I believe the Lord wants to accelerate our witnessing to those right in our own community who are hurting, need encouragement, or just need to have prayer. The following is an example of a divine encounter I had just recently with a lady at a thrift store in my community.
The Encounter!
As I was shopping in this thrift store, I ran into a lady I had never seen before. She offered to help me put a rocking chair in my basket which I was purchasing. It was a big rocker, and I did not have a flatbed cart and did not want to go and try to find one. As we began talking, I asked her she attended church and she said she goes to a church down the street from where I live.
Our conversation led to talking about Christ, His calling on our lives, His gifting us, His love for us, how He wants us to step out of our comfort zones and go and find the lost, the hurting, the destitute, etc. as well as to go in His authority and power of the Holy Spirit to testify of Him and His coming Kingdom.
She shared with me how she was very burdened about her husband who was falling away from the Lord. He would go to church and go through all the motions, but his heart was growing cold and distant from Christ.
She told me that he is a policeman and works with people who do not know the Lord. She knew they were having a great influence on him in a negative way and pulling him away from Christ.
As she was telling me this, tears came to her eyes, and I could tell she was broken in spirit over her husband’s condition. I knew at this point, the Lord had me there to minister life and hope to her and to pray for her and her husband.
She told me that she also felt that the Lord had arranged our meeting. We ended our time together praying for each other. The next day I sent this email to her and wish to share with you. Jesus is looking for those who are willing to be led by the Holy Spirit to go and expect a divine encounter He has set up for you.
Here is the email I sent
As I mentioned to you in our meeting, I was headed to the grocery store and started to walk toward the grocery store and felt like I had to stop and walk toward the thrift shop where I met you.
I was in the store for about 15 minutes when I went back to the furniture area where we met. You offered to help me put the rocker in the basket. When we started talking I knew this was a divine set-up by the Lord. This happens to me often.
I asked the Lord the night before to lead me to those He wants me to talk to and share Christ with. You were the one I was to talk to. I was not even planning to come into the thrift store.
The Lord loves to be totally in charge of these encounters for it is all Him doing the leading, touching the heart, shaping the interaction, imparting the words to be shared, and most of all, His releasing of His agape (love) through the one being sent to the one who is to receive His love.
We talked about so many things in our hour together that there no doubt our meeting was arranged by the Lord for He knew what you needed to hear, ponder on, and begin to restructure your thinking about how to minister to your husband plus the other things regarding faith, love, hope, persevering in hard times, etc.
I want you to know how much Jesus loves you and has called us to be open to go and minister His love to others – especially to those who are seeking Christ, or those who are playing the religious game, or those who maybe we find very difficult to appreciate and love with the love of Jesus He has imparted to us.
Loving Christ with His imparted love is the foundation of moving and walking in the supernatural call to take the Gospel of Christ and His Cross to those who are perishing in the world as they did in the Book of Acts which is the pattern the Lord provides for those who desire to be radical (means going to the root – the root being Christ crucified and resurrected) Christian for Christ.
I firmly believe there will come a day that you and your husband will be part of the last day move of God being called to move in His anointing and power to share Christ.
Again, Jesus loves you and your husband and so do I. I will strap both of you on my back and pray for your family and especially your husband to have a fresh encounter with Jesus.
Rich Arnold
Servant of the Lord
311 Adelaide Ave SW
Hartville, Ohio 44632
330-704-9306
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