INESSA'S JOURNAL

After I made dinner for my family, the Holy Spirit guided me to read the Book of Jeremiah chapter 4. As I was reading, He began revealing something that was so heavy on His heart. Then He led me to the parable of the ten virgins in Gospel of Matthew chapter 25. As I started writing, I could sense the Holy Spirit grieving for His people. I felt His heart. He wants to spend so much time with us. He wants to reveal hidden things. He wants to teach us, guide us, comfort us, strengthen us, and show us our next step. He sees so many people struggling, carrying burdens on their own, searching everywhere for answers while forgetting that the One who has every answer is waiting for them.

As I continued praying, I felt Him remind me of something. Many people come to God believing they have to clean themselves up first. They think they need to become perfect before they can ask Him for help. They wait until they feel worthy enough to pray, worthy enough to open the Bible, or worthy enough to come into His presence. But that isn’t the Gospel. God isn’t asking you to become perfect before you come to Him. He is asking you to come as you are. Jesus didn’t die for perfect people. He died for sinners. He came for the broken, the weary, the lost, and those who know they cannot save themselves. All He is asking from you is your heart. Give Him twenty to forty minutes a day. Open His Word. Invite the Holy Spirit into your day. Sit quietly in His presence. The more time you spend with Him, the more He begins to transform you from the inside out. He will show you what to do. He will reveal your next step. He doesn’t usually reveal your entire future all at once. He leads us one step at a time because every step builds our faith and teaches us to trust Him.

Then one verse in Jeremiah stood out to me: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.” immediately the Holy Spirit began speaking to me. Before God fills our lamps with oil, He first prepares the ground of our hearts. A farmer doesn’t scatter seed onto hard ground expecting a harvest. He first breaks up the soil so the seed can take root and produce fruit. The Holy Spirit showed me that many of us ask God to move powerfully in our lives while our hearts remain hardened by disappointment, pride, fear, unforgiveness, distractions, or hidden sin. God isn’t trying to condemn us. He is inviting us to surrender.

Then I continued reading: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts.” God has always been more concerned with the condition of our hearts than our outward appearance. He isn’t looking for people who merely appear spiritual. He is looking for surrendered hearts. Then another verse deeply convicted me: “My people are foolish; they do not know Me…” notice what God says first. He doesn’t begin by talking about their failures. He says, “They do not know Me.” I believe that is why I could feel the Holy Spirit grieving while writing this. His greatest desire isn’t simply for us to know more Bible verses, attend more church services, or look more religious, His greatest desire is that we truly know Him, He wants relationship, He wants to walk with us every day, He wants to reveal the hidden things of His heart.

It reminded me of God’s promise in Book of Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things you have not known.” God isn’t hiding things from us. He is inviting us into relationship where He reveals them as we seek Him. That is why spending time with Him every day is so important. Not because He needs our time, but because we need His presence. Only after the Holy Spirit showed me this in Jeremiah then He lead me to Matthew 25. It was as if He was saying, “First let Me prepare your heart. Then let Me fill your lamp.”That brought me back to one question: Is your lamp filled with oil? Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins. All ten had lamps. All ten were waiting for the Bridegroom. But only five were ready because they had oil when the Bridegroom arrived.

It reminded me that it isn’t enough to simply call ourselves Christians. We are called to walk closely with God every day, remain spiritually awake, and keep our lamps burning. When we constantly feed our flesh but neglect our spirit, something begins to happen. We become spiritually dull. We stop recognizing God’s voice as clearly. We lose spiritual sensitivity. We begin making decisions based on what we see with our natural eyes instead of what God is revealing through His Spirit. This is why the Bible repeatedly calls us to stay awake. God desires His children to be spiritually alert, able to recognize His voice, discern truth from deception, and walk in the light He has given us.

One of the greatest gifts the Father has given us is the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus returned to heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit—the Helper, the Counselor, the Comforter, the Teacher, and the One who would lead us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is not just a feeling we experience during worship. He is God dwelling within every believer. He teaches us, convicts us, comforts us, strengthens us, reminds us of God’s Word, gives us discernment, and transforms us from the inside out. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.

But the Bible also tells believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is an ongoing invitation to live every day in surrender and dependence on Him. Being filled with the Holy Spirit isn’t about getting more of Him. He already lives within every believer. It is about allowing Him to have more of us. Every day we choose whether we will feed our flesh or feed our spirit.

So how do we keep our lamps filled? First, begin with Jesus. Come before Him with an honest heart. Confess your sins, repent, and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Jesus is the only way to the Father. Then invite the Holy Spirit to lead your life. Second, spend time in God’s Word every day. Even if you begin with twenty minutes a day, stay consistent. Before you read, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. The more time you spend in His Word, the more your spiritual eyes begin to open. Third, develop a lifestyle of prayer. Prayer is relationship. Talk with God throughout your day. Invite Him into every decision, every struggle, and every victory. Then be still long enough to listen. Fourth, walk in immediate obedience. When the Holy Spirit speaks, respond. Obedience keeps your heart tender and sensitive to His voice. Fifth, guard what feeds your heart. Your eyes and ears are gates. Everything you watch, listen to, and meditate on is feeding either your spirit or your flesh. Protect your relationship with God. Sixth, surrender to the Holy Spirit every day. Yesterday’s encounter with God isn’t enough for today.

Every morning simply pray, “Holy Spirit, I surrender this day to You. Lead my thoughts, my words, my decisions, and my actions. I don’t want to walk ahead of You. I want to walk with You.” As you continue to walk with Him, your spiritual eyes begin to open. Your discernment grows. Your peace deepens. Your faith becomes stronger. You begin to recognize His voice more clearly because you are spending time with Him daily. The evidence of a Spirit-filled life isn’t simply emotional experiences. The greatest evidence is a transformed life that looks more like Jesus every day.

One day the Bridegroom will return. The question won’t simply be whether we knew about Him. The question will be whether we were ready. My prayer is that our lamps never grow dim because we have learned to remain close to the One who keeps them burning. If you’ve been waiting to become “good enough” before coming to God, stop waiting. Come today. Come just as you are. Spend time with Him every day. He isn’t looking for perfection. He’s looking for a heart that is willing to surrender. If you make room for Him, He will faithfully prepare your heart, fill your lamp, and lead you one step at a time until the day you see Him face to face.