Oftentimes we say yes to commitments without checking in with God and are left carrying loads we were never meant to carry, blocking ourselves from producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of producing fruit, (love, joy, peace…) we are left feeling heavy, stressed, overwhelmed and stretched beyond our limits.

This was never God’s intention for us. Here’s a pull from my book, Life is Muddy:

“With the humanistic yes weighing us down that should’ve been a godly no, we block the flow of the Holy Spirit.

What we are then forced to project into the lives around us is manufactured fruit because we are under the pressure to be an extension of Jesus. So, we put on that plastic smile and press on toward the “prize,” but the genuine and real joy from Jesus is void from our life.

We are just so good at looking and talking like a “Christian,” aren’t we?

What if we are missing it?

What if we are missing the key component?

What if freely living as the extension of Jesus, releasing His love and joy, naturally begins to flow when we are no longer stuck in the mud of pleasing?

When we read God’s Word, we discover what being a follower of Jesus Christ looks like, but somewhere along the line we have crossed over from following Jesus to following others, or following others the way they are following Him.

Yikes!

We have really complicated the simplicity of what following Jesus looks like—not developing a sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit that should be activated in our lives daily, haven’t we?

The Word of God tells us to be connected to the “Vine” (Jesus) at all times, and from there we will “bear much fruit.” —Life is Muddy (Ch. 7 The People-Pleaser Mud Pit)

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” —John 15:5 (NIV)

Let’s undo the mess we’ve created and get back to the simplicity of what it looks like and feels like to wholeheartedly live for an audience of One. 🤍, J