What Does The Spirit Say?

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Romans 8:14 (ISV), “For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.”

We hear a lot of voices throughout our day, in fact we even hear them while we sleep. There is good advice, bad advice, jokes, cliche’s, sayings, stories, sales ads, preaching, teaching, facts, fiction, doctors diagnosis, kind words, hateful words, and too many things to name here. It isn’t all bad, but it certainly isn’t all good. Whose voice should be listening to? Should we shut off everything that isn’t God’s voice to us? I hate to say it but that really isn’t possible. What is possible is which voice we believe!

I have learned when I hear something I am not sure about, or something that troubles me to ask myself this question, “What does the Spirit say?”

That voice that says I have to look like I am in my early twenties, wear a size four, and not have a wrinkle to be beautiful may be insistent, but is it what the Spirit says? That voice that says I need a few tattoos, some piercing in weird places, and wear a lot of leather to be beautiful may be the current fad, but what does the Spirit say. That voice that says I need Botox, a tummy tuck, and a boob job is socially acceptable, but is that the voice of the Spirit?

Ok, I think you get the picture. I can go on about those words like, “You have cancer,” “I never loved you,” “You just aren’t working out like we’d hoped,” and more, but those are pretty obviously not what the Spirit says. But what about that little voice that says, “I don’t know how I am going to pay the bills this month,” you know that one that sounds just like you. Or the same voice that says, “They helped sister so and so when she was sick, but no one even asked if I needed anything.”

It is so easy to allow those little foxes to spoil the vine. Those seemingly harmless voices, that sometimes are our own flesh talking, to take root. Anything that is contrary to God’s word isn’t Him. Anything that is less than how God sees us isn’t the Spirit talking. He may correct us when needed, but He will never be-little us, spew venom, accuse another, feed jealousy or bitterness, or make us think less of ourselves or another. He will help us to see what God thinks about us and any situation we can face.

Romans 8:6 (NLT), “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

John 14:17 (NLT), “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

The battle takes place mostly in our minds. Which voice are you listening to? Which voice are you entertaining? Which voice are you telling to shut up?

The Spirit of God speaks to us all the time. Are we hearing Him? Are we open to what He has to say and can we even recognize His voice? Start by searching out the scriptures and see what God has to say about you.

And hear is a few things that explicitly say, “Hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.” That’s me and you.

Revelations 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28 3:5, 12, 21 “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

My Greatest Performance

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Ephesians 2:7-10 (Message Bible), “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”

Once we give ourselves over to Jesus, really and truly become His bond slave (a slave by choice and not by force- a love slave), we then our faced with a choice of how we are going to walk out this new life. We can continue to live by our flesh or we can live by our spirits. We each are three part beings, just like God. As he is Father/Son/Holy Spirit, we too have three parts to us. Though all of Him, the whole Godhead is Holy and there is no corruption found in Him, we still have to deal with some stuff. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in this body. Our soul is the mediator between our flesh and our spirit. At salvation, God puts a new spirit in us. Our flesh however is still the same old hunk of … lust and appetites and evil and selfishness and all of the other things listed in Galatians five.

The problem is that if we continue to allow our flesh to reign, we are in for a constant struggle.

Maybe you just took a look at Galatians and are thinking, “that’s not me,” but if you are trying to walk this walk with God in your own strength, that’s the flesh. Flesh always thinks it’s about us. Our performance, our good deeds, our strength, our righteousness. This was the Pharisees’ insisting they wanted to follow the law and not take the offered Sacrifice of Jesus Christ as their atonement. This is the person who said a prayer to follow Jesus and then pushed Him out of the way and took the lead. This is that one who refuses to humble themselves and repent and ask God for help. The Sunday pew sitter who hears a good message and thinks it’s for someone else.

Living by the Spirit is just the opposite. It’s real life, not just getting by. Its freedom from the law and the whole performance based religion. Letting His Spirit lead our spirit takes all the pressure off of us. It isn’t about us anymore at all, it’s all about Him. His ability, His love, His forgiveness, His will, His performance. We can’t do the performance thing perfectly. He already did. Perfectly. Our greatest performance is nothing buy garbage.

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV), “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Shakespeare said, All the world’s a stage , And all the men and women merely players.”He was pretty much right. The thing we have to get into us is that we don’t have the lead part. Ever. God chose the cast, He set the stage, He wrote the play, He chose Himself as the lead. Which makes perfect sense don’t you think?

So what’s my greatest performance? It’s letting Him take the lead.

Am I Teachable?

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Philippians 2:2-4 (NASB), “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Our Senior Pastor, Dr. William Hohman, teaches about humility quite often. One of the things he often says is that “humility means you are teachable”. A humble person admits that he or she doesn’t know everything and is open to sound teaching. Many times over the years as an employee, a manager, a parent, and a teacher, someone would know of an easier way to do something that still got the right results. Most were thrilled to learn and to save time or energy, I know I was. Some insisted their way was best, too proud to admit that there might be an easier way and continued to do things their own way. It works both ways as well. There were times that the so called “easy way” ended up with more work in the long run, or didn’t get the right results, but stubbornly, those who knew the short cut wouldn’t admit the fault in their efforts.

Our Father knows a better way, for everything. His way may not always look too easy, or it may look way too easy to believe in any results, but it is always better. I wish I had a dollar for every time I gritted my teach and dug in my heals, and insisted on doing things my way, only to have it come back to bite me in the rear parts!

I have always loved to learn. Pretty much anything. I loved the new books, pencils, classroom, assignments, and even test day. Loving to learn doesn’t make me humble or teachable. Admitting that the teacher or professor is trying to teach me a better way does. Opening my heart to the Father, allowing myself to be led by His Spirit and not thinking too highly of myself makes me humble. The Holy Spirit can teach me all things when I am humble. He, or anyone else, can’t teach me anything if I already think I know everything.

Humility isn’t a lack of confidence. It isn’t low self-esteem.

Ken Blanchard, in his book “Lead Like Jesus” says: “Humility is realizing and emphasizing the importance of others. It is not putting yourself down: it is lifting others up. Humility gives credit to forces other than your own knowledge or effort when a victory is won or an obstacle is overcome…Jesus’ humility didn’t come from lack of self –esteem, love, power, or ability. His humility came from the fact that He knew who He was, where He came from, where He was going, and whose He was.”

With that confidence in who we are, where we are going, and Whose we are, we can’t help but be humbled.

James 3:13-16 (Message Bible), “Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.”

Less of Me

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John 3:30 (NIV), “He must become greater; I must become less.”

We pray, “I just want more of You,” and we sing songs that say, “More of you Jesus.” Why do we do that? It sounds so spiritual and maybe it makes us feel like we are really trying. Possibly we mean we want to experience more of Him in our lives, or most likely we just don’t understand that He already gave ALL of Himself to us. He has already given us everything. How much more could He give?

Romans 8:32 (NIV), “ He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Emphasis mine)

How much is all? Does all include all of Jesus? All of God? All of Heaven? You bet it does. Let’s look at this parable that Jesus told us.

Matthew 13:45-46 (DRB), “Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

Who is the merchant? God is. Who is the pearl (one pearl) of great value or great price? I am, ok, you are. We are, but still it says “one” so He did it for each one of us individually. This is important because the Liar will try to tell you that “lots of people would sacrifice their lives in exchange for dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people. Nothing personal for you in Christ’s death.” But, get this, He died for you. Just you. Me, just me. If anyone of us would have been the only one, He still would have willingly given His life in exchange for us. He paid the ultimate price, Matthew says he “sold ALL He had” to purchase us. How much is all?

So we can’t get more of Him. There is nothing more to give, He already did. We can’t get more of His love, presence, grace, mercy, or any other gift you want to name here. He gave it all! On the cross, before time began, before Adam was created, before you were born, He gave it all. Out of time, outside of our Calendar, not just 2000 years ago. He paid it all.

So what do we really mean when we say “More of you?” We should be saying what John the Baptist said, and I am trying to practice what I preach, “Less of me.” We can’t get more of His presence, but we can spend more time in it. We can’t get more of His love, but we can accept more, allow more of it to rule and reign in our hearts. We can’t get more forgiveness, but we repent more often and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts. We can experience more of Him by putting Him first in our lives and putting ourselves second. Less of our wants, less of our plans, less of our whining and complaining, less of our stubbornness, and less of our self-righteousness. We can experience the “Fullness of God.” It isn’t impossible. How does that happen?

Ephesians 3:19 (AMP), “and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].”

When we practically, through personal experience, know, really know, His love. This knowing is not head knowledge. It is the difference between recognizing the love of your life as someone you read about or heard about, and becoming one flesh with them. Knowing. Intimate. When we know that, then, we get the richest experience of God’s presence in our lives. “Completely filled and flooded with God Himself”. I love that. I want that.

Don’t you?

What is your prayer?

“Less of me.” Amen.

Rest

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Matthew 11:28-29 (NLT), “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

My spirit is confident in the finished work of Jesus. Yet, I still find myself feeling overwhelmed at times. Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like a hamster on a exercise wheel going round and round and not getting anywhere? Or maybe you thought you had finished your “to do” list only to find a million other things that need to be added? Maybe you are burdened with a big mortgage and not sure how you can make the payments. Sometimes it feel like you are a beast of burden that has an iron yoke around your neck. Possibly you are weary of work, any work, all work, work, work, work…

There is rest.

We aren’t under the Law any more, but there still remains a “Sabbath” rest for God’s people. The good news is that it isn’t a one day a week rest, it’s a full time, all the time rest.

Hebrews 4:9-11 (AMP), “ So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness].”

More good news, the work that we do is to enter into His rest.

What? I know it doesn’t make sense, but seriously a lot of what God asks us or tells us to do doesn’t. Work to rest? A paradox. Just like a Lion is a Lamb, the Sinless One became sin, God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How about this one, we surrender to get victory. We give up to get it all. I could keep going but you get the picture. Our minds are limited to our five senses. What we can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. Our body is bound by time, and laws of nature. That’s why we can’t use our minds to figure God out. We walk in and by Faith.

When we understand, a heart understanding, who God is, who we are, and what our place is in His plans, we can be confident that no matter how bad things look, how bad we mess up, how many bad choices we make, His plan doesn’t change. It takes off all of the pressure. We do go to work. We apply ourselves at our jobs, but they aren’t our source, God is, heaven is. It’s not us that has to change the world. We just do what God says, and He changes hearts. The pressure isn’t on our great witnessing, or lack of it. It all hinges on just getting in a right relationship with the Father and letting Him use us however He sees fit.

Just like peace isn’t the absence of war, rest isn’t the absence of work!

Both are conditions of the heart.

We can be at peace and rest in confidence that He loves us.

So, on those days that I feel harassed or overworked it’s because I forgot the most important “work”, fellowship with Him. Not lip service, not fast-food ordering up blessings, not praying for my four and no more, but taking time to share and to listen.

Honestly, starting your day with acknowledging Him as Lord and master, telling Him how much you love Him, and allowing Him to reciprocate, will make your day go so much smoother. Not perfect or stress free, just 99.9 percent better.

Try it.

Rest… In Daddy’s arms.

Stony Heart?

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Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV), “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV), “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”

Everyone born on this planet is born with a heart defect. It’s called a “hard heart”. It might not totally manifest until our pre-teens, but it is there nonetheless. A hard heart makes us selfish, calloused, and stubborn. It causes us to be stiff necked and self righteous. Praise God when we surrender those hearts, freely giving them to Jesus, He gives us a brand new one.

Unfortunately we still live in this fallen world and our human nature keeps trying to resurrect itself and exert itself over our new nature. When that happens we begin to ignore the Holy Spirit and tune Him out. This causes our hearts to begin to solidify again. Our new pliable, teachable hearts may be a gift from God, but we have to work at keeping our hearts soft. Or maybe our hearts aren’t exactly hard, but we try to divide them between God and something or someone else. David had that issue and he ended up sinning against God by committing adultery with a married woman. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, he repents and prays this prayer, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NASB)

Usually we don’t notice the hardening of our hearts until they are rock hard. But, it’s never too late with our Father!

Jeremiah 23:29 (NLT), ““Does not My word burn like fire?” says the Lord. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?””

God’s word softens our hearts. Isn’t that what Jesus did? He softened the hearts of the people toward God. John says that Jesus was the Word and that He became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus, the living Word brought hope to everyone who had these heart issues.

David said that he hid God’s word in his heart. Why?

Psalm 119:11 (KJB), “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

It’s not some hocus-pocus magic. It’s so much simpler than that. When we know God’s word, when we truly make ourselves a student of His word, we begin to see God as our Father, the way Jesus portrayed Him. We know, without a shadow of doubt, that He loves us lavishly and scandalously. Even more amazing, we find out who we really are. We begin to see ourselves and others through the eyes of God, through the eyes of Love. A whole paradigm shift takes place then. Suddenly we aren’t doing those sinful things anymore. Sin has no more pull on our heartstrings. Our hearts stay pliable. When that happens, we don’t miss what the Holy Spirit is speaking into our hearts near as often, and we don’t see serving God as an obligation but as a privilege, a joy!

How do I know if my heart is hard? Are you easily irritated? Are you judgmental of yourself and others? Is reading your bible a chore, is almost anything else more attractive than going to church? Do you find your mind wandering during the services you do attend? Have you stopped tithing or giving to missions? Are you feeling numb to anything spiritual, dry as a mouth full of crackers?

Don’t despair. It’s only ever one step back to God.

Joel 2:12-13 (NASB), “”Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness And relenting of evil.”

Father, give me an undivided heart. I choose to allow Your word to be engrafted into my heart, to let it light my path and illuminate Your feelings for me. My heart belongs to You, the Lover of my soul. Only You are trustworthy enough to give it to.

Sleeping Beauty

 

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(Sleeping Beauty, Thomas Spence)

Ephesians 5:14 (NIV), “This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

In 2003 I read a book titled, “Access Granted” by Joshua Fowler. For me this was the beginning of changing the way I thought about Christianity. Now it was only a beginning and a very small one at that, but the bible tells us not to despise small beginnings. Since that time I have gone through some stuff that challenged my new beliefs, However, God is so good that no matter what came my way, no matter what I read, or what I heard from the pulpit, He was confirming a whole paradigm shift. This continued to change the way I saw God, how I saw myself and how my life as His daughter ought to be, and it is changing the way I see others and the world. Now, thirteen years later, the Holy Spirit continues to bring me deeper in this revelation of who I am in Christ.

Recently, as a congregation, we have been covering “Who We Are In Christ,” “Our Rights and Responsibilities as Sons of God,” and “Discipleship.” Our Senior Pastor, Dr. William Hohman has written several small books on some of these revelations. Then a few weeks ago, I had a pastor, Mel Wild, ask me to review his book, “Sonshift”. I follow his blog on the internet and I knew that he was experiencing this new wave of God, so I agreed. Through this book, I have an even greater understanding of what our life should look like as Christians.

I am thrilled that God is moving in His Church. He always does and His timing is perfect. This is the generation that will change the world. This is the generation that will bring Heaven to earth.

Here is a quote from the preface of “Access Granted”: “I am encountering people who are hungry for more of God and His blessings…They are determined to press beyond the norm into the supernatural character, power, and order of God. And they are willing to step over the Jordan and pay the price for their promised land…I am concerned because I am also encountering those who think they know it all they’ve been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. Instead of using their wisdom and experience as a platform for new revelation and exploits, they are stuck in a rut. They don’t realize that they are old wineskins… Why should you allow God to shake up your world, change your thinking, and lead you into your promised land? Because He wants you to obtain your inheritance in theis earth, so you can carry His name to a lost and dying wolrd. Your harvest is ripe!…It is time for you to open your heart to the new wine and reap your harvest. My prophetic word to you in this hour, “Become anew wineskin for the Lord.”

Joshua Fowler is referencing the parable in Luke 5:36-38. Let’s take a look at that.

(NASB), “And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

God is doing something NEW. Maybe not new to Him, but it is certainly new to us. Sure there may be a few who got this years ago. God always has a remnant, those who just seem to be able to surrender to His love in such a way that they get revelation on seemingly a daily basis. Good for them! Now it’s our turn, Amen. We can’t keep being the old us, doing the same old thing, and thinking in the same old way. That’s the old wineskin. That is brittle, inflexible, and other than holding the old wine, it is useless. But I want new wine, how about you? There needs to be a shifting. My friend Mel calls it a “Sonshift”.

Malachi 4:5-6 (HCSB), Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Luke 1:17 (NIV), “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

This scripture was about John the Baptist, but it is being fulfilled in a greater way to us right now. The time is ripe.

“I believe we are seeing today a unique day in the body of Christ. I believe we’re living in a day unprecedented since the days of the apostles. We’re living in a day where God is revealing Himself to us as Father. And because the Father is love, His love is becoming available to us like it hasn’t been for 2,000 years. And as that love is coming, it’s turning our Bibles upside down, inside-out, back to front. It is turning our Christianity, up upside down, inside-out, back to front. It is, for the first time, putting us in the place where we can enjoy our life more than sinners.” –James Jordan, Fatherheart Ministries

This is the generation.

The Spirit said, ‘I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity on earth in one generation.’”- Mike Bickle, Founder of International House of Prayer

In “Sonshift,” Mel Wild uses the parable of the Prodigal Son, to show us that it wasn’t just about one son, it was about two sons who both were a type of “orphans by choice”. Their father wanted the best for them, one rebelled and wanted to do things his own way, while the other had a slave mentality and was working away with an attitude, just waiting for his dad to die so he could get his inheritance. How many of us, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior still live as if we were orphans? Mel calls those “spiritual orphans.”

Here is an excerpt from the book: “The truth is, Jesus came into our orphaned world and introduced His Father to us in order to show us how to live in His Father’s house. He did this so we could be reunited with Him, right now and forever, no longer orphans but sons and daughters. He told us He would do this by sending the Holy Spirit so that we could live just like He did when He walked the earth- abiding in our Father’s house and “proving” to this orphan world that our Papa’s purpose for them is good and acceptable and perfect. Beloved of God, this world has no mental grid for the Father’s love, and the only way they’re going to know it is to see it through our lives.”

Jesus came to show us the Father. Up until this point people just didn’t understand who He really was. He had been relating to them in a way that they could understand, as a parent to a toddler. You can’t really reason with them, you just have to set some boundaries and then enforce them. Praise God for Jesus’ shed blood. For now God can relate to us as mature sons and daughters. We can see His true identity and purpose as well as our own.

Why is this so important? Well, first off wouldn’t you like all those promises of God, that are supposed to be “yes and amen” evident in your life? Me too! And secondly, we want the orphans of this world to find their true Father, the one who loves them more than they can understand, but who long for him anyway. They might not even understand what is missing from their lives, but when they see it they will know it. It’s just like us when we have a food craving. Frequently I don’t even know what I want, so I go to the fridge and take a look. When my eyes light on that one thing, I know it. If it is a true craving and not just “feeding my emotions”, after partaking I can say, “That hit the spot.” What I mean is it satisfied that craving, that empty spot was filled. That’s the way it will be with the world. On the other hand if I go to the fridge and it is empty… I am going to go look somewhere else. Our fridge needs to be full.

Let’s allow God to change us! Only God can really change us from the inside out, true, but we have to allow it. He never forces us, ever. Let the Potter mold His clay. The outcome will be such a beautiful vessel, such a blessed life, that others will want the same. The harvest is ripe, time is quickly running short. Now is the time. No more delay, no more excuses, and no more procrastination. God’s work is finished, now it is our turn.

We are the true “Sleeping Beauty” but God’s word to us today is “Awake, awake, oh sleeper!”

Isaiah 60:1 (KJB), “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee!”