Bob Neumann
Last Sunday morning i had one of those strange experiences that jumped back and forth between the REAL WORLD and THE VALLEY OF VISION. Now I have been thinking on it since then and acutely aware of the flow of THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT at this time. Brother Bill Somers wrote a great article called "THE SACRED COWS OF BIBLE STUDY". But it came at the right time
and place for my whole attention. In our correspondence he shared with me his article on "THE ULTIMATE REPAIR KIT". It seems that both of us have been prompted to look at THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Likewise we are both concerned about the "SACRED COWS" that inhibit the growth and development of THE CHILDREN OF GOD. Sunday morning as a family we went out to lunch. We were going to meet another couple at a restaurant. This is something people do all the time. But something went wrong. I missed a turn i had made before. The
problem was the "sign" i watch for "was not there". So i "got lost" for about 10 minutes. Now i knew within a mile or so that "something was WRONG". I just could not figure how i could miss my turn. That may have been the problem, i was triggering my thinker rather than stopping and
turning around. I just kept going expecting to find a "familiar road". Only i did not.
Eventually i confessed to my wife i was "lost" and had to go home to "find" the "RIGHT ROAD". Only i was not sure where to turn. You have to understand that i live on the continental divide. The roads are "narrow", the usual two lanes with no shoulders. Go off the road anywhere
and you have deep trouble. Eventually i came to a place to where i could "see" beyond the dips and curves of the road. What i saw was a "peak". One of the few around Mount Mitchell. I could "see" it and it is a "landmark". Only i "knew" it was almost 40 miles away no matter which road i took. It "looked" close....but was not. Mt Mitchell is over 6000 feet high and it's sisters top 5000. I was at about 2500 feet and all I could see was the green of the peak and the gray overcast sky.
Everything just blends. Hard to differentiate distance when everything "blends together".
Eventually we found a familiar road and got home. So we started out again for our appointed lunch. Now when i came to where i "expected" to see the "SIGN" that marked my "TURN" i slowed down to a crawl. There was no sign...just green. Everything was green. Here in North Carolina we have "KUDZO". A super fast growing "ground cover" that can defy the law of gravity. The "sign"..."landmark"...i expected to see was covered by kudzo. In fact kudzo covers everything in it's path.
In the SPIRIT we have "kudzo" growing well. It covers the signs and landmarks that we have grown used to. We spirit-filled believers are cruising down our roads confident in our "memories" of what should be. Only things have changed. The coming storm has left us an overcast sky
so THE SON can not be seen. And all across the land KUDZO has simply taken over and covers everything. Miss one turn and you are lost.... for awhile.
Eventually you realize that you are LOST...and then you turn around and go back. This is the idea of repentance. And you got to "go back" and find the "right road". The GREEN and the GRAY blend in the distance. We can see THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD, but not THE ROAD to get there. Many people say straight is the path. Only JESUS said STRAIGHT IS THE GATE...the PATH is NARROW. Now THE PATH can be straightened. That is the job of HIS SERVANTS.
JESUS came to show us THE WAY...THE TRUTH...THE LIFE. The only way to ETERNAL LIFE is that we "we pick up our cross and follow HIM". The only ones who can follow are those who HEAR HIS VOICE. We are at a time where there are many voices, many distorted images. Lots of places where we can miss the turn we know we have to make. But the road looks the same
When you have no idea in which direction are traveling. Sometimes you have to screech to a stop and acknowledge something is wrong. It is not fun to realize you are on the wrong road going nowhere you are sure of. It is not easy to admit you need directions to get where you desire to go. But that is why HE GAVE TO US THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT. Now all we need is to listen and obey. That too is hard...sometimes.
selah
bob