Are There Obstacles In Your Heart that Need Uprooted?

Have you ever noticed all of the large rocks in a river or creek bed?  Water has the capability to move large rocks even boulders.  As the water flows over the rocks they become smooth due to erosion.  When a large amount of water flows through a river or creek it has the ability to overturn and displace these large obstructions.

Much like a river bed our hearts accumulate large obstructions that hinder the flow of God's Spirit.  There are a variety of things that can ultimately hinder the movement of the Spirit of God in our lives.  There are also many things that can take up residence under these obstructions.

I was walking through a creek bed with my youngest son this week looking for salamanders in a vernal pool.  A vernal pool is one in which the flow of water has stopped and little pockets or pools remain where animals can find refuge without being washed away.  Salamanders and other creatures like the spider I found, bank on this lack of movement so that they can survive and go through their lives without the force of the water washing them to their death.

Obstacles to living a kingdom focused life get in the way of the work of the Spirit of God.  Sometimes we even place these obstacles in the riverbed of our hearts and when we refuse to upturn them and look to see what might be lurking underneath them we grow accustomed to their presence and eventually don't even realize that they are there, obstructing the move of God's Spirit.

But have you ever noticed that when a storm comes, everything gets rearranged?  God allows storms in our lives to disrupt things that have been stagnant or stationary that we don't even notice.  Pride, like a spider lurks under every rock of our hearts and it must be dealt with by the power of God's cleansing Spirit.

Our hearts are to be a place where rivers of living water can freely flow.  Jesus said to his disciples in John 7:37-39;

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 

'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  

Now this he said about the Spirit, 

whom those who believed in him were to receive,...

The more we come to Jesus and drink from the well spring of His life, the more freely the Spirit of God will flow through our lives to others.

We need only to fix our gaze on Jesus and He will do the work necessary to uproot those obstacles in our lives that are hindering the move of His Spirit in and through our lives.

Father, we want to be a freely flowing stream from your presence like what Ezekiel encountered.  We want the water of your Spirit to come to such a level that the large obstructions are overtaken and uprooted from our hearts so that our lives are a fresh reflection of You.  We want to present a life that is life giving and fruit bearing.  Wash into the vernal pools of our hearts and purge us of the pride that has taken up residence their.  We want to live lives of movement in the flow of Your Spirit and not lives of stagnancy.