IN THERE WITH US!
Rev. J. Loren Russell, BA, MDiv.
Matthew 18:19-20 (NKJV)
“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
I don’t know how to explain what happened on Friday night, but you’ve got to know that it happened. My wife and I had just arrived in Charlotte, checked in and settled in our hotel room. We decided to go and get some food and bring it back to the hotel room. We drove past a Bojangles and a local BBQ restaurant, but decided we would look for something else. We drove to the first strip mall, but there was no restaurant there. We then drove into the next strip mall, but we didn’t see any restaurants there either. Then my wife glanced over her shoulder, spotting the Sunset Fish & Shrimp Restaurant, a small hole in the wall that had a fair amount of traffic. We decided to go in and check out the menu.
We ordered our food and sat down. The sign read, “It’s worth the wait!” One of the customers struck up a conversation saying that I looked like a doctor or an attorney. I chuckled and said she was almost right, but that I was a preacher from New York. She responded that she too was a preacher. After a few pleasantries, we exchanged business cards and she went back to her meal.
Just before my number was called, I asked the gentleman who had been seated at the table in front of me, but now was standing next to me, if he was the owner of the establishment. He said “Yes!” I told him how we just bumped into the restaurant but were glad we did. He said that he was also from New York, then he said that I favored a friend whom he called by name; my nickname. My wife smiled and said, “That’s him.” When we realized that we knew each other from the ‘hood, we hugged and greeted as only two friends could who have not seen each other for at least 10 years (which is probably why we didn’t recognize each other).
Prophetically speaking, it is not humanly possible, nor could it have been planned for this reunification to take place in Charlotte, NC. Why the Lord saw fit to bring us back together is yet to be seen, but what is clear is that without the spirit of the Lord being in the restaurant in the personage of that woman of God, there would have been no conversation, no recognition, and no reunification. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
For sure, He is in there with us!
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Consulting, an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx, hosts “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” on Soul 1 Radio (internet), Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM. Listen in here or by phone at 626-226-1448.
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