Wrinkled

I was ironing my shirt on Sunday morning and at that moment I remembered something I have done a lot over the years. When I wore a suit coat and was in a rush or even just wanting to be lazy, I would only iron the front part of the dress shirt because that was all people would see, leaving the back part wrinkled. My reasoning was that no one would see the back portion because I would have my suit coat covering it and I would just leave the coat on to hide what I basically did not do (iron the whole shirt). There are times that the suit coat would get hot because of the element that I was in and I would want to take off that suit coat but because I was trying to hide an unfinished job (a shirt that was not fully ironed) I basically forced myself to suffer an inconvenience that I wouldn’t have had too. My shame/embarrassment in showing my inadequate decision/work kept me bound to hiding it thereby taking away my freedom.

I didn’t iron my shirt completely because I chose to wait until the last minute to prepare it. I at times knew what shirt I was going to wear but instead of preparing it the night before, I waited until I was literally running late to try to make provisions. My indecisiveness the day before led to my inadequate decision later. The Holy Spirit convicted me and showed me that we as Christians don’t plan ahead or prepare. Proverbs 24:27 says to “prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.” I didn’t prepare my work (getting things ready early/making provisions) and make it fit (suitable) for me to complete and be on time instead of rushing last minute. I was building a figurative house of slothfulness on the foundation of procrastination! How many of us being honest with ourselves are like that? Doing just enough to get by but not doing to the fullness. Not presenting ourselves the way that God calls for us to. We hide our spiritual wrinkles behind our gifts, our worship, our ministry; etc. We don’t prepare ourselves to be used by God daily, knowing that there is work for us to do daily. We wait until the last minute to try and present our walk and relationship with Christ but are bound by the shame/embarrassment of our inadequate decisions that we can’t move freely and exposed in Jesus! In the parable of the “watching servant,” In Luke 12:47, the servant was beaten with many stripes because he knew  his lord’s will but did not prepare himself or do according to the will of his lord. That is for us as Christians to see the need for preparation. We have to always be prepared! Luke 12:36 says “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” People that are prepared can open immediately, and those who aren’t will hesitate.

Wrinkles are shrivels. Who wants to be a shriveled Christian? The Hebrew word quamat (kaw-mat) means to pluck, i.e. destroy;--cut down, fill with wrinkles. Wrinkles destroy the presentation of your attire. It cuts down your presentation/representation of Jesus to the world. We have to stop giving wrinkled praise, wrinkled offerings, wrinkled attitudes, wrinkled love; etc. Instead of hiding it, iron it out!  Ephesians 5:27 “that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

ACCEPTABLE/UNACCEPTABLE

I tried to give plasma in Nov 2014 and was told that at that time I was not an acceptable candidate, because I was not hydrated enough to give (they couldn’t find my veins). I went back to give again Feb 2015 making sure that I was thoroughly hydrated only to again be told I was an unacceptable candidate. Although I was hydrated, there was too much muscle blocking the way to the veins. The ones found were too small to use and muscle was blocking what they were looking for. I was saddened because I couldn’t understand how even in following the steps given that I still couldn’t give.

When walking out our faith we sometimes try to give life (The Word) but are found unacceptable because we are not hydrated (The Holy Spirit). Other times we are hydrated but muscle (us) is blocking the prime place for giving. The small veins are not big enough to give what is needed. It is good to want to give but not all giving will be accepted. Stay hydrated with the Holy Spirit, so life/vein (The Word) can be found in you and don’t allow you/your strength (muscle) to block the place needed for the greatest giving. Just as I was not an acceptable candidate to help someone, we were not acceptable to save ourselves, thus Jesus had to give a blood donation on our behalf. We needed His transfusion power! Life is in the blood and plasma is the life of the blood. Our blood is tainted with sin therefore our plasma is not acceptable to save anyone spiritually. In John 6:54 Jesus stated “whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” In The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary a Greek word for eat is metalambano (met-al-am-ban’-o) which means to participate; accept. .” In The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary a Hebrew word for drink is shathah (shaw-thaw) which means imbibe. Imbibe means to consume, absorb; take in the mind. In that scripture Jesus is saying whoever participates or accepts his substance (flesh) and consumes/absorbs/takes in the mind His blood, will live forever and will be resurrected.

I wasn’t able to give plasma to help save anybody’s life and without the power of Jesus; those who give wouldn’t be able to help either. I am thankful that Christ plasma giving was acceptable and that he was willing to give it. I may never be able to follow in Christ footsteps physically by giving plasma, but I can spiritually by sharing His plasma donation with others….

Steak/Stake

 

I am a person that likes to have a good steak every now and then and when I do, it has to be a certain way for me to enjoy it. Everyone has their own way they like their steaks prepared whether it is rare, medium rare, medium well, or well done. A steak that is rare has not gone through the fire. A steak medium rare has gone through enough only to change the outside. A steak medium well has gone through the fire enough to change the outside and some of the inside but not to completeness. A well done steak is fully seasoned and complete. Many say they prefer medium rare to medium well because the meat stays tender and juicy, or because they like that it cuts like butter.

I believe that if Jesus were choosing a steak, He would bypass the rare because it hasn’t changed. He’d bypass the medium rare because the outside is only changed. He’d bypass the medium well because the outside is changed and seasoned, with most of the juiciness coming from retaining juice/dead blood, and also because it wasn’t complete. That leaves His last choice, well done. He’d choose well done because it is seasoned and cooked thoroughly to completeness. It still has tenderness only retaining juices that should be there.

We as Christians can’t expect to call ourselves that without change. A rare Christian feels that they are just fine and that they don’t need to go through the fire to be changed. They follow their way instead of Jesus. The medium rare Christian has gone through some but is only showing the marinated outside while the inside is still the same. The medium well Christian has been changed on the outside and some of the inside, but they won’t stay in the fire long enough to be complete (they hold on to what they should let go). The well done Christian is what God is looking for. We are made just right by allowing him to season and “cook” us (go through the fire) to His perfection in our lives. We should offer up a sweet smell or savor unto God 2 Cor 2:15.

Which method of preparation would you “stake” your life on when you stand before God in the end? He already told us His choice. “Well done thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matt 25:21

Stale Water

I had this glass of water that I poured to drink before starting my fast. I put it on the table and for whatever reason, I ended up forgetting about it until that following day when I began my fast. I noticed that the glass was half full and I felt a way because I hadn’t finished it in time. Normally I would have poured it out because it would have a stale taste from sitting out, yet I kept it there because I felt an unction from the Holy Spirit to leave it sitting there. I would glance at the cup every time I came into the kitchen area.

That water represented a refreshing, it represented the Holy Spirit and although my intent was initially to drink that glass of water, I forgot about it and it became stale. It became a dead monument and failure. Wanting a spiritual refreshing and wanting the Holy Spirit is good. That cup that the water was poured into also represented me/us as vessels for the pouring into, but it was never meant to stay there. It was meant to be poured out for consumption. Heir of the most High God, are you looking for a refreshing from the Holy Spirit, but forgetting to actually consume it? Are you the vessel that is being poured into but not pouring out for consumption?

Lastly a vessel is made to hold something so that it can be consumed. That glass was only meant to hold the water long enough for me to drink it. When it isn’t consumed in a certain amount of time, it is made stale and basically dead. If you leave something out in a vessel to long and don’t preserve it what happens? Mold, fungus and other bacteria is what happens! Not only is what was put in the vessel changed but so is the vessel as well. They both become stale, stagnate moldy death. Every time I came into the kitchen area and looked at the glass, I was staring at a monument of death. Do you see that with your churches, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? What about in you? The Holy Spirit continued to open my eyes showing me more revelation. My walking past the glass of stale water glancing and doing nothing about it showed contentment in the stagnation. Are we staring at monuments of death on Wednesday bible study and Sunday service? Have we become the living dead? Are we now serving in million dollar caskets aka church buildings? We are having funeral service every time we come to the house if the Holy Spirit isn’t there! The water stayed there for those 3 days that I fasted and this revelation wasn’t made alive to me, until the third and final day of my fasting. Does that sound familiar anyone? There is just no way that we can get passed Jesus redemptive work! In my closing ask yourself, are you stale?

Satisfied

To

Always

Look

Exempt