January 2019 – Obstruction<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hello folks,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was walking with a friend not too long ago and he said\nsomething like, \u201cI\u2019ve found that when I get out of the way, that\u2019s when God shows up<\/strong>.\u201d How is that possible? I cannot imagine my\nsmall being impeding the progress of God\u2019s immense existence. But amazingly, I\nnotice that it does happen, and often. \nMy thoughts, actions, and attitude are able to inhibit God from moving<\/strong> \u2013 flowing \u2013 in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the scriptures, there are images and examples of good\nthings flowing from God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A river of the water of life flows in Revelation 22:1 and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He\nwho believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow\nrivers of living water.'” (John 7:38)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s children living in unity is like the precious flow of\nanointing oil (Psm133)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about precious flow\u2026 Blood and water flowed from\nMessiah in John 19:34<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have imagined for years that God\u2019s spirit that He gives me\nis my connection to Him \u2013 like an internet connection. Remember dial-up? The first time I had a computer with an\ninternet connection was an amazing experience \u2013 after configuring the modem and\ngetting an Earthlink account, I dialed a number and listened to the sounds of\nmy PC negotiating a communication channel with the world wide web. Oh, the\nlimitless possibilities! But, I have\nlong since upgraded my connection to \u201chigh speed broadband.\u201d From DSL, to cable,\nand now fiber optic, the connection keeps getting better and faster. This is the continuous improvement that I\nseek with my connection to God through His spirit. And, while things like viruses, malware,\ncompeting downloads, and other bandwidth hogs can adversely affect my internet\nconnection, there are things that\nobstruct God\u2019s flow in my life<\/strong>. No surprise there, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n My heart is the valve that controls the flow of His love and\nspirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nwhoever has the world’s goods, and sees\nhis brother in need and closes his heart against him<\/strong>, how does the love of\nGod abide in him? (1 John 3:17)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch\nover your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.\n(Proverbs 4:23)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So according to these scriptures in 1John3 and Proverbs4, we\nneed to open and protect our hearts. We need to be cautiously vulnerable<\/strong>, open our hearts to God and His way, but not\nlet anything in that that would pollute the pristine springs of life. Whatever\nit is that we cherish, we store in our heart. My heart is the center of me, my\nmost intimate part, and only what is extremely valuable, desirable, and TRUSTED<\/strong> should dwell there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Do\nnot store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy,\nand where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in\nheaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in\nor steal; for where your treasure is,\nthere your heart will be<\/strong> also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so\nthen if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if\nyour eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light\nthat is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve\ntwo masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be\ndevoted to one and despise the other. You\ncannot serve God and wealth<\/strong>. (Matthew 6:19-24)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Set\nyour mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians\n3:2) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you read Ezekiel 14:1-11, you will get a flavor of God\u2019s\npromise to us for not purging our hearts of idols \u2013 or at least trying to,\nwanting to. We are weak in the flesh,\nbut I believe that what is in my heart\nis more important and more powerful than what is in my flesh<\/strong>. God is perfectly forgiving of my flesh when\nit stumbles over obstacles \u2013 but, for that to happen, I, in my heart, need to\ndesire purity and perfection, I need to be truly repentant, I need to have a circumcised heart<\/strong> when\nI ask Him to forgive me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Son\nof man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right\nbefore their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted\nby them at all? (Ezekiel 14:3)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How do I act, specifically? \nWhat do I do in my everyday life to ensure that I am being \u201ccautiously\nvulnerable?\u201d How do I identify idols in\nmy life<\/strong> and how do I prevent them from entering (or evict them from) my\nheart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore\nconsider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity,\npassion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My idolatry acts as an obstruction, and God\u2019s flow is slowed\nor stopped. If God\u2019s presence in my life, His love, His spirit, require a\nchannel to flow through, then my\nidolatry and disobedience will act as a kink in the hose<\/strong>, corrosion in the\npipe, a restriction, a blockage in the artery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are instructed and warned to not put an obstruction, or\nstumbling block, in the path of a believer. This is with respect to judging\nothers. But, what about judging ourselves<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this\u2014not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. (Romans 14:13)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A circumcised, broken, and contrite heart are needed for us\nto be vulnerable to God\u2019s influence, and for self-examination. A soft heart allows us to be honest with\nourselves<\/strong> and identify things that should not be dwelling in there. We need\nto judge ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sacrifices of God are a broken\nspirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. <\/em>(Psalms 51:17)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Messiah says that simply setting one\u2019s mind on the things of man instead of the things of God create an obstruction to the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nHe turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling\nblock to Me; for you are not setting\nyour mind on God’s interests<\/strong>, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:23)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Set\nyour mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians\n3:2) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing<\/strong>; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:15-18)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t send up gallon jugs of prayers, let your prayers flow like\na river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peace to you and Glory to God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Nate<\/p>\n\n\n\n www.paraklesis.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 2019 – Obstruction Hello folks, I was walking with a friend not too long ago and he said something like, \u201cI\u2019ve found that when I get out of the way, that\u2019s when God shows up.\u201d How is that possible? I cannot imagine my small being impeding the progress of God\u2019s immense existence. But amazingly, … Continue reading “Obstruction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paraklesis.net\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}