Fighting to be UNOBSTRUCTED

Just wanted to share some stuff...the challenges in my life right now...

God's been challenging me heaps of late...yesterday I had all these thoughts going round in my head and I started to just write it all out in an email to a friend...after I pressed send I felt God say "Turn off the computer and just sit with Me!" I was sitting there reading over my sermon for youth church next weekend and it didn't feel right and so I'd been trying to figure out how to change it and I just felt God say "STOP! Just turn the computer off and SIT WITH ME!!" So I did...I grabbed a blanket and my Bible, journal and a pen and went and sat under a tree outside and waited on God. My friend wrote me an awesome email the other day and had said that he hoped that I would live a free and unobstructed life for God...that word UNOBSTRUCTED just sat in my mind and God began to chip away at me listing things that were obstructing me from having the relationship with Him that I know He wants me to have...I won't share them all...but 2 things that I felt strong about was my internet and TV...I'm cutting off my internet at home and I'm packing my TV up...I am so desperate to be like Jesus and I so much want to pursue all that He has for me but I'm blocking Him from doing it completely because I spend too much time on the Internet or watching TV...so God said 'If you want Me bad enough those things have gotta go!!' So that's it...they're going! There are other things to work on too...and I'm working at that...I'm expecting a hard road to get there...but if I want it bad enough I've gotta persevere through all that will hit me while I'm trying to get there (that's a little thing called LIFE...cause I'll be on this journey forever of course)

So, since yesterday God's taken me to 3 different passages that speak about obstructions of some kind...so I wanna share them with you and hopefully challenge you as well...

1. POSSESSIONS: Acts 2:42-47...verse 45 says "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as as he had need"

You wanna live a life free and unobstructed? Get rid of the possessions that are blocking you. The fellowship of believers in the Acts 2 church sold everything...they got rid of everything material and lived a life that was completely about their relationship with God and the fellowship they had with the people, and as a result verse 47 tells us that the Lord added to their number DAILY those who were being saved...!! I'm not saying God's telling you to sell everything and live in a cardboard box...although, maybe He is...who knows...lol...but what I'm saying is that offering everything to God is about saying "God, thank you for these things that I've been blessed with...I want to use them for Your purpose!" That means being wise about the way you use them and the time that you invest in using them...use them, don't abuse them! Give it up for His glory!

2. RELATIONSHIPS: Genesis 22:1-19

God tells Abraham to go sacrifice his only son who he'd waited FOREVER for!! Without a second thought, Abraham takes his son and gets ready to make the sacrifice...but at the last minute God stops him! He could see that Abraham was willing and that's all He wanted to see. In Abrahams situation all God wanted to see was that He had it in him to take that step....and he did. But, sometimes God asks us to give up a friendship and he doesn't stop us. Maybe you're holding onto a relationship or a friendship that you know is not helpful for you...it's obstructing you from God. Maybe your excuse is 'But, I can bring them to God'...but what if God can see that that's just not going to happen...maybe He doesn't want you to show them...maybe that's for someone else...maybe that relationship/friendship is only going to do you harm in the end. Trust me...don't hold onto it long enough to see it eat away at your relationship with God! It's hard to walk away...it'll hurt...you'll be sad...you might cry...it'll be such a difficult time for some of you...but that'll be temporary...better now than later...and it's better to let go of that earthly relationship than it will be to lose the relationship with your Creator!

3. CHURCH: Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus walks into the temple and he turns tables and benches and says:

"It is written," 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

Jesus is totally crushed and absolutely furious that the people made the church what they did! Corruption, money making, ripping people off..."MADNESS" you're probably thinking...but what do you think He'd say if He walked into our churches today? As the church...the body of believers...we've put so many obstructions in the church...religion, rituals, music, icons...it's all become very political...we haven't made it much better than these people did. So the challenge is, how do we break down those barriers and obstructions so that we can work on our relationship with God and allow others who come to our 'church' to do the same?!

It doesn't have to be as complicated as we make it sound...if we're desperate enough, and want to dig deep enough to live a free and unobstructed life then the answer is '...let us throw off everything that hinders..." (Hebrews 12:1)

So...the challenge God's given me through this friend of mine sharing his hopes for me...and through my time of sitting still with God...and what I want to share with you is this...get rid of EVERYTHING that's obstructing you from living a life that's totally free in Him and a life that's totally unobstructed...just sit and BE WITH HIM! No distractions...nothing in your way...it's about YOU and HIM...and it's about the others that He'll have you meet...do that and watch Him add to our numbers DAILY those who are being saved! And don't just make a special time on a specific day in your week or month...every day continue to take time to be still with Him!...Dig deeper!! Keep pushing for more of Him!

Bless you all loads...and thanks for allowing me to share with you in this way! Sorry if I don't see some of you much on line anymore cause I won't have internet at home anymore...