Kerosene Spill - Slippery Slope

Last Saturday it was near 60 degrees out - great weather to help the curb appeal for the house and get some stuff packed out of the garage!  However, what is the FIRST thing I find in the the garage - a kerosene spill!

It seems that our kerosene container was tipped sideways and the air hole side let kerosene drip out slowly onto the floor!

This is an hour-long set-back I wasn't expecting. I quickly got the bounty towels and began to clean the spill but oddly I found myself slipping and sliding all over the place as I walked in it.  I had to put down folded boxes on the floor just to walk without slipping.  It was just as slippery as ice!

Is there any lesson in this?  Well, kerosens is used mostly for lighting, heating, cooking and it is even used for transportation so it's very useful indeed.  However, when spilled on a painted concrete floor it becomes useless and as slippery as ice.

Our walk with God should be like kerosene when it is used properly.  When our walk with Jesus is right, then we become the fuel to light the way for others to comes to salvation.  Light is necessary for not only life, but for growth as well.  We were given a Herodian lamp just like this one when we were living in Israel.  These are the oil lamps most likely used in the parabable of the watchful servants from Luke 12:35-36

 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him."

Being a fuel burning light for the Lord is very important;  Luke 11:33-36 says,

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.  Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness.  See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.  Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

When we are a light to others of God's unfailing love and his faithfulness in our lives, then we become like Jesus because he said of himself,

^"In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

 (John 1:4-5)

"While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)

Our testimony can warm up a cold heart toward God.  

But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
    indeed, I cannot."  Jeremiah 20:9

Saul was a man who had a heart after the God in his early years.  Because of that, God blessed him and he became the first king of Israel.  However, he slowly let his heart grow cold toward things of God which was to his own demise.  In contrast, Acts chapter 2 records the first sermon which was told by the Apostle Peter.  He gives his testimony as he is filled, burning with the Holy Spirit and in that day, three thousand people come into the kingdom of God!

Perhaps we can become the fuel to feed the hungry soul concerning God's Words in discipleship or Bible Study.  Jesus speaks of himself in John:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)

God's taught word is our spiritual food.  Just as the body cannot live without food - and the very basic food for mankind has always been a type of bread, so it is fitting for the Lord to use bread in the allageny.  The bread I'm speaking of was called manna, which basically meant "what is it?"  During the 40 years the children of Israel were wandering in the desert God fed them from the skies with manna.

Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;
 he rained down manna for the people to eat,
    he gave them the grain of heaven.
 Human beings ate the bread of angels;
    he sent them all the food they could eat. (Psalm 78:23-35)

Interesting is it that this manna wouldn't last the night.  Talk about throwing away bread!  The next day the manna was moldy and they would have to go out every day and get more.  The only time it would last more than a day was on the Sabbath - on the Sabbath it would last so the people wouldn't have to get more.  Every day and every week they were witnessing a miracle.

Our hungry soul needs manna from heaven.  Not just once a week, but daily.  We need our daily dose and on Sundays a whole heaping more because it's the only kind of bread that will last an eternity.

This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:58)

Lastly, the fuel burning for Jesus inside of us will ultimately one day transport those who we have brought to the Lord heaven bound - on the glory jet in the sky.  

"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." Revelation 21:2-3

When our walk is property alligned with God's Word, we are using it propertly and we will be used as a fuel for the Lord in many ways.

However, suppose the fuel God plans to use for His glory is wasted?  Perhaps it's dripped out mindlessly onto the empty floor?  We don't use the gifts, the knowledge the Lord has given us; we simply just waste it.  The potential is there, but it all drips out before any fire is set to it.   Then it's good for nothing except to be cleaned up and thrown away.

When we become saved and filled with His Spirit, Jesus gives us His holy Spirit which is like the kerosene - he begins lighting a fire in our hearts and we begin our usefulness for the Kingdom of God.

What if, however, we just keep turning away from the prodding of the Spirit in our lives?  What if we sense or hear his call but we say, "Tomorrow," "Later," "Not now, I'm busy!"  "I don't think I can do that." or sadly, "NO!"  Then I fear that person is toppled over and wasting God's fuel as it drips out of their lives.  Soon,  we stop hearing the Holy Spirit or perhaps, never hear Him again. That is when our lives are walking on a slippery, icy-like floor that will just lead us to a slip-up and a great fall.

Thankfully, this is only an object lesson.  The spill can be cleaned; the canister can be set upright and the drip cease.  We can then just call on Jesus and ask him again to refill and renew our hearts to be used by his Kingdom - and he will.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." (James 4:7-10)

 http://youtubeavi.com/view-video/ZIydUt07wWw

This is actually where I feel I am right now, truthfully.  If nobody ever reads this, I know it has been written at least for my heart.  It's amazing how God does that - speaks to me through my own writings - as I think about these lessons and how they pertain to scripture.  "Thanks God!"

Truth is, I've been saved pretty much all my life and had many periods that my fuel has just been dripping out because I wasn't standing upright.  Yeah, I'm not NOT walking, but I'm not walking with FIRE as I was.  I guess I've been a bit complacent.  Since our move to Cleveland, I feel I've been slowly cooling.  Why?  I could chalk it up a busy schedule, my children's needs, my husband's schedule or a many other things but in reality - it's ALL me!  I need that fire again!

"Dear LORD Jesus,
Please hear my prayer!  I didn't realize I was writing this for myself until the end summary.  If I examine my own heart first, I instantly see the coolness it has become.  Please forgive me, send me your Holy Spirit new and afresh in my heart and begin to light the fire in my to be an effective tool in your kingdom.  There were so many things I thought I'd do for your as a young teen: missionary; public speaker; author; teacher; actress for your glory…the list goes on.  Though I feel a few of them have been touched on, I still feel like Moses waiting in the desert.  I need YOUR fire; YOUR power; YOUR strengthen to live out the rest of my days to LIFT you up.  Thank you Jesus for what you have ahead of me.  Thank you that you are always a God who can use cracked pots and empty kerosene containers.  In Jesus name, Amen"