"The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat" (Prov. 13:4).
The soul of a lazy person wants everything he sees and everything others have.
You might say, "I want to flow in the Spirit and have the love of God flowing through me." But it will not happen unless you are diligent to receive what God has for you.
The soul of the diligent shall have everything that belongs to him, everything God has promised: protection, resources, anointing, vision by the Holy Spirit, knowledge - exact knowledge - of the Lord.
The time is coming when hearing from God will be the discerning point between making it and not making it. It may not be in a week, a month, a year or even a decade, but that time is coming in our lifetime.
The Spirit of the Lord is warning the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ about all that is coming. He is spreading this message all around. He has taught us about faith so that we will be able to take the shield of faith and stand. And He is turning up the anointing, which breaks every yoke (Isa. 10:27).
However, His anointing can only be entrusted to people who meet the conditions given in Second Peter, chapter 1:
For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),
And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),
And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.
For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
(2 Peter 1:5-8)
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).
