Are You Crankable or Just Cranky?
Cranky (def) – ill-tempered; grouchy; cross
In life we have choices of how we will live and how we will respond to life itself. In. John 10:10 Jesus said 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. If you are going to live a life of victory then you will need to be able to crank when it comes time to live it. A friend of mine loved to work on cars and he was really good at it. The car I had at the time had a bad habit of not starting, so my friend came over and made a few small adjustments and then he said those very important words “Go ahead, crank it.” I knew that meant to try to start it and to get the process started by turning the key and letting the whole starting process “do it’s thing!” I was so happy when I cranked it and it really started. Then I was able to go where I wanted to go and not have to walk. If my friend had not made the adjustments to the starting procedure that needed to be made I would have been cranking it all day without it starting, or until the battery died.
So, are you crankable? When God gives you the key and says “crank it”, will you be faithful enough to crank it and get the starting process going so you can move forward in your life? If not, you are in a rut, and ruts cause born again believers to get cranky! Why? Because you are stopping the Holy Spirit from doing something awesome in your life, as part of the abundant life Jesus was talking about. You may not even know it, but you are the rust that is keeping the wheel from moving. I’ve met plenty of people who are not crankable and they really are miserable. There is not abundant life happening for them and their continued life of fear and doubt is a hindrance to the Holy Spirit working great things in their life. They have become dry bones that are not good for anything anymore, but just death. Who wants to live this kind of life. I don’t! But it does happen and it is a condition that requires God’s Spirit moving afresh and anew in our lives. Ezekiel 37: 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’ Wow. If that doesn’t get you going, I don’t know what will. God breathing life back into a group of dead bones and using them as a great army. He still breathes life into dry bones today and you can believe if you turn your life over to Him and trust Him He will do it for you too.
The key to this whole thing is Jesus. If you have been born again, Jesus is in your life and He has given us the Holy Spirit to realize that freshness again, if we will just “crank it!” Maybe you just need a few adjustments to get you started. If so, let the master life mechanic Jesus get things back in working order and when Jesus says. “crank it” CRANK IT!! Too many times we miss Jesus saying that because we are letting the devil keep us distracted from living the abundant life by trying to keep us down and out. Tell the devil one thing “get behind me satan!!” Then go on and start your life with the key, Jesus. If you are wondering if Jesus is the right key then read this in Revelation 1: 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren