Keep Moving Forward
(From the Inspirations of Hebrews 6:1-12)
It is time for us to move forward. It is time for us to go above and beyond in our faith and exercise everything we have ever learned. Even the lost know the basics of calling out to Jesus in a time of need. Even a new follower of Christ has seen the importance of laying hands on the sick. It is time for us to expand and grow greater in our faith than we ever have before.
Once you have tasted the power of the Holy Spirit, how can you want anything else but more? Once you have seen the miracles of Jesus performed in your own life, how could you possibly want to go backwards into a life that only imbedded the nails deeper into His flesh on the cross?
Of course you don’t want that! Once you have experienced something so incredible, you only want more! If you want to receive more, it is time to give more!
A land that drinks of the rain falling on it and produces a useful crop receives God’s blessing! But a land of thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed! (vs 7-8)
Picture a worthless thorny land, bearing no fruit. What worthless plant did Jesus curse? In Mark 11, Jesus cursed a fig tree because it did not bear any fruit. And because it did not bear the fruit that God created it to bear, it withered away.
God has blessed each of us with gifts, and He expects us to use those gifts to the fullest. He expects us to water those gifts and let them grow and spread them out to others. If we let our gifts stay in the ground or let them wither away due to our laziness or hesitancy, God could very easily take them away.
“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” – James 4:17
There will come a day of judgement. There will come a day that you will answer to God. Do you want Him asking you why you never used the gifts He gave you? Why you never seized the opportunities while you had the chance? Or do you want to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”?
God is still a loving and a just God. He knows what you do and what you do for others. But, He knows you can do more! He wants you to maintain diligence till the end! You may think your plant only grows leaves, but wait until the flowers bloom. Wait until the fruit comes. Wait until others are able to taste it and see that the Lord is good because you kept striving for more.
Some of you might be like me. You might not be in the best mind state when you are reading this. You might be in a negative mood, feeling discouraged, unmotivated, depressed, etc. You might be thinking easier said than done.
If you are that person, I want you to know that I felt the same way just minutes before writing this post.
It had been a terrible week. I had relapsed again. I couldn’t even try to go back to work. We were out of money with rent being due, yet we had nowhere to go. My mind was completely distracted.
I tried to praise my way through it. I even played worship music through the night. I prayed constantly. I read Scriptures, hoping for an answer. I tried to write, but everything went off track. The devil pulled at my mind, hindering me from everything I knew I needed to do.
One night before bed, I sat down with the simple goal of writing. This was the gift I was supposed to use. I weakly read over my usual Scripture of Proverbs 16:3, committing my works to the Lord. I asked God if He would at least bless the one or two fragments I planned on writing.
But minutes later, I was only writing about how discouraged I felt. Because I already knew I wouldn’t have a piece to submit that week, I was writing my reason as to why. I felt that I had the ideas but not the tools.
I then felt led to write the one basis of an idea I had, a scripture that had started off my week: Hebrews 6:1-12. In the midst of writing this Scripture, revelations appeared. A piece began forming in my head. By the end of it, I realized that the devil had tried to distract me from God, but now God was distracting me from the devil.
This is why you don’t give up on your purpose. Sometimes it feels like you’ve tried everything. Sometimes it feels like it takes days or even months or more, but eventually God comes through.
When I opened my Bible app for Hebrews 6, Hebrews 3:4 came up:
“For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”
God was the tool that I needed. He is and always will be the tool that we need and so much more.
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
I Peter 4:10-11
What fruit has God given you to bear?
Let us know in the comments section below!
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