Get plugged in!

“The joy of the Lord is your strength . . . the fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Nehemiah 8:10, Galatians 5:22)

In his book, The Existence and Attributes of God, Stephen Charnock says, “If God be a Spirit, He is active and communicative, not clogged with the sluggish matter that causes dullness and inactivity.”

He adds that even in human beings, our spirit conveys more to our body than the body can to itself. He says God, being the greater Spirit can pierce into the center of our spirits and do what He pleases. It is no more to Him to turn our spirits than to speak chaos into heaven and earth. God delights to bestow spiritual blessings for they are agreeable to His nature. He is able to repair and bless our spirits because He is the Father of spirits. Further, because He is pure Spirit, He never gets tired, never runs out of power. There is no place He cannot go, nothing He cannot do. Charnock then suggests that the more spiritual we are, the more active, tireless, powerful we shall be.

I know the “sluggish matter” that causes inactivity. It is bodily fatigue, aches and pains, distractions of the mind, guilt over sin, procrastination, doubt and fear, indecision, being too busy, or pure laziness. I get clogged by worry, immobilized by trials. External pressures shift me into low gear.

I also know the energy that comes from turning away from sin and being in right relationship with God. He fills me with His Spirit. We sometimes refer to His joy being our strength. When filled with the Holy Spirit and overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit (which includes joy), I am flying. Nothing slows me down.

But I’ve not really connected spirituality as the key to accomplishing much. I’ve heard that those who make goals and write them down accomplish 50-100 times as much in their lifetime as those who just keep their goals in their heads, but Charnock suggests that the person who is spiritual — focused on God and His will, and motivated in their spirits by His Spirit — is the one who has the ideas, the energy and ability to fearlessly focus and get things done.

I’m thinking he is correct. When I am charged up by God, I can knock things off my to-do list at an amazing rate, and even do more than the list because He often brings unplanned opportunities into my life. So I’m convinced; having His energy is just one more reason to get plugged in!