The Pressing
This morning during my conversation with Holy Spirit, I was like: You are really going to have to write this blog and record this podcast today. I am sooooo sleepy. Then I found myself kind of tickled because I love that my relationship with Him is one where I can just say that. I love that my relationship with Holy Spirit is personal, private (until I tell y’all here on the blog), and protected. It’s protected by His Word where He said He would never leave me nor abandon me. He told me this morning that He is teaching me how to love, and that He is the Father who will never give me away. He is here to stay, forever and ever.
But y’all the sleepiness is real. I can’t remember if I mentioned it earlier this week, but I am participating on a prayer call that happens at 3 a.m. central time every morning and today was day 4. By the time I got to the prayer closet for my 2nd round of prayer time at 5 am, I felt that heaviness of sleep on me. But I pushed.
When it was time to get off the floor (because I had gotten quite comfortable down there), I was laughing like Lord, for real though, you’re going to have to write the blog and podcast. As I laughed, I heard him say, Keep pressing into me. I thought about a pressing comb. I know. I know. Why would I think about a pressing comb while Holy Spirit is talking to me? But I did. I started thinking about how my natural hair would be this big red poof of thickness as a kid. And specifically on Easter/Resurrection Sunday, I would get my hair pressed!! It was a whole process. The pressing comb would be hot, but it would make all my natural curls (this is me being so generous calling it curls verses kinks) and make them straight.
I heard the Holy Spirit say: “Keep pressing into me as I comb through the kinks and crooked places in your life. I am making it all straight.”
In Isaiah 45:2, the Lord says, “I will go before you, and make the crooked straight.
The Lord is straightening out the crooked areas of our lives. And it may get hot to us, but just like the song, Refiner, this process is purifying us.
And speaking of purifying, y’all, the word that the Lord gave me last Saturday about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is SOOOO coming to pass. I am more uncomfortable than ever waking up super early to pray, but it is soooo worth it. My good friend told me once that greater level and greater elevation requires greater sacrifice. I love that I have gotten to a point in my life where I won’t quit so easily. That’s growth!
Finally, the Scriptural Bible Study lesson on Nehemiah 3. At first when I listened to this (very sleepy I might add), all I heard was names of who all was there to help Nehemiah rebuild the walls. There were tons of names, but as I read the Dr. Tony Evans Study notes, I got more revelation about this chapter.
The rebuilding work reminds us that there is hope for a broken down life, family, church or community when God gets a good person with a good plan going about His kingdom agenda. Nehemiah was a unifier.
Whenever a community is rebuilt, the church is the most important part of the community as it can turn a whole community around when it operates on biblical principles.
God has called women in His kingdom to have strategic positions of responsibility because there were women out there making repairs to the wall too. The strength of godly women are not to be ignored.
Sometimes a job that we think is too big to handle just needs us to focus on what we actually can handle and do that!
God wants to use your spiritual gift to link up with other Christians and accomplish His divine agenda.
See if I had not opened my Bible and read the study notes, I would have missed all that! Listening to scripture is cool as a starter only. That’s the lesson I learned today. I can’t just be listening to the audio and not getting into the study notes. I also can’t let being too weary keep me from well doing. I thank God that He is writing this blog right now, because I honestly felt like I couldn’t.
But look at God. The Holy Spirit is our HELPER!! And today, Holy Spirit did exactly that! Helped ya girl all the way!
P.S. So I am not eating sugar or drinking coffee right now and I was like…man a cup of coffee would really help me get my energy up. The Holy Spirit said, “I don’t want you to depending on coffee and me, I want you to depend on JUST ME!
Holy Spirit has spoken!
SALVATION PRAYER
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you’re not a believer, but you have a desire to be, all you have to do is openly confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community, stay connected to other believers, and start having daily conversations through prayer with God every single day. Welcome to your new life with Jesus Christ!!!
ASSIGNMENTS
What did Holy Spirit say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?
Are you willing to sacrifice sleep and press into God more?
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