Do you long to see me move in a mighty way, with visible evidence? I can do this, but it involves a process. What do you see around you that didn’t begin with an idea? This refers to your physical, material world of artifacts, yet each of them began as a concept in someone’s mind, and then they put in the effort necessary to bring it forth. The spiritual world is the same way. My movements and acts begin as concepts of revelation in the minds of my people. If they are willing to embrace them and walk in them then they will come to pass. If you want to see me move, step forward as an agent through which I can act. 

I said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Do you find this hard to swallow? Does it fly in the face of your culture of acquisition? Yet don’t you see this truth in effect around you, even outside of church walls and among those who do not make a Christian profession of faith? Even if the first half of your life is devoted to acquiring, what do you do with what you get? This applies to more than money. It is a deep-seated human desire to give back, to provide something for the human race generally that represents the value you have acquired whether it be wisdom, skill, art, benevolence, money, or something else. Those who do so know it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Dancers stretch to improve their flexibility for graceful movement and to avoid injury. Stretching can be uncomfortable but many people do it intuitively in spite of this for the same reasons. Do you understand that there are spiritual and emotional versions of stretching as well? The experiences of life can disturb your comfort level and challenge you to be more open, tolerant, and accepting. This also will give you flexibility to be graceful and avoid injury in another sense. This type of stretching is painful in a different way, but if you understand the great value of these things you will seek it out deliberately to obtain their benefits. 

Do you see your faith as a journey? Has following me ever given you a sense of dislocation from the comfortable and familiar? You may find this disturbing and think that you are out of my will, but there is a Biblical precedent for this as a necessary step in your spiritual development. When I called Abraham it was to move away from familiar surroundings. Jacob and David fled for their lives after I called them, and Joseph was taken away against his will. You can be too comfortable where you are. Don’t be in distress when I call you to move on from your routine, but expect it as a normal part of my pattern for your spiritual growth.