DEATH OF A VISION

Have you ever had a dream or a vision  and wonder why it is taking the Lord so long to answer it ? You thought it was a good idea,but the Lord is silent and time is passing by.

The story of Moses is where I first learned about the death of a vision. We are told that Moses was a meek and humble man. He trusted in and obeyed the Lord's commandments. However, Moses wasn't always humble, Earlier in his life, when he saw an Egyptian abusing a fellow Hebrew,  his temper rose and Moses became a murderer. He killed an Egyptian.

His intentions were admirable.  He thought he was helping God stop the Egyptians from flogging his Hebrew brethren. Moses was discovered trying to bury his victim and had to ran for his life.  He ended up far, far away in the back side of the wilderness.  There he became a shepherd, tending sheep for a living.

 Talk about humble pie! His dreams were over. Moses who once was a somebody, who sat in the audience of the great Pharaoh , now was a was a nobody. But,God was not finished with him.

Forty years later when the Lord called Moses out of the burning bush, he was a totally broken man.  His self-confidence and pride had been exposed. The years he spent in the wilderness had broken his self will.  He no longer had any confidence in himself to act for God.  In fact he asked the Lord to send his brother Aaron.  Moses had been humbled.  He knew that if the Lord did go before him, it was totally impossible to do what the Lord was asking.  He was in a good place. He had to depend on his God. That is what made him a humble man.  He had complete trust and confidence in the Lord and not in himself.

God had taken a somebody, made him a nobody, and then raised him to be a somebody that He could use. The Lord had dwelt with Moses's pride, his self-will.   He didn't get there overnight.  It was a process that only God could do.  God had a work for Moses and only He could prepare him to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt. Apart from the Lord's power, it would be totally impossible for any man. 

What I  have learned is that if an idea or vision is really from the Lord, it is important to let it die.  If it is not from the Lord, it will stay dead. If it is from Him,  He will resurrect it  and use me to fulfill it.  Don't try to accomplish in the flesh (self-life) what only God can perform by the Holy Spirit. Surrender to Him and let God be God.

"MY DADDY CAN DO ANYTHING"

One of my dearest friends told me this true story.

When she was four years old, she and her little girl friend were playing in the sand box filling coke bottles with sand. In the process of playing her friend broke her bottle and began to cry.

"Don't cry Sarah, my daddy can fix anything! she explained, picking the pieces and taking them to her father.

Her father took the pieces into his work shoppe and told her to ran out and play while he fixed the bottle.  Minutes later, her daddy came out with the fixed bottle. ( a new coke bottle)

Sara was delighted . Christine explained,"SEE, MY DADDY CAN FIX ANYTHING!"

In reality, her father could fix anything, so it never occurred to Christine that he wouldn't.


What a great picture of our Heavenly Father.  How many times have you and I taken broken pieces to Him, knowing that He is the ONLY ONE WHO COULD FIX ANYTHING!

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD TOO!

It is so easy to think that the Holy Spirit  is not a person, but as some godly influence or power. But He is not.  He is God too. I know that we are not to worship the Holy Spirit, but without Him, we would never know Jesus or be able to understand the Word of God.  He is our teacher and revealer of all truth. He always points us to Jesus. Without Him we would never have a relationship with our God.

 We believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.We accept the  adoption of our Father as sons and daughters, but we so often neglect the importance of the Holy Spirit as a person too!  Is He not the person who prays through us in agreement with Jesus in Heaven?   Jesus sent Him from the Father to replace Himself on earth when He left to be at His Father's right hand. He did not want to leave His disciples as orphans.  As His disciples today in 2019, the same is true.  We are not orphans.  The Holy Spirit's work continues among us.

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me". How can we hear His voice except through the person of the Holy Spirit in us? The Holy Spirit is like the sheep dog that rounds up the sheep at the command of the Shepherd's whistle and herds them into a pen. He takes his orders from the Shepherd only.

 Peter preached saying,"repent, be baptized, received the Holy Spirit.? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? " We were baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, but have we ever acknowledge Him or allowed Him to baptize us in the power of His Love?   

Let  us not neglect to acknowledge Holy Spirit as an important person in the Godhead,  and  thank the Lord Jesus for sending Him to take His place. Through the Holy Spirit we will experience the presence of God, the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Throne room is open all the time. The blood of the lamb avails for us to enter in.  Our born again spirits  ignite with excitement and joy as we enter into fellowship with the God of this universe. Come let us worship our God together: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

THE NARROW WAY

Have you ever seen a sheep herding contest?  I saw my first one at the Fryeberg Fair in Maine. Half the time, the sheep  ignored the  dog, refusing to obey his lead. But the sheep dog just patiently waited for the shepherd to whistle his commands. Then like a shot, the dog would race across the field, nipping at the kneels of the sheep directing them towards the pen.  I was amazed how many of the sheep fought entering one by one through a narrow gate.  Eventually, the shepherd and his sheep dog herded them into the pen. The contest lasted about ten minutes. The shepherd and his dog, who were the fastest to herd their sheep into the pen and close the gate won.

This event was one of the most fascinating to watch, especially the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep dog. It reminded me of one of the glories of our Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd. 

 Jesus Christ is the Shepherd, we are the sheep and the Holy Spirit is the sheep dog.  The Holy Spirit was sent into the world to bring us back through the NARROW GATE to the Good Shepherd. The Holy Spirit is often called the "the hound of heaven" and I can see why.  He is determined to fulfill the glory of the Good Shepherd in His sheep even if we go astray, He will be nipping at our heels.

Sheep have such a mind of their own. How appropriate it is for the Lord to call us His SHEEP.  By working together, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit hems us in on all sides leading us through the NARROW GATE on our journey home.  If we are left to ourself, we would wander in this world without hope.  

I am so grateful to be born again by the grace of God and able to confess that Jesus Christ is THE NARROW WAY: THE ONLY WAY  BACK TO MY FATHER IN HEAVEN. John 14:6.