In Their Midst

In Their Midst

Completed on May 8, 2007, this painting portrays what it could look like in the spirit realm during a worship service. Jesus promised, “Where ever two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in their midst.” Matthew 18:20 People get out of a worship service what they put into it. God does not have to have perfection; He just desires sincere devotion and undivided attention to Him. This means that if He does begin to deal with a believer, they need to be open to what He is going to do and how it will affect them. God loves music and it is often times during a worship service that God does His healing of broken hearts and drawing of spiritually hungry ones close to Him. This delicate spiritual surgery often times has side affects such as weeping, joyful shouting, shaking, laughing, and other outward appearances. Again, the outward appearances are just the side affects of what is truly happening in the heart, soul or body. Those who see the side affects do not know or understand the intensity of what the one being touched by God is experiencing. From the lack of understanding some times comes a response of condemnation toward the outward manifestation, claiming that the person is only trying to get attention. This is demonstrated by the woman who is hiding behind her paper to the left of the man being anointed by Jesus. Some may make fun of it, such as the teens on the row just behind her; while others get offended by what they view as a disturbance. This is displayed by the man to the right of the lady being touched by Jesus. Those that have experienced God’s surgery, His healing, His love or His life change know, understand and see the outward appearance as something wonderful, something to rejoice over. Jesus lives inside each believer through faith and the strengthening of the inner man by His Spirit. He is capable of touching many people all at one time. But there are those times when He shares a moment so intimate, so powerful it feels as if He is right in front of the believer laying hands on them personally, lovingly. The believer can be surrounded by others who are preoccupied with busy schedules, those who are just there for the social benefit, those that feel they are fulfilling a duty, those that get offended easy and lose quickly any life-changing word of God that may come their way, or even those who are ignorant of the power and love of God through songs of praise but are forced to be there by their parents. The teen checking his watch at the bottom center of the painting gives a picture of this. Even still, if any believer (God is not partial) is hungry for the things of God, determined to focus on only Him and open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and full of faith expecting God to touch them in some way then God delights to satisfy their hungry heart.