Nowadays this habit can get you in trouble and even in serious danger if you do it in the big cities like New York, London, Tokyo, etc - especially if you're not in the center of the city. Praise the Lord, until now the Lord took care of me even while "exploring London" or any other major city I happened to visit... And even while going to home meetings, young people meetings, prayer meetings, etc - and returning late at night, it can be dangerous ... - but the One we serve is Greater than the one in the world! It's very good to stay out of trouble, but sometimes you just want to look around or worse, as I used to call it when I was younger, you just want to visit a city and "try to get lost, then find your way back". ... And now, coming to the,
One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Leaving In Haste from the Carnival in Notting Hill Gate!
A THIRSTY MANKIND, even - a Thirsty Young Generation!
At one point one of the "songs" was "we're drinking!" But everything these guys do really shows that mankind is thirsty - and no matter what they do, drink, eat, fill themselves with, NOTHING but God as life can satisfy man! People all around me tried to have fun - they really tried! - and got tired so easily... but they were NOT happy! They were rather tired and looked worn out. Not to mention the police doing some searches, arrests, running around, since may of these ones love starting trouble and getting into trouble! So as I was there and walked about, taking some pictures, there was a prayer in me,
Lord, save this young generation! Make them THIS MUCH for You or even more! Gain a generation of absolute ones that will bring You back! Save so many of these precious young vessels for Your purpose! Limit Your enemy in his desperate desire to usurp and spoil the man created by You for Your purpose!.... eventually, even as Lot was among the people in Sodom, my spirit within me didn't give me peace! I had no rest, no peace, to continue visiting / being there - so I had to Leave In Haste From The Carnival - I had to look for the nearest exit / bus stop to go home! I was there for a bit, and as I was trying to leave hundreds more would just arrive and "start the party".... But even the "leaving" part was not easy - all the buses and the tube stations around the area were closed! I had to walk a long way until I found a place where the buses operated... - which really shows that if you get involved with what the world offers to drug you and capture you, even if you want to escape and go home in the church, it's not easy!
O, Lord... how much I need You to sanctify even my "desire to explore" and my desire to know things, people, customs, cities, areas.... - may it be something unto building up! ... so many times as believers in Christ we get "caught up" in situations, things, environments, where we just "go along" with what others usually and habitually do - and then we realize, according to the feeling within, that THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR ME TO BE IN! We are sanctified human beings, God-men, with the divine life and nature, and there's a Living Person in us - the Lord Jesus! Yes, He spent time with the sinners, but He did not seek to "go to their carnivals"; rather, they came to Him and spent time with Him! There's no excuse or accusation ... but there's a way to RUN BACK! Run back to Christ! Run back to the Word of God! Run back to the saints! Praise the Lord for the continual supply in the Body, in the Word, and in our spirit....
In conclusion: going to the carnival, no matter how tempting it is, IS NOT an activity to do on the Lord's day. But if you go, continue to fellowship with the Lord Jesus within and when He in you gives you NO PEACE, RUUUUN! Follow the Lord within, the living Person in us...
ReplyDeleteSo many times we anticipate that a public celebration will be so enjoyable, or some well-known event we haven't experienced yet,,,but when we have a sensitive spirit, we find it all disappointing, sometimes a little alarming, and basically ugly. We'd thought it would be fun, but we saw the hidden dark side that many, in their desperation, cannot see. They too are unsatisfied with what they get, but they don't know why. They keep repeating these experiences, hoping it will be different next time. What a snare! Lord, rescue many from the snares of the flesh and bring them into the Spirit!
ReplyDeleteAmen that we can have our sense of the spirit heightened through such times.
ReplyDeleteI have been enjoying recently this interesting ministry book that I had never heard about called "The Bridge and Channel of God" (I highly recommend it). And it was talking about knowing God's will and God's way. I was so impressed with this very matter, that when we have a direct sense from the Lord, we obey it. That's all we need to do. We cannot consider in our mind, we cannot question it, or reason about whether it is right or wrong, but we simply obey. Our obeying allows the Lord to gain the ground in us so that He can speak to us more and reveal His way more. But when we do not obey, He stops speaking. He used wandering around the streets of a city as an example. He said, let's say you want to go somewhere. You are at home and have no idea how to go where you want to go. Well, the first thing you do is step out of your home and start walking, when you see someone you ask directions and head in that direction, asking as you go along until you get to where you want to go. If you stay at home wondering what to do, You will never get to where you want to go. I dunno, it was such a sweet thing, and I have experienced this in my wanderings, not just spiritually, but also physically, I think the BEST way to get to know a city is just to step out there and start walking, just remember to always take care of your spirit.
I've never been to the Notting Hill Carnival, but have experienced something similar with other events. Earlier this year I went to the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race... expecting it to be like the London Marathon or Trooping the Colour (i.e. a family atmosphere).. but instead it was mostly current or graduated university students who were reliving their college days.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about it was not that my team won, but that I got to meet up with some Christian friends from uni and we had a good time at dinner and fellowshipping about the Lord!
:) haha Sarah, I know what you mean.... the Lord is exposing us, even through these seemingly harmless things / activities - and is bringing us back to our spirit! One day we will definitely live fully in our spirit! Until then, we learn...
ReplyDelete:) whippedkreme8 Amen, no matter what, take care of your spirit! O, Lord, my spirit!