We covered a
lot yesterday during the declaration. If you need a re-cap you can read Stuck
on the Side of the Road Pt. 2 at dailyflicker.blogspot.com or the Declare
Victory page. Let’s pick up where I left
off.
“Dang”, I
thought to myself, “now it’s gonna get dirty.
I hope he doesn’t get grease, grime or grit on my car or the trunk
space”. Oddly enough he couldn’t find
the leak though it was obvious there was one.
It didn’t take very long to swap the tires out. As I stood watching him I began to pray again
and thank God for this free service as I searched my heart and mind for an
answer to this delay. Something didn’t
sit well with me, there has to be a purpose, but you are silent God. What’s going on? Did you allow this just so I could have
material for a blog? Oh, I knew this was
a blog in the making. I’m
always open to writing possibilities especially those that relate to my
personal journey and I’d rather talk about my stuff than have someone else put
be on loud speaker and tell my business.
God if all this drama was for a declaration, it’s cool, but wasn’t that
a little extreme? Or did you have me on
the side of the road long enough for the right motorists to see my
license plate, BUGGGOD, so they could be encouraged to remind you of your
promises to them? Give the Lord no rest until he
completes his work… Isaiah 62:7a (NLT)
Let’s put a pin
in this for now, but I promise I will come back to it.
My epiphany
during my wait by the side of the road is that we are all on a journey,
life’s journey, complete with twists, turns, potholes, debris, obstacles,
hills, valleys and exposure to all types of weather conditions. One day, week or month(s) could be bright and
sunny and out of nowhere a level 9 storm could hit your life with such force it
knocks you to your knees with the ultimate goal being to blow you completely off
course causing you to lose your bearings so that you are eternally lost. The sad truth is that it (the storm) absolutely
will if you’re not anchored in the word of God.
I’m not talking about the shallow folks afraid of or resistant to deep
water living who only want to hear feel good Love and Happiness messages and I
don’t mean the type that Al Green sings about.
You know the kind I’m talking about; the cute little warm and fuzzy
sermons, messages, Word, preaching, teaching, etc. that don’t challenge you to
grow, stunt your growth and/or that may lead to spiritual death. There is nothing sadder than a “Christian”
who has been in the “Way” for umpteen years and they have the spiritual
maturity of a “baby Saint” (someone who has been a believer less than a
year). Their capacity to digest the word
is still spiritual Enfamil perhaps with a little rice cereal but you gotta give
it to them hot or else it will turn their stomach. They can’t take the real meat of the word for
several reasons: 1) they are church
runners; 2) church hurt at a critical time during their journey and they
checked out physically, spiritually or both; 3) they want to live a raggedy (do
what feels right) life so they connect with an Enfamil ministry to avoid the
true word; or 4) they didn’t realize they were joining an Enfamil ministry but
it’s all they ever had and now if they hear the meat of the Word it chokes
them, they can’t swallow it so they resist it and allow Accusaci’on full reign
as they accuse others of spewing dogma or being to “churchy” whatever the heck
that is. I hear you, there she goes
again with self-righteous judgmental talk, yeah, you, I’m talking to you. The conversation in your head right now is: “This is the 21st Century, people
don’t want to hear all that “churchy” stuff with rules and regulations. It don’t take all that to be a Christian
today.” Dear Heart, let me assure you,
you can live as raggedy of a life as you want to, it’s your choice, but if you’re
gonna show up every morning at 6:00 am and spend an average of two full hours
on a phone call, clearly you want more.
Don’t sit up here on this call and let yourself or the enemy punk you
into believing that lie. It cost
something to be a badge wearing blood bought scarred up warrior in God’s
army. It ain't for punks who are afraid
to grow or too selfish to let go of stuff that’s killing you. You have been believers so long now that you ought to
be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic
things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid
food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how
to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through
training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Hebrews 5:12-14 (NLT) The reality is that people who have one foot on a banana peel and the
other one a wet bar of soap certainly don’t want to hear it because it makes
them uncomfortable, they have decided to live a “retawded” spiritual life
because it feels good. Look atcha
neighbor and say: Hon’Tee iz you "retawded" on purpose.
While we are on
our journey, some distractions are designed to keep us from staying the course
of our journey. What journey? The journey of life designed to lead us to
our Purpose. I know, I know, there’s
that word again and you’re sick of hearing about it because you don’t know what
your purpose is or you do and you’ve decided to ignore the tugging at your
heart; the whispers in the middle of night that wake you up; and the constant
reminders from conversations, movies, music, commercials, etc., sometimes even
the dog.
On this
Christian Journey we’ve become far more distracted today than ever before
because of all of the noise, devices, free access, apps, games, television,
social media, more television and lots more of social media, etc. They give the appearance that they are free
(except television because we pay to watch stupidity unless you steal yours
from your neighbor) however, they are not.
The true cost is more expensive than we realize, for example: your creativity;
obtaining a degree; filing your taxes; cleaning your house; writing: memoirs,
lyrics, poetry, manuscripts, theatrical productions, etc.; family time;
achieving your dreams and so on. Once we
lose that time to create, obtain or be present in the lives of loved ones, we
can’t recapture or make it up, it’s gone.
Some of the
distractions are self-inflicted, but there are those that are skillfully placed
in our path. Consider my recent
experience. I was distracted while driving
down Highway 80. Though I only looked
away from the road for a second or three that short amount of time made all the
difference in the world. If I hadn’t
looked up when I did, the results could have been far greater than a flat
tire. My favorite book warns us about
them traps and snares aka distractions:
·
Keep me from the traps they have
set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong. Psalm 141:9 (NLT)
·
Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to
kill me. Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me. All day long they plan their treachery. Psalm 38:12 (NLT)
·
The grave wrapped its ropes around
me; death laid a trap in my path. But in
my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him
reached his ears. Psalm 18:5-7 (NLT)
There is
another cost that many of us do not consider which is to be the living letters
(examples) for God the Father and Jesus, the Christ. How else will an illiterate world learn the
truth?
Clearly, you are a letter from
Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written
not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not
on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.
2 Corinthians 3:3 (NLT)
Most people
aren’t going to pick up a bible on their own and start reading the truth and
even if they did, they would probably have a hard time understanding it.
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and
so they meet the fate that was planned for them. But you are not like that, for you are a
chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of
the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once
you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received
God’s mercy.” Dear friends, I warn you
as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that
wage war against your very souls. Be
careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse
you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give
honor to God when he judges the world. 1
Peter 2:8b-12 (NLT)
In closing, I
want to moon walk back to something I said earlier about asking God for the
lesson in the distraction I had on February 3, 2015 while driving down Highway 80 W in Northern California. I knew emphatically that this was not a self-inflicted distraction, I also knew it wasn't one orchestrated by the enemy.
This was a purpose led distraction designed by my Daddy, I knew it.
Sure enough He answered
me loud and clear the very next day, but that’s another declaration and I’m out
of time.
Because of his
underserving Favor
Tania Not Tanya
No comments:
Post a Comment