It’s Time to Gather

11.27.20

I rarely ever take pictures on thanksgiving. I’m too often caught up in conversations and enjoying relationships. The only real picture I got was of my table. To some this picture may look insignificant, but to me, it looks like love. When we moved into our house this year, we needed new tables. We wanted our home to be a place where people could come to gather and be family. We knew we wanted enough seating for our whole family and more, but the price of big tables were so expensive. We also knew we wanted to host Thanksgiving at our home for the first time ever, and with COVID, getting furniture ordered in time would be hard. My husband, knowing both the desire of my heart, the timing, and the small budget we were working with, bought wood to build several tables and some benches for an eighth of the prices we found online. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more because of the sacrifice of blood, sweat and tears that went into it. What a beautiful picture, that my husband would create a space for our little family to gather together to commune and build relationship for years to come!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, because I love family time spent around the table. There are few memories in my childhood that I treasure as much as the ones made at our dinner table. There’s something about gathering together laughing, crying and communing with each other that feels so purposeful. I think this is why Jesus asked us to remember the New Covenant at the table. Communion is what we were created for! God desires to dwell in our midst (Matthew 18:20) and when we gather in Jesus’ name and we begin to testify of His goodness, it becomes an invitation for Him to come. For the last several months I’ve heard this clarion call from Heaven saying, “It’s time to gather again!”

Colossians‬ ‭3:16-17‬

“Let the word of Christ live in you richly, flooding you with all wisdom. Apply the Scriptures as you teach and instruct one another with the Psalms, and with festive praises, and with prophetic songs given to you spontaneously by the Spirit, so sing to God with all your hearts! Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you!” ‭(TPT‬‬).

Psalm 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (ESV). I believe that “gatherings” have been under the attack of the enemy, because the devil knows just how powerful relationships can be. When we selflessly enter into covenant relationships it breeds life, joy, purpose and unity! Those are the very things that hold the power to break the bondage of the enemy. This is is why In the midst of battle, God prepares us a table! Intimacy carries authority because it births identity.

I saw a vision of the Lord sitting at a table alone. It was set and prepared for a meal. The table was carved out of gloriously strong wood, but was rugged and unmanicured. The dishes were made of clay. White linen lay across the top of the table as a runner. Wooden benches made of sturdy beams sat on both sides of the table. Jesus began beckoning His people, “Come to the table and eat!” The aroma of fresh baked bread filled the room. I could see the steam rising off of a glistening, braided loaf in the midst of the table. At first glance the table didn’t seem like much, but as I looked to either side, it stretched for as far as the eye could see. There was endless space at this table. As the vision zoomed out, I saw the people He had called running around, too busy in their own agendas to stop. Grief struck my heart! The meal was hot and ready, but they were too distracted with the business of life to stop and be filled up at His table of life. They were too busy for communion and relationship, the very purpose of their lives. They were unwilling to make the sacrifice of time it takes to come to depth of conversation.

As I meditated on this picture I remembered the words of my father. Just a week before, I had preached a message that was full of the beautiful nature and holiness of God. At the end of the message I felt so grieved, because spiritually it felt like it had fallen upon many deaf ears. I texted him sharing my frustration and He replied with such wisdom, “You can’t eat it for them, you can only serve it to them.” How true! This must be how Jesus felt on a regular basis while surrounded by people who just didn’t understand.

I kept being drawn back to the look of the table in the vision. It didn’t look like much. I would have thought that a King like Jesus, the son of a carpenter, would have carved and set a much more ornate table. I started to question Him, “Lord, if the table looked better, would it attract the attention of these busy people?”

He responded, “It might for a time, but the allure would wear off, and soon they’d return to their busy agendas. It is better for them to be plainly drawn by me and me alone, than to draw them with things that will never sustain them.”

I thought, “Why this table? Why the rugged beams?”

Promptly He replied, (knowing my inward thoughts.) “I turned the cross I hung on into a place of communion. It may not look like much on the outside, but the strength of what i did on these beams will never wear down or rot. It’s the only thing strong enough to carry the weight of humanity. I’d rather have strength over outward beauty, because beauty is as fleeting as the attention span of the one drawn by it. Those drawn by what is physical, will have to be maintained by what is physical. It’s time for the church to cut the fluff. Everything you need will be found at the table. This is a season to gather. It won’t like like schooling, or sessions in a class room, but more like families meeting around tables to pray, connect and tell stories of how God is working in their lives. Discipleship should look like family.”

The best of programs can’t keep people from burning out, only relationship can. Cut the unnecessary plans, the schedules, and the agendas, and replace it with family time. Worship as a family, pray as a family, eat as a family, play as a family. Look for the teachable moments in the midst of making memories and invite the orphans and the widows to feast at your table. This is how you keep the next generation hungry for more. Their need to belong is insatiable. When you create a space for them to fit, they’ll flock together.

The Lord spoke to me again saying, “Make a standing invitation for Me and your house will be known as a house of encounters, a habitation of glory. A place where Heaven touches earth. Keep the conversation focused on Me, let the Holy Spirit lead you, and watch it lead you into the depths of My presence.”

I had this vision and conversation with the Lord during the feast of tabernacles (AKA “The Feast of Ingathering”) this year. During this Jewish feast, the people set up these small tabernacles or “Sukkot”. Each family will spend as much time as possible in these close quarters celebrating relationship and there is incredible emphasis on meals around the table. In fact, It is customary to invite friends to gather together each night of the week to celebrate the fruit of the harvest and give thanks to God for what He is doing, especially those who do not have a family of their own! I don’t think it a coincidence that God would speak this message to me at such a prophetic moment on the Hebrew calendar.

Psalm 68:6 says, “To the fatherless he is a father. To the widow he is a champion friend. To the lonely he makes them part of a family. To the prisoners he leads into prosperity until they sing for joy. This is our Holy God in his Holy Place! But for the rebels there is heartache and despair.” (TPT).

Do you see the significance? God is asking us to shift our focus from performances, ornate decorations, traditions and excess to come back to the simple gospel. The gospel that came out with power from the upper room because Christians dared to come together in one accord! This is a season to guard the family unit at all costs. We will beat the agenda of Satan to tear down the nuclear family by building a bigger, stronger family. I feel such a strong emphasis on the special moments that will happen around the family dinner table in this season. Begin seeking the Lord about making space at your table for the fatherless, the widows and the outcasts. These small gatherings will be an incredible outreach tool used to pull people to their place of belonging at the Table Jesus has prepared for them.

Statistics show that 60 years ago the average family dinner time was 90 minutes of each day, today it is closer to 12 minutes for those that actually eat together. Did you know that, “According to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, kids and teens who share family dinners three or more times per week:

* Are less likely to be overweight

* Are more likely to eat healthy food

* Perform better academically

* Are less likely to engage in risky behaviors (drugs, alcohol, sexual activity)

* Have better relationships with their parents?” (The Scramble).

The enemy is stealing family time in attempts to keep our children from feeling like they belong. He’s distracting us from family to keep us from the thing that will train our children up to be destroyers of darkness.

Growing up, each member of our family had a very specific seat at the dinner table. We knew that where was always a place for us. A place no one else could take. The same is true of your spot at the Table the Lord has prepared for His Bride. Don’t get so busy that you forsake the place of provision lest you find yourself weary from not being fed. Everything you need can be found at The Table!

It’s time to GATHER Again.

Hebrews 10:24-25

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (NIV).

Psalm 50:5

“Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice”

Matthew 12:30

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (ESV).