The Danger of Deep Sleep!

Jonah 1⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. (NIV)

When I read this I was immediately intrigued…I have been where Jonah is, as part of my process with God.  See we might look at Jonah and judge him.  We might look at the other sailors and say “why are they crying out to gods who can’t help?” All of these are valid perceptions, but we have to look with our spiritual eyes.  We don’t know Jonah’s story up to this point, we just know that God has told him to go and do something he REALLY does not want to do!  I have been there too.  We don’t know what Jonah’s has been through or where he is in his God process. He might be waiting on God to do something in His life.  He might be in a long season of wait, dealing with trials and tribulations.  I know that when I get spiritually weary, all I want to do is go to sleep and make it all go away.  I can imagine that is where Jonah was.  Make it go away.

I. Don’t. Want. To. Do. It. God.

At least the sailors were doing something.  They were at the crying out stage.  Jonah was just done.  When we are in that place we have to understand the danger of giving in to the deep sleep.  We can get stuck there.  It might look like depression.  We might wonder why we are so tired and can’t catch up on sleep.  Whatever the symptoms, the root cause is weariness in our spirit.  The only thing that will cure it is perseverance and obedience.

The Holy Spirit will empower us to move forward.  Get up.  Even if it is not pretty.  So I encourage you today if you are feeling that your trail has been too long, persevere and do whatever is next to do.  Even if you don’t think you have the strength, God will give you the strength if you wake up, get up and cry out to Him.  

It Has Been A While......

It has been way too long since I have posted, but I am still here! Big things are coming.  God is faithful if we wait on Him, we will see it.  I love the Lord so........

Burst, Torn Into Pieces & Spilled!

I don’t know about you, but when I have tried to do things before I was ready, or even before others were ready for it, it has felt like all my plans burst, my life was torn into pieces and all the ugliness of the situation spilled onto others around me.  See I was trying to do a new thing, push a new idea, or do something new and I was not new.  The bible says that God makes all things new.  The word makes is in the active tense.  It is the “act of making”.  Everything in your Spirit man is immediately made new when you truly accept Jesus in your heart.  But true conversion of ALL of your mind, will & emotions takes time.  Over time your mind & thinking becomes renewed, you learn how to keep your emotions in check, and you surrender your will to God’s will for your life.  This is an ongoing process that keeps your life growing, making things fresh and new from day to day. 

BUT, when we get ahead of God, when we become zealous for things that are not for this time, and when we are trying to prove something, we can potentially try to do a new thing with an old mindset, old intentions, and old willful emotions.  When our old tries to do the new, it can get messy.  The Word of God says it best this way:

Matthew 9¹⁷ Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. (AMP)

What God does in our lives, He wants to last and bear fruit.  He wants our blessing to be a blessing.  He wants how we have been comforted to allow us to comfort others.  He wants us to show that love He has shown us to others.  The Lord wants our freshness in His Spirit to be preserved so it can last…..so it can be spread. 

Wait on God to change you.  Wait on God to make you new.  Only He knows your process.  His work in you will be perfect and complete.  Messy lives can burst and spill onto others, and also tear hearts to pieces.   Don’t be messy, wait on God’s timing, it is always perfect.  His love will make all things new in your life at just the right time.  It might not feel like it, but it is what it is, you will see if you wait.

James 1⁴ But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. (AMP)

Philippians 1⁶ And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. (AMP)