“Available Balance…” (by Mel McGuire)

I was doing some online banking and noticed my checking account had a difference between my “current balance” and my “available balance”. You see the way my checking account is set up…no wait, that ain’t what I was trying to say…ignore that.

Point being, my current balance was significantly higher than my available balance. But just before I called the bank, I remembered I had deposited a check and apparently, there had been a “hold” placed on it.

I was able to access some of it immediately, but most of it, though counting towards my total or current balance, was not accessible, thus leading to my “available balance”.

It didn’t take me long to lament the fact that I had to wait before I could access (meaning spend) money that showed in my account. God interjected however, and reminded me that He too, will place a hold on things until the appointed time.

I remember when I first prayed about wanting to get married. God told me to wait. He gave me a time period that was more than a few business days. My desire was like my current balance. My readiness was my available balance. Marriage wasn’t happening until some things “cleared” the bank.

Often we want to do something, even something great and mighty for the Lord. We have a strong desire, a burden, even a gift and a calling to do it. But, we are not ready. And so we have to wait until our “can do” matches or exceeds our “want to”.

Too many lives have been negatively impacted because someone’s desire wrote a check their maturity, experience, and character could not cash. And in ministry especially, when those checks bounce…people get hurt.

Your available balance may place a limit on what you can do…until the rest of the currency becomes available. Growing in the Lord is not optional. If you stop growing, your available balance may not change…it certainly won’t increase.

While time is simply all that is needed for some money to become available in the banking industry, other things may require action or certain qualifications to be met first. Growing in the Lord is not a matter of the passage of time, rather the passing of tests.

In order for God to do all He wants to do in you and with you, there are some requirements that are non-negotiable. In order for us to get our available balance to match our current balance, we have to meet His standards.

It is easy to mistake grace and favor for being qualified. They are not the same. Grace and favor may provide opportunity. Character and competence allow you to remain, maintain, and obtain more as you are able.

Check your balances. When there is a gap between your total and your available, ask God what you need to do, who you need to become, in order to access the better promise He has laid up for you.

It is always good when the “hold” has been lifted, and all funds become available for use.

“Knead…” (by Mel McGuire)

 

I learned something recently about making bread. Specifically, about kneading the dough that makes the bread. I remember as a child watching my mother, the best cook I have ever known, making bread.

I can recall her working with her hands, and kneading the dough before she produced some of the best bread rolls known to man.

The process of kneading, done properly, allows the active ingredients in the dough to align themselves properly. This causes the dough to become stronger and when cooked, it makes it lighter and fluffier, and adds texture and flavor to the finished product.

The image I shared is the one I recall…the hands of the master, working the dough until it became smooth, soft, and pliable. You can tell when dough is properly kneaded when it is silky smooth, is no longer sticky, and will retain its shape when poked…bouncing back immediately.

Like the clay in the hands of a potter, we are like dough in the hands of our Master, and sometimes we need to be kneaded.

The kneading process includes folding, pushing, stretching, and turning…and then repeating that process until the dough is ready. How many times Lord, how many times, do I have to go through this same situation? You are being kneaded.

You are being folded, pushed, stretched, and turned. Uncomfortable, inconvenient, and powerless. You are shaped into what looks like a loaf of bread…only to be folded, stretched, and turned yet again…and again…and again.

God uses all types of things to knead us. People, circumstances, situations, and predicaments all serve to fold us, push us, stretch us and turn us. But like the ingredients in dough, the process makes us stronger, more pliable, and able to bounce back.

The kneading process allows what is inside of us to rise and cause us to be lighter, with better texture, and gives us flavor. We need to be kneaded. The chef knows how much kneading is needed to make the exact bread he is looking for. How much kneading did Jesus endure in order to be called the Bread of Life?

When you feel the light sprinkle of flour, and then the strong, gentle hands of the Master Chef…know you are about to be kneaded. Stay on the board until He is done. It will make you look better, feel better, and taste better. We need to be kneaded.

“Anesthesia…” (by Mel McGuire)

A profound message motivated me to consider reconstructive surgery recently. I did not want to change my appearance by removing or enhancing some physical attribute, nor did I need to repair some broken or injured body part and restore its proper functionality.

I was motivated to undergo reconstructive surgery of my inner man, a spiritual refreshing, tightening, lifting up, and general makeover. But even in this type of process, like a physical surgery, I will need an anesthesia.

The biblical example provided was the potter and the clay. The point was that the clay sits on the potter’s wheel and the potter reworks the clay into the vessel he wants it to be. Like reconstructive surgery, the potter sometimes must remove pieces that no longer fit his image or are not needed for the finished product.

Other times the potter must take from one part of the clay and add it to another area, to strengthen, and reinforce. These alterations may ultimately change the shape and capacity of the vessel, but they are the potter’s choice to make.

Through it all, the clay sits and allows the potter to work. For the clay, it is a seemingly unending cycle of spinning, and being reshaped through various methods at the hands of the potter.

The anesthesia becomes important to me because I am not inanimate like that clay. I have feelings, opinions, ideas, and even an agenda that must be de-sensitized to the need for surgery. But like the clay, I will not change on my own. I need the potter’s touch.

Anesthesia is temporary. It is designed to shield you from the pain and processes of surgery, which can be forceful and unpleasant. But successful surgeries also bring about healing, another process that can be painful.

I often choose the anesthesia of food, sleep, television, or other benign forms of escape, that temporarily shields me from the symptoms requiring surgery, but do not require me to actually undergo that painful process. While I may escape the pain, I do not change, or heal.

God has provided an anesthesia, namely His presence, which allows me to be temporarily shielded from the painful process of spiritual surgery, and then helps in the healing process as well.

When I worship, when I pray, when I read His word, or fellowship with other believers, I can spend that time in His presence and allow Him to cut away some stuff, add some stuff, or just reshape some stuff in me. It allows me to respond to my need to change, and to heal.

His presence shields me from the pain, the forceful, unpleasant processes that bring about change from the inside out. For it can render me like the clay, willing to be still and allow Him to mold me as He sees fit.

His presence reigns over my feelings, opinions, and agenda, acting as the anesthesia that allows me to become what He desires, a vessel fit for the master’s use.

“Hover…” (by Mel McGuire)

Those who know me well recognize my love and affinity for military aircraft, specifically jets. When I saw “Top Gun”, I was done. I didn’t even realize there was an annoying love story unfolding…I just wanted to see the planes doing what they do…turning and burning. “I feel the need…the need for speed!”

Anyway, this is not about that…not directly anyway. I have been thinking about helicopters lately (job related, too much to go into…trust me.) and I remember as a rookie going up in our helicopter several times. When we would get on scene to assist ground units, we would go into this orbit around the area…I’m sure you’ve seen this in your own lifetime.

We have special binoculars that are gyroscopically balanced (Lord, I hope that is a word) to allow the observer to maintain focus without getting dizzy from going in circles. I asked the pilot, “Why don’t we just hover?” It seemed like a reasonable question to me (the rookie), since we have all seen and heard news helicopters parked in place in the sky for what seems like an eternity.

The pilot told me that it takes much more fuel to hover than to orbit. He also pointed out the better perspective we get when we are orbiting as opposed to staying in one place and having only one viewpoint.

God has been reminding me to get back into orbit and to stop trying to hover in place. My Christian life should be about moving (forward), not staying stagnant or stationary. Too often we limit our perspectives, we can’t see the other side of a problem or the onset of a solution, because we are hovering…we say we are waiting on God, we are looking for His hand to move. But we are stressed and worried, and we are burning precious emotional and spiritual fuel, trying to stay in place.

Athletes will tell you it is easier to react when you are already in motion, as opposed to moving from a standstill or stationary position. Look at tennis players waiting to receive a serve, or baseball players just as the ball is pitched…they are in motion…they are not hovering.

Stop wasting fuel. Get moving and begin to survey your situations from different angles and perspectives. God will be better able to show you what He sees because eventually you will come around to His viewpoint. Hovering can be annoying to others too. The news chopper over your neighborhood for extended periods of time can be a nuisance. So too some of us are hovering in place and hindering others around us. They need you to move so they can keep moving (forward)!

We are designed to be in motion, our growth depends on it. Staying in place takes as much energy as moving forward, and sometimes more. So stop hovering and get back into your orbit around the Son. Keep Him in the center of your life so you can maintain proper perspective and not just keep “going around in circles”

“Trailer…” (by Mel McGuire)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, picture this: A new high performance car hitched to a trailer, on which sits the older version of the new car. Do you think that new car will be able to realize or maximize the performance or efficiency of its design while towing the old car behind it?

I visited my brother recently and he has a fishing boat that he tows behind his SUV. When driving without the trailer and boat, the SUV is a decent performer and has no trouble keeping up with traffic and fitting into normal parking spaces. However, as soon as the boat is in tow, the focus of the driver must change. Not only is the performance of the SUV affected, the SUV can only safely go where the trailer will fit. So, merging, turning, stopping, and maneuverability are all determined by what is behind the SUV.

I heard a message not long after that… about living our lives while being overly concerned about our past. This image of the trailer is what God gave me as an illustration of this principle. God tells us if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, and the old (creation) has passed away. And yet too often we still try to keep both lives functional and productive.

When we are constantly thinking about, and relating to our past, we are like that SUV towing that boat on a trailer. We have to slow down and most of our decisions are going to be based on the past (that which is behind us) and how it fits into our current situation. We MUST learn to leave the boat in the water, unhitch the trailer, and drive away without them, so we can be free to experience all the performance, efficiency, and liberty that God intended for our new man.

Using the image of the new car towing the old car, we can see how pointless it is to have a newer better performing vehicle and not experience it because we can’t let go of the old version. In fact, the new car towing the old car won’t perform as well as the old car did! Living a double life, not being single minded, focused on the things of God, can often leave us feeling weighed down, unsatisfied, and less effective than before we came to Christ.

God has promised us better. In order to make room for better, we have to get rid of the old, the past, and the worse. Let it go. The blood does not just cover; it removes our old man, our sins. Let it go. Unhitch the trailer and leave your past behind you. Drive, press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling. Onward and upward, move further from sin, your old man, and your old ways, and closer to God, your new man and His ways.

We all have something sitting on a trailer waiting to be towed somewhere, longing to be put back into use. God gave you a new high performance life…LIVE IT! Stop towing and start growing!

“Stake…” (by Mel McGuire)

I continue to meditate and marinate on the subject of discipleship. I was introduced to the concept of stakes…you know those supports used on young trees or plants?  My research unveiled some deep spiritual truths and my personal experience confirmed what I got from my “book learnin’”.

The purpose of the stake is to provide support for young trees or plants until they are strong enough to stand or grow on their own. In a garden, some plants bloom rather quickly, and the weight of their flowers can overwhelm their stem, causing them to bend or even break.

Gardeners use sticks or dead branches to “stake” the plant, giving it the strength it needs to “hold its own”. The stake is planted in the same soil as the plant, but it does not draw resources away from the plant. It is connected to the plant, but it is not a permanent bond.

The stake also provides a boundary for the young plant or tree, keeping it from overgrowing too soon and invading the space (and life source) of other plants. The stake is a temporary support system and a wise gardener knows it must be removed at some point or it will stunt the growth and development of the young plant or tree.

As a tree grows, its roots must grow deep and wide in order to find sufficient nutrients to survive. The outwards growth, or spread, is necessary to provide width to the base of the trunk. When a tree is staked too long, the trunk will not grow wide enough and later in life, strong winds can blow the tree over, sometimes even causing the trunk to break.

Discipleship is similar to staking. God will place people around you to help you grow. They should provide boundaries and help you bear the weight of your talents, desires, and calling. They provide strength for a season, but eventually God will pull them away so you can learn to stand in your own space and withstand the storms of life that are ordained for that space.

It is best to have someone who is planted in the same soil as you, without taking resources away from you. That speaks to mature individuals, who have not only been tested, but have passed their tests. These people, your stakes, must also understand that the bond they have with you is not a permanent connection, meaning they must eventually pull back so you can prove that you are strong enough to stand. You will not, you cannot reach your full potential unless they release you.

So be grateful for the people God has surrounded you with. Learn from them, lean on them, but be willing to grow into your full destiny and purpose. Make sure your trunk, your foundation, is both deep and wide so that you will not just survive, but thrive. Then your fruit will remain and become a source of life. Your presence will become a place of refuge and a shade for others.

Don’t hate the stakes, enjoy them while you can, for they are temporary and it is in your best interest that they eventually be pulled back. You cannot be afraid to grow without them, or even outgrow them.

Grow up. Your destiny is at stake.