Usher Me Into The Presence Of The Lord

A spiritual mentor and sister of mine in the ministry by the name of Elder Tonya Burton, recently shared with me that if the Lord was to give us his definition of intimacy, he would probably describe it as in-to-me-see. You have got to prepare yourself by first spending some personal time and devotion with the Lord before being able to effectively share him with someone else. How can you lead someone somewhere you’ve never been before and how can two walk together, unless they agree?

My next point is this:

¨ You’ve got to experience a transformation, and not just a transfer. Romans 12:2 tell us in part, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. So many of us make the mistake of thinking just because we don’t do, say, or think the way we used to, in the places we used to, then we must be all right. We fail to recognize that in a lot of instances, we’ve just stop thinking those thoughts and doing those things in former places. Yet, like little snails, we leave the residue of our past experiences wherever we go.

Tell your neighbor, "a person like that hasn’t been transformed, just transferred." A tree is known by the fruit it bears.

Once we come into a full and mature understanding of this concept, we then will be able to usher others into the Lord’s presence.

Last, but not least:

You’ve got to be able to let others know that rest and refuge can be found in the Lord’s presence. Renown Pastor and Bishop T.D. Jakes tells a story of how when his wife Serita lost her mother, he tried addressing her grief with elaborate gifts, trips, dozens of roses and all kinds of superficial pacifiers in order to cheer her up. He went on to say, though his gestures of love and concern were as sincere as could be, nothing seemed to soothe his wife’s aching heart. She finally told him that all of the gifts and acts of love were appreciated, but what comforted her the most is when he ushered her into the presence of the Lord. It was when she would hear him preach and speak the word of God into her life and the lives of other hurting people; she felt the most comforted and relieved.

So often, we miss our opportunity to minister to the needs of others because we think it takes some grand act of holiness. We think we’ve got to talk just right, pray just right, sing just right, look just right, etc., etc., What we fail to detect is the awesome power we have to speak peace and comfort to any situation by attacking the lies of the devil with the word of God. Once we’re able to truly realize that the word of God is the balm that heals every hurt, pain and situation, it’s then when we will be able to usher others into the presence of the Lord.

If by any chance I’m ever invited back to Mt. Pisgah, know that I would really appreciate it if somebody would show me to my seat. However, what the Lord and I would appreciate more than anything else is if you’ll just usher me into his presence. Servants of God and Ushers of the Kingdom, continue to live for the day when the world will proclaim, as a result of your ministry and gracious hospitality the words found in the United Methodist Hymnal, number 328: