Getting Off the Fence

 

There is a popular saying that runs the gamut of Christian circles every dozen or so years. It claims that we do not want to be “so spiritually minded that we are no earthly good”.

That is a lie from the pit of hell. Look at Noah...He preached for 120 years, and he and his sons spent much of that time building an ark big enough to protect anyone who wanted to be saved.

However, since it had never rained before this time, people scoffed at them as if they were so spiritually minded they were no earthly good.

Many wanted to get aboard the ark after it started raining, but it was too late. God already closed the door (Genesis 7:16). A shallow consent to accept Christ in times of trouble brings no real change to a life and requires no total surrender for the glory of God.

Many who claim the name of Christ are oblivious to the destruction they inflict upon the Kingdom of God by sitting on the fence and exhibiting carnal words and actions (Matthew 7:16-23).

Contrarily, authentic Christians can never be content with participating in ritualistic, religious motions. We seek relevance in every aspect of our life. Even our hobbies are Christ-honoring.

Our spirit and soul are grieved by anything that grieves Christ, because He dwells within us in all of His fullness. We refrain from participating in anything that is remotely sinful.

We exhibit the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), which is the result of the refining fire of His sanctifying process in our life. We belong to Christ and we no longer live in the fleshly, carnal, worldly realm of life (1 John 3:9).

Prayer:

Father God, draw us by Your Spirit until we get off the fence and make a sincere and complete commitment to You and Your Kingdom on this earth. We grow in Christ and we are no longer in love with our self or addicted to sin. We lay down our idols – anything, which we want more than You. We submit to the total control of Your Spirit.

We remove our self from the throne of our life and put You in Your rightful place. We get off the fence and wholly commit our life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We make a difference in Your Kingdom by following the leading of Your Spirit moment by moment. We fall more in love with Jesus with each passing day.

Thought for the Day:

As we serve our Lord, we show greater and greater enthusiasm as we allow His Spirit to lead us in service and obedience to Him.

Hearing from God

In my attempts to walk in the Spirit, God is using some unusual object lessons to teach me some valuable lessons. For instance, during a shopping trip, God impressed upon my spirit to check out the sales in the shoe department for pool shoes.

I already possessed a wondrous pair of Speedo pool shoes, so I spent the rest of my time in the store praising God for His abundant provision for me.

The next day, the very next day, my shoes were stolen at the pool. My Father God attempted to provide for me before I even realized my need. However, I chose to praise instead of to obey (1 Samuel 15:22).

The fine tuning of my spiritual ears made a giant leap that day (Matthew 11:15). I ended up ordering a cheap pair of pool shoes online; however, for the following week, I had to wear my shower shoes to the pool.

The flip flop construction of the shower shoes rubbed a bruise on the bones between the toes of both of my feet. Even after the new pool shoes came in the mail, those bruises were a painful reminder to not only listen, but also to obey the leading of God’s Spirit.

Another morning I woke up and the Spirit told me to go out and fertilize my garden plants. I anticipated doing this the next time it rained, but I did not want to go outside before I was even fully awake.

I listened to Mother Nature murmurings outside as I rolled out from under my covers, and realized that it was already pouring rain outside. I wanted to snuggle back under my covers and snooze a while longer.

Remembering my bruised toes, I immediately slipped on my house dress and pool shoes, grabbed the bag of flower fertilizer and went outside.

The rain instantly gentled to a slow drizzle while I spread the nutrients around my three flower gardens. As I washed my hands in the kitchen sink after the chore, I enjoyed the beauty of one of the gardens outside of my window.

I also noticed that the drizzle changed back to a pouring rain - God’s perfect timing. I am so glad that this time I obeyed His Spirit immediately, or I would have resembled a drowned rat if I waited until I fully woke up to obey.

God graciously gave me that perfect window of time to nurture my plants. I see a pattern developing. God rewards all of my efforts to obey, as I learn to walk in His Spirit each moment of my day.

Prayer:

Father God, You are not really interested in pool shoes and flower gardens, but You certainly do care about my obedience to Your Spirit. You have a perfect work for me to do with my life (Ephesians 2:10). As I walk in Your Spirit, I will see the fruit of Your labors through my body, soul and spirit (Galatians 2:20, 5:15-25).

Thank You for caring so much for each individual part of Your Body (1 Corinthians 12:12). We would never have enough time to give You the praise You deserve, if it was not for the fact that we will live for eternity and worship with the angels around Your throne.

Thought for the Day:

To obey the Lord is much more important than making sacrifices for His glory. - 1 Samuel 15:22