Birthing Season

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

- Philippians 1:6

It is easy to quote of God as the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, The Auther and Finisher of our faith, but how is it to hold on to these revelations of Him as we walk through our different circumstances.

We know that if God started a work, He is faithful to complete it, but do we know it in concept or in our hearts, how much do we trust it. Sometimes we don’t want to speak up about doubting God so we will doubt whether the word really came from God in the first place.

The bible consistently warns us of the importance of being prepared for the storm. This walk of faith does not exempt you from the storm but equips you to weather it. There is a necessity to be able to withstand the storm and endure through it.

Walking in faith requires a tenacity, it demands a heart that is unwavering and moves intentionally in the direction of the vision. People say the only failure is when you quit trying. If God set a purpose in front of you, the only thing that can stop you from fulfilling it, is choosing to step out of alignment.

For God is the God who starts a thing and if faithful to complete it. God is looking for people who are ready to endure through the pangs of labour. What seems like the worse part, the most trying part, what feels like your vision dying is the birthing of what God has put in you. It feels impossible, it feels like the end, it feels like God punishing you, but it is the push that carries you into fulfilment of His word.

““Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord. “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?” says your God.”

- Isaiah 66:7-9

God is a special kind of God, there is none like Him, He who says by the time you have come to the point of birthing He has already birthed that which you are pushing out. He will not bring you to the point of birthing and shut up your womb. For He has has brought you this far will surely bring about the manifestation of that which He placed in you. It is the time to push, to persist, to continue, to endure and you will surely see the word of God over you manifest. It is birthing season.

A Teachable Heart

“For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them.”

- Proverbs 29:1 MSG

There are few things more important than maintaining a teachable heart if we are going to continue to grow in Christ. How ready are we to learn? To realise we can always do better, be better, know more. Unfortunately one of the biggest symptoms of getting comfortable in the presence of God, is we begin to think that we know all there is to know about Him.

There is a point we get to where if we consistently disregard the wisdom of God, His consistently outstretched hand of redemption you will pay the price. the scripture above says, if you continually refuse to receive or be open to correction, and instead refuse to turn away you will lead yourself to your own demise.

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to yourelders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””

- 1 Peter 5:5 NKJV

We are in a time where there is so much attack on spiritual leadership, people are running away from church, and fellowship. it is a dangerous thing when we get to a place where we believe that we can build ourselves in Christ and refuse the wisdom of others, the bible says “…iron sharpens iron.”. that is not to say that the only place where you can grow in wisdom is in the church, or from “Men of God”, but fellowship is essential, it is also essential that we remain teachable, ready to learn, open to the possibility that God can use an infant to speak to you just as easily as He could use as pastor. This requires discernment and the capacity to always check in with the Spirit, but never let yourself get to a place where you think someone isn’t worth listening g to because you know better than them, it will surprise who God will use and how He will use them. It is why we must remember that, His ways are not our ways.

“And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.”

- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 NKJV

The moment we become unteachable, we stunt our growth. One of the biggest killers of teachability is pride. It creeps in so slyly, the idea that it is by how long I’ve done to church, when I gave my life to Christ that makes me a fount of wisdom. Or that someone because of the social standing can not be privy to the level of knowledge that you are. It is why Christ consistently reminds us to be dead to self. It is not by our strength or power but by His Spirit. The moment we think it is because of who we our, or it is our wisdom, our righteousness we become rapidly, more and more unteachable. It is all by the measure of the Spirit, and because you did nothing to earn the Spirit of God, you didn’t get grade a spirit and someone else got grade d. God is God and His Spirit is His Spirit. The worse kind of pride is the one that camouflages itself as humility, when you believe you are so humbled by God, you don’t want to be guided by anyone that isn’t as humbled by Him as you are.

It is as important, if not more so to be as open to rebuke as we are to praise.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights. “

- Proverbs 3:11-12 NKJV

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”

- 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

Prosper

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will prosper in everything you do.

- Joshua 1:7

So often we undermine the importance of obedience. This world has a tendency to make you believe that everything is negotiable, that you can bargain with God. We always want to pick and choose where we listen to God and where we do what we want and “it’s not that deep,” it’s how the world introduced the white lie, we start to qualify and quantify sins, which God never did, He simply required that we keep all His laws and commands.

At almost all point when God is talking about how a man makes his ways prosperous, God is calling for obedience to His word. Our problem so often is separating our understanding of biblical constructs with the worlds definition. It is hard to live a prosperous life in God when you are defining prosperity the way the world does. It will mislead you into thinking that God’s way fails to bring true prosperity.

The world defines prosperity as: being successful or fortunate, especially in financial respects. God looks at prosperity as growth in all areas pertaining to your life in Him. So consistently He talks of obedience to all of His laws because God doesn’t want you to just grow in one aspect of who you are but in all that you do, in all that you put your hands to and in all that you are.

“…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;”

- Ephesians 4:13

The goal of prosperity is that we grow in the full stature of Christ, not that you have an excessive bank account. Yes, prosperity includes financial growth, because it is total growth.

Joseph aligned Himself with God and remained in His presence at all times, made sure he did not disobey God because of his circumstances and because of that God prospered him in all that he did. Everything Joseph did, grew him, built him up, drew him closer to who God had called him to be.

There are two words often translated to prosper in the Bible, the first one being the Hebrew word “tsâlach” which means to push forward, to break out. God is saying by this that when He prospers you there will always be growth, you will advance in all that you when you obey Me and seek Me.

“He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

- 2 Chronicles 26:5

As long as you seek Him, He will advance you, He will give you breakthrough. In every area you commit to God, God will push you to a new level.

The second word translated to prosper is the Hebrew word, “śâkal” which means to have good success and to act with insight, with wisdom. This says a lot, God is saying prosperity comes from acting in accordance with the wisdom He gives. This is why He constantly says you will have success when you seek Him and obey his laws. Prosperity comes when you act in alignment with what He tells you. The measure of a mans capacity for prosperity aligns with his heart posture to both seek and obey God.

Flesh Vs Spirit

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

- Romans 8:13 NKJV

The Dead People Feel Nothing Conundrum. So often while in this flesh we thing it is our bodies we need to feed to stay alive, when in reality, the more we feed our bodies, the more we kill ourselves.We must learn to f\remember that the flesh is really just encasing, the real you, is the spirit.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

- Genesis 1:27 NKJV

We must always prioritise our spirit, live by it and live for it, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6 NKJV). This is easier said than done, the flesh, like it’s master, the devil, is a chief deceiver. Your flesh does everything to convince you that it is on your side, when in reality it is your enemy, your flesh is out to kill your spirit, and subject you to death. It is why Paul wrote, “…For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Romans 7:15 NKJV).

Now, why do I call this, The Dead People Feel Nothing Conundrum? Because one of the biggest evidences of the flesh is pride. It will often present itself as ‘self love’ or ‘self preservation’, a defence mechanism to protect you simply doing what is best for you. The reality however is if you’re truly dead to self and have killed off the flesh, your higher concern should always be the expression of love to others than your self preservation.

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

- Galatians 5:13-15 NKJV

The struggle in the battle is how you make sure your spirit defeats your flesh. Noe of the keys to that is the renewal of your mind. That place where you look at the evidences of the flesh and no longer perceive them as a way at which you protect yourself, but instead as things that are out to kill you, make you less of who you are meant to be. But what are the evidences of your flesh?

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

- Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV

But the reality is, you cannot fight of the flesh of your own doing, it is on the Spirit of God within you that has the capacity to overcome the flesh. So your sole aim cannot be to starve the flesh, but to feed the Spirit, or should I say, let the Spirit feed you. Only the Spirit can starve the flesh. In fact, trying to starve the flesh without the Spirit is just another evidence of the flesh. It is the recognised prove for living by the law, trying to keep it in your own strength, when only Jesus was able to do that.

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

- Galatians 5:22-26

Taking Responsibility

So often as a people we hunger for the blessings of the Kingdom of God, without the trial, or the testing or the work that comes with carrying the anointing.

One of the problems we face culturally that has hampered the impact of the church in Nigeria in the Kingdom is spiritual laziness and lack of accountability. We have come to Christ not for a relationship but to have someone who will do all the work for us. When we pray, we complain more than we commune. We’ve spent no tim building relationship, trust, faith, learning and understanding the characteristic of a son from that of a servant, understanding duty, or what God wants from us. We came to benefit without investment.

I would go as far as to say most Christians came to God expecting to be able to lounge and retire who He does all the work. interesting fact though, you;re not the first and you won’t be the last, but the people who get set apart are the ones are willing to sacrifice and not live in mediocrity just so they don’t have to work.

There are many in western countries who would rather claim unemployment benefits and do nothing, than get a job. Here, in Nigeria, you have the parents that send their children to beg and bring what they got for the day to them. It is a nature of the flesh to desire benefits without effort. It is also a servant mindset.

We see this when the Israelites are brought out of captivity in Egypt. We have a tendency to want to be upgraded with no discomfort or effort. All of a sudden the life you complained about becomes attractive because you didn’t bare the weight of responsibilities. Whilst in Egypt the Israelites wanted out, were desperate for freedom, but weren’t ready to pay the price for freedom. The moment freedom came and they saw discomfort they were ready to turn around and go back.

“Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.””

Exodus 16:2-3 NKJV

“So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.””

Numbers 14:1-4 NKJV

We have to be ready to step up, to take responsibility, to stand and persist, to stop looking at this walk as the easy way out, it takes work to be in the Kingdom of God. The work of faith and obedience, the work of love and diligence. God is not someone we tell to do everything and turn to blame when things don’t workout. A lot of us aren’t even looking for a relationship, but looking for a scapegoat. What is the first thing Adam did when God confronted him, he blamed God, “it was the woman YOU gave me”

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:11-12 NKJV

You have to be ready to take responsibility in your relationship with God, to sacrifice, to know it isn’t a one way street or you will never see the fullness of what God has for you. An unwillingness to invest in this walk with God will have you call yourself a king but live in poverty without ever seeing the true fullness of the Kingdom. Don’t miss God cause you weren’t ready to try.

The Miracle Of Waiting

Waiting on God is probable the least glamorous thing about a life of faith. Nobody wants the duration time between the Word and it’s manifestation. No one wants to learn to endure or about delayed gratification, we want instantaneous results, but patience is probably the birthplace of the greatest miracles.

“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:37‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

God wants to see you stand in spite of it all. To know that no matter what comes your way, no matter how long it takes you will be faithful to Him. Imagine the man waiting on a blessing that gives up at the final hour, if his master comes back and sees that he has gone, does it count for him that he waited 11 hours if when the master came he was no longer there? Sometimes we get frustrated at God, that, “yes, I stopped trying, but i’d been waiting since, if you came sooner you’d have found me waiting, I only gave up because it became nonsensical to stay.” Meanwhile it was when it got nonsensical that God wanted to see to stay through.

Luke 12 says that the master will sit down the servant and serve him. It is one thing to aspire for a seat at the table, but with steadfastness, the servant doesn’t just get a seat at the table, he gets service from the king. The place of patience builds character, it builds a vessel that because they do not move in haste has the perception to see and weigh things up, to not act out of the flesh and misuse your blessing, but to steward your gift. The place of patience says I value the giver over the gift.

We have to learn that ultimately we are in this for God and not the blessings, blessings are simply AN evidence of the capability of God.

Time and time again we see that there are deeper rewards entrusted on the patient, beyond the initial promise. If God promised Abraham a son while he was in his twenties and Abraham had Isaac immediately, I think it’s safe to say that we’d undervalue the gift of God. Yes it would be great that he had a son, it it’ll seem pretty mundane and normal. By putting Abraham in a pressure pot of discomfort God enables Abraham to value the blessing more, God tests Abraham but because of Abraham’s steadfastness, he doesn’t just gain a son, but he earns a relationship with God, a FRIENDSHIP that means when God is considering taking an action against the Sodomites, He values and trusts Abraham enough to seek his opinion.

If God had made Joseph prime minister of Egypt immediately after he had the dream, would Joseph have had the wisdom or maturity to not lash out at his brothers, to not wear the position with pride? God used unimaginable hardship to build Joseph for the calling He had given him. Joseph’s experiences made him quick to forgive, God had taught him to be strategic and have foresight, God taught him compassion and favour. God changed Joseph’s perspective from one who saw people bowing before him to a man who saw people he needed to cover and provide for.

God wants your patience, because it is signs of a vessel He can truly use. The miracle in patience, is not merely the gift, but the opportunity to have true Kingdom impact.

Who Do You Reflect?

“But know the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call Him.”

Psalms 4:3

God wants to set apart for Himself the godly ones. What exactly does it mean to the godly? To be like God. The immediate prerequisite for attaining godliness is an interpersonal relationship with God. You cannot be like that which you do not know. A lot of us have settled for a basic revelation of God, for the idea or God, we have settled for christianise statements like, ‘God is good; and ‘for God nothing is impossible,’ but outside of the catchphrases have those revelations truly sunk in, do we actually believe it when it comes to God and our situation?

So firstly, we must have a relationship with God, we must know Him to the point that we don’t just conceptually believe He can do all things but that we believe “He will do it for ME!” The next thing is that we must seek to have the mind of Christ, the goal is to put away the thoughts of the world and think in alignment to the thought patterns of God. We must begin to approach situations with the guidance and the leading of heaven.

“And do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:2

The reality of it is that trials will consistently come that seem to contradict the word of God. You will always come up against situations that will challenge how grounded you are in God, how prepared are you to stand on what He says when everything about your situation contradicts the Word. being soaked in HIs presence helps you to stand firm. The world will laugh, condemn, ridicule you for being different but in the end that is what we desire. Not to look like the world but to look like God.

““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.””

Isaiah 55:8-9

`You must be steeped in who God, is, and intent on following Him, doing what He desires and not looking at success by the standard with which the world defines it, or you will forever battle with reflecting Him. The only way to draw others to God, is to be consistent, to continually stand by Him, through the feel good moments and the times of immeasurable pain.

Finally, beyond your time in His presence and tour thoughts, being godly must be evident in your actions. How do you treat others? God by HIs very nature pours continually into others, sacrificed His only begotten Son for our sake, pours out His wisdom, grace, mercy and love on us daily. Love is the function of the godly. How you treat others is the evidence of a reflection of God or the world. Stop and ask yourself, who do you reflect?

Be Clean

What does it mean to be clean? To be made whole, and to be without blemish. In the Old Testament this is why people would offer a sacrifice, your sacrifice covered you. But that was unsustainable, the old covenant leaned on mans ability, mans capacity to keep the law, then fail then, make a sacrifice, rinse and repeat.

So, God sent His only begotten Son, to come down, live the perfect life, void of sin and carry our punishment so that we could have access to cleanliness. This is the essence of being cloaked in His righteousness.

in the story of the prodigal son, he had gone out of his fathers home and lived with the pigs, he was stained and blemished. The first things his father did, were firstly hug him, embrace him in spite on his unclean state. And secondly his father put around him his robe, presented him as clean and covered up his blemishes.

If Christ died that we might be saved and obtain His righteousness, what is left to be done?

To be clean is a choice. You can not operate optionally in and out of sin. We enter into the covenant by faith, God washes our sin the river of forgetfulness, but what are our daily choices? Being in Christ is evident by obedience to Christ.

“Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭20:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

To consecrate yourself, is to be clean, to set apart from evil and all impurity, to be resident with God. Jesus by His sacrifice has give you access to His righteousness, you must choose to walk in it, to be in Him, to flee from sin. You cannot run back the world and every given opportunity and expect to remain clean. You must choose to flee from all evil, which the Bible also tells you is the begin of wisdom.

God sanctifies us all from birth, set us apart, with a plan and a destiny for only us. We must choose on the course of that life to live according to His plan or to conform to the world.

“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1:4-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But know this, there is a reason obedience and fleeing from all appearances of evil is the beginning of wisdom. The ONLY way to be spiritually successful is to be holy and set apart. Moses was used mightily, but his sin caused him not to enter the promise land. God requires that you be sanctified so that He can give you all He has for you. Your choices today will be evident in your end result.

““The district that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width. To these—to the priests—the holy district shall belong: on the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, on the west ten thousand in width, on the east ten thousand in width, and on the south twenty-five thousand in length. The sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the center. It shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are sanctified, who have kept My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭48:9-11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

God said the land he had set apart was for ONLY those who were sanctified and showed it by obeying Him and did not go astray when the rest folded!

what will you do? What choice will you make? God’s way or the flesh? Holy and sanctified or what the world has to offer? Choose today, bear the fruit tomorrow.

Wisdom

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭111:10‬ ‭NKJV

What is wisdom and how do we acquire it. On multiple occasions the Bible tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is birthed in that place where you reverence God. To truly reverence God, you must first know Him. You can’t reverence and idea or rumour, reverential knowledge of God comes by experience. When you have experienced God and you begin to acknowledge His power, His goodness, His love, His knowledge wisdom begins.

When you revenue the Lord you seek to please Him and wisdom is the desire to walk with God. Wisdom is forsaking all that does not please God. So wisdom begins when you desire to take the godly path.

Wisdom therefore spends its time seeking out God’s face, getting to know Him, keeping His word, being obedient, fleeing from sin.

there first time wisdom is mentioned in the Bible is in Deuteronomy 4;

““Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭4:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

it talks of wisdom as evident in obedience. Often the first thought of wisdom is being able to discern the best thing to do. But it reaches beyond that to action, choosing to do God’s will and follow His guidance at all points.

“How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:16-17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Wisdom, flees from evil, wisdom is more precious than gold or silver. Why? Because wisdom will preserve you.

“Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.””

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:8-9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But how do we acquire wisdom? Time in His presence, time in the Word, through obedience, but also by asking in faith. Asking in alignment with the Word and trusting that He truly will freely give.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Listen and Obey

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NKJV

It is one thing to know in concept how important it is to remain in God’s Word., it is another to be diligent with it and remain diligent in it, not just in action but in heart posture as well. If your heart is not invested in your action and you’re just ticking a box, revelation will not seek heart deep.

Walking with God requires a special discipline. It is so easy to slip out of alignment with God once yo begin to think, ‘that time I spent with God then was enough to hold me.’‬‬ the scripture says to meditate on the Word day and night. Consistency is not a recommendation but a requirement. And it is a hard commitment to make.

We so easily start to prioritise worldly work or actions over time in the Word. We rationalise the importance of it and find ourselves failing to discipline ourselves to be consistent in the Word of God. It often feels so much easier to pray than to read the word but the Word is a prerequisite for prayer because prayer without the word is void. The bible says;

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

‭‭I John‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

If we don’t pray in accordance with `His will, we don’t have the assurance that He hears us. Where is His will made known? His Word. Why? Because His Word is Him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

But there’s the other side of the coin. You’re not really doing it if your heart isn’t in it, if you’re ticking a box. The word doesn’t become the Word until it comes with revelation. And revelation doesn’t come when you’re ticking boxes. If you aren’t guided you’re ticking boxes. If you’re ticking boxes you may as well read the content page of an IKEA manual.

the Hebrew language is so steeped with the importance of obedience. If your heart isn’t in it, it may as well have never happened. For example the Hebrew Word ‘SHEMA’ translated to hear, doesn’t mean simply to hear but to hear and do that which you heard and so if you didn’t obey you didn’t really hear. So when in Psalms 115 it says ‘they have ears but do not listen it uses the same word, SHEMA. Hebrew has no separate word for obey.

‘Likewise when we pray in accordance with God’s will and have confidence that he ‘SHEMA’s’ us. It is confidence that not just does he hear but he focuses and will act on that which He heard.

i say this to say if you read the word but do not obey it you didn’t not truly hear.

Who You Are

I went to go and see the remake of Lion King the other day, it’s one thing to watch it as a child, it is another to understand the power of the story when it comes to depicting identity.

What do you do when the world shakes and you lose the one thing that you held on to as definition of who you are. When the very core of your belief system gets shaken? Simba has built the whole fibre of his being around the admiration he has for his father, the symbol of good his father, Mufasa, represents, and who his father says he is, who he will one day be, the king.

Then, Scar, like the devil himself comes and attacks the very core of his belief system, takes away his rock, his father and more than that, takes away his belief that he is who his father said he was, a good lion, with a good heart that was meant to be a king.

Simba no longer believes he is who he thought he was, he faces a crisis of identity and because he no longer believes in who he is, he no longer believes he is worthy of the call on his life.

So what do we do when the devil challenges our identity?

it is important to know that our identity is not defined by our past, by the mistakes we have made, or by what others say about us, nor is it defined by our circumstances.

“But as many as receiver Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

- John 1:12

We have been adopted in to Sonship and we must never forget it. That we can stand bold in who God says we are when the devil comes to tell us we are not. To know that this sonship was not by accident, it is not something that can be taken away from you because you made a mistake, God has sealed it with the blood of His Son.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

- 1 Peter 2:9

The only way we can stay firm in who we are is through relationship with the Creator. Knowing who we are in Him, comes from knowing Him. Time in the Word and time in prayer.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.”

Joshua 1:8

When the word is hidden in your heart and you pray according to that Word you can trust in the revelation of God for who you are and what you are called to,

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us”

1 John 5:14

Remembering Faith

One of the hardest things is to remember faith in the moments where you actually need it. We spend all this time working to build up our faith, but training is never the same as the battle. When you’re training in your head you sort of know that it’s not the real battle, so how do you really prepare yourself so the real battle isn’t a shock to the system.

“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the LORD And whose hope and confident expectation is the LORD. For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, That spreads out its roots by the river; And will not fear the heat when it comes; But its leaves will be green and moist. And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought Nor stop bearing fruit.”

‭‭JEREMIAH‬ ‭17:7-8‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The best way to be truly prepared for the battle, is when your training is your lifestyle. Consistency, we must learn to make living by faith in God a lifestyle. The tree planted by the water, is rooted by its source. It doesn’t seek that source only after the rain has gone. To be prepared for battle you don’t start to prepare only when you see the enemy coming.

““Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:24-25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The man who builds his house on the rock realises that you can build the most architecturally beautiful structure but if it is built on the wrong foundation it is to no avail. You can’t save foundational damage after you’ve built the entire structure. Jesus went to the cross for us because he knew we had corroded the structure of our faith through sin, the temple had to be torn down that He would build it on the strong foundation of His sacrifice in three days and could never be torn down again. That is why we say He is our firm foundation. If you build your life on Him when the winds blow and the floods come we will not fall.

when the storm comes will you remember your source. Peter had faith enough to walk on water, that if I say so myself is substantial faith. However when the storms came, his faith did not endure, because he took his eyes of his source and onto his situation.

Before the bible says, ‘blessed is the man whose hope is in the Lord and who trusts the Lord, he shall be like a tree planted by the waters’ it first says;

“Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

You get nowhere in this life once you let your circumstance direct you. The moment you put your trust in men and in situations or your surroundings you freely relinquish authority over that which God has given you.

Naked And Unashamed

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2:25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So much changed when Adam and Eve are of the fruit of the midst of the garden. The floodgates opened but one of the most damaged things was the relationship between man and his wife. The final thing the Bible says before the serpent came to test Eve was that “the man and his wife were naked and unashamed”. That was the capacity for man and his wife to live with such a deep unity and honesty and fearless love. To not overthink or doubt or worry about how one would receive the other.

The devil's first attack was on the trust between a man and a woman. God purposed a husband to be a covering and a safety for his wife. That you love her like Christ loved the church. And he made woman to be a helper. To enrich her husband but the devil came to soak doubt there by bringing shame and self awareness.

The moment that God confronted Adam he immediately blamed the woman who was sent to help him.

Eve no longer felt the covering of Adam and Adam questioned her capacity to help.

Today the relationship with man and woman is still so fractured. We must fight more intently to be naked and unashamed frightening as it may be to be so vulnerable. It is only by the bold leap of faith that you get back to a redeemed relationship of a covering and a helper.

Relating

““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22:36-40‬ ‭NKJV

Love is a word that gets thrown around so recklessly. It provokes deep levels of joy and when misused, as it often is, can provoke deep levels of pain. The dictionary defines love as;

1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

The worlds definition of love leaves things so open to interpretations, it’s so hinged on feelings and more often than not no ones interpretation is the same. Who can quantify the depth of affection? Who can write a playbook on commonality in how love should be displayed? Because of this, we move by emotions and emotions can be very unreliable. Led by emotions we are like waves tossed to and fro by every passing wind.

So how do we relate, how do we show love without succumbing to the many obstacles it can bring? How do we merge our personal desires and the good of another person. How do you live in unity without caving under the pressures of balancing different natures, attitudes and life approaches as one?

God is the most perceptive, wise and dutiful lover! He knows just how you receive love best and how to let go of Himself to give it to you. He showed us the self sacrificing nature of love when He sent His Son to die for us. In learning how to relate in love we must be aware of the ultimate example of love.

Love is no longer to be perceived simply as an emotion but as an active, doing word.

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

‭‭I John‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭NKJV

‬‬“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-7‬ ‭NKJV‬

All this is easier said than done but requires a deep intentionality, a huge amount of selflessness, it requires an unwavering persistence in chasing what you desire, it requires a firm decision to be unshakeable in your unity no matter what comes.

The intentionality of Christ is indescribable. When the bible says, “men love your wives as Christ loved the church.” Do we realise He didn’t come to earth and decide along the To die for us? He. Came with the sole intent to die for us and all He did was geared towards it. So therefore we must love with such intentionality.

when the bible scripture at the beginning of this post says love your neighbour as yourself, the prerequisite is the love of God. We can only love truly after interaction with God’s love.

I was watching A Beautiful Mind recently and came across this perfect quote, ‘the only way for a group to succeed is if every member does what is best for himself and for the group.’ That is love! Yes love must be selflessness but that selflessness must serve the better good of the group. To relate best you must seek what is best both for yourself and your partner simultaneously and never seek your own good only.

Weapons Of Our Warfare

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭10:4-6‬ ‭NKJV

So often I find that we are so quick to throw that scripture about but how often do we use scripture lackadaisically but not search out the depths of the meaning behind it.

It is a form of blasphemy to speak without reverence of the things of God. We can’t go around wearing the badge of God but failing to honour the truth of what we claim to represent.

Do we really know what it means to battle not in carnality but in spiritual places? What does it truly demand and expect of you? More often than not we talk about the deeper things of God but the moment trials come we revert to following our instincts and trying to use worldly solutions.

We begin to worry about the things working against us on earth and want to deal with each issue one by one forgetting that we have in us the capacity, the strength and the authority to sort it out once and for all in the place of the spirit.

So how do we battle things in spiritual places?

‬‬“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:12-13‬ ‭NKJV

In Ephesians 6, it reminds us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood so then to prepare fo the battle at hand put on the armour of God.

Girt your loins with truth. There is power in dealing in honesty, with the truth of your situation. The truth of your situation is what God says about it not the facts. Living in truth is whose report do you believe and how do you relate to others

Have on the breastplate if righteousness. Do you acknowledge that you are cloaked in the righteousness of Christ? You are in right standing with God, free of shame and guilt.

Your feet firm in the gospel of peace. Understanding that when Jesus died on the cross ‬‬peace was delivered to us.

Take up the shield of faith. The shield protects in battle, that lets us know how important it is that we are secure in what we believe. So every lie the devil brings your way is brought captive by the truth you stand firm in.

The helmet of salvation. Know that you’re salvation is secure, you have already be saved, you are not fighting for survival, you don’t need to fight out of desperation.

The Sword of the Spirit. Our sword is the Word of God. We lay to waste the enemy with the Word, all things but be rooted in the Word of God.

And all of this cement into action through PRAYER.

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Deep Calls Unto Deep

God is looking for more, God is calling us deeper. He is looking for more of His children. There are things of the Spirit we will never be able to search out if we are content with surface Christianity.

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4:1-2‬ ‭NKJV

We have a choice in this relationship with God to live like slaves, to live as servants, to simply be given directives and ‬‬obey. Choosing that won’t make you miss heaven, but you could miss all God has for you if you become content with the least of all God has to offer.

The question is knowing that there is so much more for you in the House of God do you want less than you have the authority and access to.

Like I said last week we often come to Christ not out of a desire to do His will but out of a need or something we are looking for. Often we meet God in a transactional matter. The bible says “…the heart of man is desperately wicked.” We have a tendency to think of self more than we do of others, and God will take you as you are, but in place of relationship He is looking for us to mature, to grow, for our hearts to change from thinking of self, to desiring the things of His Kingdom more than the our personal gain.

Maturity in the things of God isn’t decided by how long you have been a Christian, but by how deeply you search out relationship with Him, do you tarry in His presence? Desire to know Him more? Unlike the human body that grows with or without your consent, your heart and Spirit grow through time spent and intentional action.

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

You don’t mature by accident but through intentionality. You decide you want more, you decide to let go of childish things. You decide you don’t just want to get by, God wants to birth in us a desire for more, to know to fullness of all He has and who He is and who we are in Him.

God is the unsearchable God, there is so much more to Him, you were saved and you have witnessed His grace, does your heart desire that everyone else gets to witness that same saving grace.

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42:1‬ ‭NKJV

God is waiting, waiting for us to desire Him the way He desires us, to want more of Him, He says, ‘He who lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives freely.’ Are you ready to search out the deep truths of God?‬‬

On The Run

Have you ever found something tugging at your heart? Felt like God has called you to something you never imagined doing in your life and your immediate instinct was to run.

Run as far as you can from the call of God ‘cause that isn’t what you got in this for. Realistically how many of us came to Christ more for what they could do for Him, than what He could do for us? And because our focus seems to be more about the reward more than serving Christ, the moment He asks us to do something that on the surface the risks outweigh the reward, we run.

Truth is many of us came to God when we realised we couldn’t work it all out by ourselves, when we needed a way out of lack, needed healing, or provision. And that’s not a bad thing, God will take you as you are, but in the process we have to transition from babes drinking milk to mature Christians seeking meat, a deeper relationship with God.

Luckily for us God knows us better than we know ourselves, He knows the decisions we’d make that we never imagined ourselves making.

““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NKJV

So God knows when we will run, He always has a back up for our mess up, so you find that where you were going to run from HIm you end up running into Him.

Moses wanted to right the wrong the Egyptians had done to the Hebrews, but he was overzealous and killed the Egyptian soldier, then in an attempt to further help the Hebrew found himself being chastised. He had the right heart to do what God had called Him, but once it seemed like too much he ran.

“Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭2:11-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬

Moses was running in fear from the call of God, only to find himself exactly where God was calling him, into a place where he could be alone with God to have a personal and intimate encounter with Him at the burning bush.

When the prodigal son took his inheritance and left his father, his father daily went to the highest point of his home to watch out fo this son, There is nowhere you can go or run, that God isn’t watching over you, wouldn’t chase after you and won’t take you back into His arms. He is the God that leaves the 99 to go after the one.

In the same way Jonah was on the run from God, he intentionally decided not just to disobey God but to get as far away from where God was calling Him. Jonah running from God found himself doing the work of God and ending up exactly where God had called him to in the first place.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

God will take your mistakes, your disobedience, your good, your bad and work it all for your good, if you truly love Him and desire His will. While Jonah was on the run unbelievers came to the revelation of who the true God was and saw His power. While Jonah was on the run, he saw the salvation of God, he got a testimony of the mercy of God that meant that when he went to Nineveh, the people were quick to repent.

So often we lean on our flesh, or get scared and we go on the run, but God’s love is so deep and unfailing that wherever you run, He will be there, to keep, protect you and offer you His salvation.

Providential

PROVIDENCE;

• Foreseeing care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth.

• God, especially when conceived as omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence.

• a manifestation of divine care or direction.

God is a providential God, it is His nature to act and do all things with care and guidance. It is God’s very nature to lead us down the perfect path.

We fear alignment, we get unsure about making decisions, not knowing for sure what is best and sometimes we don’t have the boldness to step in faith cause it doesn’t alsways seem like wisdom, like the smart decision. God can not make decisions that are unwise or uncaring, but how much do we trust it?

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:1-3‬

God is our Shepherd. Sheep have a relationship with their shepherd where they know his voice innately and trust him relentlessly. Can we say that about our relationships with God, where we are so confident in where He is taking us that we don’t try to carve out our own path. It is God’s way to take us in the path that is best for us, “in green pastures” where there is always provision. When God told Abraham to leave his family that he will take him to a land that He will show him. Abraham, had no picture created for him, but he trusted God and never lacked along the way. God “leads us in the path of righteousness”, He is putting us in rightstanding with Him and is it important that we note this is not about us, He remains true to who He says He is, “for His names sake.”

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:4-6‬ ‭NKJV

One of the reasons we tend to begin to doubt God and His providence is when things begin to get tough. God’s Word never says things will be easy on this journey, but it does say that He is with us, He will cover us and protect us. He will bless you and elevate you in the presence of those that come against you.

We question, when we have been diligent and obedient, and done all God has asked of us and bad things happen, it just doesn’t make sense. That is exactly what Job did and it was a major lesson in trusting and aligning with God. We base our definition of the fairness and just nature of God on worldly understanding, with limited knowledge and with a focus on how things pertain to us,

When Job challenged God, God responded by showing him all of His creation and asking a slew of questions..

In summary God says to Job, ‘Were you there when I payed the foundations of the earth? When I determined the size and scale of it, when I made light and darkens and told them their guidelines‬‬, were you there when I made the oceans and gave it it’s boundaries. Look at all the creatures, the deemed monsters on land and in the sea, I provide for them and keep them under control. Can you protect yourself with your right hand? Take the proud and humble them, take the wicked and bring them under your hand?’

And Job comes to the realisation, look at all God has dominance over and how He manages it all. Job is overcome with wonder at the magnificence of God and says;

““I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.””

‭‭Job‬ ‭42:2-6‬ ‭NKJV

There is so much wisdom and understanding in the ways of God, we question Him because we cannot comprehend Him, but like a sheep that has limited knowledge in comparison the the shepherd is it not better then to follow the guidance of the one that knows all than try to command that which we cannot comprehend?‬‬

Left Behind

Perspective is a very powerful and scary thing. The lens through which you see will taint most, if not all your opinions.

Two people can have the exact same experiences, be put in the same conditions and surrounded by the same people, who treat them the same way, yet respond in completely opposite manners. Why? Because perspective can completely alter how you receive something, or the results you get.

Why is the Bible adamant that we are transformed by the renewal of our minds? Because when you encounter something in the flesh you respond with fear, but where you encounter it with the mindset of Christ you respond with faith, and your mindset often determines your result, or failing at that your response to a negative outcome.

We seek consistently as the word says to, “…be made Holy, because He was Holy.”and what does it mean to be Holy? It means to be set apart. We cry out to God, “God we want to be more like You, make me Holy like You!” And when God starts the work of sanctifying us, because of poor discernment, we perceive the blessing as a punishment.

Sometimes God is setting you apart and you think everyone is leaving you behind. God has placed you at the forefront of His mind and you think everyone has forgotten you.

When we read the bible, we read it, knowing the end from the beginning, knowing, it works out good for this guy in the end. But how did it look in the moment.

When Joseph had a dream and his brothers didn’t just laugh it off, they plotted to kill him, threw him into a well, sold him into slavery. He must’ve felt rejected, forgotten, foresaken, but what was God doing? SETTING HIM APART!

When Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint a new King and David’s father didn’t even invite him for consideration, he musthave felt forgotten, disregarded, inconsequential, but what was God doing? SETTING HIM APART!

When Moses mother had to hide him in basket, and he was found, brough up an orphan, too Egyptian for the Jews, too Jewish for the Egyptians, he must have felt like a nomad, a misfit. When he finally chose a side then accidentally killed a guard and ran off into the wilderness, he must’ve felt like a failure, lost and in abandon, but what was God doing? SETTING HIM APART!

You might feel like you have nowhere to turn, everyone around you is finding success, achieving great things, you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, you feel ashamed, like you’re the only one struggling in your sin, you feel insignificant, like a grasshopper looking at a giant,

but if you could just shift your perspective for a moment,

maybe you cant see light at the end of the tunnel because you are the light in the tunnel.

Maybe you feel like a grasshopper but if you look in you left hand you’ll see a sling and in your right hand you’ll see a stone.

You feel rejected, alone, forgotten, there is no one around you, but maybe you haven’t been left behind, instead you’ve been SET APART, SANCTIFIED, MADE HOLY!

People aren’t running away from you, God is lifting you up, ‘cause what He is calling you to they just aren’t ready for.

What Happens When The Main Character Dies

It’s weird where inspiration comes from sometimes. So I was scrolling through instagram andI saw a clip on the making of the final episode of season one of Game of Thrones, where Ned Stark dies. You don’t do this in storytelling, you don’t kill the main character. What will bring your audience back if you kill the person they’ve connected to more than anyone else. What will draw your audience when the hero is gone.

So it got me thinking, how did the disciples feel when the hero died? How must it have shaken them when Jesus died?

Whenever we talk about the crucifixion we focus on the sacrifice, the power of the sacrifice, we turn our focus to the selflessness of Christ to lay His life down for all of us, despite our sins and unworthiness. We look at it from the spiritual perspective which is powerful and essential, but let’s stop and talk a look at the reality of it all.

The disciples have dropped everything in the life and spent the last 3 years following Jesus. They’ve left family, careers, finances, dropped it all to follow Christ. And it’s all been worth it, they’ve held on to HIs every word and seen HIm perform unimaginable miracles, give them wisdom and insight, He has been equipping them. One day He sits them all down and say’s I’m gonna be betrayed, I’ll be crucified, then I’ll rise again, really all they hear is , ‘So I’m gonna die.’ They are like hell no, Peter is like, that doesn’t fit the plan, you don’t have to die.

And then it starts to unfold itself, and their life shatters so quickly. You’ve hinged all your hope on this guy and you see HIm dragged off like a common criminal, He is insulted and mocked, jeered at, even by the criminals beside Him on the crosss. This person, they all looked up to is being made to look like nothing. Fear sets in, they are all scared of being arrested and killed and don’t want to even be associated with Him, Peter who said he’d never deny Him, goes on to deny Jesus three times.

Jesus prophecied it all, how He’d be betrayed, how He’d die, but in the light of the moment all that is forgotten, all hope seems lost and it feels like the last 3 years were wasted.

What do you do when the very thing you cringed all you hope on is gone. It didn’t take Peter long to get back on the boat and start fishing. The disciples, couldn’t stay and watch Him die, it only talk of the women that stayed through the cross.

We’ve all been there, where you keep pushing the goal post of your faith, till you see to run out of string, everything that seemed indicative of hope has gone, how do you keep believing. When Mary ran tot tell the disciples she’d seen Jesus resurrected it say they were weeping, distraught. The act of grace, Jesus had performed by dying for them, must have seemed like an act of surrender.

But THIS is what we hold onto, what seemed like the end was only the beginning! What seemed like the last option was really the birthing of eternal hope. The things of God often run contradictory to the things of the world, what seemed like death was really releasing life. Often the thing that looks like you last hope being lost opens you to see just how much more there is in the places you’ve never looked.