Monday, September 18, 2017

You Gotta Break it Open

Luke 7:37-38King James Version (KJV)

37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Every cliche is out there...can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs...can't fix a system without breaking some rules...we even call those moments in our lives when we exceed our expectations as BREAKTHROUGHS.  Breaking isn't always a bad thing.  Breaking can lead to good things.  And when it comes to praising God, you gotta break it open.
The story above is a familiar one to most believers.  A woman of questionable reputation, at least of questionable reputation to the men who were condemning her, came into a dinner and proceeded to anoint the feet of Jesus with perfume from a pricey, alabaster box.  She was so overwhelmed with her adoration of Him, that she mixed her tears into the perfume and wiped the excess with her hair.
Part of the story that gets over looked is the preparation and care...there was the perfume, encased in an expensive container.  It had to be purchased so the money had to be earned.  This wasn't an object that everyone just had sitting around.  It was acquired with intent.  Maybe she didn't know at the time, but it was still demonstration of an act of purpose.
Then, there was finding a time and a space to do this act.  She had to be near Jesus and He had to be in a posture to receive the gesture.  She had to follow Him to know when the time was right.  She couldn't have done it while He was walking.  She couldn't have done it while He was preaching or healing.  She had to wait for the right time for Him to receive it.  She had to give this gift when it was right for Him even though it wasn't ideal for her.  She had to sacrifice her comfort for His honor.
And then, there was getting at the praise.  She could have just presented the box, but instead, she broke it open and poured out the blessing on Him.  She bathed His feet in the sweet smelling perfume and overwhelmed, added her own tears to the effort.
Praising God 'in spirit and in truth' takes preparation, attention, sacrifice and brokenness. We have to be in a state of God consciousness where we prepare ourselves for His presence.  God doesn't want to be an afterthought in our lives.  He also doesn't want to be limited to the safety net in our lives.  He wants us to walk as living epistles and living sacrifices.  We have to get up every day and choose Him. Like the virgins and the oil lamps, we have to stay ready so that when the opportunity is right with Him, we are able and available.
Part of staying ready is serving when it works for Him.  We shouldn't try to limit our time with God to when it's convenient for us.  That's not how sovereignty works.  The Sovereign chooses, not the servant.  So, yeah, that need to praise may be at exactly the one time we don't want to do it.  But, do we serve or are we served?
And we've got to break it open.  If we've walked with believers for any period of time, we've heard the phrase 'like fire shut up in my bones'.  Well, the only benefit from fire is when we let it out to do something.  Want light?  We have to uncover the fire.  Want heat?  We have to uncover the fire.  Even if we want it to power something, the fire has to be stoked and open to the air to do work and we've got to let it heat up something for the work to begin.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, break open the box.  Stop withholding praise from God who deserves it.  Make room in your lives for Him.  Go ahead and give in to loving Him.  He's worthy of it and He's faithful.  Love expressed toward God is not love lost.  It becomes love multiplied.
Why do we hold back?  Pride?  People will talk anyway.  Greed?  The box was never intended for us...do we really want to steal from God?  Ungrateful?  If you're reading this, that's probably not true.  Fear?  It's probably a concentrated form of pride.
Break open the box.  Go ahead and cry.  Go ahead and bathe Him in your love.  Nothing has been withheld by God for you.  He gave His Son for each and everyone of us.  It is safe to break open and praise God.
Break open the box.  Go ahead and praise Him openly, sloppily, unrestrained. That 'thing' that has been a hindrance, that thing that has stopped your growth, it may well be on the other side of that wall that hinders your praise.
Break through.  Break open the box.
Lifeline is produced from the Evangelistic Ministry of 
Fellowship Church 455 Ga Highway 138 W. in Jonesboro, GA. 
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Min. Robinson posts entries on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the mailing, or for questions and comments, tweet (@evangeliststeff) or send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com.You can find previous messages on the Lifeline Blog (www.lifelineatfellowship.blogspot.com). 

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