Great Things happen when God Mixes with Us

Behold, among men, the dwelling place of God shall be with His people, and He shall be their Lord and their God. No one can stand in a vacuum. God makes Himself manifest in the midst of His people. The Lord said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst.” Whatever separates us from God’s household deprives us of His visitation.

However, the Lord continues to search for us in order to bring us back into His fold. After crucifixion, when, in disappointment, the two disciples made their way to Emmaus, the risen Lord joined their conversation. Though they could not recognize Him at first, He enlightened them and made Himself known to them in the breaking of the bread.

“When He was at table with them, He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’”

Before His Ascension, He instructed His fearful disciples to stay together and not to leave Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit came. After the experience of Pentecost, Peter- the man who had earlier denied Him, began to speak boldly about Him. He said, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you now see and hear.”

We need the community of believers to be strengthened in our faith. Any cause for division in the Church works against effective witness to the power of the Lord’s Resurrection. We are called to be united in heart and soul. God longs to dwell among us with His mighty power.

Moreover, when Paul, who had not met Jesus in the flesh, finally encountered Him on the road to Damascus, he still needed the affirmation of the community of believers after his conversion. He went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles. We need to be united. We need one another. God has never been absent in His church.

May we never be lost in God’s household, may we never be deprived of the Lord’s presence and may the power of His Resurrection always be manifest in our lives. Amen