"YES...BUT!"

Can you see Jesus on the barn?



LORD I WILL FOLLOW YOU; BUT

There are always a lot of big buts when you say you will follow the Lord. To follow means--well I think it means to go wherever the person leading Goes!! :-) Not exactly rocket science. And we will blindly follow friends and trends- but to follow God.....

Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test. Something that will STREEEETCHHH Your faith and really get you out of the harbor and into the ocean.

It flies against everything your common sense tells you NOT to do... Are you going to
Hang Back?
Pray and wait and make sure that's what He said? Earlier I talked about habits and how long it takes to form one or get rid of a bad one. If you are in the habit of doing something in the Natural you will do it every time until you make a DETERMINED effort to break it.

THE SAME IS TRUE SPIRITUALLY- Time and Time again you will get up to what Jesus wants and every time you will turn back when you reach that certain point. "Yes BUT, suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about.....?" "Yes I will obey God IF He lets me use my common sense and do it my way, but don't ask me to take a spiritual step in the dark. Don't you dare ask me to step out in FAITH!"

Jesus demands the same type of reckless spirit that Natural man exhibits when he does something he wants to do. But when it comes to all things spiritual we immediately put limitations and restrictions on it. WHY?

Trust in God and when He brings you back to that spot- that invisible barrier of common sense verses obeying God implicitly- try Obeying God. You will get such a rush and thrill of doing something your Heavenly Father needs ONLY YOU to do- it is totally exhilarating. No earthly high can match what obedience to God can bring.

This is the Peace that passes all understanding. This is the rush that adrenalin junkies go for with Bungee jumping, hang-gliding and shopping at Victoria's secret is for women.

God will never ever ask you to go or do anything where He Himself has not already gone and paved the way. Trust Him as your guide and know that you may undertake the event apparently empty handed...but He will supply all the tools , guts, words...whatever--- you need to get the job done.

Go ahead- Take the leap of faith in something maybe you have been putting off for a while because common sense dictates that it's not feasible! Dare to believe God and Just DO what He says to do. We tend to act like Heathens in a crisis and only 1 in 100 dares enough to bank his or her faith entirely on the Character of God.

What are some of the things God has asked you to do in the past that you would not do?

What is something NOW that He is prompting or asking you to do that you could take that step of faith and obey Him? Just hold your nose, close you eyes and JUMP off the High Dive- trusting the water will still be there after you jump. That few seconds of free fall and the rush of Adrenalin when you finally decided to GO FOR IT are everyday norms with God. We just need to follow the right Leader.

How do you know if something is from God or not? Great question and a little tough to answer, but if something keeps popping into your mind, if you are "troubled" about something or someone, if you "can't get it out of your mind over a period of hours, days or weeks- then it probably God trying to get your attention. Make sure it lines up with Biblical truth and would be something that would not cause harm to anyone. Just LISTEN to that still small voice most of us call a "hunch" a "gut feeling", "I just KNOW- I need to do something about..." etc.

PRAY and then LISTEN for instructions and then OBEY- regardless of how sensible or non-sensible it seems in the Natural. God's ways are not our ways- and to learn to trust HIM and walk in His Ways is a lifelong process. Narrow is the gate to God--wide wide wide- so it can hanle all the Big- YES BUTS is the way of the world.

In His Service,

John