Are There Obstructions in Your Way???

What is an obstruction? 


This is what GOD showed me!!! 


If you have a fan standing in front of your air conditioner and it is blowing cold air towards you, then you don’t want any object sitting or standing in its way!!! 


If anything is in front of your fan, it will keep your fan from blowing cold air towards you!!! 


Anything that blocks the air flow of the fan is an obstruction!!!


If you have tall books in front of the fan, they are blocking or causing an obstruction!!!  The cold air cannot get to you!!!


If you have plants sitting in between you and the air conditioner, they can be obstructing the air flow!!!  If you have a table that is piled high with things, then you get up and you move any thing that is obstructing or stopping the air flow and causing it NOT to get to you!!!


Here’s another example!!!


If you have a creek that brings water to your property, and a beaver builds a dam, that dam obstructs or constricts your water!!!  It stops the flow of the water!!!  To keep the water flowing properly, farmers, ranchers, and other folks have to get rid of the beaver dams.  They have to be gotten rid of, so that the water has the freedom to flow unobstructed!!!  If the water is hindered, then it doesn’t flow freely!!!      


The same thing happens at times when we go to church!!!  I have seen times, when it just seemed like I couldn’t move in the Spirit!!!  I felt all tied up or all bound up!!!  And I know that others go thru this as well. 


Sometimes, we as children of GOD, feel like we are being held back from getting to GOD, like the flow of the Spirit of GOD is being obstructed or constricted!!!  It’s like someone or something is standing in our way and blocking our path to THE LORD!!!  Like something is blocking the flow of the Spirit!!! 


And sometimes, what is going on is that there are flesh and blood people and they are sitting on the service refusing to PRAISE GOD!!!  They are refusing to give in to GOD!!!  And they are obstructing the flow of The Spirit!!!


Sometimes, we aren’t trying to obstruct or constrict the moving of The Spirit, and although we know that GOD is in the house (the church or the place we worship), we just can’t seem to get to HIM!!!  There are times that we can’t seem to get our praise on!!!  We may NOT even know why!!!  It’s like there is an invisible force is in our way!!!  But if we press into GOD, and we ask HIM to help us, HE WILL!!!   


We go to church to PRAISE GOD!!!  And while we are there, we are supposed to be obedient to GOD and do what HE tells us to do!!!  We are supposed to be moving as the HOLY SPIRIT leads and guides us!!!


Ephesians 5:18-20 (KJV)
¹⁸ …but be filled with the Spirit;

¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.


So, here’s my question???


Do you have an obstruction in your path???  Or is there a blockage??? 


Is there something standing in your way, or holding you back in the Spirit???


Maybe it is unforgiveness!!!  Maybe you have been hurt or wronged!!!


Did someone offend you???  Did someone hurt your feelings???


Or maybe you did something to someone else and you know that they are mad at you!!! 


Colossians 3:12-15 (NKJV)

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.


No matter what is happening in your life, give it to GOD!!!  No matter what has happened that day, give it to GOD and get rid of it!!!  Sometimes, it isn’t easy, but that’s when we have to press into GOD!!! 


We can’t let the cares of this world overtake us!!!  GOD sees what is happening to you, and HE will let you know that HE knows and HE sees!!!  You have to trust GOD and allow HIM to take care of whatever is weighing you down!!!! 


No matter what has happened, no matter what is going on, don’t let it stop you from praising GOD!!!  Don’t let it stop you from serving GOD!!!  If you need to repent then repent!!!  Ask GOD to forgive you!!!  HE WILL, you know!!! 


Just keep pressing in to HIM!!!  Then close your eyes, and forget everything around you, and begin to cry out to HIM!!!  Tell HIM, LORD, I’ve done everything I know to do, and I NEED YOUR HELP!!! 


Praise HIM deliberately even if you don’t feel like it!!!  Look at it this way!!!  GOD wants you to turn everything over to HIM!!!  It is the enemy that wants to keep up weighed down with the cares of this world!!! 


So, let’s kick the enemy in the teeth or if you prefer, in the seat of the pants!!!  And let’s do it by PRAISING GOD!!!! 


And one of the best ways to send the enemy packing is to STAND UP AND WORSHIP GOD OUT LOUD!!! 


Put both your hands in the air, and say, I LIFT MY HANDS TO YOU, LORD GOD!!!  I PRAISE YOU, LORD GOD!!!!  I LOVE YOU, LORD!!!  I WORSHIP YOU, LORD!!!     


JUST PRAISE HIM!!! 


I can just hear some of you saying, I can’t do that in my church, they’d kick me out!!! 


Well, let me share something with you!!! 


I visited a church one time several years ago, and GOD kept telling me to PRAISE HIM!!! 


Now usually, the LORD doesn’t even have to tell me to PRAISE HIM!!!  But these folks had already been talking about how they had to be out of service by a certain time!!!  They had made it plain that they ONLY had so long for service!!!  And you could feel that “tight, bound-up, we don’t want anyone to move hold”, these folks had on the people!!! 


So, I held back on GOD!!!  I didn’t obey HIM!!! 


NEVER AGAIN!!!  And I mean NEVER!!!


I know now, that GOD wanted to do something in that place that day!!!  And that HE WANTED ME TO PRAISE HIM!!!  IF I HAD OBEYED GOD, HE WOULD HAVE USED MY PRAISE TO BREAK THOSE CHAINS!!!  


Do you know what GOD told me?


When HE told me again after service that I should have PRAISED HIM, I said, But GOD, they would have thrown me out!!! 


Do you know what HE replied? 


HE told me that if they had tried to kick me out, I should have told them to make sure they got my Bible!!! 


Do I need to explain??? 


HE said, “Then you tell them to be sure and get your Bible!!!” 


GOD wasn’t worried about them throwing me out!!!  When you obey GOD, you don’t have to worry either!!!  Cause if something happens, HE will protect you!!! 

 
What HE was telling me was that if someone tells me that I have to leave a place (throws me out), or comes to escort me out of a place, I am to make sure that I get all of my belongings, and I am to take special care to make sure that I get my Bible!!! 


Don’t argue or fuss with the folks!!!  Just gather up your belongings and leave!!!  And be sure to go out with your head held high!!!  Because if you have obeyed GOD, then you have done nothing wrong!!!


FORGIVE THOSE FOLKS AND GO ON!!!  On your way out, give them to GOD and let HIM handle them!!!


Remember, YOU DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM!!!  THEY DO!!!


I PROMISE YOU!!!  GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM!!! 


And it will probably be IN A WAY THAT YOU OR I COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED!!!

As a matter of fact, you need to ask GOD to have MERCY ON THOSE FOLKS!!!    


You know, I felt like a very disobedient child all the way home, because I realized that if I had obeyed GOD, HE could have used me to do something great for someone in that service!!! 


Even though, GOD didn’t spank me all the way home, I almost felt like HE had!!!  I realize now that the spirit of condemnation was attacking me!!!  The enemy was trying to make me feel like a low down dirty dog!!! 


I have promised myself, from that time on, I would NEVER AGAIN ALLOW ANYONE TO HINDER ME IN PRAISING GOD!!!  I promised myself that I would obey GOD and do everything HE told me to do!!!


So, any time GOD tells me to PRAISE HIM, YOU CAN MARK MY WORDS!!!  I AM GOING TO PRAISE HIM!!!  I don’t care what church I am in or where I am!!!  Even, if I am in the grocery store, I am going to PRAISE GOD!!! 


I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT I GET WHAT I NEED FROM GOD!!!  I CAN’T LET ANYONE OR ANY THING STAND IN MY WAY!!!  I HAVE TO BE OBEDIENT TO HIM AND I HAVE TO ALLOW HIM TO USE ME!!! 


In the end, I am responsible for my growth in GOD!!!  And one day, I will have to give account to HIM for what I did and did NOT do!!!  And so will you!!!!


And if I do NOT do the things that GOD has given me to do, HE will ask me, Who did hinder you?  Who kept you from following ME and doing what I called you to do?


Galatians 5:7 (NKJV) You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?


Instead, when Christ comes back, I want to hear HIM say, Well done, my good and faithful servant!!!  Matt. 25:21, 23