WEEK 12: DAY 3
PULLING RANK

Matthew 3:7
When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.

Pulling rank is the easiest route to take, in claiming positions but the most empty of it all. You are the daughter of Abraham, so? The child of the Almighty God, ok? You are the eldest spiritually, having given your life to Christ 45 years ago! That's amazing but what's next?

Infact, sometimes we pull rank by who we know and what we know. However, it's not about what you know but what you have lived. Having splashed around water all your life doesn't make a dent if the water hasn't made an effect in you - IN YOU.

Don't be satisfied by just adopting the language, have the experience. No amount of outward contact can quench the inner thirst of the soul: To be satisfied, you have to thirst. To be satisfied, you have to hunger. To be satisfied, you have to want it enough to open your mouth/heart.

Now, you are a child of God, you have the salvation, you have the kingdom, you have His Spirit! It is time to experience Him.

For your life to be green and blossoming, you have to abide in Him as He abides in You. For a seed to be fruitful, it has to die to itself and mature in itself.

If the process of maturity was sweet and automatic, age will equal maturity. That you have been alive doesn't mean you have lived life. Daily, you have to make the choice - it is intentional living.

Jesus made the choice to die. He wasn't killed for our sake, He died for our sake. Make the choice to die for His sake daily regardless of who wants to kill you. That counts little when you have made the decision to die.

In the kingdom, there is life in death. Carry your own weight in this kingdom, don't be a deadwood - a burden. By the way, to be a burden, you just have to do nothing, be nothing.

Luke 9:23
Then he said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me!

You can be assured, even in our death is our full life. Only a stone should be worried about losing when planted in a soil - a seed should be delighted.

I pray you live in Him as He lives in you daily experiencing your salvation as others experience it with you in Jesus name, amen.

Rain in a bucket; Devotional with Toyosi
www.raininabucket.wordpress.com