Busy, Busy, Busy!!
A message from Lahry Sibley

Tozer once wrote: “It would be a shock to most of us to learn what God thinks of our breathless activity, and a greater shock to many to find out the true quality of our service as God sees it. For not all religious activity is accepted by God, not even when it appears to get results, and get things done.”
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God does not count success as man does. Remember the woman who gave two mites? God has a completely different value system than what most who call themselves Christian leadership. Notice that I said “they call themselves”. That’s a clue.

What about when Jesus came proclaiming that He had fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah? Was this not “shocking” to the religious system of that day? My Lord, I know it was. When are we going to begin to pray for a “shock” beloved? When are we going to ask God for His “Holy” nature, to live a holy life.

We have become so complacent with our sin, so used to compromise, so thrilled with leaven, that almost nothing convicts our spirit save maybe the “big 5”. If I’m not drinking or smoking, doing drugs; if I have not killed anyone or stolen anything, then I wrongly assume that all is well.

The Christian life is not about avoiding wrong doing. It is all about a love affair with the Creator of all things. It’s all about seeking His kingdom first, and also His righteousness. If we are not in personal relationship with the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit, we have nothing but religion and knowledge of His Holy Book.

The bible says, “to know to do good and not do it is sin”. When was the last time you or I were convicted in our soul because we failed to do good when we knew it was the thing to do at the time?

Paul told us to walk after the Spirit. How can we do that if we are not in personal relationship with Him on a daily, even moment by moment basis? We are either walking after the flesh, being religious, or we are walking after the Spirit of God trusting in Him for our blessed hope. Is our life all about what I can do in His kingdom today? Or is it all about achieving my own personal goals today. Do I get up in the morning praying that somehow others will see Jesus in me? Or is my own personal glory and accomplishment the fuel that feeds the burning passion of my man pleasing self?

Oh God, deliver us from ourselves today. Reduce my flesh to the grave, that my spirit may show forth the praises of Him. Jesus be Jesus in us today. Lord, be all you can be in us today. Give us the desire and the will to do your good pleasure. Help us to flee in horror from all wickedness, even anything that could be thought of by others as wickedness. We promise to give You all the Glory, the Honor, and the Praise, in Jesus’ Holy Name. Amen and amen.

Brother Lahry,

I just wanted to give my "amen" to your post. The title caught my attention, because I'm very busy at this moment. Busy with school, work and the Lord.

And then Jesus comes and says: "I will give you rest".

So many responsibilities...so many spiritual needs to be met. But: first things first. "[b]Seek first his kindgdom and his righteousness...[/b]" (Matthew 6:33).

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Paul

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Chanin

Thank you for this post. That's the whole purpose of our life. Pastor Wilkerson's February 27 message was entitled Called to be Christ-like and my pastor preached a cutting word entitled Christ Formed in Us. That's the whole sum of our lives.

Thank you for reminding us of that precious truth. Here's a link to the sermon: http://www.timeforrenewal.com/mp3/050227-S1-DWI.mp3.

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Ed Pugh

...in any capacity is joy unspeakable. I must give God all the glory, however. If I write anything that blesses anyone, however small it may be, it's only because I'm really just the keyboard operator here. I don't plan to write. There have been many messages that have slipped away forever because I've failed to get to my keyboard and put down what the Holy Spirit was speaking in my heart. He has really convicted me of that here lately. I woke up at 3 am the other morning and had this awesome message that I preached in my mind. It was so strong and powerful that I just knew I'd be able to remember it all when I woke up the next day. Guess what? I could not. Shame on me and my laziness. I know better. Lord help me.
A kind word of encouragement and exhortation is always an act of love when it's sincere. So I say thank you. But when it comes to the message, I must gladly proclaim, to God be the glory, now and forever amen.