When heaven invades earth, people come to Jesus. They can't help it, they find out how good He really is. In heaven the joy never runs dry. When joy is released into a world where people are without hope and God, heads turn, and lives change. David is one life that has been changed by the joy of heaven.
My boss has been praying for David to come to Jesus for over 5 years. When I started working for this company four months ago, David's heart was closed to the gospel. David is now believing, experiencing, and hungering for more of God. What was the shift? The atmosphere of Heaven is irresistible. And when we take heavens atmosphere with us where we go, miracles happen, even at work. Imagine that?
Shortly after I started working for this painting company the realm of Heaven started breaking in on the job site. Explosions of joy would interrupt our work. Bummer, I know, joy at the workplace? Outrageous joy and belly laughter would sneak up on us and change everything in the atmosphere. Had I not known that God's kingdom is full of joy I might have been surprised why this laughter came unexpectedly and for no apparent reason. Often as I was filled with increasing joy and mucho laughter, a smile would creep up on David's face, and then a laugh, until he couldn't stop laughing. It seemed as if most of the time I would start laughing, then David, and sometimes it spilled out to others on the job site. But God was doing something special between David and I. God was ambushing David's heart with laughter. This is no exaggeration, in four months the joy of the Lord has come on the job site more than 20 times. Looking back, God was drawing David with His cords of loving kindness, and opening his heart to the gospel.
One night after work I prayed for David and God answered my prayer and did much more than I asked for. David came to work the next morning explaining that after I prayed for him he felt like he was wrapped up in a warm blanket of love. He said that feeling did not leave that whole night. He laid on his bed with a funny look on his face and his fiance asked him if something was wrong. He said, "Nothing's wrong, it's God." After that prayer he has been reading his bible on a nightly basis, talking about God at the job site, and still enjoying the joy of the Lord. One day at work while we painted a base board side -by- side, David began expressing how much he was thankful for me and told me that I have brought happiness back into his life.
David has been moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work and has been exhorting and encouraging my boss and I. The other day he came back from an appointment with his psychologist and he said it was terrible, and he didn't know why he was paying his psychologist money for the last session. He found himself counseling his psychologist when it was suppose to be the other way around. He said his heart was burning to tell her about God. Now that's transformation!
He recently came to work and shared with me that the previous night something amazing had happened. He sat on his bed awake. With his eyes closed and he had a vision. Images played across his mind like a movie. God showed him his future and gave him a list of areas in his life to change and then showed David how to do it. He could not sleep the whole night because he was overwhelmed with happiness.
My boss and I have shared a few words here and there with David about God. But, it wasn't our words that drew David to Jesus. It was the presence of our King that we carry with us. Many prayers have gone before God for David and have culminated towards this wonderful work in his life. Yet, I believe it was the presence of Heaven invading the earth that tipped the scales in Davids heart. The fragrance of Christ rests on His children in varying measures. The more we cultivate the presence of Jesus in our life, the greater the works that Jesus can do in the atmosphere around us. As we draw closer to His heart we begin to love, sound, look, and smell more like Jesus. Where we go, He goes. If we are saturated in Jesus then He supernaturally spills out and draws men unto Himself.
Grace and Peace,
Cody
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