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RHEMA 7/05/09 BREAKING OUT OF THE BOX
HEARD: Where do we go from here? Which way
is up?
PIX: I saw a cardboard box on the sidewalk.
And then the walls fell flat. It was a flattened out
piece of cardboard.
HEARD: Breakthrough out of the box.
COMMENTS: This rhema reminds me of the story of
the Box Turtle who was kept in a box as a pet. The Lord
gave that story to me recently through quickened eye
glance on the list of Most Recent Posts.
It reminds me of Jacob’s grasp and the trait that some
have in using flesh like tactics to force people to stay
within a confined place in order to make them be
available and at their beck and call. This can happen
in certain codependent type relationships, to be kept as
a “pet” to perform their gifts. This also includes
people who are codependent with their churches and even
jobs.
Once a person recognizes the pressures that the arm of
flesh puts on them to stay within a confined place to
perform, the Lord will reveal that we are to be God
pleasers and not men pleasers. Our gifts are for loving
service, but when the relationship of our gifts becomes
only horizontal and not vertical, where God is the
Source, it leaves God out of the picture and the person
loses their freedom and becomes confined within people’s
expectations.
PRAYER: Lord, please help Your people to come
out of their places of confinement, where they are
performing for wrong motives. Help those who are
hanging on and using the arm of flesh to control others
to perform, to see this and let go. Release Your people
Lord, and bring them into freedom to become God
pleasers. We want our gifts and talents to be freely
used for Your glory and from Your goodness. We dont
want them corrupted by the arm of flesh, but set free by
Your Spirit in right alignment with Your heart and
purposes for our lives. In Jesus Name.
1 Thess 2:4-5 NKJV
But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted
with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men,
but God who tests our hearts.
Gal 1:10 NLT
Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No,
I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to
please people, I would not be Christ's servant.
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The Story of the Box Turtle
Did you know the box turtle is the only species of
turtle
that
can completely close its shell?
My friend had one as a pet and I would visit her just to
behold its loveliness. It was the most beautiful and
magnificent creature I had ever seen. The turtle’s home
was a cardboard box in the basement. The basement also
contained a side door leading to the outside; the box
sat directly in front of that door, just five or six
feet from creation.
For weeks, our routine was always the same. I would
knock on the door, come inside, and visit with our
turtle. But one day all of that changed. My friend met
me at the door with sadness in her voice and tears in
her eyes. Our beloved turtle had escaped! I came inside
to observe only an empty box.
As an adult, I learned the worst thing a person could do
when encountering a box turtle is to try to keep it as a
pet. The most humane action is to let them roam freely
in the earth. Their domain is the size of a football
field and if not disturbed or displaced, they will
remain in this space throughout their existence.
I suppose that from the moment we met, our turtle was
planning his escape; his spirit desired only to be free,
and the box he found himself in was too small to become
a permanent home. I’m sure he observed us come and go,
and when he got ready, he told himself it’s time to
return to creation. He had work to do that didn’t
involve being trapped in a cage; his life was outside
that side door.
As a child, I missed him greatly, but as a woman, I
understand his plight. I’ve encountered circumstances,
people, jobs, and situations that attempted to hold me
hostage, separate me from the work I’ve been created to
do, and prevent me from occupying the territory I’m
supposed to occupy. And like the turtle, I stared those
things in the face and secretly planned a way of escape.
I looked to the door of hope and sensing the light,
moved forward towards my prepared place. And having
found green pasture, I rest peacefully in an open space
created just for me..”
{author unknown} |
