SPIRITUAL REFLEXES
Jennifer Mahone
Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash
“As you come to him, the living Stone–
rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him–
you also, like living stones,
are being built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5
It wasn’t long ago that I thought I felt rejected by humans and the only one who could possible accept me was my heavenly father. We all fall into that pit at some point in our life where we feel like there is no chance of ever finding a way out, but there is always a way out. Sometimes we scratch and scrape the sides of the pit wall trying with all our strength to scale that wall to freedom. We slide back down and find ourself in the darkness once again. We try again to climb, this time adding some shout outs to the ones we thought were there for us, and yet still no one comes. It’s not until we realize that God is the only one who can rescue us, then and only then can we reach the top. We must surrender and know that we can never return to that pit. Our faults, failures and bad choices that led us there in the first place must be left in the past and we have to begin to walk in full and total surrender to our Lord. The scripture says that He has chosen us to be living stones, built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, so that we may offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. I love that even when others pick up this stone in me and throw it away, God takes my stone and builds me into something great. I know I have made mistakes in life. I never want to return to the darkness I dwelt in for a season, but I will never forget what God has brought me out of. He gave me a second chance to live out my purpose just as he has you. People will choose to see us in the past, but we must never allow their opinion of us to stop the amazing construction that is taking place as God restores us to our purpose.
I was reminded the other day of an incident that happened about a year ago. If it seems like I’m trailing off on another subject, just bear with me. I know God will speak to you just as he did to me. It was about a year and a half ago that I found this new passion to run. One day in my efforts to get in shape I began to run. It was a major struggle for me because I had never been able to run. I couldn’t breathe, my chest was hurting and I just wanted to quit but in that moment I remember speaking, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Immediately I was able to regain my strength and endurance. I could breathe again and from that moment on, every time I ran, I would pray or sing worship to him. So running quickly became my special personal time with him everyday.
One particular morning I was out jogging and as I approached a crosswalk at a stoplight I waited patiently for the crosswalk sign to flash for me to cross. As it changed, I began to jog across the street. Their was a car coming towards me but I continued to jog since they had a red light. As I barely made it to the other side, I literally had a split second to hop up onto the curb and slap the hood of the car with my hand. The woman driving had no idea that she was about to hit me because she was looking down at her phone. I noticed she was just as startled as I was so I didn’t say anything to her but just turned and kept jogging on. The entire run home God placed one word in my spirit, “Reflex”. As soon as I arrived home I shared with my husband what had happened and I immediately began writing things down. Here is what the Lord showed me that day.
Reflex – An action that is performed with out conscious thought as a response to a stimulus.
Receptor – An organ or cell able to respond to light, heat, or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve.
Effector – An organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus.
An automatic and often “Inborn” (existing from birth) response to a stimulus (thing or event that evokes a specific reaction) that involves a nerve impulse passing inward from the receptor (an organ or cell able to respond to light, heat or other external stimulus and transmit a signal to a sensory nerve) and then outward to an effector (an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus) the muscle.
What is already inside of us is from birth (because we are created in His image) responds to the stimulus (which is our worship to him) our spiritual nerve is impulsed by the receptor (which responds to light) the word of God (which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path) because we respond to him in our worship, prayer, and study, all these things travel to the effector (which is the muscle) our strength in Him is greater than before.
When we find ourselves in situations of tests and trials, we are able to respond quickly because our spiritual reflexes operate properly through His spirit which lives inside of us.
The more time we spend with Him in worship and devotion, the stronger we are able to take on the enemy and defeat him and his evil plan against our life and the lives of those we love.
When a person has nerve damage in their body, their reflexes do not operate correctly. They have been desensitized. They are numb to the stimulus (or word of God), they can no longer feel His presence. The damage can be repaired. In some cases the treatment may come in the form of medication (His word and unconditional love), others are treated with physical therapy (worship, lifting of the hands, praising Him), and in other cases surgery is the answer (a complete gutting and removal of what no longer belongs or operates correctly and a replacing of what should be inside of us)
Nerve damage can affect so many areas of the body but an adjustment made with Gods love and grace can repair all that was dead and bring it back to life.
Reflexes are not voluntary. If you try not to respond to a tap on your knee, it will still respond. You have no control over whether or not you respond. You just can’t help it.
When we spend more time in Gods presence, we can’t help but to respond to His taps. He has total control. As we respond more and more to His taps, we allow His presence to flood our hearts, our mind, our life, and work in us to fulfill all He has purposed for us.
Our spiritual reflexes become sensitive to His presence all around us.
God can restore anyone as long as they recognize that there is damage that needs to be repaired. No one is beyond fixing. As long as we are living and breathing, he can use this “living stone” to build his house.
I thank God everyday for what he brought me out of and for where he has me now. There are so many people who have been thrown away and rejected, but God wants to rebuild his people and return them to their purpose that he originally had planned for them. Walk in your purpose and don’t doubt the things he has called you to. We are a royal priesthood…God has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
We have recently been going through a series at church called “Blessable”. The word has been amazing and I would encourage you to go and listen/watch when you can at www.gojourneychurch.com. It will bless your life, but I know that as God was reminding me of our Reflexes it all lined up with what our pastor had been preaching. Our life has to be in alignment with God. We have to align everything we do and say with the word of God. It’s not always easy but when we sacrifice our stubborn ways and allow God full control of our everyday, we swing the doors open for his blessings to flood our life. I know this to be true in every way. Allow your spiritual reflexes to become sensitive to His presence and watch God move!
Be Blessed!
Jennifer