FREEDOM AND CONE HEADS THAT LEAK

NOW THE LORD IS THE SPIRIT AND WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS FREEDOM. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Yesterday morning I went to the store to by a few groceries and while walking down the aisles a song began playing in my mind and I found myself softly singing it. The song begins, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom," and it is just filled with some wonderful, wonderful lyrics. There is one line that goes something like, "if you're tired and you're thirsty, there is freedom...." I will probably post a version by Jason Upton right after this in case you've never heard it and would like to. It is an incredible worship song which does a great job of speaking to the freedom that we have in the Lord and how healing often goes hand in hand with that freedom.

So anyway, I'm walking and watching people and gently mouthing the words to the song as I shop. I began thinking about how sweet it is when you are in a place that is filled with people that love Jesus and worship him in complete freedom. My mind immediately went back to a church service that I attended this summer where the worship of Jesus was so sweet that people were filling the front of the church while they worshiped. Some were kneeling or even laying face down while others were just standing in reverence. You could tell that some had gone to the front because they had broken hearts and just needed to experience the healing of the Lord. Many people began to go forward to pray with those hurting and to minister to them. I remember thinking that I was watching Heaven invading Earth.

So here I am putting cereal in the cart and thinking how nice it would be to linger in an environment like that again, when the Lord did His reminding. His spirit was so gentle in talking to mine...........

MARK, YOU CARRY MY SPIRIT WITH YOU. BECAUSE YOU FOLLOW ME, MY SPIRIT IS WITHIN YOU AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THERE IS FREEDOM IN THIS PLACE. IT'S HERE, RIGHT NOW. GOODNESS AND GRACE. EVEN AS YOU ARE IN THIS PLACE YOU WALK IN FREEDOM AND THE SPACE AROUND YOU IS FILLED WITH FREEDOM. YOU EVEN CAUSE MY SPIRIT TO CALL OUT TO THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU.

I try to remember to smile in public, but I began to smile even more. There is a word that has become a buzz word among us Cone heads (to borrow a phrase from my dear brother Todd R.) and that word is "leaking." (We'll talk about the cone head thing sometime again, but that is not for today!!!!!!!) The idea is that when you go to a store, restaurant, a ballgame, or wherever, and you are filled with the love of Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that you just "leak" it out all over people and all over the place. I began to look at people more intently and gaze upon them. Sometimes God will tell me to go to someone and speak with them, or pray for them specifically, but yesterday morning I found myself just silently loving and praying for each person that passed me. I really smiled when there was one man who seemed to pause and look around as he passed as if he sensed something. As he turned the corner he turned his cart around and kind of glanced towards me. (I'm pretty sure I used deodorant yesterday morning, so I don't think it was because of anything like that!!) I could imagine the Holy Spirit had just "leaked" on this man and I asked God to bless his day as he moved on.

Where will you be going this week and into what places? Those sweet church services are really nice, but it's when we get out of the four walls where we can really shine for the kingdom. I close my eyes and hear those words......where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Let's go! It's time to give some of that freedom away. Somebody near you needs it!

Walking together in the Kingdom,
Mark S.