John Belt: "Living Flexible in the Light of God"

From the Desks of Steve Shultz and Julie A. Smith:

This latest word from John Belt has us thinking of this verse: "The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives" (Psalm 37:23). But sometimes we forget that GOD directs our steps. Are you concrete in YOUR plans...with little flexibility for God to work and lead and guide you?

John Belt shares here how it's important to have plans, but remain FLEXIBLE to the leading of the Holy Spirit:

"We do want to plan some things. If we don't plan at all, we're planning to fail. So it's good to have some plans, but we can't let plans become a box. A box is constricting. We want to be a spontaneous prophetic people that follow the leading of the Holy Spirit – to get in the flow of the Holy Spirit and to move with the Holy Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God."

Great stuff. Please read on and be encouraged to make your plans...but remain flexible to the Holy Spirit's leading. God bless you. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

In Christ,

Steve Shultz and Julie A. Smith, Co-Editors
Elijah List Publications

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There are different keys that help us to carry the atmosphere of Heaven, but nothing makes a bigger difference than the glory of God in our lives. God wants us to carry His presence in such a way that people can experience the Lord.

Finding Flexibility

How does flexibility help us to carry the atmosphere of Heaven? We want people to experience God above anything else. This comes by just having a life that is yielded to Jesus. It's not about words. Even with what I typically share, you don't want to make it about a list of things that you have to do; it's not that kind of a thing. It's more like tips...things you can do. Just let the Lord lead you and guide you in your devotion and your times with Him. He wants your relationship to be living and organic. He doesn't want it to be mechanical.

It's not, "I have to get up at this certain time," or "I have to do it this certain way." It's not that kind of thing. When we get too caught up in mechanics, we tend to lose the joy of our experience with God. If we get mechanical in our relationship, we can become hard on ourselves. There are some people who are perfect with their schedules. If that's you, God bless you! But you know, it's just not me. I don't adhere to my schedule every time, but I do plan. (Photo via Pexels)

A Spontaneous People

We do want to plan some things. If we don't plan at all, we're planning to fail. So it's good to have some plans, but we can't let plans become a box. A box is constricting. We want to be a spontaneous prophetic people that follow the leading of the Holy Spirit – to get in the flow of the Holy Spirit and to move with the Holy Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

We want to be led by the Spirit and, at the same time, we can still have both: we can have plans and we can be led by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit can lead us to have a plan, and there are practical things that we can do to see the things God has put in our heart come to pass... We want to be practical, but we also want to be led by the Spirit.

Be willing to throw away the plan to follow the Spirit.

Think about orchestras – a musical score – how beautiful they can be. There's so many ways we can express music, right? It's not just this one form. It's not just this one way. There are orchestrations. I love orchestrations, and they are planned; they're very detailed.

"A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

God Is Into Details

God is very detailed. When we look at the Old Testament, God had a lot of plans for the tabernacle. He had a lot of plans for the temple. God makes plans in details...countless details. At the same time, He is the God of the spontaneous. He's the God of the heart. He wants us to express ourselves to Him from our hearts. We can learn everything up in our heads and still never connect in our hearts. (Photo via Unsplash)

One of my sons is learning to say the books of the Bible in order – all 66 – and he's doing a great job! Knowing all 66 books in the Bible and having them all in order is not necessarily going to connect you with God from the heart. Even though it's great and we encourage that, we need to connect with the Lord from the heart.

A Library That Serves the Spirit

Ultimately, your "library" should only serve the Holy Spirit as something He can pull from. We want a library inside of us that serves the Holy Spirit. We can fill ourselves with all the good things and God's Word, which is truth. Our meditation is to be upon the things of Heaven...the things above. We want to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. We want to be a people who are yielded to His purposes.

It's good to be flexible. In a marriage, you have to be flexible. With two people coming together, at some point, someone will have to be willing to bend; someone's gotta give. There has to be someone willing to be flexible to make things work. You have two different "planets" coming together as one. Marriage is a picture of how we, the Bride, need to be flexible with Him, as we are married to Christ.

Make your plans and be willing to throw them out for His better plan. Stay filled with His presence as you maintain your flexibility with God. This will cause others to come into encounters with Him!

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John Belt
Overflow Global Ministries
Email: hello@overflowglobal.com
Website: www.overflowglobal.com

John and Brandi Belt are the leaders of Overflow Global Ministries. The heart of their message is that God's greatest desire is to indwell His people with His presence. They believe that man was created to be inhabited by God through His Spirit. With a sincere devotion to God through the Holy Spirit, people can live in a place of overflow in His presence. This overflow translates into touching the lives of others through living encounters with God. When John and Brandi minister, the intimate presence of God is manifest – being accompanied with demonstrations of God's power to heal, revive, and restore.

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