About Those Nudges and Pokes From God Part Two

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

You’ve said this right? I love you Jesus with all my heart! I live for You! You are my Lord! If you’ve said this and you believe this is your heart, then learn to do this on a consistent basis. Let your heart be nudged and poked by God! As I said, in Part One, when you get those nudges and pokes from God, embrace them! It’s His love, not condemnation, and He’s reaching to help you not condemn you. Those pokes are to help you become all He has planned for you in this life. He’s trying to be active in your life to lead you toward patterns of thinking and behaviors that usher in blessing, and away from those things that work destruction your life!

For those who don’t adopt this attitude, Proverbs 26:12 NKJV will be their life. It says, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” This person may think they love Jesus but if they won’t pay attention to the nudges and pokes of God, or worse yet, if they feel them and harden their heart toward them, then they box out changes God desires to lead them in and they’ll experience very little transformation, hindering the blessing God wants for them.

God’s Word is powerful! Hebrews 4:12 (NLT) says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” When your reading His word and He speaks and pokes your heart, those words that poked your heart have great power when paid attention and acted upon. They are a word from God for you at that moment. Stop when you feel them. Pay attention! The power to help you change, is never stronger than obedience to those nudges in that moment.

God’s Word has the inherent ability to bring transformation to our lives if… if we will put faith in the promise of God’s Holy Spirit strengthening us to make those changes. I remember early in my Christian walk. The Lord was poking and nudging me about about a few different things. (He had a lot of work to do in me.) He was poking me about exhorting others instead of being jealous, and about being more patient and kind instead of impatient and angry. He said, You never need to be jealous of someone else’s success. I have enough for everyone. You success will be unique to your talents and gifting. So, be an encourager, an exhorter, and truly happy for the success of others. You’ll reap that back when your time comes! And then He said, Be patient and kind with people. You’ll be shocked at how much you love that change in your character and life when impatience and anger is gone. I listened to those nudges from God. I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and said, Jesus, You’ve already forgiven me and your Holy Spirit is changing me. I thank you that I am patient and kind. I thank you that I am jealous of no one but a sincere exhorter of everyone. I would say this over and over again in my heart, especially when I felt like I was stumbling in these areas. I’d speak these things to remind myself of the work God was doing in me. Over time, they became the new me that God had transformed.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in Galatians 5:22-26 TLB, “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.”

Simply having knowledge about God and His Word can become a place of pride. They hypocrites of Jesus’ day knew God’s word but they bore no fruit. They were full of pride! Though they had knowledge, God could not do a thing in them. 1 Corinthians 8:1 says, “…Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Putting actions to the pokes and nudges from God will result in transformation and the fruit of the Spirit over time. It’s about what we do, not what we say.

So let’s not just know about the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s let it be developed in us! Spiritual maturity is developed within you when the fruit of the Spirit has become your character. That only happens over time, and through embracing the poke and nudges that alert us so that we can respond to them! Embrace them and they will result in a new you and an entire new level of God’s blessing in your life.

In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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