June 8, 2008, Praises Along the Way- Ten Virgins

People say to me, “I don’t know how you do it!” I say, “God! His grace is truly sufficient for me.” Yielding to his Holy Spirit living in me guiding me, comforting me, giving me life.

Many times in scripture his Holy Spirit is symbolized by oil.

Sunday we were discussing Matthew chapter 25. In the beginning of chapter 25, Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins and their OIL lamps. Five were foolish and weren’t prepared for the bridegroom (Jesus) to come and five were wise and were prepared having their wicks trimmed and their lamps full of OIL.

It was brought to my attention that these were all virgins, all Christians. They were all waiting and knew that the bridegroom was coming. Five took him at his word and were prepared and the other five for whatever reason were not.

This is a warning to me and all of us that when the Holy Spirit points his finger in an area of my life and says, “Come here, let me help you with that, or let me do this or that in your life.” I should respond to him immediately. If I want my wick trimmed and my lamp filled with oil. If I want to be wise and ready for his coming then I will allow the Holy Spirit to fill me and do the work he wants to do and not resist because of what my eyes see. There is cost involved though, I have to lay down my pride and allow him free access no matter what.

How foolish would I be to go this road I’m walking alone trying to figure things out on my own, refusing to let the Spirit lead and guide. Rebelling against his work in my life because it hurt my pride or inconvenienced me. NO WAY!! I need you Holy Spirit! Have your way and work in my life! I give you free reign so that when Jesus appears I am ready to go! Even as I’m writing this I know I will be tested in the near future!

The lie of the enemy is procrastination. There’s always tomorrow to respond to God, just kick back and relax and enjoy the day doing things your own way and what feels good, he’ll forgive you. Daily the Holy Spirit comes to the Christian and says, “Let’s work on this, let’s get rid of that, I want you to humble yourself here... " it goes on and on until we are prepared for our eternity with Him. Time is against us and the supply will not always be there readily available. Listen and yeild NOW!

Case in point, Matthew 25:10-12, the virgins go to buy the oil and by the time they get back the door is shut and the Lord says in verse 12 “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” Sure the oil was still available but they had to go somewhere and buy it, they had to have money and at that point even their money and the oil did them no good. I don’t know about you but I think I want to be on the inside at the wedding banquet and I want it to be a BIG PARTY!

Holy Spirit, help me through these light and momentary troubles right now so that I won’t have to live with an eternity of regret. Change me, shape me, mold me into whatever you have in mind for me, I’m sure I will be beautiful when you are done to the praise of your glory, AMEN!

All glory to you, Jesus, YOU are my source! YOU ARE HOW IT'S DONE!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kristi- Danni is still in my prayers. One day we will all know what God's plan is for her. I think right now his plan is that you are touching so many of us with your blogs. This pass weekend the Holy Spirit was definitely in Florida. My son graduated high school when a year ago we were not sure if it was going to be possible. And Sunday afternoon we watched as our minister's oldest son became our third pastor of our church. It was very emotional service not just for his family, but also us in the service. He is the 5th generation of Lutheran ministers.

God Bless you today and every day.

Tiffany Y said...

Hello,
I am a reporter for the News-Sun, working out of the LaGrange office. I heard Danni's story through friends and was wondering if you and her would be interested in doing an interview with me this story to tie into Relay for Life this weekend.
If you could let me know either way, asap, I would appreciate it. You can contact me at the office at 463-4081, on my cell phone at (812) 345-1830, or via e-mail at tiffanyy@kpcnews.net.
Thank you,
Tiffany Yoder, Staff reporter
The News-Sun

Anonymous said...

I ran across your blog searching for some picture material for the concept of My Yoke Is Light. I am touched by the content and faith being expressed Danni's story. I want to use it in an upcoming Sunday worship service that focusses on The Yoke is Light because Jesus has made our lives clean and clear. God bless you all.