Burnt Stones (1 of 4)

Mike Connell

Page 7 of 10
But you know what she did? She heard that God was moving back in the land, and she said: I'm going to position myself back where God is moving. I'm going to get myself under the flow of the Holy Ghost again! I'm going to get myself where God is moving. Why? Because I'm hoping, believing, that God can do something for me. She was a burnt stone, that was restored when she made a decision: I want to be restored! Second, you have to face the reality, and take responsibility, of where you are. That's a hard one - its easy to come up in altar call and get someone to pray for you, but actually, that doesn't really do the job - I wish it did. If your finances are a mess, coming laying hands on you isn't going to fix them up. See, people look for quick fixes. God isn't a God of quick fixes; He's a God of process, and encounter, together. Encounters start to shift our internal - they impart to us, and prepare us, and empower us, to begin to embrace process of change.

The process is what takes place; so you notice here with David - a good example is David in 2 Samuel 12:13, and David got weary in the battle. The Bible says: when he should have been out fighting a battle, he stayed at home; so instead of being in the battle ground, he was in the bedroom. Instead of being out at war, he was watching the girl in the nude. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He was not doing - notice this - he was out of position. He was called to war, and he wasn't fighting. He was resting, and that's when he got into trouble. He nearly lost his destiny, it cost his family, it cost hundreds of people, cost some of his best men their life, and it cost him years of suffering and sorrow. He became a burnt stone; but when God put His finger on it, he said: I have sinned! I've done wrong before the Lord! He was just straight up, took full responsibility, and embraced fully the hand of God in restoring him.

So it's important if you're a burnt stone, one, that you must want to be restored, and make your way back to God; two, you take full responsibility for reasons for which you are a burnt stone. If you've got unforgiveness in your heart, then you're a burnt stone. That's your unforgiveness. Got bitterness in your heart - you're a burnt stone, it's your bitterness. You've got to take full responsibility, got to actually own the stuff. We've got negative attitudes, they're our negative attitudes. We've got to actually own what we've got, bring it to the Lord, repent of it, and position ourself for God to shift us. He faced reality. He was burnt by sin, and he repented of his sin.

Third thing you must do is: receive healing, and the restoration process of the Holy Ghost. We must welcome the restoring process, and healing power, of the Holy Ghost. We have to welcome it. See, it doesn't just happen. If it just happened, you'd be right now. You've actually got to welcome the Holy Spirit Himself, and the process. A great example of this is Peter, and we find in John 21:15, remember Peter? David's problem was just being weary of fighting, and he just wanted a rest; but Peter's problem was different. Peter's problem was pride, self confidence, trying to put a good show on for everyone else. He was confident in himself, over-confident, and then the pressure came on him, and he ran. He ran and he left Jesus. He left His side, broke his own word, broke his own promises, his own commitments; and he wept bitterly over his failure, his personal failure.

You know what? When Jesus saw him, Jesus invited him to a meal, and then just restored him. He said: Peter, do you love Me? Do you love Me? And he wrestled with it quite a bit, but he had to open his heart to receive the loving, restoring presence of God back into his life again. Sometimes when we've broken our lives, or damaged our lives, or we've failed, sometimes the hard thing to do, is just to be open to be loved again, and he let God love him again. Love binds up the broken heart. He let Jesus love him, restore him again, and Jesus began to reposition him. He said: I know you've blown it, I know you've really messed up. I know you had a big mouth, and you haven't lived up to what you said. I know you've really blown it, but you know what? I've really been praying for you, that even when you were burnt in the fire, that you'd be converted; and when you got repositioned again, that you'd strengthen everyone else; so I was watching you even through that burnt fire experience, and I've got My hand on you. The hardest thing for him to do, was to just let Jesus love him.