Welcome to Fruitful Fridays!
As my wife began The Restored Orchard and shared her vision with me, I was excited at the opportunity to support her in her endeavors. One thing that we both agree on is that when a husband and wife can study God’s word together, it brings them closer. With that being said, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to partner with her in spreading the gospel, and from there “Fruitful Fridays” was created. I will be dropping in to share what the Lord gives me. My prayer is that a different perspective will be able to specifically minister to men of God.
As I write from week to week, one thing that I have noticed is that sometimes I start in one direction and as I’m writing the Lord is speaking and takes the post in a different direction. I believe that is important to be sensitive to what the Lord is saying to you in everyday life as well. We know that our obedience can and will cause us to be blessed but Proverbs 10:17 says that whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. What I wanted to discuss for one week is now a mini-series on the importance of obedience and how being disobedient can affect those around us.
I have always loved music in the church and from a very early age I began to play multiple instruments. One of the many hats I wear is church organist. The difference in playing in church is that you have to be sensitive to what the spirit is saying in the moment. Very often there may be a shift in the atmosphere and something that someone needs to hear or that can encourage their soul can happen in a moments time. The obedience of the musicians and worship leaders is imperative to the worship experience. I once heard a minister say as she was addressing her worship team is how we come in and do this every Sunday so it becomes the norm and can even seem routine but for someone this may be the day that saves their life, so we have to be sensitive to the moment and what God is doing.
This week we are going to look at a very familiar story in the bible about a group of people that needed to experience God but the person who was supposed to facilitate that experience was disobedient. The story of Jonah is one that we learn very early on in Sunday school and how he was swallowed by a big fish because of his disobedience pertaining to God’s directions for him to go to Nineveh. We learned that he went in the opposite direction to Tarshish to, as the bible states, flee from the Lord. Jonah’s first mistake was trying to flee from someone who is everywhere at all times. If you think about this it is actually good news for believers because anytime that you may feel alone or are entering a season that you know that you will need some help, you can take joy in knowing that He is already there. That’s not where this post is going but it IS just a little good news on this last Friday of 2021. These past couple of years have been crazy, to say the least, but as we head into 2022, we can rest in the fact that God is there, and he is going to pave the way for his people, and he will fulfill all of his promises.
Jonah heard God speak and he deliberately disobeyed. He was the vessel that God chose to carry what the people of Nineveh needed, and he was so wrapped up in what he wanted to do that he decided against delivering the message. As we begin a new year, I challenge you to make sure that you are not letting your desires interfere with the will of God but trusting him completely and obeying what he is saying to you.
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