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Stick in the Mud

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John 5:19 Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud and opened the man’s eyes.

You have heard the idiomatic saying, “don’t be a stick in the mud,” which refers to someone who is considered boring, due to unpopular or outdated beliefs. Oswald Chambers writes: “One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own temperament, (personality). We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first ting we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention what soever to our natural desires. We have to idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself.”

Recently we were praying at church and my wife observed that when the water is shallow it is easily muddied. Thus we began praying that God would raise the depth of the River of the Spirit in our Church, and in our people. In shallow water it is hard to float, and hard to enjoy. Attempts at getting beneath the surface are impossible being that you are already at the surface. Even if you could get beneath the surface, the water would be so muddy you couldn’t see a thing.

Jesus commanded us to “Come follow Me!” (Luke 18:22) He did not give us the choice to remain stuck fast in the mud of shallowness. Besides those who remain stuck fast, unwilling to change their beliefs, cannot see that their natural desires actually prevent them from seeing where Jesus is going. Remaining stuck in the mud, of spiritual shallowness, only gives you the illusion that you are following Jesus. But anyone who has waded from the shore of natural temperament and plunged beneath the surface will see that Jesus mixes up the mud of self-centeredness to free us from the crooked sticks that we are. In the depths of the Waters of His Spirit we are free to dive deep beyond the shallowness of surface living and see where, and Who Jesus is. Lastly, it’s nearly impossible for a stick to dive deep beneath the waters – for it will always have a tendency to float. But combine the weight of the Spirit upon it and the stick transforms into a vessel for the wonder and Glory of its Creator.

Confession & Declaration 25

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1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, 20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.

Scripture records that in our salvation Jesus’ Blood is recreating us to be His Temple. But there’s more. John 14:21, 23 states: The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.].…23 Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.

Because you are His Temple, and His Word is finding its home in you, Jesus promises that He is going to reveal Himself to you (make Himself to be clearly seen). Not only that, His Temple is His Home. The Godhead are making their Home in little ol’ you!

Pastor Matthew Redder amply stated: Have you ever shopped at Home Depot? Lowes? Or some other home repair-improvement type store? If you have you’ve inevitably seen the piles of lumber tossed aside that are broken, cracked, warped, crooked, or just plain look bad. These piles of lumber go ignored as faithful builders go for the ‘perfect’ building materials. After all, who in their right mind would ever use “bad” materials to build a house? You just don’t do that – you don’t start with a bad foundation because you know it won’t last. So it’s funny that Jesus builds a very different way. He uses the crooked sticks, the broken sticks, the lame lumber, the stuff that everyone else is looking past and in many cases tosses aside. It’s almost like he DELIGHTS in using materials that everyone else thinks are ‘useless’. It’s almost like he’s loading up his proverbial cart with all the crooked, broken, and warped wood that he can and he’s parading it around – inviting others to question his decision making. “How are you going to build a house with THAT!?!” “Are you blind? That wood is warped, you’ll never pass inspection!” “There is a huge pile of perfectly good material over there, use that.” You can almost hear Jesus’ voice, “No, I’m going to build my house. And nothing is going to stop me.”… “These crooked, warped, broken pieces of wood are perfect and they’re are all mine.” And off he goes, building the spiritual house, one broken stick at a time. One warped 2×4 at a time. One rotten floor joist at a time. And believe me, IN CHRIST we will all pass the inspection as we stand redeemed and justified in HIM alone. What a beautiful picture of the grace of God through the redemption of His son.

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:4-5

Declaration 25: My Great High Priest I come before you clothed in Your Priestly garments offering to You my spiritual sacrifice of praise and worship. By and through Your Precious Blood I have been made holy but even great than that Your Kingdom exists inside of me. I am Your Temple, and Your Spiritual House. Thank You Jesus that as I align my life with Your Word in Obedience You make Yourself Known to me. You become real to me. You said in Your Word that if the people didn’t praise You that the rocks would cry out. Well now its my turn as Your living stone to cry out. I cry out that, “I have been made worthy by the Blood of the Lamb to be His Temple!” I cry out that, “I am Jesus’ priest forever!” I cry out that, “The Godhead resides within me!” I cry out, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!” I cry out, “Jesus chose a crooked, rotten, broken, cracked and plain life like mine to build His House in!” I cry out, “I have passed inspection as I stand redeemed and justified in Jesus alone!” I cry out, “Nothing is stopping my Master Builder Jesus, as He raises His House in me!” Nothing is going to stop Him! Nothing can stop Him. I am His and He is mine! I cry out, “Hallelujah, thank You Jesus! Thank You Jesus!”