go to these places and sound an "alarm". He would share a bit about his testimony, but he felt the Lord really brought him to these places to preach a strong message, similar to the Lord's letter to the Laodicean church in Revelation. Generally speaking, he believed the church in America is very much like the Laodicean church. His message would particularly hit people hard because he was genuine and his love and care for them came through. But, more important the word he preached was annointed. It is amazing what the Word of God sounds like coming from a man that is only beholden to God.

When you are a servant of the Lord and only beholden to Him and not any particular religious camp (which oftentimes will not speak with other camps), you know you have the freedom in Christ to go anywhere, anytime the Lord leads you, and He is doing this to preach a strong message of truth through you to some people.

So, wherever you go, take Jesus with you and speak what you "hear" Him speaking and He will be with you. It's not about finding the perfect church and making a "shangri-la" on earth, closing yourself off to others, and only associating with those who agree with you on everything. We are here as servants of the Lord for a purpose and a mission. We must find out what that is and the man that is open to the Lord will find himself, very busy, going places he never would have chosen to go to if left to his own understanding. Jesus cares for a lot more people than we realize.

When you are close to the Lord, you can sense His spirit with you anywhere. And a lot of responsibility comes with being filled with His Spirit.

I pray the Lord brings you to many places to turn people back to Him.