Pastor John,
Tonight, I feel like we all were rewarded by sister Sheila doing her part with God, and testifying to the results. She became the results!
Her testimony about her recent experience with the Lord is one of those rare and awe-inspiring gems that I am thankful I was here to be able to see, and hear, and feel. And the preaching from you that followed felt like the result of Sheila’s digging so deep with God and then testifying about it. It was like her godly testimony pulled that wonderful message out of you!
I love what I saw, and heard, and felt tonight!
We have the ability to get somewhere with God if we want it. I saw Sheila do it!
I feel like I got a peek tonight at “old time holiness.” That solid, deep-rooted “Friend that sticks closer than a brother” feeling that is often talked about when folks refer to the old Preacher Clark recordings.
Sheila’s testimony tonight also taught me that we, as God’s children, can stir up those kinds of feelings among us. What we felt tonight was because of Sheila’s efforts toward reaching God. She provoked God – in a good way! She dug for God’s gold; that is why she struck gold! When she dug deep enough, God poured it out, so much so that it poured out over all of us! Sheila became a walking blessing for anyone who would hear, and she achieved that blessing by getting down to business with God. That precious testimony she gave, those feelings that we all partook of tonight, were there waiting for Sheila on the other side of her desperation for the Lord. She had to act on it. What else is God waiting to give us if we dig deeper?
Sheila told us tonight that God made it clear to her, “We will all pay our debts before leaving this world.” God is going to require of us what we owe, if we become debtors to people’s hearts, including His, in this lifetime. I felt in my soul that I was glad that God is that way – just, faithful, and dependable, as faithful to punish our disobedience as he is faithful to reward our obedience. In my spirit, even though it makes me tremble, I know that it is right, and I want it to be that way. It makes me fearful of “the goodness and severity of the Lord”, while making me feel very safe.
“God’s Majesty, God’s Glory, God’s Power, God’s Righteousness… and I am a little worm.”
That was so Beautiful!
Thank you God for letting me witness her testimony! What a glorious night.
Jerry