Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17

God’s gifts don’t always come in fancy packages. His gifts don’t have all the bells and whistles of modern day packaging, with all the tissues, bows and ribbons, making it look so significant and valuable!!

When you get real jewelry as a gift, many times it comes in a smaller, simpler package. It does not have a lot of fluff, but when you open it, you truly see the treasure in the little box. That’s how God’s gifts come. They look small and simple, but once you open up the gift, you find a treasure that is truly the good and perfect gift that the Lord has sent!!

His ways are not our ways!! How the Lord operates in our lives is so different than how the world tries to get our attention. Have you ever thought about the fact that the Lord is not a big advertiser? If He really wanted to make himself known, He could have used a variety of ways to show Himself, thereby bringing attention to Himself. But that’s not who our God is. As a matter of fact, many times, His ways are quiet, gentle, and unassuming. We could so easily miss them or dismiss them.

When the Israelites were hungry in the desert, God sent them food from heaven, they called it manna which means, “what is it?”. This so called food was a thin wafer that didn’t amount to anything. For more details see Exodus 16:13-16. If they had been given any other option, they would have completely ignored it. They might have even stepped on it as they moved on their journey, but they couldn’t because they were desperate for food. So they called it, manna asking, “what is it”; because it seemed insignificant and it didn’t look like any food they were used to.

The Lord does the same thing in our lives. He whispers something in our ear like, go and talk to the sister in the church and reach out to her, and we can find all kind of excuses as to why we don’t need to go. All along there is a blessing in obeying His voice. He could be trying to free us from our insecurities, or the other person may have a need that He wants to bless them by you reaching out to them. But, because His word comes softly, often not how we expect it, like manna, it doesn’t seem that important to obey or to obey right away. When you think about the Israelites in the desert, they were sustained by “what is it?” for decades, and even their children and their babies didn’t lack anything eating the same thin wafer.

Walking with God will require faith. In a world that is a great advertiser of goods and many times over-promises and under- delivers, God does the opposite. He comes quietly and gently. He asks us to do something not telling us “why”. Then, when we do it, it delivers joy, peace and growth in our faith. However, we must be in a spiritual place to see it. He always delivers!!!

There are other times that on initial review doesn’t appear to be a good gift. This could be a relationship that ends, a job loss, any other tough or sad situation. This is when a deeper faith is required. It demands a trust in God that what He has brought into our lives will still work for His good because what He brings is good and perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes and He doesn’t change His mind. Joseph’s pit turned into a situation where he could help the very brothers who threw him into the pit. David’s service under Saul and fleeing whenever he was chased by Saul caused him to write some of the most beautiful and comforting Psalms. Paul being imprisoned for sharing the gospel led him to write many of the New Testament books that help us to grow. Sometimes the benefit, or the beauty, of the gift is not seen for many years that is why the scripture tells us to think of the gift as “good and perfect” because in the current time, it does not look good or perfect!

Are there situations or people in your life that you don’t consider as a good and perfect gift from God, but you know the Lord has allowed them in your life for a purpose? Pray and ask the Lord to change your heart and your mind about the situation.  Trust that while it’s difficult or painful, He has brought this situation for good, and it will produce good fruit in your life and/or those around you.

Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 1Corinthians 1:12-13

Here, Paul is saying that our loyalty needs to be to Jesus. Since Jesus declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life, our allegiance is to the Truth. If we decide that we are loyal to anyone else or anything else except to the truth, we become divisive and a political spirit develops. People, creeds, denominations, church, etc. are not perfect. If we have an allegiance to a person or an organization to the level that we are willing to deny the truth, deny the mistake, or not address sin, we can actually go against truth.

In recent history we have seen this with clergy’s improper relationships with members of their congregation, or a coach of a well known college having inappropriate sexual relations with minors. These and many other examples continue in various places.  It is time for God’s people to speak up and be loyal to the truth!

Mistakes happen and sin occurs.  In order to not show partiality, we must be loyal to the truth and address the issue. Always defending someone means they are always right, which is not true. There are times that they could be wrong and there are times that there could be more than one accurate view of the situation.  By defending only one position we cause hurt, injustice and divisiveness. We need to come to the place of seeking God’s heart in any situation and not move on flattery, religious spirit, friendship, or the fear of man.

Paul asks three questions that need to be addressed in our loyalty.

1. Is Christ divided?

If we are truly followers of Jesus Christ, there should be peace and unity in relationships within the body. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be disagreements, but in everything people are submitted to one another, they are controlled by humility, and they are under their designated authority.  Psalm 133 describes how pleasant is the unity of the brethren. Unity does not mean we must keep peace at all cost or not address issues that need correction. The Bible clearly tells us how to deal with correction or offenses, so it is done properly and doesn’t cause division within the body. That allows us to be loyal to the truth, but handle situations with grace so as not to cause division.

2. Was Paul crucified for you?

This is clearly speaking of putting great significance in someone other than Jesus. There are very important people in every one of our lives’. The person who led you to Christ, your mentor, your spiritual leader, a spiritual celebrity or just a very gifted person are all examples of someone you may hold in high esteem. Regardless of their importance in your life or their significance in the body of Christ, your faith must be founded on Jesus being crucified for you and not on anyone else. No other person should have the place of Jesus in our hearts regardless of what we think they can offer us.

3. Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Galatians 2:20 tells us ,” I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”.  When we get water baptized, we are identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Our only hiding place is in Christ. We cannot hide behind our culture, our family, a person,  our education, or job title. Our only hiding place is Jesus because we were baptized in Him. The life we live has to continually be right with the Lord and intimate with Christ. If our loyalty is to someone or something else, it takes away from being hidden in Christ, and then our loyalty has been unlawfully given to someone else.

Where is your loyalty today?

Do you sift everything through the lens of truth?

Are you impartial when you have to  make decisions or judgments that involve others?

Are you hard pressed right now? Be be of good cheer you are not alone!!

We need to concentrate on every word Paul is speaking in the below scripture.  Those words are hard words but so true!! So many times we think, that Christian life is one victory after another, but when we look at Paul, we see a complete and continual death that he experienced in life.

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Praise God that Jesus has won the victory over sin and over every battle that we will face in life. However, we will all still be faced with opposition, persecution, misunderstandings, and rejection from the world, from the enemy, and from our own desires that battle within us.

In every battle there can be injuries and that may result in pain, but the injuries don’t need to take us out!! We don’t like to be in place of weakness or brokenness. Sometimes we think brokenness or weakness is reserved for special seasons of our lives, but once it’s over, our lives will be on cruise control!! That’s not the story of Biblical characters.

The Bible has many stories of when a believer decided to follow Jesus their lives became everything but easy and ordinary!! They knew they could not live for Christ and live for themselves at the same time. The cost of following Jesus was so high that they needed to have a resolve for things that were going to come at them. They needed to be ready and focused on His kingdom rather than their own wants or dreams.

Why do we struggle so much with this place of brokenness and humility?  Unfortunately, from an early age, we teach our children by reading to them Disney books about beautiful girls finally finding their knight and shining armor and they live happily ever after.  We would like to think difficulty and discomfort are a temporary state of affairs which will eventually turn into a long lasting bliss!!

The ultimate bliss is heaven but Jesus very clearly told his disciples that, “In the world you will  have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Jesus did not claim that life will get easy when we start walking with Him, but He told us that we will have the ability to overcome difficulties because He has overcome them!!

Many times Christians focus on God’s love for them to the degree that they think the Lord will save them out of every troubled situation. When that doesn’t happen, they get disappointed or bitter towards God, and start questioning God’s love for them.

Additionally, we are so comfortable with our faith and our walk in our culture that getting uncomfortable and in pain is not the norm.   If anything happens to us, we think something is wrong. We like and enjoy our independence,  and we also like to know and to understand what God is doing in our lives. We don’t like to be surprised, and we don’t like not knowing. We need to remind ourselves that the Lord uses discomfort and hardship to do His work in us and through us. It keeps us dependent on Him, and it also keeps us humble because we can’t figure out God!!

You may ask why do we need to go through times of discomfort and difficulty? The scripture gives us several reasons; below are a few that the Lord laid on my heart.

1. God disciplines His children.

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
⁶ For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6

In times of difficulty, we should ask the question, “Is this a correction for something I’ve been doing?” Sometimes it takes time to get clarity on this, but the Holy Spirit can point this out to us. The key is to stay open if the Lord wants to rebuke or correct us. We must remain in a position of receiving and not become so overwhelmed with self-pity that we miss it.

2. We need to mature in our walk with Lord.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

Children don’t know how much they lack in maturity. Only parents can see this clearly and hope to guide that process in their lives. The same is true with our God. Sometimes we think we are more mature than we really are!! Until we are tested in an area we don’t realize how much room we have to grow and mature.

3. We will Strengthen Others.

 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Luke 22: 31-32

Many of our Biblical characters, including Peter and Paul, had to go through great times of difficulty which illustrates a great example for others. Through their brokenness, God used them even more powerfully to minister to others because it wasn’t about them anymore . It had become all about Him!!

If you are in a season of difficulty, please stand fast and know that the Lord has not forgotten about you. Even in times of silence, the Lord is still at work and He is watching over His children very carefully and diligently!! He has a purpose but more importantly we know He is good, so what He is doing will in the end produce good in our lives and in His kingdom!!

We as Christians need spiritual recalibration from time to time to ensure that our lives and our faith is set against the standard of the word of God.

This devotional and the previous one (part I) are a tool to help us get recalibrated and to realign ourselves with what the Lord desires in our lives. In the last devotional, I began to discuss how our relationship with the Lord can turn into a religious experience! Below is the continuation of that discussion:

d. We are more concerned with what people think of us and our children than if the Lord is pleased with us. When our focus begins to shift from God two things happen, both of which I stated earlier. Our time is spent more in social gatherings in the name of doing ministry and certain people’s voices become the voice of the Lord.  The result is to measure our lives based on what others think of us. We are losing our intimacy with the Lord and we don’t have the convictions we used to have.  Unless one of our leaders, or people we respect, points something out to us, we don’t see a need for change!!

e. Our church or denomination affiliation becomes more important to us than knowing someone is a believer and loves God.  A denomination is man’s method of putting certain guideline and boundaries to the beliefs of certain groups. It defines them but it also allows them to communicate what they don’t do. That is a small subset of what Jesus came to do. Jesus will come back for His bride which is the body of Christ, not for a denomination. If we are too proud of our denomination or organization, it will cause us to miss out on some things that we could be learning from other believers.  It can also affect the unity of the body of Christ. This doesn’t negate the fact that we should always be discerning of teachings and beliefs that people share with us and measure it against the Word of God.

f. When a Pastor preaches a sermon, we’re thinking of who could be getting convicted by this message instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us and change us. We must always keep ourselves available for the work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus pointed this out to the religious Pharisees; they thought they were better than others because they were comparing their lives to other non-Pharisees.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. Luke 18:11

The comparison of our lives should be to the Word of God. If Christians around us are living a sinful life, it doesn’t mean we are living a holy life just because we look better compared to them.

g. We set our own standards for right conduct and holiness that we want other people to appreciate and follow. If we are not watchful after years of walking with God, we start developing our own doctrine that we impose on others. Our experiences that gave us success in our relationship with the Lord become the standard for others that we expect to follow. This is even more dangerous if you are in any leadership capacity because people will take you very seriously. This could be in the area of marriage, parenting, clothing, home life, relationships, and so on. The Word of God must be our standard. We can encourage people by our experience, but we cannot and should not expect them to do things our way. There is no cookie cutter Christianity!! We need to allow people to hear the Lord. He knows them well; just because their process doesn’t look like ours, it doesn’t mean they are doing it wrong.

h. We become very predictable in what we will say or how we counsel because we are led more by our experience rather than by the Holy Spirit. As Christians we are called to be reliable and consistent people. That’s a part of our character development. However, we always want to give room for the Holy Spirit to override something we are going to do or say.  In  John 3:8 the scripture says:

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The spirit is like wind; it blows and you don’t know where it came from and where it is going. Our lives should have stability in the Lord but unpredictability because we are led by the Spirit, and we don’t do things by rote.

Our relationship with the Lord is just like all the other relationships we have. It takes work, it takes time, and it takes sacrifice to develop an intimate and growing relationship with the Lord. If we start relying on our past experiences or rely on other people’s information about the Lord, soon we will know the Lord more as an acquaintance, and we will lose our intimacy with Him. Let’s guard this relationship just as we guard our marriage!!!

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10b

Jesus came to give us life and give it more abundantly. The Jewish people had religion but their religion didn’t give them life, or life more abundantly. Over the years and over the centuries, the very things that had life, meaning, and value turned into tradition, regulations, and cultural customs.

Jesus came to offer us a relationship with Him that can grow, become stronger, and be dynamic. When you look at the scriptures in the book of Acts, Jesus’ own disciples could not have imagined what would happen to them after Jesus was resurrected and taken up to heaven. It was God touching humanity and pouring out His spirit on them rather than man trying to please God by trying to hold certain standards and regulations.

If you are a Christian, you already have a relationship with Jesus, but if we are not watchful of this relationship, our faith can become very religious. Many times we speak and encourage people to move from a place of holding on to a religion to a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, we should also speak and point out how our relationship with Jesus can turn into a religious experience.

The process of our relationship turning into a religious experience will probably look different for different people; however there are some common factors:

a. After walking with the Lord for many years, we grow accustomed to doing things a certain way. We become set in our ways of doing things, whether that’s our worship, our prayer, or our understanding of the word of God.  We should keep ourselves in a position that we don’t know everything about the Lord and his operation in the body of Christ.  We need to stay open to receiving new revelation, new ways of relating to Him, which can make us closer to Him and stronger in our relationship to Him. Apostle Paul  (Saul) was a very religious man who thought he knew everything about his faith. This made him a dangerous man prior to his conversion because he thought Jesus’ followers were a threat to his faith. He couldn’t see that God was doing a new thing, and it looked different than what Paul (Saul) was used to. When the Lord healed his vision, he saw the truth in such a new and profound way, that he became one of the most powerful apostles who reached multitudes and planted many churches. Now, he was even willing to be persecuted and imprisoned for the sake of the gospel because he knew the truth like never before!!

b. Our church activities and ministries become more important than ministering to the Lord. If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you’ll find your hand in a variety of Christian activities and ministries. If we are not careful our relationship with the Lord can turn into a social gathering with other Saints to the point that we would rather be in the church than outside talking to an unbeliever!! No matter what we do for Jesus in the church, we must always have a heart for the lost and a desire to reach them even if it means saying “no” to some of the church activities!! Jesus gave the Great Commission to be fulfilled by all believers not just a few evangelists.

c. People’s voices in our lives become more important and louder than the voice of the Holy Spirit. We learn and grow in honoring Godly people and Godly leaders, but somewhere along the line, we find that some of these people may become spiritual celebrities. Christians can quote these individuals  better than quoting a scripture. Christian celebrities should never take the place of the voice of the Lord or the word of God. While we will learn about Him from others we should know the Lord personally and have our revelation of Him. Since we have a personal relationship with Jesus, the poeple’s voice in our lives should be only a confirmation to what the Lord has already spoken to us. There could be something wrong with our relationship with the Lord, if we are constantly seeking people for the “Word of the Lord”.

We will continue with this discussion in the next devotional, but for now let’s examine ourselves in the above areas and allow the Holy Spirit to do an evaluation of our relationship with the Lord!!

Jesus, the perfect man, could have defended Himself on any false accusations against Him. After all, not only did He never sin, His only purpose for coming to this world was to take away our sins. He could have easily made an impassionate speech about His heart’s desire for people, His upcoming great sacrifice for them, & their need to accept and receive Him.

If I had done anything that resembled any level of sacrifice on behalf of others, I would like for them not only to appreciate my sacrifice but more so not to squander the sacrifice!! I would want them to make a good use of the gift I have given them.

The amazing thing about our God is that He gives us the greatest gift, which is an eternal life with Him, but He doesn’t try to sell it to us. Jesus does not try to convince us that we need it, or make us feel guilty for not accepting it. While the world tries to get our attention every which way on what a great product it has to offer us and how it can solve so many of our problems, none of its advertisement has any lasting substance.

In great contrast, Jesus calmly, quietly, and confidently offers us the gift of salvation, joy, hope, and eternal life, and then He takes a step back. He basically tells us that when you are ready to receive the gift, let me know. I’ll come to you and will make a covenant with you, but until then you can choose to live without me and without my gifts. My arms are wide open, but the door of your heart will not be open until you are ready for a true change!!

Jesus had complete confidence and security in His relationship with the father. He was willing to go to the cross without the guarantee of how many people will be willing to accept this gift. He didn’t question if it was worth it. He didn’t question if His life was getting wasted for a bunch of ignorant and unappreciative people. He chose to love, He chose to give, and He chose to rest in God’s love for Him knowing that the father is pleased with Him regardless of the results.

Are you confident in your relationship with the heavenly father today?

Are you willing to serve Him and give generously of yourself regardless of if someone appreciates it or not? Do you believe your reward is with Him and that the world’s acknowledgement of your sacrifice does not matter? Do you find it difficult not to defend yourself when falsely accused?

Today, make a decision to commit yourself to Him who judges righteously.

Since Jesus has made us free, why would a freed man, in his right mind, want to be yoked to bondage again? That’s the million dollar question!

The scripture tell us:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

Bondage: a state of being bound usually by compulsion (as of law or mastery):

There are many definitions for the word “free”, but here are the relevant ones to the subject at hand:

Free: enjoying personal freedom; not subject to the control or domination of another; not determined by anything beyond its own nature or being; choosing or capable of choosing for itself; not united with, attached to, combined with, or mixed with something else

Are we in bondage to something? Many of us can get offended by this question, but it is an important question to ask.

What does bondage look like? It could be an addiction to a substance where it has gained mastery over you. It could be a relationship with someone that has become so important, all other relationships are defined or perceived in the light of this particular relationship. It could be someone having so much control over your mind and your emotions that basically they define who you are, and the most important concern you have is, “what does this person think of me?” It could be money, status, or position where you can’t imagine life without it because it makes you feel important or significant.

The thought of being yoked to bondage for most believers would be a crazy idea, one which most people would be appalled. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do such a foolish and sad thing!?

You see the enemy entices us with what looks good and with what we desire in our hearts. What throws us into bondage are those things that we long for and have an affection for that continue to trap us, bait us,  & entangle us. We move towards them because they offer us something. They offer importance, significance, popularity, status, & acceptance.

The enemy is very subtle. He gives us a taste of what we desire. That allows us to feel important, popular, or significant, but what we don’t see is that there is a high price tag attached to these desires. The longer we go in a certain direction we get less satisfaction, which in turn makes us want to do more to get the effect we used to get. Now we are in bondage to something or someone!! We are addicted to a certain action or a certain person. We are no longer in control, but we are at the mercy of whatever has given us meaning and satisfaction. We can’t imagine life without it, but life with it has a lot of labor, tribulation and slavery. We find ourselves stuck. We can’t hear the Lord clearly. We’re not sure if we even want to. We see no way out of this mess. There doesn’t seem to be a way out!!

What we should pray for is that the bondage would not give us satisfaction at all, but only pain! Only pain has a way of motivating us to back off, walk away, move on, change direction, and it weans us from the created and allows us to focus on the Creator. Even if it is grudgingly at first, that’s ok. We are always in a better place with the Lord than without him.

“Without Him”, you ask,

“What do you mean?  I have been walking with God this whole time! I’ve actually been doing my work for Him. How can I be without Him?”

It’s because the bondage has caused the Lord not to be at the center of your life. You don’t have the intimacy with the Lord you had before. You are confused. You’ve lost your convictions. There are compromises. There are justifications for your actions, but the tenderness of heart and feeling are lost. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is far off. It’s easier to notice other people’s issues and shortcomings rather than your own. You are so bound by the bondage that everything is seen in the light of it.

The yoke must go! Cry, wail, pray and ask God to do whatever is necessary for this yoke to be cut off. You are imprisoned and you don’t even know it. You cannot see what the Lord wants you to see. This is an ungodly yoke. There is a form of godliness but the joy and the life of godliness is lost. You must come out and see the spacious land before you. You must see the abundance of the sea turned to you when you walk in His will. Praise God for Jesus’ blood that cuts any chain and yoke of bondage!

Anything we desire or think, cannot compare to walking freely with Jesus! We cannot be afraid of the consequence of letting go of our bondage. The Lord will fill the emptiness, the loneliness, and the unworthiness you feel. He is your portion. Believe this and start taking steps to get freed up from whatever that has held you in its bondage. Pray for the Lord’s help and strategy for how to get freed up. He will show you what to do and He will give you the grace, provision, and protection to do it.

The hidden seed becomes the visible plant

 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.Mark 4:26-28

Many times we look at our spiritual growth as if we are trying to get a college education!! We think that we have to determine where we’re at and have a plan to get to a certain level of spiritual maturity. The scripture doesn’t describe the process that way at all. The above scripture tells us clearly that the man was just doing life and the seed was growing. God is at work. He doesn’t need us to be self-conscious of our growth. This can just cause strife or worry unnecessarily. If you want to see the growth of a seed while under the ground, you have to move the dirt to see the growth which undermines the work that’s already been done on the seed.

Patience and trust are the key ingredients for this phase of the seed development, as well as with our spiritual growth. We can’t despise the day of small beginnings. Then, one day you see something sprouting out of the ground. It will look small, tender and weak, but over time as you nurture this little plant it will grow and become strong.  Someday it will even bear fruit. Even a baby in her mother’s womb grows without her mother knowing how the growth is occurring. The Lord has put the process in place.

Just like a patient farmer there is much work still left to be done in order for a seed to grow and become a healthy and fruitful plant. What is exciting about this is that the little seed that was previously needy and helpless, dependent on its environment, can now grow into a strong and healthy plant independent of its environment. This plant will always be in need of nourishment, water, and the sun, but it will become less dependent on the conditions of its environment because the roots are stronger and have gone deeper. Now the plant itself is strong and can find food regardless of the storms, drought, high or low temperatures in its environment. This is when we become strong believers and mature sons and daughters of the Most High. While we will always be vulnerable to the people and circumstances around us, we will be less shaken by them as we grow stronger and get deeper roots in Him.

We need to be willing to stay hidden in the Lord while He is working and growing us. Many times after we give up a lifestyle of sin the change in our life may not be visible. To most people the change may not be immediately noticed because God is doing an internal work to sanctify and mature us. These are the hard years. There is no glory in them, and sometimes it feels like there is no end to them. However, the more we appreciate those years and allow them to work in us, the more we will get out of the season. We have to remind ourselves this will not last forever, but it is a God-ordained season of hidden growth that has great purpose for the overall health of our walk with Him. Joseph, David, and even Paul had to go through the hidden years, but what they accomplished in their visible years far outweighed the years they were hidden.

Do you feel hidden in this season of your life? Are you allowing the Lord to do His good work in this season? Or are you anxiously waiting to come out of this season? Take your concerns and your heart’s desire to the Lord and ask Him to give you the grace and the patience  necessary to stay hidden at this point.

The Lord’s creation speaks beautifully on how He works on us spiritually.

Let’s look at the below scripture describing a “seed”:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24 

The Seed must be dead and dry

Even in the best of soils there is something significant that needs to happen to a seed in order for it to grow and bear fruit. The seed must be dry and dead to become ripe for fruitfulness. In our natural or spiritual world we like to see ourselves successful. We don’t want to be “dry and dead”. That’s not pretty, or popular. However, the work of the Lord moves more powerfully and effectively in the ashes and unpopular moments of our lives.

When we are at a place we see our spiritual poverty, the flesh is weakened to the point of not feeling glorious. Emotions are worn out to the point of feeling like, I am nothing, and have no potential. We are completely weak! We have reached a point of feeling dead and dry in ourselves. The scripture tells us that in our weakness He is strong.

Do we need to be weak for God to be strong? No! God is always strong and powerful, but pride gives us a fictitious feeling of well-being. In those moments when good things are happening we credit ourselves for being great, ingenious, and wonderful. But when we are weak we truly have a good estimation of ourselves. This is not a place we like to stay for a very long time because it doesn’t feel good, but this is the place of God’s presence and glory.

The outer shell is broken

Now the outer shell of a seed needs to be broken before it can grow and attach itself to the soil around it. When our outer shell is broken, we are more tender and humble. We are in a place of being penetrated easier.  We are less concerned about what people think of us and more concerned what God wants to do.

This is the seed of life that looks dry, and dead, but has the greatest potential for life. When the seed is planted in the ground, it is watered and the sun hits it, breaking the outer shell. We are afraid of being broken. We like to think of brokenness as pre-Jesus days, and just share it as a nice testimony of yester years. I don’t see that anywhere in the Bible. Once God gets a hold of a person‘s heart, then the true process of brokenness begins. In our past life we were broken because of sin and rebellion.  This time we are broken for the purpose of showing God’s glory.

 The germination begins

Jesus has deposited himself in us, and the light of Jesus is under the bushel of our soul and body, and unless we are broken of ourselves, His light will stay hidden. Once a seed germinates something profound begins to happen.  Germination needs to grab hold of the dirt around the seed, soak up the food and water to grow. The sustenance inside the seed is only for a short time until it helps reach the next phase of growth. This transition must happen or the seed will die. It cannot live on its own but it is dependent on its environment to live and be successful. The deeper the root the greater likelihood of producing a healthy plant. There will be days of invisibility while the seed grows underground and takes root, not showing, on the surface. That’s how you want it though. You must trust that something is happening even when you don’t see it!!!

In the next devotional, I’ll discuss the next phase of the growing seed.

Do you want to be a better lover of the Lord and of people? The scripture below gives us a solution to a mature love.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 1 John 4:17-19

Perfect love casts out fear. The question is what are you afraid of? In those places that fear has a grip, I need the Lord’s perfect love to give me assurance that He is with me. This could be in areas that I have closed myself off to new ideas or revelation.

Sometimes we use our childhood as a reason for not believing or trusting God. We do this because we believe we didn’t have the perfect earthly example. This is an excuse that keeps us in agreement with what happened to us in the past. If Jesus has made us new, it means our past is the past and should not have the power or control that it had on us when we didn’t know Him. He can even give us a new understanding or a new perspective on the past.

Did you know the most important agreement you will ever make is to stay loyal to your covenant with the Lord? If anything comes to compete with that relationship, it must be moved and placed in its proper place. I can’t withhold things against the Lord. If I do, those will be the places that I will not trust Him in my life. I have to live a life of surrender and have a child like faith. I must allow Him to wash my feet when they get dirty with the issues of life. I want to always have a part with Him. I cannot be at odds with my Jesus, or sooner or later it will surface in one form or another.  I need to keep my heart tender. I need to believe Him when He speaks to me and take what He says seriously. It’s not optional! I must listen carefully to His leading.

Many times the fear of the unknown or the fear of getting hurt again keeps us in the bondage of not loving. The scripture tells us:

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. (1John 3:14)

Love produces life, but if we don’t love we stay in death. Isn’t that powerful!? So many times we just want to do more for God, but what God is looking for is for us to do everything with love in our hearts for God and one another. It is the quality of what we give of ourselves that matters to God. Love is the precious metal that when the test of time and fiery trials come, it lasts. Love cannot get burned up. Love will continue to speak and change lives because it is the seed of life.

Fear tries to justify why it can’t love. It screams about the injustice or the hypocrisy. It points fingers at others and places the blame on somebody else. Perfect love changes us and puts us in a giving position with our arms wide open. Love is generous. It has a big heart. It doesn’t take things personally. Love knows what she offers is good, so she doesn’t apologize for it. She doesn’t doubt that what she gives is good. She doesn’t let the enemy accuse her or condemn her of not giving enough or not doing it right. Love doesn’t expect perfection from others but wants to be perfected.

Love is a pursuer and is not afraid of rejection. Perfect love wants to reach and pursue others. It looks for what it can encourage. It doesn’t look for lack. It doesn’t expect a return. It doesn’t take things personally.

The Lord wants to stop the torment by believing in His love, and in the process we become His agents of love to a world that is tormented by guilt and shame. We must face our fears. There is no other way to grow in love unless we deal with our fears.