Below is a message that came to me one night as I sat in church listening to the pastor preached. While the pastor was preaching the Holy Spirit was speaking to me and dealing with me about many things. The Lord was showing me the condition of the church, people’s heart and so many other things---it was a horrible picture. I almost burst out in tears for the church. We are in serious trouble because the Lord is coming back soon and many of us have our spiritual gas level close to empty. Many people are a step from backsliding or losing complete interest in the Lord. Let me share a little bit of what the Lord showed me.
The Lord showed me the church filled with members who come to church for ever reason but to serve the Lord. There are people who come there because it is apart of their duty, or because they are forced to show up, or because it is tradition to go to church on Sunday, or because they are afraid the Lord will punish them if they don’t go. But very few go to church to really worship the Lord or to hear what the Lord has to say to his people.
On Sunday it was almost as if the Lord was looking down and trying to find at least one person that really came with a mind to serve him and found none. Everyone is distracted when they come to church, their mind is wondering all over the place. There is no direct focus on the Lord. Many criticize the music, the musician, the preacher, and other things within the building. Some come into the house of the Lord to find faults. Some will say they sing too many slow songs or I didn’t like any of the songs they picked out or the pastor preached too long or service went over the usual 1 ½ hour or no one was paying me any attention, or they didn’t do it the way I am use to it being done, or they didn’t shout loud enough for me, or they didn’t have people of my color in the church or they are too strict, and the list goes on.
If someone comes to church and the music was off, they are mad the whole service. When did the house of God become an entertainment center? The songs are sung to glorify God and to help set the atmosphere. If we pay more attention to the words of the songs instead of the music—it wouldn’t be such a big deal if someone was off beat a little. It doesn’t matter if the preacher speaks soft or loud it is the message that we should be paying attention to. I have heard some people say if a preacher doesn’t jump all over the place and scream on the top of his lungs he didn’t preach well. God uses preachers to deliver the message in various ways…there might be some that teaches it to us, there might be some that preaches the message but with a soft tone and maybe stand in one place, and then there might be others who deliver the message with a loud voice with plenty of movement. But none is better than the other. If the Lord has given them a message it is for them to deliver it to us. And it is for us to receive the message with complaining.
If you find yourself complain too much about the church—check yourself.
If you find that you don’t get excited when they are singing songs during praise and worship----check yourself. If coming to church is a drag and a hassle---check yourself.
If you are ashamed to be called a child of God---check yourself.
If you are ashamed to socialize with other Christians---check yourself.
If you don’t see the importance of prayer anymore—check yourself.
If you don’t feel like spreading the gospel--check yourself.
If the leaders in the church have to force you to give God praise---check yourself.
If you sit down through out the whole service (when you don’t have any physical illness)—check yourself
If you are falling asleep in church----check yourself.
If you find yourself gossiping about other members—check yourself.
Many times when we fall into these categories our spiritual gas level has decrease. The pastor and leaders in the church might be the light that shows up when the tank is almost empty—telling you to get more gas. But they can’t give you the gas. They can only warn you about it and encourage you to go to the gas station, “Jesus.”
Ok let’s look at the steps you must take to get gas into your car. Let’s say you see the gas light come on and you have decided to pull over to the closes gas station to get gas. You get to the gas station and you decide what type of gas you want; regular, premium or super.
Your decision is based on four main things:
1) The quality of gas you desire for your car
2) The amount of gas you want
3) How much money you have to spend on gas
4) The distance you have to travel after getting the gas
After you make a decision of the type of gas and the amount, you would open the gas door and unscrew the top of the gas container. Then you or the gas attendant will begin fueling. For safety reasons many people turn off their car while it is fueling. When the gas pumps stops you pay for the gas you have receive and the low gas light goes away.
Now let’s take each item one at a time to see how it relates to our spiritual life.
The low gas level light:
The gas level light is programmed to appear whenever your gas tank has a certain amount of gas remaining. Your gas level that appears on the dashboard of your vehicle is connected to something inside the car that you may not be able to see. That invisible item reveals the gas level to you through the gas level scale on the dashboard. Your concern for the level of gas determines how far you can continue traveling before you run out of gas. If you are on a far journey it is always good to make sure your vehicle is filled with gas so you don’t run out of gas on a lonely deserted highway.
The pastor or anyone that the Lord allows to deliver a word to you is like the gas light that appears on your dashboard to warn you that you need to be refilled. The same way how that light gets it information from an invisible source, so does the pastor or speaker. The Lord is an invisible source that deliver warnings to an individual.
The Lord doesn’t desire for any of us to be empty but that we all remain full of His Spirit at all times. We should be fuel daily with his Spirit. The light can not give you the fuel—neither can the preacher. The light doesn’t force you to get fuel; it is up to do to take heed to the warning and go to a location where you can get refueled.
The choice to get gas right way or wait longer:
Now there is the choice that you have to make, you can ignore the warning or you can obey it and get gas. The choice you make will determine the outcome. You will either be broken down on the side of the street few miles down or you will be filled with fuel and arrive at your destination on time.
If you choose to ignore the warning that has been sent your way you will be the one that has to suffer the consequences. Ignoring the warning can make the situation worst and can cause harm.
Which quality gas to get:
When you are choosing the quality of gas, you think about how much you value your car. If you want the best for your car you will get the best quality gas—super. For my car I want it to drive smoothly and perform well so I make sure I get the best gas at all times, despite the cost.
If you value your salvation you don’t want anything else to enter into your life but the best. You won’t settle for anything, no matter the cost.
How much gas you get:
The amount of gas you get determines how far you can go after you leave the gas pump. If we want to go all the way with Jesus, we have to full it up or else we will have to pull over again to get more gas.
Opening up the door to receive the gas:
In order for us to receive the fuel we have to open up our heart door for the Lord to pour out His Spirit in us. If you go to the alter and shut your heart door, what good would that be? In order to receive we have to open the door to let Him in.
Turning off the car while it is being fueled:
The importance of turning off the car while it is being fuel is to prevent the gas from spilling into other areas where it can cause an explosion. The same way it is with us, when the Lord is refueling us we need to turn off everything around us and let Him have his way. We should humble ourselves and surrender our all to Him.
The payment for the gas:
I am so glad that Jesus paid it all on Calvary. For that reason we don’t have to get a quarter tank or half tank of fuel but we can full it up because Jesus has already paid the price. Jesus wants to fill us completely with His Spirit but we have to let Him know. Some of us settle for half tanks and wander why in a week or so we are back to empty.
Coming to church on Sunday may fuel your tank half way but when you attend Bible Study, Prayer meeting, and have your own personal devotion with the Lord your tank will always remain full because you are constantly gaining fuel.
And the removal of the light once your gas level has increased a certain level:
Once we have increased our fuel level the warning light will be removed and we don’t have panic about running out of fuel until next time.
Closing the gas tank door after you finish fueling:
A very important thing to remember is to always close your gas tank door after you finish receiving fuel. If the door remains open it can cause contamination, or objects to enter or the gas may spill out.
We don’t want anything to contaminate or steal the fuel the Lord has given us, so make sure you close the door.
After reading this blog entry I want you to really sit down and think about your life and where you are spiritually in God. Where is your “gas level?” Make sure that you are filled with the Spirit of God at all times because the journey we are on is long; we have to make sure we don’t break down on the side of the road. So before you take another step further CHECK YOUR SPIRITUAL GAS LEVEL.
The Lord showed me the church filled with members who come to church for ever reason but to serve the Lord. There are people who come there because it is apart of their duty, or because they are forced to show up, or because it is tradition to go to church on Sunday, or because they are afraid the Lord will punish them if they don’t go. But very few go to church to really worship the Lord or to hear what the Lord has to say to his people.
On Sunday it was almost as if the Lord was looking down and trying to find at least one person that really came with a mind to serve him and found none. Everyone is distracted when they come to church, their mind is wondering all over the place. There is no direct focus on the Lord. Many criticize the music, the musician, the preacher, and other things within the building. Some come into the house of the Lord to find faults. Some will say they sing too many slow songs or I didn’t like any of the songs they picked out or the pastor preached too long or service went over the usual 1 ½ hour or no one was paying me any attention, or they didn’t do it the way I am use to it being done, or they didn’t shout loud enough for me, or they didn’t have people of my color in the church or they are too strict, and the list goes on.
If someone comes to church and the music was off, they are mad the whole service. When did the house of God become an entertainment center? The songs are sung to glorify God and to help set the atmosphere. If we pay more attention to the words of the songs instead of the music—it wouldn’t be such a big deal if someone was off beat a little. It doesn’t matter if the preacher speaks soft or loud it is the message that we should be paying attention to. I have heard some people say if a preacher doesn’t jump all over the place and scream on the top of his lungs he didn’t preach well. God uses preachers to deliver the message in various ways…there might be some that teaches it to us, there might be some that preaches the message but with a soft tone and maybe stand in one place, and then there might be others who deliver the message with a loud voice with plenty of movement. But none is better than the other. If the Lord has given them a message it is for them to deliver it to us. And it is for us to receive the message with complaining.
If you find yourself complain too much about the church—check yourself.
If you find that you don’t get excited when they are singing songs during praise and worship----check yourself. If coming to church is a drag and a hassle---check yourself.
If you are ashamed to be called a child of God---check yourself.
If you are ashamed to socialize with other Christians---check yourself.
If you don’t see the importance of prayer anymore—check yourself.
If you don’t feel like spreading the gospel--check yourself.
If the leaders in the church have to force you to give God praise---check yourself.
If you sit down through out the whole service (when you don’t have any physical illness)—check yourself
If you are falling asleep in church----check yourself.
If you find yourself gossiping about other members—check yourself.
Many times when we fall into these categories our spiritual gas level has decrease. The pastor and leaders in the church might be the light that shows up when the tank is almost empty—telling you to get more gas. But they can’t give you the gas. They can only warn you about it and encourage you to go to the gas station, “Jesus.”
Ok let’s look at the steps you must take to get gas into your car. Let’s say you see the gas light come on and you have decided to pull over to the closes gas station to get gas. You get to the gas station and you decide what type of gas you want; regular, premium or super.
Your decision is based on four main things:
1) The quality of gas you desire for your car
2) The amount of gas you want
3) How much money you have to spend on gas
4) The distance you have to travel after getting the gas
After you make a decision of the type of gas and the amount, you would open the gas door and unscrew the top of the gas container. Then you or the gas attendant will begin fueling. For safety reasons many people turn off their car while it is fueling. When the gas pumps stops you pay for the gas you have receive and the low gas light goes away.
Now let’s take each item one at a time to see how it relates to our spiritual life.
The low gas level light:
The gas level light is programmed to appear whenever your gas tank has a certain amount of gas remaining. Your gas level that appears on the dashboard of your vehicle is connected to something inside the car that you may not be able to see. That invisible item reveals the gas level to you through the gas level scale on the dashboard. Your concern for the level of gas determines how far you can continue traveling before you run out of gas. If you are on a far journey it is always good to make sure your vehicle is filled with gas so you don’t run out of gas on a lonely deserted highway.
The pastor or anyone that the Lord allows to deliver a word to you is like the gas light that appears on your dashboard to warn you that you need to be refilled. The same way how that light gets it information from an invisible source, so does the pastor or speaker. The Lord is an invisible source that deliver warnings to an individual.
The Lord doesn’t desire for any of us to be empty but that we all remain full of His Spirit at all times. We should be fuel daily with his Spirit. The light can not give you the fuel—neither can the preacher. The light doesn’t force you to get fuel; it is up to do to take heed to the warning and go to a location where you can get refueled.
The choice to get gas right way or wait longer:
Now there is the choice that you have to make, you can ignore the warning or you can obey it and get gas. The choice you make will determine the outcome. You will either be broken down on the side of the street few miles down or you will be filled with fuel and arrive at your destination on time.
If you choose to ignore the warning that has been sent your way you will be the one that has to suffer the consequences. Ignoring the warning can make the situation worst and can cause harm.
Which quality gas to get:
When you are choosing the quality of gas, you think about how much you value your car. If you want the best for your car you will get the best quality gas—super. For my car I want it to drive smoothly and perform well so I make sure I get the best gas at all times, despite the cost.
If you value your salvation you don’t want anything else to enter into your life but the best. You won’t settle for anything, no matter the cost.
How much gas you get:
The amount of gas you get determines how far you can go after you leave the gas pump. If we want to go all the way with Jesus, we have to full it up or else we will have to pull over again to get more gas.
Opening up the door to receive the gas:
In order for us to receive the fuel we have to open up our heart door for the Lord to pour out His Spirit in us. If you go to the alter and shut your heart door, what good would that be? In order to receive we have to open the door to let Him in.
Turning off the car while it is being fueled:
The importance of turning off the car while it is being fuel is to prevent the gas from spilling into other areas where it can cause an explosion. The same way it is with us, when the Lord is refueling us we need to turn off everything around us and let Him have his way. We should humble ourselves and surrender our all to Him.
The payment for the gas:
I am so glad that Jesus paid it all on Calvary. For that reason we don’t have to get a quarter tank or half tank of fuel but we can full it up because Jesus has already paid the price. Jesus wants to fill us completely with His Spirit but we have to let Him know. Some of us settle for half tanks and wander why in a week or so we are back to empty.
Coming to church on Sunday may fuel your tank half way but when you attend Bible Study, Prayer meeting, and have your own personal devotion with the Lord your tank will always remain full because you are constantly gaining fuel.
And the removal of the light once your gas level has increased a certain level:
Once we have increased our fuel level the warning light will be removed and we don’t have panic about running out of fuel until next time.
Closing the gas tank door after you finish fueling:
A very important thing to remember is to always close your gas tank door after you finish receiving fuel. If the door remains open it can cause contamination, or objects to enter or the gas may spill out.
We don’t want anything to contaminate or steal the fuel the Lord has given us, so make sure you close the door.
After reading this blog entry I want you to really sit down and think about your life and where you are spiritually in God. Where is your “gas level?” Make sure that you are filled with the Spirit of God at all times because the journey we are on is long; we have to make sure we don’t break down on the side of the road. So before you take another step further CHECK YOUR SPIRITUAL GAS LEVEL.
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