Sticks and Stones: How to Burn for Jesus When Life is Littered with Difficulties

What does it mean to be a “burning one?” To be passionate for Jesus, bearing fruit in every good work?

There was a tremendous response to this topic in a previous post. I promised you I would share more about what it means to be a “burning one,” and I believe today’s practical prophetic word will be a blessing to you as you seek to burn brightly for the Lord!

A VISION OF THE LAND

I once saw a simple but powerful vision that enabled me to picture the ongoing process of prayer and deliverance in a practical way.

I saw that each of us owns “land,” or territory, in the Spirit. For this land to be fruitful, it must be cultivated. And to be cultivated, it must first be cleared.

What does your land look like? What do you see?

When a new believer begins working with Jesus to cultivate their land, s/he immediately discerns that it is overrun with debris. Sticks, stones, weeds, even wild animals have made their home there and the landscape of the soul does not resemble a fruitful place!

Jesus cleanses believers from all sin, past and present, and as God did with Adam and Eve, He tells us to tend our land. Watch out for the foxes that would spoil your vineyard. Keep your hearts free of offenses and unforgiveness.
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Yet Jesus also mentions something troubling: despite the wonderful work we have done initially, more offenses will come. (Matthew 18:7) The word “offense,” in the Greek, is skandalon. It means a bent stick or sapling that is used to set a snare. The enemy plans to trouble and trap us throughout our Christians lives, and we must be wary of that!

STORMY WEATHER

As I looked into this vision, I saw that at salvation, we may start the process of cultivating our land with a “clean slate,” but storms and winds will routinely bring down sticks and branches from neighboring trees.

Storms represent the difficulties we encounter in relationships, and sticks represent offenses from others that litter our own yards as a result. I saw that these branches must be removed, much like we remove the “log in our own eye” in order to see clearly.
 
For example, the area where I live is known, at certain times of the year, for “microbursts” of rain and wind that storm down my street and take down trees, branches, and power lines. Nearly every year we can expect to spend time cleaning up debris from these mini-hurricanes, picking up sticks, chopping trees into logs, and sometimes going without power for days at a time.

To illustrate how dangerous these storms can be, we once had a time when the storms were so bad that nearby trees fell on our family’s van three years in a row, causing us to spend thousands of dollars clearing our land and repairing our car. (The local auto body shop had never seen anything like it and loved having all our business!)
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What did we do with all the sticks and branches? WE BURNED THEM. 

This process is a picture of what believers must do in order to keep bearing fruit. When storms and offenses come, or when the enemy sets traps for us relationally, we pick up those branches, acknowledge them for what they are, forgive those who littered our hearts with their hurtful words or actions, and burn them on the altar of prayer.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me! As I forgive those who hurt me I become a “burning one,” a believer set on fire by the love of God! Purged of offense, I take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it into good. As I bring the offending “sticks” to the fire to burn, my land becomes clear again, ready to bear fruit.

Not only that, but the very process of burning what is not of Him and purifying myself draws others to the light of Christ. What a beautiful picture: we are dying daily but our death to self becomes a source of light and hope to others!

It would be fairly simple if sticks were the only thing we had to deal with in cultivating our land. But there is something else that can trip us up spiritually: stones. 
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​STONY GROUND

Stones are the deeper, sometimes hidden issues we stumble over as we work our land. New England soil is known for them! You cannot dig more than a few inches without finding a multitude of stones big and small, and this makes for difficult plowing.

I believe that spiritually, these stones represent recurring generational sins that don’t seem to go away.

Stones trip you when you don’t see them and can cause your machinery to malfunction or break. They ruin the sharpest of blades when hit and stop all forward progress!

To leave stones in the ground is to have to tiptoe around them perpetually. Where they remain, they are a monument to the destructive nature of the enemy, embedded within our souls or our bloodlines. In fact, 2 Kings 3:19 reveals that casting stones into an enemy’s fertile field was a form of warfare! Sadly, our enemy is still doing this today.

Stones usually come from within, not without (as sticks do), and they are far more difficult to remove. The trouble with leaving them is that they keep you from entering into your full destiny and functioning as you are designed to.

To remove stones requires help in some cases. Some stones are smaller and we can gather them by hand. Others are so deeply embedded in our souls that we need assistance from others to dig them up and carry them away. Stones represent our need for deliverance from that which previous generations have left, but like sticks, they also contain tremendous potential!
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What do we do with all these stones? WE BUILD WITH THEM.

​WHAT THE ENEMY MEANT FOR EVIL...

In New England, stones were formed by glaciers. When early farmers cleared the land here they often built dry stone walls with these abundant stones (walls constructed without mortar or clay to bind them together). These walls defined new boundaries around the land and enabled the farmers to plant and grow their crops without hindrance.

In the Northeast, frost heaves cause land that is cleared in autumn to be full of new stones again in spring. Early settlers used to believe the devil had put those stones there!* (From author Susan Allport, Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York.)

There is a time to scatter stones (in warfare) and a time to gather them and build (see Ecclesiastes 3:5). In the New Testament, believers are called “living stones.” The desolation of previous generations can become places where we are rebuilt! (See Isaiah 61:4 and 54:12.) As you allow the Spirit to deliver your of past generational sins you find that you have new, strong “building material” to use to protect and define your land, and to build new, strong structures for the Kingdom!
 
We should not be surprised by the fiery trials which come to us, not should we be discouraged when sticks and stones reappear, year after year, causing us to clear our land once again. Yet the reason some believers never bear fruit for the Kingdom of God is because they are unwilling to do the routine work of clearing their land and preparing their soil!

A seasoned landowner knows that clearing his land is routine maintenance, and spiritually there is no difference. We are called to know the condition of the soil of our hearts and to deal promptly with any offenses or sins that surface. Doing so yields a great spiritual harvest that benefits not just us, but all those around us. 

AN ENCOURAGING WORD FOR YOU: DON'T GIVE UP! PRAY THROUGH YOUR LAND!

Many of us feel like we are going through the fire right now; it is a time of purifying and refining that is preparing us for expansion and greater things in the Spirit. If you are among those who have found yourself easily offended or plagued by recurring issues that make you stumble, I want to encourage you not to give up!

One of the signs of an INCREASE in the move of the Spirit is that as the River of God flows deeper and deeper, some of the “debris” that has been lying dormant on the bottom of our river-bed now comes to the surface. This is not by accident!*

Allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse you of these old wounds and new offenses even as He fills  and refreshes you!

PURITY IS NECESSARY FOR REVIVAL, AND THERE IS PROTECTION IN HOLINESS. “Debris” in our hearts does not disqualify us from sonship. We belong to a HOLY God and the “routine” cleansing of our soul is good for us!

Let the Lord wash you today with the water of His Word, preparing you to be a sparkling clean vessel and a burning one who will be both attractive and useable in His Kingdom’s growth!

PRAY WITH ME:

Lord, I am willing! I commit to doing the routine work of clearing my spiritual land of sticks and stones, breaking down larger issues into manageable chunks so that they may be dealt with.

Show me the places in my heart that need clearing out. Expose the hidden stones of sin and iniquity so that no sharp edges will hinder my progress in the Spirit.

Let any offenses that litter my landscape become fuel for my fire, causing me to burn brightly for Jesus! Let the smoky fragrance of this burning process draw others to the love and warmth of the Lord. I want to be a “burning one!” I believe that my death to self is producing life in others.
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When the love of many grows cold, I decree that the altar of my heart will burn with passionate love for Jesus and my fire will never go out. Amen!

© Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com. Photo credits: Siim Lukka, Abdul Rafay, Annie Spratt (cover photo), Benjamin Davies, and Stefan Machler of Unsplash. 
*For more on this subject, read “Healing the Wounded Spirit,” by John and Paula Sanford

Deborah Perkins is a seasoned prophetic writer, teacher, and Christian leader with more than 35 years of ministry experience across denominations.  At God's request in 2013, she founded His Inscriptions, an online ministry devoted to helping people worldwide “Discover Life-Giving Communication with God.” Through her website, inspired teaching and a weekly blog, Deborah offers discipleship to those who want to grow their relationship with God. Deborah lives in rocky New England with her hubby, three sons, one cat and a coop full of chickens. To learn more about Deborah or to order her books, visit her author page.
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