Pastor Gloria shared how easily our foundations can crack if we don’t have a true personal relationship with the Lord. I was saved by the Holy Spirit nearly 16 years ago, but for most of those years have had an on-again-off-again relationship with the Lord. Because of this, my foundation was able to be rocked to the core a year ago and it almost completely fell apart. A year ago this coming week, on February 4, 2008, my older brother very unexpectedly died while on a business trip. Because I wasn’t faithful in my relationship with the Lord, the enemy was able to really attack me and I spent the next eleven months in a deep depression. I nearly allowed my foundation to be destroyed.
In our Wednesday Ladies Life Group, we had the assignment of summing up, in ONE WORD, what we want for ourselves in 2009. I got the assignment in the mail… At first thought, I was going to pick the word “organization.” Wow, do I want and need that in my life. I am so disorganized in so many areas in my life, so “disoriented” if you will. There, that was easy! I went through my mail at 5:45, and by 5:50 I had my "word" (and was ready to call Charlene with what I wanted to bring to the Mexican Pile-On.” God wasn’t ready for me to get hold of her, so I wasn’t able to reach her (He wanted to get hold of me first as He had more in store for my word).
Well, it really is amazing the difference a day makes. Little did I understand that God really does have so much more to offer and wants so much more from me. He has been preparing my heart for this “one word” lesson and for the word that HE wants for me in 2009. He started preparing me a month ago for this word lesson and for the healing He had in store for me.
At the women’s Christmas dinner (12/11/08), our theme was “Home for the Holidays.” Due to extenuating circumstances, I was going to be unable to spend the holidays at my parents' for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because of the fact of the very unexpected death of my older brother earlier in the year, I really 'needed' to go home for the holidays. Unfortunately, I couldn't. This was very painful for me and brought a whole bank of negative memories to the surface. Through this theme of “Home for the Holidays,” and the messages that were shared, I was reminded that my home is with Jesus. The healing began…
On Jan 4th, in the morning service, Doug Stringer said that “Those that seek Him will be blessed by Him.” He also gave three non-negotiable items in our relationship with Him: 1.) time in His Word; 2.) time in prayer; & 3.) the giving of our time, talent & resources. I thought to myself, “Gee, I’m not really living up to my end of the bargain in any of those areas.”
James 4:8 (AMP) “Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. “
- I have always remembered this verse as “Draw close unto God and He will draw close unto you.” But, wow, does the Amplified version speak volumes to me!
Later in the evening services, I received a healing of my grief and deep mourning through Paxton & Kari singing “Restoration.” They kept repeating the chorus over and over until it really had time to sink in and I got the message. In fact, I kept thinking that the chorus would never end and wished they would move on. I thought, someone must really need to hear this message and just isn't getting it! Then I realized that it was ME! I was finally able to allow God to reach me and to heal me, turning my mourning into dancing and my sadness into joy! He is so faithful.
Ron Campbell hit even closer to home with several points in his message… God is not going to pour His new wine into my old wineskin. When Pastor Campbell asked what kind of tree we are, he also asked about the fruit that we bear. I thought to myself, that for the past year I have been a cross between a weeping willow and a fruitless mulberry. Not a good combination! Praise God for healing the “weeping willow” in me…now, what to do about my fruitless mulberry? That would be up to me to repent for and do my part to correct.
On Jan 11th, Pastor Lonny preached directly to me. I was sorry if anyone else thought that he prepared his message for the congregation… it was specifically for me. It had to be! I finally opened my ears enough to hear! No more “when-thens” for me. My intentions MUST become my actions. I can no longer “snack” on Jesus. It is time for me to take my seat at His table and enjoy the entire banquet table that He has prepared for me. All I have to do to see change in my life is to quit waiting on it and take action, now! It certainly isn’t going to change on its own. My time for change is here!
This brought me back to my word study and the word that He wants for me. So, what word did He give to me on Jan. 11th? What word did He want for me in 2009? HUMIDITY! I know it sounds weird, but He wants my life to be full of humidity, completely humid for and in Him. I have been so dry, so lukewarm, for so long. His Word says, in
Revelation 3:16 (NIV), “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
- Other translations use the word “spew” or even “vomit.” I don’t what to be something that makes God so ill that He would vomit me from His mouth. I want to be Humid! Not a dry, parched heat…but a sopping wet heat, “humid!”
After service, Pastor left the alter open for anyone who needed someone to pray with them. I got a friend to watch my boys and headed up to speak with Pastor Gloria and get her to pray with me. I received firm confirmation that I was following His will when both my life-group leaders, Karen and Charlene, were also there to hear what He is beginning in me and they all three prayed with me.
After going up for a post-service alter call and claiming my word, I came home and studied my new word, “Humid” or “Humidity,” for three more days. First I studied by definition:
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. High humidity makes people feel hotter outside in the summer because it reduces the effectiveness of sweating to cool the body by preventing the evaporation of perspiration from the skin. This effect is calculated in a heat index table.
So, I translated this to mean that the more ‘humidity’ I have in the Lord, the less ‘evaporation’ of Him I will have in my life. If I don’t keep replenishing His Word and soaking up the ‘moisture’ of time with Him, I will dry up. I will live a dry life. I will be lukewarm. He will vomit to get rid of my presence.
Isaac Newton discovered that humid air is less dense than dry air.
- I know this is pretty simple an idea, but… If I have a very humid relationship with the Lord, I will be less dense! Ha, I don’t have to be an airhead any more. The way I now see it, only those who are ‘dense’ are content to have that ‘dry air’ relationship with Him. I am so ready to be on fire for Him, but not a dry fire, at hot moist fire that will never be quenched! I want my ‘heat index’ to be off the charts!
I finished my word study with the following scriptures and what He speaks to me through His Word:
Job 18:16 (NIV) “His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.”
- This spoke to me… I have been a weeping willow and a fruitless mulberry. My roots were dry and my branches were withering. This is because I wasn’t spending time with Him through His Word. I was praying all the time, but not spending quality time in prayer (I had quantity, but not quality). I was lack-luster in my service to His church.
Psalm 143:6 (NIV) “I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah”
- This was my next step… I thirst for the Lord and no longer want to be a “dry land.” I cry out to Him for more!
Psalm 105:41 (NIV) “He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert.”
- When I finally decided that I wasn’t happy being lukewarm or a dry heat, He opened the rock-shell around my heart and His waters gushed out. His Words are beginning to flow in my desert…no more dry land for me!
- This promises me that… As I continue to grow in Him by spending time in His Word, by spending time in prayer and expanding my servitude in His name, my desert will become humid with pools of water and my ground will no longer be parched and my life will be full of flowing springs!
It’s not just enough to go to church and “snack” on Jesus… I have to do the rest and enjoy the full feast by coming home and studying my sermon notes and taking it further. The Pastor gives me the appetizer and I have to feast on the rest of the meal. So now, I come home and study those notes that I take in church. I look up the scriptures and ask God what he wants me to get out of the message. I also re-listen to the sermon on Podcast (I love technology) and often hear things that I didn’t hear the first time. I am doing my part to not go back into that desert and to spend the time that I need with Him in order to stay humid!
One more thought: where do trees grow best? Where are they more fruitful? Where do they flourish, in a desert or in a rain forest? If I were to have stayed in my dessert of my self, I would have not only stayed a fruitless mulberry and a weeping willow, but I would have also become a cactus! Now that I am “stepping up” my walk with Him and aligning my walk with my talk, I wonder what tree I will grow into. I’ve always loved mimosa trees… with those pretty pink fuzzies and wow, do they scatter a lot of seeds! And of course, I want to continue to be a branch on His vine, producing a lot of fruit in His name!
Although an olive tree sure would be nice...
Psalm 52:8 (NIV) “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.”
Okay, Sheila, there you have it. Don’t let go of this new chance for change! Hold on and hold fast! And stay HUMID! Don’t allow yourself to go back into that dry, parched, desert land of your former self! From January 12, 2009 forward, I will no longer be disorganized, dissatisfied, disoriented, disobedient or in dismay (wait a minute…Pastor Gloria had a message about the “dis”’s a while back…guess He has been preparing my heart longer than I realized).
January 2009
It is amazing the little “WORDS” becoming “BIG” lessons that God is continuing to bring to me as I spend more time in His word, as I spend more time in prayer and relationship with him, and as I continue to expand the sharing of my time, talent & resources in service to Him. My “Weeping Fruitless Willow-berry Tree” has been replaced with a wonderful little sapling that has already sprouted a little bit of fruit and scattered some seed!
Did you know that there really is a Fruitless Weeping Mulberry Tree?
<<< Not a very pretty tree.
