Gettin’ Stuck

I found myself reading a former mentor of mine’s blog a couple of weeks ago, and I started to actually feel jealous of him and his “situation” I was reading about. He said, “Yesterday I discovered that I continue to be criticized and mocked for encouraging our church family to be open to God’s manifest presence and power. As I’ve thought about it, I believe the real offense is that God actually has shown up and revealed his love, truth and power in ways that are unfamiliar and even uncomfortable to some.” I was jealous because he was being mocked for encouraging his church to seek out those greater things of the Lord. I was jealous too, knowing that God is showing up in their midst in powerful ways.

I long for those greater moments and encounters with the Lord. Do you? I think most of want more of the Lord, more of His power and will in our lives. But there are things that keep us back…that keep us from being participants in the manifest presence and power of God. And I’m tired of hearing about others being the active participants in this and it not being our ministry, and our church. I desire the revealed love, truth, and power of God in ways that are new and life-changing. I believe that there are things that keep us from experiencing a life with God this way, and these things only ever allow us to hear about others experiences. We must recognize those things that keeping us back that we keep getting stuck in.

Psalms 1 says,

Psalm 1 is about a journey…a journey towards the manifest power and presence of the Lord. There are three things that keep us from experiencing His revealed love, truth and power in our lives…walking in the counsel of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of mockers. And these three things, its a progressive action. Walking, to standing, and then sitting. Makes sense right? We begin so mildly getting off track. The thrill of spending time with God in prayer and in the Word, it begins to dwindle. Our priorities get skewed as we listen to that wicked counsel, as we let the ways of the world influence us more then spending time with God. We go from walking with God, to walking with this world. There is still movement in our life, but our heart begins to be compromised in our journey. And once wickedness, the ways of the world, take root in our lives our journey, our walk slows down to stand.

Instead of standing in the revealed love, truth and power of God, we stand in the way of sinners. The fruit of our pursuit of God becomes rotten. We produce a life of selfishness, pride, and probably shame. Shame because we know where we once were, and where we are now. And that shame keeps us from turning away from the way of the sinners. It keeps us stuck, totally stuck. And this getting stuck business, it keeps us away from blessing and manifestation of God’s presence and love. While being bound to our shame, or our pride, or selfishness we let sin hold us captive as we come to a complete stop and sit with those sneering unbelievers of the world and mock the very power and influence of the Lord in our life.

God is all about redemption. Whether you are at the walking, standing our sitting stage…God desires to redeem you from this place, He charts out the road you take and you don’t have to be bound to your shame or the ways of this world. God believes in you and God desires to reveal His love, truth and power in your life. And not just for you, but for those around you. God wants to use your journey to influence others towards His redeeming love. The Lord is all about helping each of us get un-stuck.

Consume God’s Holy Word. Pray His Kingdom come, in your life, in mine, in this world. Look for ways to sacrifice and serve others. Give of your time and your money with any exception of anything in return. Look for ways to build into your life His love, His truth, and His power. Be proactive in your pursuit of the Lord, don’t wait for someone else to suddenly happen. If there is an aspect of your life that is “under construction” God is going to be faithful and equipping you to learn and grow during that time to reflect Him more and more. God has redeemed you to walk in His righteous ways and He is watching over you.