This week is shaping up to be extraordinary, and while I’m typing these words, it’s only Sunday night. Tonight, and for the next four nights, I have the privilege of sharing a meal and my heart for God’s Word with the women of my church, Central Christian Church. Across all five of our campuses, women are meeting together every night this week to kick off what will be our very first online Bible study, and I can hardly contain my excitement. Over 600 hundred women across this country have signed up to study the book of Colossians together, and I’ve got to say, there is simply nothing better.
If you know me at all, you’ll know these two things to be true of me:
1. I want to know Jesus Christ.
2. I want to make Jesus Christ known.
This is why I do what I do—why I write and teach God’s Word—because I believe God’s Word changes people. It has changed me, and I’ve witnessed it change countless others. It has been such an honor already to be a part of the writing team for this online study, and tonight was the first of five kick off potlucks to propel us into this book of Scripture. And God showed up.
Because God shows up where He is invited.
Have you ever thought about that? Where does God show up? Is He contained to church buildings on Sunday mornings or Bible study classrooms on Wednesday nights? Allow me to again deliver this truth to you today:
God shows up where He is invited.
He won’t force His way into human hearts. Rather, He will stand at the door and knock. He wants to come in, but He won’t barrel down the door. He wants to be invited in. Those who desire His presence will have it, because that is what His Word promises.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Because God shows up in His people.
I witnessed this to be true again tonight. Nearly fifty women from all walks of life, with incredibly different backgrounds and all in different places in their walks with Jesus, came together tonight for one purpose: Jesus Christ and His Word. We ate great food, we opened up and shared our faith with one another, we prayed together, and we left encouraged. Because God showed up. Why?
God shows up in His people because we house His Spirit.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 1 Corinthians 6:19
The next time you’re wondering where God is or what He’s up to, remember this: If you are in Christ, God’s Spirit resides in you. He goes where you go. He is at work within you, and He is at work around you through you. Don’t miss His presence. Don’t miss His whispers. Don’t miss His fingerprints.
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