SUGGESTION BOX

10/12/17

We were at an RV park overnight and in the afternoon we needed to do some laundry. I noticed a suggestion box, but of course there was no paper, and the top of the box had cobwebs on it. So, perhaps one suggestion is getting some paper to write on and getting rid of the cobwebs. Another one might be to clean up the room, as it smelled, and needed to be cleaned-up.

You know, suggestion boxes have been around for quite some time and they have their purposes, but if no one ever reads what other folks have said in them, then their purpose has been lost.

But I have some other suggestions that involve our spiritual walk with the Lord. So, here they are:

1. While there is a great influx of prophetic words that have been given to the body of Christ in this hour, most of the church has failed to examine them. I would ask that we don't just blindly follow and give an amen to every word that is out there. And more importantly, I pray that those who are lacking in spiritual discernment would pray that they would get this valuable gift, for without it, then the prophetic waters become muddied, and we swallow every word that is out there, not even knowing that we are being misled and deceived. This is not to say that we then throw the baby out with the bath water and become critical of every word that is written or declared. For scripture tells us:
20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good 1 Thess 5

2. I would ask that when and 'if' we get into discussions about the tribulation issues that we listen to other points of view, and not shut them off. The real focus should be in being ready and living as the five wise virgins did who had their lamps filled with oil.

3. I would also ask that those in church leadership would allow room for the Holy Spirit to move and work among their services. While the preaching of the word is paramount, the absence of the flow of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, can cause those services to become dry and lifeless. More importantly, let's get away from the one-man leadership and develop teams of other five-fold ministers. Our present system of church dynamics and organization, has drifted far from the original plan of the early church.

4. If at all possible, my hope is that believers would get to the point where we aren't divided by our opinions of political leaders. Let's quit the disparaging discussions, and find common ground, instead of tearing each other down.

5. We seem to be a people who are so easily misled by various you tube stories and accounts that may appear to present factual accounts. However, if we truly examine many of them in the light of scripture, exposing them to the truth, we may find out that most of them don’t hold water, and that they are the opinions of men nd women who have formulated their own ideas, rather than a balanced approach to the truth. Let's quit portray ing these stories as the truth and examine them for what they truly are.

6. Instead of following certain spiritual leaders, let's focus our attention on the One leader who should be the only one we should be following.

7. While we are now living in the last days, my hope is that we would put aside trying to pin-point the time of Christ's/Yeshua's arrival. We are told that we can’t know the hour. When we attempt to do these things, then we are easily misled, and then our only focus is upon these things, rather than continuing in our walk with the Lord, and accomplishing the task that He has called each of us to do.

When and if we can follow some of these principles then perhaps we can get to the point where we aren't tearing each other down, and we can begin to go onto maturity not being swayed by every wind of doctrine and then come unto the fullness of Christ that should be our purposes.

3 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11

Stephen Hanson