Happy New Year! Happy 2025!
You made it – with already 5 days in! I hope your enjoying yourself and smashing those new dreams.
For me something I want to get into for the New Year, and yous can all hold me accountable, is going to the gym. I’ll start next month…we need to give your girl some time.
You know what I was doing yesterday afternoon? Meal preps. Guess what…I made this delicious, seasoned chicken with cauliflower rice…not as good as rice. But boi did it taste pretty good things considering.
But in the midst of cooking, my worst nightmare happened. The smoke alarm went off. It took me a few seconds to register it was my smoke alarm. You see this fear of my alarm going off came from me having always lightened my candles and needing to blow them out. Because each time you do blow it out, there’s a little smoke. Haha so in my desperate need to prevent a little smoke detected from a candle, I turn on the fan and open the door.
You see, I was heating the cauliflower rice and over time I did smell light smoke but everything was under control. The food was heating up, slighting cooking the cauliflower rice as per the recipe directed. I didn’t think much of it. But little did I know that the smoke was building a little, a little more – it didn’t help my windows were closed. And then all of a sudden “Beep, beep, beep…” the alarm was going off. Haha so I ran to open the door and turn on the fan to full blast. So, am I making this dish again? Yeah, more than likely haha. Am I scared the alarm might go off? Sure. But this time will my doors be opened? Yes. Plus maybe it won’t smoke much the second time. As they say a second times a charm.
So, I pondered in the moment. God, can you really speak to me through this. And yes, yes, He can. Yes, He did!
In our life we can have things that on the outside seem fine. But it’s not fine. While yes, the smoke wasn’t from a fire, but it was producing a smoke. Which led to the smoke detector going off. A warning… before it could have gotten worse. Same with God and the Spirit. While we might not be doing anything particularly wrong, our Spirit inside of us can act as a smoke detector. This brings me to the moment I watched the introduction of the movie Black Window. When I watched the long intro highlighting Black Widows life, something in my spirit that was off. This off feeling… but I decided against it and kept watching. The scene to some might not seem dark or too violent, but all I know is that the scene created something that my spirit inside me didn’t like. It went against all things Holy, good and God. I remember my parents speaking to me about this after the movie, saying “didn’t that part do something to your spirit?”
Yes, it did. But I didn’t do anything. Why not? I simply saw my sister with me was fine, so based on her response I didn’t think much more of this “feeling”. Lets not be those that go with the grain, but hold to the truth and what is good in the eyes of God [Romans 8:14].
This is like the smoke detector going off. But here I let the warning keep going, hoping it will go away because there wasn’t really a fire – no danger. But it this sensitivity that we can grow as we grow closer to God. Anything not of God, the spirit of God within us, will let us know. Another case would be when people who used to drink, try to drink but since they found God they can no longer drink like they did before. This is because something inside them realises it’s wrong. And maybe that nudge or gut feeling you push aside you were met to listen to. It’s like those moments you have a gut feeling of an answer, but second guess and turns out your original gut feeling (answer) was right.
God doesn’t want to be your last option or when things get bad. Take a burning down house. Now that’s bad. No, He wants to protect us. Which means like any good guard for his King, he will warn and protect the King from any danger. It’s better to warn something small that could become a big threat, than not to warn at all. Just like the guard would warn the King because he loves and values the Kings, how much do we value ourselves? Knowing we are temples of God…
Trust God, and those moments you feel lead to not do something, or maybe it is to do something… now what do we call that. Light! Rather than getting to the point we need to be extinguishing the flames. Can we create good flames? Flames of purpose. Fire that ignites in someone else something good [2 Timothy 1:6,7]. The Spirit ignites in us to act. While it may seem hopeless or meaningless, you’ll be surprised that by stepping out, your faith will prove vital for God’s plan.
Walk with detectors that detect properly, and I hope from there you’ll be able to act accordingly. Haha, you know in school, your taught what the different alarms make. This is so that in a fire, you’re not sitting under your school desk like it was an intruder coming into the school. No. We must know what the spirit is communicating within us so we can act accordingly.
Lastly, I am just reminded that since we are vessels for God and we are to live as a daily living sacrifice [Romans 12:1]. What smoke do we produce? What incense does God smell? Is it pleasing to Him? Since in the Old Testament they used to sacrifice animals and incense at the alter… now we have Jesus as the final sacrifice. But what does my life look like in the eyes of Him who matters most?
God, You Amaze Me!
E
Romans 8:14 NIV
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
2 Timothy 1:6,7 NIV
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Romans 12:1 NIV
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
God our Protector