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God has been showing so much to me in the past couple months, and some of the things that He is I feel would be good to share. I have taken so long to write this because it is going to be very hard to put in words, so please bear with me as some words may confuse you.
A couple weeks ago I was looking for something to read and opened randomly to Zechariah. I started to read in chapter 2, where it talks about "A Man With A Measuring Line". I put the verses that I read below.
"Then I looked up and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! I asked, "Where are you going?"
He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and long it is."
Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him: "Run, tell that young man, 'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the Lord, 'and I will be its glory within.'
Zechariah 2:1-5
You can continue to read the rest of the chapter if you want to, it can also speak to people in many ways, but I felt lead to write about these 5 verses specifically. God showed me some really awesome things within these verses that aren't directely in the words.
First, let Jerusalem represent your heart. When the man is trying to find out how long and wide the city is he could build a wall around it, it is just like seeing how much room you have in your heart for others, and caring about others. Its like you are measuring your heart, so you know where to fill your heart with material things instead of Godly things. So you know where to build up walls that are temporary and not real. But, we have to realize that we have to completely trust God with this "Wall of Fire" that he talks about in these verses.
We all have this wall of fire around our hearts as Christians, protecting us from the enemy and attacks of the enemy. This fire can only come from God, and we can only truely build this wall with knowing Him and knowing His Word. How does fire burn? It needs to use wood as its fuel right? But not only does it need to use that fuel, it needs to have dry fuel. If the fuel, the wood, is wet, it doesn't really do the fire much good, in fact the fire will start to die down a little bit, start to dwindle. And maybe the fire has never been started at all. Maybe you have never taken the step that needs to be taken for your own good, for your own protection. That fire has to be started with dry fuel that can burn, and continue to burn. So this goes to show that we need to have dry wood stored up in our heart, ready to se to fuel the fire that protects us.
So what is the dry fuel that we need so much? It is knowing God's Word. Its prayer. Its about a relationship with our Creator. And not just in times of need. If our fire has never been lit, or never grown, we can just throw a fire starter into it or something that will burn very bright that makes the fire grow almost immediately. Because then what happens after that? The fire will die down, after that one thing that temporarily helped the fire, that protecting fire will be worse off than before. It will be even more hurt than before. You won't want to try to build up that fire again, because you see how small it has become. You want to give up.
So how can we avoid this? By haveing that fuel stored up in our hearts. You see, a fire needs many elements to survive. It needs many different kinds of wood, many kinds of fuel. You just can't have prayer knowing the Word. You can't know the Word and not have a prayer life. It takes many things. It takes that prayer, knowldege of The Word, a strong relationship with God on all levels. It needs you to do everything if it's going to become successful.
If you are feeding your fire with wet fuel, with wet wood, it won't benifit it at all. What is wet fuel? It has been prone to the rain, the snow, to nature. It doesn' burn like the dry fuel. It can't. It has been exposed to too much and continues to be pounded by the elements of nature. Isn't this the same with us? If we are prone to the attacks of the enemy, our fuel isn't as effective. It isn't stored in a safe place like it's supposed to be. It's just laying our there, in nature, in the middle of everything, waiting for anything or anybody to do whatever they want to it.
You see, the enemy wants to do this too us. He wants to hurt us, to make our fuel ineffective, and then to throw that onto the fire that Christ is trying to build around our hearts. But Christ already did His part in it it. He started the fire. Now, are you ready to build it up? Fire grows and dwindles. It can burn brightly, or be just some hot coals that have become almost nothing. This is why this fire is so important to us, why we need to have this fuel already stored up, before times of crisis, ready to burn and protect our fragile hearts. It says in the Word that we are not to give satan a foothold in our lives, so don't let him! Store up your fuel, make sure its dry and ready to burn.
I'm going to touch on the other part of these verses also. Let the men and livestock inside of the city represent your passions. The people that you care about, the possesions that you care about. What matters most to you. When He says that because of the great number of men and livestock in the city, says that it will be a city without walls. You have to have so much compassion, you should love people so much and really have a passion for others that you dont have any room to fill any part of your heart with material things. He will be the glory within. He will. Let nothing else rule yor heart but the only one that can save your heart. You are a mighty oak. Don't let satan get to you, don't expose yourself to him and his attacks. Stay dry.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and God Bless!!
Hopefully it wasn't too confusing!
Finish the rest of your semesters strong, build up that fire, and keep your fuel dry.
Store up your fuel.
Winter is coming.
Yours in Christ,
Nate
A couple weeks ago I was looking for something to read and opened randomly to Zechariah. I started to read in chapter 2, where it talks about "A Man With A Measuring Line". I put the verses that I read below.
"Then I looked up and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! I asked, "Where are you going?"
He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and long it is."
Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him: "Run, tell that young man, 'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the Lord, 'and I will be its glory within.'
Zechariah 2:1-5
You can continue to read the rest of the chapter if you want to, it can also speak to people in many ways, but I felt lead to write about these 5 verses specifically. God showed me some really awesome things within these verses that aren't directely in the words.
First, let Jerusalem represent your heart. When the man is trying to find out how long and wide the city is he could build a wall around it, it is just like seeing how much room you have in your heart for others, and caring about others. Its like you are measuring your heart, so you know where to fill your heart with material things instead of Godly things. So you know where to build up walls that are temporary and not real. But, we have to realize that we have to completely trust God with this "Wall of Fire" that he talks about in these verses.
We all have this wall of fire around our hearts as Christians, protecting us from the enemy and attacks of the enemy. This fire can only come from God, and we can only truely build this wall with knowing Him and knowing His Word. How does fire burn? It needs to use wood as its fuel right? But not only does it need to use that fuel, it needs to have dry fuel. If the fuel, the wood, is wet, it doesn't really do the fire much good, in fact the fire will start to die down a little bit, start to dwindle. And maybe the fire has never been started at all. Maybe you have never taken the step that needs to be taken for your own good, for your own protection. That fire has to be started with dry fuel that can burn, and continue to burn. So this goes to show that we need to have dry wood stored up in our heart, ready to se to fuel the fire that protects us.
So what is the dry fuel that we need so much? It is knowing God's Word. Its prayer. Its about a relationship with our Creator. And not just in times of need. If our fire has never been lit, or never grown, we can just throw a fire starter into it or something that will burn very bright that makes the fire grow almost immediately. Because then what happens after that? The fire will die down, after that one thing that temporarily helped the fire, that protecting fire will be worse off than before. It will be even more hurt than before. You won't want to try to build up that fire again, because you see how small it has become. You want to give up.
So how can we avoid this? By haveing that fuel stored up in our hearts. You see, a fire needs many elements to survive. It needs many different kinds of wood, many kinds of fuel. You just can't have prayer knowing the Word. You can't know the Word and not have a prayer life. It takes many things. It takes that prayer, knowldege of The Word, a strong relationship with God on all levels. It needs you to do everything if it's going to become successful.
If you are feeding your fire with wet fuel, with wet wood, it won't benifit it at all. What is wet fuel? It has been prone to the rain, the snow, to nature. It doesn' burn like the dry fuel. It can't. It has been exposed to too much and continues to be pounded by the elements of nature. Isn't this the same with us? If we are prone to the attacks of the enemy, our fuel isn't as effective. It isn't stored in a safe place like it's supposed to be. It's just laying our there, in nature, in the middle of everything, waiting for anything or anybody to do whatever they want to it.
You see, the enemy wants to do this too us. He wants to hurt us, to make our fuel ineffective, and then to throw that onto the fire that Christ is trying to build around our hearts. But Christ already did His part in it it. He started the fire. Now, are you ready to build it up? Fire grows and dwindles. It can burn brightly, or be just some hot coals that have become almost nothing. This is why this fire is so important to us, why we need to have this fuel already stored up, before times of crisis, ready to burn and protect our fragile hearts. It says in the Word that we are not to give satan a foothold in our lives, so don't let him! Store up your fuel, make sure its dry and ready to burn.
I'm going to touch on the other part of these verses also. Let the men and livestock inside of the city represent your passions. The people that you care about, the possesions that you care about. What matters most to you. When He says that because of the great number of men and livestock in the city, says that it will be a city without walls. You have to have so much compassion, you should love people so much and really have a passion for others that you dont have any room to fill any part of your heart with material things. He will be the glory within. He will. Let nothing else rule yor heart but the only one that can save your heart. You are a mighty oak. Don't let satan get to you, don't expose yourself to him and his attacks. Stay dry.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and God Bless!!
Hopefully it wasn't too confusing!
Finish the rest of your semesters strong, build up that fire, and keep your fuel dry.
Store up your fuel.
Winter is coming.
Yours in Christ,
Nate