Spontaneity

I was awakened early this morning again, as it usually is when God wants to talk, with the word "spontaneity" being at the forefront of my thinking. I have walked with the Lord long enough to realize that words carry great meanings, especially at 4:00 AM. At first I thought it was for the class I am teaching on Evangelism tonight at Changed By Grace Bible College, but then it seemed as though there was a much broader picture here that God was showing me.

As I lay there pondering this word I was compelled to get up and examine the following scripture passage;

Acts 16:9-10 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

If Paul had not been spontaneous in nature he would have missed the conclusion that God was calling him to preach the gospel in Macedonia because it wasn't in his "day planner".

I truly believe this "spontaneity" is going to be one of the traits that will cause the true church to STAND when it becomes necessary to do so. I also believe that you can judge the level of spontaneity in your own life by the degree you are listening & following the Spirit who is in you. If the Spirit has preeminence in your life you are more apt to move in His direction when He says "move". If you are locked into a "self serving" schedule to where every waking minute is planned out, the chances are very slim that He will be able to "move" you out of something that would be detrimental to your life, or the life of your family/church.

One other thing I saw from this passage that was important; Paul had actually seen the vision, but it says; "When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them". It is obvious here that if Paul had not been completely confident in his God, and His leading, those around him would have possibly talked him out of this hair-brained idea and had him rely upon the "tried & true" plan. If we can say anything about the apostate church it would be that they will be people who are locked into "the traditions of men" and nobody will be able to move them in any direction other than what has been done in the past. Much of what has been done in the past is good, but if that is all that you have then you will lack the ability to "move" in a different direction if so prompted by God's Holy Spirit. This is a very dangerous place to be in a world that is changing minute by minute now. A modern army would not go to war today using spears and clubs.............why is it that Christians will attempt to "fight the good fight" with antiquated weaponry just because it was good enough for grandpa & grandma down there at "Play it Again Sam Community Church".

Let us be people of spontaneity, Spiritually speaking.

P.S. Macedonia was a very strategic place for the spreading of the Gospel up into Europe. If Paul had not been willing to "change the plan" and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, he would have missed the blessings of God and the people of Macedonia would have had to wait for another to come. How many blessings have we missed and how many people are waiting because of our lack of Spiritual spontaneity.