For the record, I don’t claim to be the expert on anything but on this: that I know for sure that my God is crazy about me and loves me as though He were lavishing all the love in the world on me, but with still more love to go around to all His children. I know that.

But I was thinking about the passage of Scripture where Jesus states that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20). I think it has to mean more than Jesus merely being present when two believers show up at the same spot. Jesus is present in one believer all by Himself.

I think maybe it means that when two or more believers get together for the purpose of glorifying God, Jesus is more than just present. He shows up in the sense of coming in power and authority. There is something about a group of believers gathered together that can’t be explained by any human or natural means.

Acts 2 records that the effect of the early church gathering together frequently and sharing everything and loving each other was to turn their world upside down. Thousands of people were being drawn to Christ through these believers’ testimony and love put into action. Signs and wonders and miracles followed the believers everywhere. But I think the key part is that they truly loved each other. They were vessels through which God poured His love into others.

That’s what I want. I want more than just to be doctrinally right. I want more than to have all the knowledge. I want more than to have my spiritual to-do list checked off. I want to see the power of the Holy Spirit manifested through believers gathered together in His name. I want a love so strong that the world won’t be able to ignore it or explain it away.  A love that is so different than any other that it captivates those who witness it.

Again, I am far from perfect and I get a lot of things wrong. But like the old saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. It’s not my great faith in God that moves mountains, but my faith in a great God. Even if that faith is mustard seed-sized.

Amen and amen.