The Procession
Yesterday at a prayer meeting the Lord gave me a revelation of Jesus walking in a procession with His people. As I was watching He said, “If you want Me then you must take My people too, for I am with My people.” He then spoke this scripture in 1 Peter, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love [philadelphia] for your brothers, love [agape] one another deeply, from the heart.”
I admit I was pretty floored. I was stunned. See, loving Jesus is easy. He is perfect and always acts in perfect love. He always has all our best interest at heart, even when He doesn’t act the way we think He should. But, His people—sometimes not so easy to love.
Don’t get me wrong. Affection for the people of God is pretty easy for me. The part that’s hard is believing they really have the best interests of Jesus in mind and heart, and therefore, my best interest, as well. Before you get too critical with me please understand that I have seen a lot of abuse in Jesus’ beloved church. Many times at the hand of those who maybe thought they were doing things Jesus’ way, but then again, maybe not.
So, when confronted by the Holy Spirit with this revelation, my response was, “Oh no!” because I knew what He was getting at. I know it is biblical to love the body of Christ, it’s just the people that we sometimes have a hard time with, right? To have the appropriate doctrine is relatively easy, too. To live it out isn’t as easy. Jesus is looking for believers who will actually, through loving God with all their capacity, live in community with each other and love one another deeply from the heart. Even when that means overlooking an offense and believing the best. Part of Love’s definition from 1 Corinthians 13.
As I was relaying to my husband, George, the events of the prayer meeting, I shared with him the above revelation. As I did I added more detail that, to me, didn’t seem significant at the time. The procession was shaped like a “V” with Jesus at the vertex. Then His people were following behind Him. George reiterated what I had described asking if that was what I saw. I responded that it looked like geese flying in a “V.” George said, “Berta, you realize that means it’s aerodynamic.” I had missed a huge meaning to what the Lord was saying. When we are in proper relationship with the Lord and with each other, then we are able to accomplish so much more, so much easier. It is as if He gives us wind under our wings, lifting us up higher to soar. Sure this is a metaphor, but there is a reason why geese, as they migrate, fly instead of walk.
None of us are perfect and yet, Jesus is delighted to hang out with us anyway. I want a community. I want a family of believers that I can do life with and do Kingdom with. I’m ready. I’m hoping. I’m believing.
