Thursday, January 24, 2013

What's Life Without a Little Chocolate?

"We must pay more careful attention therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."
Hebrews 2:1-4

Sometimes I catch myself believing other people's teachings and other people's philosophies before I seek God's Word. The author of Hebrews called his readers to pay attention to the truth they had heard so that they wouldn't drift into false teachings.

Growing up in my comfortable Southern Baptist Church was a great beginning to my Christian faith. I learned how to spend time with God, how to worship, how to lead worship, and how to lead younger guys. Moving to college was such a growing experience for me as I moved out of my small town bubble. The four years I spent at Arkansas Tech University were so important in my Christian life. I had strong faith and a background belief that I held strong to, and Satan was not going to sit back and let Jesus thrive in my life. They began to compete for my heart, and I didn't even realize it. I wasn't paying attention to the lies Satan began whispering into my ears. I just thought I was doing the right thing and being a normal college student.

It wasn't until I moved to Fayetteville that the mud was washed from my eyes and the horrific sin of the past four years was revealed. I had encountered Jesus in a whole new way. I truly believe that my salvation occurred when I was 12, but going through everything that I encountered in Russellville led up to an incredible slap in the face from Jesus Himself.  I began seeking Jesus like never before. I learned and researched in depth who the Holy Spirit is and what He does and what He is capable of. My attitude and desires completely changed. My heart completely changed.

Tonight I have the amazing opportunity to preach at Camp War Eagle's 365 program. I will be speaking to a group of high school kids about Luke 12:8-12. While preparing for the talk, one of the Ozone leaders gave me a visual to use to help the kids understand the Holy Spirit's purpose. I wrote it down and didn't think much about it until this week. I realized that this described me perfectly the past four years.

The visual goes like this: You have glass of milk. Then you pour chocolate syrup in it. The milk represents a person, and the syrup in the milk represents the Holy Spirit. If you just squirt the chocolate into the milk and leave it there, it doesn't change anything. You have to stir it. And once you do stir it a few times, you can't just be done with it. The chocolate syrup will separate from the milk and sit at the bottom of the cup if it left alone for a few days. You have to constantly stir the milk. Likewise, you have to constantly stir up the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work through you. When you do this, you will produce the fruits of the Spirit. And just like you can visually see a difference in the milk, people will visually see a difference in you because of the Spirit's fruits.

I say all this because, the glass of milk with the chocolate syrup on the botton was me. There were occasional moments in my life where my cup was stirred and the sweet taste from within was distributed, but I would often times, without knowing it, neglect the Holy Spirit and His sweetness would disappear and the faint bitterness of the milk would return.

Make sure you're asking the Holy Spirit for guidance and allowing to overflow from your heart.

Here's to a glance at a day in my life,
Derick

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