Connecting with the Ultimate Source.
Power Surge: Connecting with the Ultimate Source
“You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” C.S. Lewis
Mr. Lewis is not only poetically correct; he is Biblically correct. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God took the body he had made from the earth, breathed into it, and created a living soul.
Sometimes we believe that people only change when the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of changing. In some cases, this may be true. But if change is only the result of pain, it won’t last. We are a species extremely adept at dulling our senses.
If we are to change, we need to be connected to the One who can make permanent change in our lives. Yes, we are talking about Jesus. Spending a month in brutal honesty finding out what is truly important in our lives doesn’t amount to much unless we do something with that discovery.
Jesus provides the strength for us to change. He provides the strength for us to become who we are meant to be. Jesus tells us that He is the true vine—that for us to flourish and produce fruit, we must stay connected to him. We are also told that if we remain in the vine, Jesus remains in us.
That means that our lives will experience some pruning. Everything that we are dragging around that doesn’t produce good fruit gets pruned.
This should not be cause for concern. What gets pruned is something we didn’t need anyway. In fact, if probably was holding us back from living to the full.
What in the world does that mean?
Try this on for size—being right.
How many times have we spent minutes, hours, or even sleepless nights on being right? How many times have we lived out, “this is what I should have told him?” How many times have we replayed a discussion, meeting, or argument in our minds?
Guess what? That junk needed pruning.
God told us to get right with him. He didn’t tell us to make sure the world reconciles with us.
When we focus on being right with God, our self-righteousness is ready to be pruned by the Master Vinedresser.
The shooks suggest that we all might do a bit too much whining and complaining. The make it count moment for today is to identify an area in our lives when we know God was pruning us. What happened?
Here are the make it last challenges for today.
What are the current barriers in your life—what is keeping you from connecting with God?
Write a letter, prayer, or poem to God about a current disappointment or frustration. Be as honest as possible. Next, see if this missive reveals to you an area that God may be doing some pruning in your life.
Consider you current practice of communication and confession. How would these change if you only had one month to live?
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