When is enough enough? My effort can feed new spiritual growth, but lacks power to cleanse wrong choices. It is possible to pray, read life-giving books, hear sermons, watch YouTube content, gather with believers, and all types of spiritual effort and miss the point. Am I there and satisfied with my effort to be WITH Him, no, but when I see God’s zeal toward me, I’m changed. He never quits on me. My feelings or thoughts don’t make him leave. Do my choices limit His active, unfailing love towards me? His passion means He’s active and guiding me always.
So the annoying “fly” buzzes and says, “hey are you walking with God this very moment,” or “this morning,” or “did you do this important thing to be in a better relationship with God?” The reality remains that even if weakness in spiritual discipline rears its head, He never quits on me. Jesus is the perfect substitute, not me. I am weak, He is strong. His strength means there is no condemnation when He lives within.
Strength is from facing weakness and yet remembering that Jesus perfection lives within. It’s still not license to do whatever, or believe whatever is convenient. The following example is from my sheep, and they don’t naturally stay inside safe boundaries.
I experience my Lord more each time I feed, protect, medicate, and discipline my sheep. I know how they might die physically by going outside boundaries of the fence into the path of a car, or get tangled in that same fence and strangle. They don’t know this. I’m angry when they think they can poke their head through the boundary because I’ve witnessed sheep with the netting twisted around on their neck so tight they choked to death. I pay money for better electric fences and more powerful shocks so this doesn’t happen. But baby lambs are still testing that boundary and some ignore the electric jolt. I don’t give up, I’ll fix the broken fences, check the power, and I’d even yell at them, but once they find one weak spot in the fence, they keep trying.
Becoming more in tune with Holy Spirit means everything to our Father. This love response isn’t a level in a game to improve ourselves, it signals we hear and receive what Jesus declared to us.
