God-Driven-Designs

God bless Firefighter/EMT Horne for his heroic efforts, and may he be honored AND promoted for his bravery. This could have been a terrible tragedy.

Last night I had a dream that there were flies buzzing around an altar.

They weren't tearing the altar down.

They weren't extinguishing the fire.

They were simply hovering, circling, distracting.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Be aware of the flies."

Flies are rarely the greatest threat because of their size, they are a threat because of what they carry.

They pollute.

They contaminate.

They distract.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 says "Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor..."

It only takes one dead fly to spoil precious oil.

The oil represents the anointing.

The presence of God.

The fragrance of Christ upon your life.

The enemy knows he cannot always destroy the altar, so he settles for contaminating the atmosphere around it.

He sends the flies.

The flies of distraction.
The flies of offense.
The flies of gossip.
The flies of slander.
The flies of unnecessary opinions.
The flies of endless chatter.
The flies of criticism.
The flies of petty arguments.

The flies of people who love to buzz around the work of God but refuse to carry its burden.

Not everyone buzzing around the altar has been called to tend the fire.

Some want proximity to the anointing without the crushing that produces the oil.

They buzz with opinions but never release wisdom.

They create noise without producing fruit.

They want to be seen around the altar, but they don't want to die on it.

The enemy often sends little irritations before he ever sends major attacks.

Small offenses.
Endless criticism.
Petty arguments.
Constant drama.
Unnecessary controversy.

His goal is simple, get your eyes off the assignment and onto the annoyance.

But I hear the Holy Spirit is saying, "Don't give your attention to the flies."

Don't waste your oil.
Don't spend your strength answering every critic.
Don't abandon your post because of persistent buzzing.

Keep feeding the fire.
Keep protecting the oil.
Keep your eyes on the sacrifice.

Don't allow little irritations to become major interruptions.

Some believers have spent more time talking about the flies than tending the flame.

The altar deserves your attention more than the annoyance.

In this hour, guard the atmosphere of your heart.

Guard your ears from gossip.
Guard your mouth from slander.
Guard your spirit from offense.
Guard the oil that God has entrusted to you.

My late pastor used to say, “flies don’t land on a hot stove, but they love a good ole pile of manure.”

The enemy would love nothing more than for you to spend all of your energy swatting distractions while the fire slowly loses its focus.

Stay fixed on Christ.
Stay focused on the harvest.
Stay committed to the assignment.

The flies may be loud, but they have no authority over the purpose of God unless you allow their noise to become your focus.

-Jessica Jecker Simply Jecker