In I Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul is telling the Corinthians, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Paul is crying out, “If you have got envying and strife and division, you are walking as carnal men, not in the Spirit. You should have progressed to a place wherein I could bring you the meat you will need to stand strong in the days ahead! Brethren, if you are not walking in the Spirit then you are living in the flesh and as such, you can only endure milk.” Can you hear his cry?
The truth is, most of the Church that we see sitting in the pews today are still feeding off the milk of the Word. Very few get the meat, very few want the meat. Why? Because, once you get the meat, you are held responsible for the meat you have been given. God is calling us to put down the milk and pick up the fork and feast on the meat He is giving us!
The Refining has begun and the new breed of believers that will come out of this process will walk according to Spirit! Whether they go to the right or the left, they will go by the Spirit! Anything that interferes with that is carnal. Envying, strife and division all cause blockages.
It’s amazing how quickly we can be taken from a spiritual realm into the natural realm! I was preparing this message and praying over these passages, the blockages in our lives and so on this morning, and as I was praying, water began to flow back up my shower and bathtub drains. Fortunately, it was all soapy water because I had run the dishwater and did a load of clothes, but this wasn’t the first time it had happened, so I knew my main drain pipe was plugged up and had to be cleared. The meeting I was to teach at was to start in less than 30 minutes, but I couldn’t let the water to continue to back up into the house! I had kids in the house, no water, no toilets, so to wait until I was done was simply not going to work.
I have this little tool I picked up from Lowes; it’s for the main sewer line leading from the house to the street. It’s about the size of a large eggplant made from thick rubber, with a hole on either end. One end has a brass fitting for the hose to connect to and one for the water to shoot out once the pressure builds. You attached it to your hose, guide it into the pipe (making sure it’s heading to the street side) and turn the faucet on. The water then fills the thick rubber balloon and it begins to expand with the water until enough pressure builds that it can shoot—with a surprising amount of force—right at the blockage. It clears the path in seconds and all the water drains to the sewer system like it’s supposed to. It is a great little tool; it only cost me 15 dollars and it saves me from calling out the plumber.
I have an old house, with roots from a 60-year-old tree trying to penetrate my pipes. Needless to say, I’ve had to use this tool more than once! A plumber did some initial grinding to clear the pipe for me, but he explained that at some point, they will need to bring in the “heavy equipment” to dig up the yard and depending on how severe the root problem is, cut back roots from around the pipe itself. (My neighbors had this done—what a mess!) He assured me that the tree will survive because this far from my tree, there are unproductive roots that can be trimmed without undo harm to the tree. So, I know what the future holds here—these roots will continue to present a problem until the “heavy equipment” is called into action.
Trying to stay ‘in the Spirit,” I thought about this lesson as I went out and opened the valve to the main drain. All that dirty dish water and laundry water ran over my shoes and into the yard while I tried to shove my 15-dollar rubber balloon down the pipe to clear the path. As soapy water mingled with the dirt creating a muddy sludge, I thought, “Lord, couldn’t this wait until after my teaching?”
God has His perfect timing. He began speaking to me right there in my front yard as I stood in the middle of all that sludge. Until we take an active role in removing the roots lodged in our hearts, there will continue to be stoppages that will bring the filth back into our homes, time and time again. All the unwanted stuff we thought we were disposing of by flushing them away from our homes will return and potentially bring with it great destruction if we do not take care of the roots!
This is the season of the refining God’s people. He is giving us a window to grab hold of the meat He is giving us in this hour and instead of fighting it, consume it. Instead of creating strife, instead of getting into frustration, we need to humble ourselves and submit to what God is doing in our lives. If we don’t, when we approach the end of this season, the plumber will come and he is going to dig up our yard and cut out those roots!
What are the roots? They are roots of envy, bitterness, strive, carnality—all the roots that cause us to walk in the flesh. It is not a pleasant process, my friends, but we can lay it down at His feet now, or He is going to allow a blockage so thick, He’ll force the past to back up into our face so intensely, we’ll beg Him to take it, and the process will be costly. Or, we can come to Him, fall on our face today, and say: “Lord, have Your way in me!” Cry out to Him to clear the filth and tear away the roots that are not producing fruit, those roots that are destructive and create blockages in our lives! “Lord, every root that causes a blockage in me, in the ministry, in the Body of Christ, have Your way and drag up and dispose of those roots! I am reeling them up so You do not have to rip me apart at the end of this road!”
He wants us to lay down our flesh. He wants us to submit to the affliction, submit to our leadership, submit to the working of the Holy Spirit, submit to Him in all things and learn how to walk and maintain a life in the Spirit so that we can continue to fulfill His needs. His needs. That is what brings forth the Revelation of God! That is what brings forth the deep understanding of who God is. That is what brings you into the Holy of Holies. That is what brings you into the intimacy with God.
To be continued next week…
Blessings and Love,
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
