Being used of God

Being used of God isn't always fireworks, lightening bolts & standing ovations. Being a consistent & stable example is the most powerful ministry of all.

Don't judge the value of your impact based on short-term response.... Sometimes the greater harvest is that someone grew by leaning on or watching you.

Appreciate those who hurt you

Appreciate those who have hurt you, because they strengthen your heart
Appreciate those who deceive you, because they improve your wisdom
Appreciate those who slander against you, because they improve your personality
Appreciate those who whip you because they arouse your will to fight
Appreciate those who abandon you, because they teach you independence
Appreciate those who make you stumble, because they strengthen your legs
Appreciate those who denounce you, because they remind you of your shortcomings
Appreciate those who give you strength

- Unknown

ATTITUDE

"You are responsible for all of your experiences of life."

This statement is absolutely true but it is somewhat of a trick. The trick is that it does not say "in life" but "of life." You are not responsible for everything that happens to you, but you are responsible for how you react to what does happen to you. The formula is that, "Life acts. You react." Your reaction is under your control. In any life situation you are always responsible for at least one thing. You are always responsible for the attitude towards the situation in which you find yourself. Your attitude is your reaction to what life hands you. You can have either a more positive or a more negative attitude. Your attitude is under your control and can be changed. With the right attitude you can be a resilient person.

Quotes by Dale Carnegie - Stop Worrying and Start Living

 Quotes by Dale Carnegie - Stop Worrying and Start Living

“When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness.”

“Our thoughts make us what we are.”

“No matter what happens, always be yourself.”

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

“...the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future.”

 “Two men looked out from prison bars,
One saw the mud, the other saw stars.”

“Let's not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember "Life is too short to be little".”

“Today is our most precious possession. It is our only sure possession.”

“Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt
ourselves far more than we hurt them. Let's do as General Eisenhower does: let's never
waste a minute thinking about people we don't like.”

“You can sing only what you are. You can paint only what you are. You must be what your experiences, your environment, and your heredity have made you. For better or for worse, you must play your own little instrument in the orchestra of life.”

“That is the way Emerson said it. But here is the way a poet -the late Douglas Mallochsaid
it:
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill.
Be a scrub in the valley-but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush, if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush, be a bit of the grass.
If you can't be a muskie, then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew.
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do
And the task we must do is the near.
If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun, be a star;
It isn't by the size that you win or you fail-

Be the best of whatever you are!”

“A good deed, "said the prophet Mohammed, "is one that brings a smile of joy to the face of another." Why will doing a good deed every day produce such astounding efforts on the doer?
Because trying to please others will cause us to stop thinking of ourselves: the very
thing that produces worry and fear and melancholia.”

“if you want to keep happiness , you have to share it !”
 

“When I asked him -Mr.Henry Ford- if he ever worried, he replied: "No. I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn't need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe that every-thing will work out for the best in the end.
So what is there to worry about?”

“Nobody kicks a dead dog”

 “Let's find and remedy all our weaknesses before our enemies get a chance to say a word. That is what Charles Darwin did. ...When Darwin completed the manuscript of his immortal book "The Origin Of Species" he realized that the publication of his revolutionary concept of creation would rock the intellectual and religious worlds. So he became his own critic and spent another 15 years checking his data, challenging his reasoning, and criticizing his conclusions.”
tags: criticism

 “when the fierce, burning winds blow over our lives-and we cannot prevent them-let us, too, accept the inevitable. And then get busy and pick up the pieces.”

“If You Have A Lemon, Make A Lemonade
That is what a great educator does. But the fool does the exact opposite. If he finds
that life has handed him a lemon, he gives up and says: "I'm beaten. It is fate. I haven't
got a chance." Then he proceeds to rail against the world and indulge in an orgy of selfpity.
But when the wise man is handed a lemon, he says: "What lesson can I learn from
this misfortune? How can I improve my situation? How can I turn this lemon into a
lemonade?”

“When we are harassed and reach the limit of our own strength, many of us then turn in desperation to God-"There are no atheists in foxholes." But why wait till we are desperate? Why not renew our strength every day? Why wait even until Sunday? For years I have had the habit of dropping into empty churches on weekday afternoons.
When I feel that I am too rushed and hurried to spare a few minutes to think about spiritual things, I say to myself: "Wait a minute, Dale Carnegie, wait a minute. Why all the feverish hurry and rush, little man? You need to pause and acquire a little perspective." At such times, I frequently drop into the first church that I find open.
Although I am a Protestant, I frequently, on weekday afternoons, drop into St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, and remind myself that I'll be dead in another thirty years, but that the great spiritual truths that all churches teach are eternal. I close my eyes and pray. I find that doing this calms my nerves, rests my body, clarifies my perspective, and helps me revalue my values. May I recommend this practice to you?”

“The words "Think and Thank" are inscribed in many of the Cromwellian churches of
England. These words ought to be inscribed in our hearts, too: "Think and Thank". Think
of all we have to be grateful for, and thank God for all our boons and bounties.”

“Think of your life as an hourglass. You know there are thousands of grains of sand in the top of the hourglass; and they all pass slowly and evenly through the narrow neck in the middle. Nothing you or I could do would make more than one grain of sand pass through this narrow neck without impairing the hourglass. You and I and everyone else are like this hourglass...if we do not take [tasks] one at a time and let them pass...slowly and evenly, then we are bound to break our own...structure.”
tags: inpsirational

“Thomas Edison said in all seriousness: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the labour of thinking"-if we bother with facts at all, we hunt like bird dogs after the facts thatbolster up what we already think-and ignore all the others! We want only the facts that
justify our acts-the facts that fit in conveniently with our wishful thinking and justify
our preconceived prejudices!

As Andre Maurois put it: "Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires
seems true. Everything that is not puts us into a rage."
Is it any wonder, then, that we find it so hard to get at the answers to our problems?
Wouldn't we have the same trouble trying to solve a second-grade arithmetic problem, if
we went ahead on the assumption that two plus two equals five? Yet there are a lot of
people in this world who make life a hell for themselves and others by insisting that two
plus two equals five-or maybe five hundred!”

“Life is bigger than processes and overflows and dwarfs them.”

“When the friendly jailer gave Socrates the poison cup to drink, the jailer said: "Try to
bear lightly what needs must be." Socrates did. He faced death with a calmness and
resignation that touched the hem of divinity.”

 “One of the most distinguished psychiatrists living, Dr. Carl Jung, says in his book Modern Man in Search of a Soul:
"During the past thirty years, people from all the civilised countries of the earth have consulted me. I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among all my patients in the second half of life-that is to say, over thirty-five-there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.”

“Nobody is so miserable as he who longs to be somebody and something other than the person he is in body and mind.”

“Relaxation and Recreation The most relaxing recreating forces are a healthy religion, sleep, music, and laughter. Have faith in God—learn to sleep well— Love good music—see the funny side of life— And health and happiness will be yours.”

“Those who do not know how to fight worry die young.”

 “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

“the best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future.”

“Don’t do the natural thing, the impulsive thing. That is usually wrong.”

“I knew, of course, that I had nothing to worry about—personally, at least. But”

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon—instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”

“Happy the man, and happy he alone, He, who can call to-day his own: He who, secure within, can say: “To-morrow, do thy worst, for I have liv’d to-day.”

“During all those years of struggle and heartache, my mother never worried. She took all her troubles to God in prayer. Every night before we went to bed, Mother would read a chapter from the Bible; frequently Mother or Father would read these comforting words of Jesus: “In my Father’s house are many mansions…. I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there ye may be also.” Then we all knelt down before our chairs in that lonely Missouri farmhouse and prayed for God’s love and protection. When William James was professor of philosophy at Harvard, he said, “Of course, the sovereign cure for worry is religious faith.” You don’t have to go to Harvard to discover that. My mother found that out on a Missouri farm.”
 

“I can remember the days when people talked about the conflict between science and religion. But no more. The newest of all sciences—psychiatry—is teaching what Jesus taught. Why? Because psychiatrists realize that prayer and a strong religious faith will banish the worries, the anxieties, the strains and fears that cause more than half of all our ills. They know, as one of their leaders, Dr. A. A. Brill, said: “Anyone who is truly religious does not develop a neurosis.” If religion isn’t true, then life is meaningless. It is a tragic farce.”

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon—instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. Why are we such fools—such tragic fools?”

“Even if you are not a religious person by nature or training—even if you are an out-and-out skeptic—prayer can help you much more than you believe, for it is a practical thing. What do I mean, practical? I mean that prayer fulfills these three very basic psychological needs which all people share, whether they believe in God or not: 1. Prayer helps us to put into words exactly what is troubling us. We saw in Chapter 4 that it is almost impossible to deal with a problem while it remains vague and nebulous. Praying, in a way, is very much like writing our problems down on paper. If we ask help for a problem—even from God—we must put it into words. 2. Prayer gives us a sense of sharing our burdens, of not being alone. Few of us are so strong that we can bear our heaviest burdens, our most agonizing troubles, all by ourselves. Sometimes our worries are of so ultimate a nature that we cannot discuss them even with our closest relatives or friends. Then prayer is the answer. Any psychiatrist will tell us that when we are pent-up and tense, and in an agony of spirit, it is therapeutically good to tell someone our troubles. When we can’t tell anyone else—we can always tell God. 3. Prayer puts into force an active principle of doing. It’s a first step toward action. I doubt if anyone can pray for some fulfillment, day after day, without benefiting from it—in other words, without taking some steps to bring it to pass. The world-famous scientist, Dr. Alexis Carrel, said: “Prayer is the most powerful form of energy one can generate.” So why not make use of it? Call it God or Allah or Spirit—why quarrel with definitions as long as the mysterious powers of nature take us in hand?”

“Let’s do as General Eisenhower does: let’s never waste a minute thinking about people we don’t like.”

“I shall pass this way but once. Therefore any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show-let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

“I once asked General Eisenhower’s son, John, if his father ever nourished resentments. “No,” he replied, “Dad never wastes a minute thinking about people he doesn’t like.”

“If you and I go around grumbling about ingratitude, who is to blame? Is it human nature—or is it our ignorance of human nature? Let’s not expect gratitude. Then, if we get some occasionally, it will come as a delightful surprise. If we don’t get it, we won’t be disturbed.   Here is the first point I am trying to make in this chapter: It is natural for people to forget to be grateful; so, if we go around expecting gratitude, we are headed straight for a lot of heartaches.”

“Experience has taught me,” says Sam Wood, “that it is safest to drop, as quickly as possible, people who pretend to be what they aren’t.”

“Let’s not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember “Life is too short to be little.”

“I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn’t need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe that everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?”

“The most important thing in life is not to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your losses.”

“Those who keep the peace of their inner selves in the midst of the tumult of the modern city are immune from nervous diseases.”

“We cannot be pepped up and enthusiastic about doing something exciting and feel dragged down by worry at the very same time. One kind of emotion drives out the other.”

“For every ailment under the sun, There is a remedy, or there is none; If there be one, try to find it; If there be none, never mind it.”

“Charles Evans Hughes, former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, said: “Men do not die from overwork. They die from dissipation and worry.” Yes, from dissipation of their energies—and worry because they never seem to get their work done.”

 “The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.”

Schopenhauer said: “We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack.”

“Happy the man, and happy he alone, He, who can call today his own: He who, secure within, can say: "Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.”

“Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.”

“I realize now that people are not thinking about you and me or caring what is said about us. They are thinking about themselves—before breakfast, after breakfast, and right on until ten minutes past midnight. They would be a thousand times more concerned about a slight headache of their own than they would about the news of your death or mine.”

“A third of the people who rush to psychiatrists for help could probably cure themselves if they could only do as Margaret Yates did: get interested in helping others. My idea? No, that is approximately what Carl Jung said. And he ought to know—if anybody does. He said: “About one third of my patients are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their lives.” To put it another way, they are trying to thumb a ride through life—and the parade passes them by. So they rush to a psychiatrist with their petty, senseless, useless lives. Having missed the boat, they stand on the wharf, blaming everyone except themselves and demanding that the world cater to their self-centered desires.”

“In short, I conceive that a great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles.”

“Mrs. Carnegie and I had dinner at a friend’s house in Chicago. While carving the meat, he did something wrong. I didn’t notice it; and I wouldn’t have cared even if I had noticed it. But his wife saw it and jumped down his throat right in front of us. “John,” she cried, “watch what you are doing! Can’t you ever learn to serve properly!” Then she said to us: “He is always making mistakes. He just doesn’t try.” Maybe he didn’t try to carve; but I certainly give him credit for trying to live with her for twenty years. Frankly, I would rather have eaten a couple of hot dogs with mustard—in an atmosphere of peace—than to have dined on Peking duck and shark fins while listening to her scolding.”

“Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.”

“We must remember that our children are very much what we make them.”

“Touch a button and hear, at every level of your life, the iron doors shutting out the Past the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off, with a metal curtain, the Future the unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe, safe for today! Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead. Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death. The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Shut off the future as tightly as the past. The future is today. There is no tomorrow. The day of man's salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future. Shut close, then the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of 'day-tight compartments.”

“Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.”

“There is only one way to happiness,” Epictetus taught the Romans, “and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

 “If a man will devote his time to securing facts in an impartial, objective way, his worries will usually evaporate in the light of knowledge.”

“I have found from costly experience that it is much easier to analyze the facts after writing them down. In fact, merely writing the facts on a piece of paper and stating our problem clearly goes a long way toward helping us reach a sensible decision. As Charles Kettering puts it: “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”

“Try to bear lightly what needs must be.”

“As you and I march across the decades of time, we are going to meet a lot of unpleasant situations that are so. They cannot be otherwise. We have our choice. We can either accept them as inevitable and adjust ourselves to them, or we can ruin our lives with rebellion and maybe end up with a nervous breakdown.”

“the Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius, summed it up in eight words—eight words that can determine your destiny: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

Brokenness

Brokenness is when you no longer desire to be seen and noticed.

For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To some, who do not understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.” – Cynthia Occelli

Change is like that. It often feels like utter and complete destruction; however, in that devastation, new life can be formed. 

Sometimes the devastation uproots things that we needed to let go.
Something happens that, at first, seems terrible, and even, unjustified. Suddenly we are out of our comfort zone. Bruised and broken, we rail against the loss.

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

I have been:

• Discouraged by failures and setbacks...
• Ashamed  for mistakes i've made...
• Disappointed  for making the “wrong” choices...

I know what it’s like to live in regret and feel powerless and stuck because of it.

I have spent too much time dwelling on events from the past that seemed unfair and choices I made that caused me to feel ashamed.

I obsessed about what should have happened, what shouldn’t have happened, what I should have done, what I shouldn’t have done, and how everything would be better if I could just go back and change it all.

Many times we allow our feelings and beliefs about the past to limit our effectiveness and happiness in the present.

And even though we want to let go, we don’t know how. So instead, we keep telling ourselves the same old limiting stories—and in the process, live the story of now based on a sad one from before.

The good news is that we can change how we interpret yesterday, how we view ourselves in response, and how we live today as a result.



At times, I’ve feared doing well.  I would feel like a fraud because a part of me didn’t believe I deserved success.  Or maybe I would be overwhelmed by the responsibility success brings.

I spent too much time in my own head.Why am I doing this? Why can’t I just be me? Why am I so dumb?


Some researchers estimate that we think up to 80,000 thoughts per day. They often center on grievances, judgments, fears, and worries, and they can be obsessive. Worse, we tend to identify with our thoughts, as if each one is a fact, and a part of who we are.


BE YOUR OWN HERO

Most of us want to be heroes - to be valuable, to make a difference, to be admired, and respected. 

When we think of heroes, we often think of people like soldiers or firemen. Or we may think of everyday heroes like the man who threw himself onto the subway tracks to save a man who had fallen while having a seizure.

Heroism  required doing something instead of waiting and watching.

But there’s another type of hero that’s equally brave and powerful: heroes who choose to help themselves and overcome. 

Life is not the sum of my hurts and mistakes. So maybe instead of judging myself for where I've been and feeling down for where I was at that time, I could empower myself to create something different from that moment forward.


Those changes are the result of changing my inner monologue from, “Why did I make such bad choices?” to “What’s the best choice I can make now?”

A Letter to my Toddler Sunday School Class

Dear Toddler Class,

Your class will always be my favorite..... You were my first toddler class to teach in Sunday School. You are the kids who God used to reveal His guiding plan for my life.

Thank you for building my confidence in teaching God’s word.  By participating and showing excitement in each activity, you showed me the value of teaching toddlers about Jesus.  Because I knew, even if you didn’t realize it, you were learning and understanding about salvation and grace.

Thank you for always being willing to help, for the times you volunteered to be a Bible character for our lesson, and for each time you eagerly asked to be the line leader as we walked next door to the Country Store.

Thank you for putting your stickers on the attendance board as you came in each week and for commenting on the bulletin boards when they were changed for the new season.

Thank you for the blessing you always said before snack time and for the prayers you prayed for each other when they were sick.  

Thank you for the times you misbehaved and taught me that even in that we could all learn a lesson about being patient and growing.

Thank you for all the funny stories you shared.

Thank you for all of the spontaneous hugs on Sunday morning.

I will remember all of these things, but you probably won’t remember them, because you are growing and learning so many more wonderful things. And that makes me so proud of you. Always keep your enthusiasm for learning about the Bible. I pray that a seed was planted in you that will be watered and grow and you will become all that Jesus wants you to be.

And remember, you can always stop back by our classroom for some cheese balls or goldfish crackers … and a great big hug!!

Love, Ms. Paula 

My pastor's prayer

At one of our church prayer meetings, I heard my pastor praying and grabbed my notebook and pen and began to record his words: 

....... give blessings to your people.  We want your blessings that bring us close to you. Look down on your people. You see each one. You know them. Save our lost loved ones.  Deal with backsliders.  Help them to come back to you, to seek your will and your way.  You are able to deal with them.  Slip into their consciousness.  Turn them to righteousness.  Bring revelation into their lives and hearts.  We come to you with faith in our hearts, believing you are able.

We pray for our families oh God some way move into into their hearts and spirits.  Move upon them to be in the house of God.  Fill them with the power of the Holy Ghost.  Help them to come close to you, to draw nigh, to live right in this present generation.  Help my family to be faithful to you.  Move upon every family in the church.  Let the spirit of the Lord encourage them.  Help them get involved in proclaiming the gospel.  Let the power of God rest upon them.

Anoint the Sunday School teachers. Give them anointing and revelation to be able to teach your word to their classes.

Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit.  I need your love, mercy and direction.  You are worthy of all praise. Thank you for your blessings oh God ......

 

It was an inspiring prayer and I could  have continued to listen more , but I didn't want either of them to think I was intruding on this passionate conversation and I had my own needs I needed to talk to God about. But at that moment I just wanted to thank God for the Man of God He has placed in my life for over 30 years. I know he has prayed many prayers like this one for me and my family over the years.  And I will be eternally grateful.

Ethics Class - The Flat Tire

A university professor starts his ethics class with the following story:

At Duke University, there were four sophomores taking Organic Chemistry. They did so well on all the quizzes, midterms, labs, etc., that each had an A so far for the semester. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to go up to the University of Virginia and party with some friends there. They had a great time—however, after all the hard partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn't make it back to Duke until early Monday morning.

Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to the University of Virginia for the weekend with the plan to come back in time to study, but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didn't have a spare, and couldn't get help for a long time. As a result, they missed the final. The professor thought it over and then agreed they could make up the final the following day. The guys were elated and relieved.

They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth five points. It was something simple about free radical formation. "Cool," they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room, "this is going to be easy." Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written: "For 95 points, which tire?"

FLOW - by Nona Freeman

APRIL 8, 2015-from Nona Freeman's book 'In the Bag':-
FLOW
We camped in makeshift quarters in 1952 while we built our home in South Africa. During an invasion of non-poisonous spiders (the size of a small fist), we became so weary of getting up at night to identify "something that crawled across my arm" or "on my face" that we bought the older children a small flashlight so they could conduct some of the frequently needed 'spider' investigations.
When the brilliant light in my face nudged me out of sound sleep, I thought a spider-hunter needed help. I opened my eyes to see a Being clothed in exquisite light standing by my bed. I trembled, immobilized by fear. 'Do not be afraid", a soft yet vibrant voice answered my distress, "I am a messenger sent by God to give you the secret of revival."
Disturbed by our ineffectual outreach to the lost, my husband and I shared a time of prayer and fasting that ended early in November. He left the next day for the Eastern Transvaal to visit a new church; I took charge of the service in the current tent meeting in an area called Claremont. The heavenly visitor came the following morning at 3:00 AM and said, "I am here in response to your cry for a Pentecostal outpouring."
He unrolled a large parchment scroll before me containing the words of Jesus in John 7:38; "He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," The tremendous scripture before me did not prevent the intrusion of the carnal thought, "How many times we have used that text!" (we found it a significant introduction of the Gospel to first-time hearers.)
An unspoken chill of rebuke swept away my smug satisfaction, and my heart whispered, "Forgive my ignorance." The angel commanded sternly, "look at the scroll!" As I looked carefully, I saw one word become prominent....the word FLOW enlarged and appeared to be set with scintillating diamonds sparkling beautifully. "Last night, at the service at the tent, you sang of mercy drops and showers of blessings."
His voice gentled, "You preached about drawing water out of the wells of salvation with joy. You know, but you do not comprehend the limitless scope of the gift of God. Jesus wants to deluge you and the thirsty world with 'rivers' of His Holy Ghost Power. The will of God is not mercy drops or showers or even buckets full of blessings. It is torrential rivers of His Spirit constantly flowing through you.
You have depended on conducive arrangements, the 'right' atmosphere, your eloquence, your experiences and human understanding to mellow hearts and make them receptive to the gospel. You have worked long and hard to set the stage, bringing the service to the point that you consider 'ready' for the preaching of the Word - all in your own strength - and the results are extremely disappointing.
If you could only understand, it is not what you can do, but what He will do if you allow His Spirit to FLOW. Jesus is looking for empty vessels, empty canals, empty pipes, if you please, that He can pour Himself through without obstruction. That is HIS plan. The Spirit of God is not visible, but I will let you see it as a rainbow-colored light so you can comprehend its operation."
Suddenly, a church service appeared before me. The preacher spoke with great emphasis; one hand uplifted while the other one held the open Bible. I heard encouraging Amens! and Hallelujahs! from the congregation. The question came, "Do you feel the dead formality?" And I saw God's hand sweep the whole scene away. "It looked and sounded real", I thought, yet I felt something lacking.
Another service took its place. The preacher gave the same message with identical posture and gestures, but what a difference! A Victoria waterfall of dazzling light with the consistency of water, in the colors of the rainbow poured into him and flowed from his mouth and fingertips with each word and each motion. I saw the glorious phenomenon spread all over the church.
People either sat quietly or worshipped in graceful sincerity, while the uniquely lovely 'flow' swept through them to fill the church with the Glory of God. I noticed the welcome absence of a 'cheering squad' spirit. An arrogant man came in and sat by a smiling older couple. Without his awareness , the Spirit poured through the gracious saints and swirled around him, dissolving both his sneer and composure.
Soon, he pretended to cough for an excuse to reach for his handkerchief and surreptitiously wipe tears from his cheek. Forgetting his aversion to prayer, he leapt to his feet with a terrible cry, "I'm lost! My God have mercy on me!" He fell sobbing to the floor and stretched full-length in the aisle. The grey-haired pair knelt beside him and rejoiced as God took control of a newly surrendered heart.
The angel enabled me to see both inside the church and the surrounding area at the same time. I watched the amazing beauty of worship...no twisted faces, or wild body contortions. The ineffably lovely Spirit streamed through the worshippers and billowed over the whole neighborhood. I mused, "As this Holy influence spreads, hearts will be softened and lives changed without the blessed even knowing how it even came about."
I have long known that an evil presence can fill a house or town through a possessed person or people. Now I wondered why I had not realized that God's Spirit will work the same way through yielded lives. A woman wearing shabby house shoes and an apron tied over a shapeless dress, coming from the corner store, ambled down the sidewalk across the street from the church. She had a loaf of bread in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
The congregation sang a mellow, old song and the sweet sound flowed out in rainbow-hued clouds surrounding the woman. She stopped, and stood staring for a few moments, dropped both the bread and the cigarette and buried her face in her apron weeping, "I'm sinner...I need God!" Without consultation or an audible order, two women came from opposite sides of the church directed to a soul in need.
They embraced her as they prayed for her. Minutes later, they led her into the church while she glorified God, speaking in other tongues. As I witnessed how the Spirit changed lives, my soul cried a silent question, "What prevents the 'flow' of the Spirit in me?" The answer came gently. "A guise of spirituality and a mere profession of salvation are empty vanities without the 'flow' of the Spirit."
"I will name in everyday language the most common hindrances for you:-

UNBELIEF - FEAR
DISOBEDIENCE - REBELLION
JEALOUSY - BITTERNESS
HATRED - MALICE
STUBBORNNESS
LUST - COVETEOUSNESS
GREED - SELFISHNESS
ANXIETY - WORRY
JUDGING - CRITICISM
GRUMBLING - COMPLAINING
PRIDE – AMBITION –

THE DESIRE TO HAVE A NAME OF SPIRITUALITY
TEMPER - IMPATIENCE

These are the evils that block the moving of the Spirit through you. When the flow stops, you usually fall back on your own resources and 'make-do' instead of cleaning out the obstructions. Child, you must learn to repent often. Confess and overcome your besetting faults. Ask forgiveness frequently of others. Only the cleansing blood of Jesus can remove the barriers of your soul.
Whatever it takes, keep the Spirit flowing. Don't let obstacles pile up. A tiny seed of resentment can become a mighty force of evil if allowed to remain and grow. Understand that the Holy Spirit's healing flood will sweep away your insecurity, feeling of inadequacy, helplessness, fear of people, anxiety over change, uncertainty and any other unwholesome thought that springs up to make you unfruitful.
When the Spirit whispers the word 'flow', that's a signal that you must share what I have shown you. Wherever you go, encourage God's people to get the 'flow'. The value of receiving the Holy Ghost can be lost unless it is allowed to 'flow'. Get the FLOW! Get the FLOW!"
With the last vibrant "Get the FLOW!" my guest left. The light faded, though a translucent glow lingered for some time. I lay motionless until dawn, humbly thanking God for His incomparable mercy. My heart cry that night long ago is still with me. "I want the Flow!"