“WE MUST ALWAYS BE BUSY, WORKING THE WORK OF THE LORD”

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. 16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses… Isaiah 30:15-16

Sometimes it seems that the Lord is doing a lot of things in my life, sometimes nothing. During boring times, just doing my everyday household chores when nothing exciting is happening, it is easy to try to create something to do. “well, I remember how He used me to help someone last month, and i just met this similar person with a similar problem, and i’ll just do the same thing as he did before, I remember all the right scriptures…”

Remembering the last miracle I witnessed Him doing through me or someone else and trying to do just that because it works is a very easy trap to fall into. It still spells WORKS though, not walking in the Spirit.

…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zech 4:6

The real danger though, is that you might even find success in copying the things that you have seen, but you lose the relationship with Jesus. I have prayed before and seen people healed. But I once prayed a really odd prayer, “please don’t give me a super gift of healing, where everyone I lay hands on gets healed, because You know me Lord, I would have lots of success, a wonderful ministry, and forget about You.” I’ve already been successful in this world apart from Him and it was very empty and lonely, unfulfilling. Oh, it was fun like chasing a high, but always empty at the end of the day.

Jesus says we can tell people by their fruit:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matt 7:15-16

not their gifts:

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  Deut 13:1-3

and in the new testament:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,    2 Thess 2:9

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.    Gal 5:22-23

we don’t get good fruit apart from Jesus:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.   John 15:4

I have since prayed for people and they were delivered or healed but i dont have a healing/deliverance ministry, i have a following Jesus the best i can ministry. I learned something else during that time- If we bear good fruit, we get pruned! In the natural world, pruning often happens in the dormant season, I need to remember that no matter how much the Lord is doing in my life i need down time to sit with Him. It is hard to prune vines that keep running from appointment to appointment and never sit still. i have noticed that i get long dormant times if I dont take the time to sit with Jesus, sometimes its really long because it takes me awhile to figure out that He isnt mad at me but cant get my attention.  i think He allows things to come to a total halt when i get too busy, not because He is a cruel taskmaster but because He and I both know how bad i can mess things up when i go off on my own thinking i know everything and dont need Him. I am really thankful for Him doing that!

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.   John 15:1-2

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.   Luke 10:38-42

Its not always because we are out of His will or not following Him that we can experience quiet times. times that it seems He is doing nothing in our lives, or through us, are not unusual, the children of Israel went through “down time”

And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.  So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.  And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.  At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.  And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not.  And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.  And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.  Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.  At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.   Num 9:15-23

Sometimes its really difficult to do to just sit and wait on the Lord. Its much easier to just follow ordinances and rules thinking that is what God wants.

the next paragraph is about following the rules vs. listening to Jesus:

Several years ago I had the task of potty-training my young children. We were tired of diapers and attacked this new thing diligently. My children were quick to learn, thank you Lord, but i remember one in particular. She learned “go potty” really easily, then we set onto the task of flushing the toilet when she was done.This child was so set on doing everything in her life just right, she just couldn’t wait to learn new things and do them just exactly like i explained them. Every time she went potty she flushed with vigor. This child was no problem to raise, just tell her what you want and she does it! We only had one bathroom in those days, though, and one day i was in the shower when she needed to use the toilet. I said, “sure, you can come go potty, just don’t flush the toilet when you’re done cause mommy’s in the shower.” This child got really upset and as she was flushing the toilet, she said, “YOU SAID WE HAVE TO FLUSH EVERY TIME WE USE IT!!”
Boy that was one hot shower! It took me several weeks to convince the child that rules are rules but we need to do what mommy says.

I thought about my walk with the Lord that day. About how He doesn’t just give us a list of rules and go away, but that life is a walk with Him . Different stuff happened every day and i needed to follow, not a list of rules, but Him. Was i moveable? Sometimes i found myself going over everything that I had learned before with the Lord, and trying to make sure i got it right, make sure next time it came up i would do better. Sometimes instead of waiting to see what He wants to do today we find good things to do. Or if, heaven forbid, we didn’t get a yes answer to our last prayers, we remember how he fixed our problems the last time, and try to copy that.

In the New testament Jesus emphasizes a walk with Him, like His walk with God.

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.   John 12:49

For in him we live, and move, and have our being;    Acts 17:28

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.    John 15:4

Galatians is a good book to read if you find yourself back in works instead of walking in the Spirit, you probably wont like it though, i didn’t at first.

When i got caught up in the doctrine of naming and claiming, and confessing positive things over and over, i remember being so hungry for the quickened Word of God, Jesus the lover of my soul. Also I remembered that if a man stops eating, after a while he ceases to be hungry and must force himself to eat again. sometimes even after we have repented and begun to try to obey the Lord again the bible can be so dry. At first I began a week of just making myself read one or two scriptures in the morning. Then the next week I would spend 10 minutes reading in the Gospels about Jesus every day. I began to get hungry again. it became a joy again. I began reading again to see what He is like, what makes Him smile, what makes Him cry? What makes Him angry? not the rules and regulations, but I wanted to see Jesus again, I remembered if I read the word, the Word would quicken me, even if it took a lot of seeking. Jesus said seek and you will find. Then I became more and more hungry as I turned to Him with a repentant heart, seeking His face instead of always His hands and what they could do for me, just thanking the Father for His wonderful Son, and thanking Jesus for showing me my Awesome Father, and thanking Him for paying the horrible price it cost Him. He returned to me, I was able to hear Him again.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  Isaiah 57:15

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.      John 1:14