Bloom

Spring has sprung. Gardens are being planted & growing.
My workplace is h u m m i n g!!! If I can't find something to do during the day - then I'm not looking.
Life has been good because God is greater!
I've found a pleasant routine of work, Bible study, kids, Bible study, eat, Bible study, then more Bible study, prayer and then bed. I've been making a habit of submerging myself into the Word everyday for as much time as I can.  I'm striving to come to know God with deeper understanding and strengthen the personal relationship and bond. I pray for His wisdom, His guidance, His love, and that I may grow in His presence, find favor & blessing. - Amen.

God made an everlasting covenant.. covenant is bigger than a promise, better than a vow.. a covenant is a living, breathing and never failing 110% + infinity commitment: signed, sealed and delivered.
It is exactly as it says it is: always.

Isaiah 30:18 says:

¹⁸ Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
God, like a gardener, planted a seed (us). He provided the soil, the air, and the water.
Like a good gardener, He waits for us. HE WAITS FOR US! He will not leave us.
A w e s o m e !!!!

Imagine, laying in a dark dirt bed, just sitting there.. waiting.. allowing all those internal explosions to  happen to sprout. THAT IS US! We lay and wait, in the dark, devoid of God and His plan for us, we do nothing while He waits for us to come to Him, push towards the LIGHT, and be free. Once the roots have formed and we're aware of His promise & salvation: that's it. We're established.
Proverbs 12:3
A man is not established by wickedness,
But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.Jeremiah 29:1-13
¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Once we've taken root in God, that covenant can NOT be broken. He will love us, nurture us, and be with us: no matter what. If we remain in Him, we can strive to be fruitful, show His example and find favor & blessing from Him.
Now comes the hard part.. busting from the soil & growing.
This takes a lot of dedication and energy. Surely God will not fail us and will water us (bring people and events into our life that will allow us to be of right heart and mind to cling to Him and learn His ways). When Jeremiah spoke of God's plan to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11-13) he wasn't kidding. God is not a man, He can not lie. PERIOD.
Numbers  23:19

¹⁹ “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
God continues to garden us. We continue to grow. It is up to us, after accepting Him into our heart, mind, and life to keep our end of the covenant. We need to love & trust Him completely.
In turn, He will change us. He will mold us. He knew what seed He planted, He waited for it to break free of the soil, and provides life for us, to be fertilized to grow stronger in Him. He will provide & protect us. That is absolute.
Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ 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.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

We still have to do our part. We have to LEARN, BELIEVE, TRUST, and OBEY.
He will grow us! He will mold us to His service. We can be pleasing in His sight.

Galatians 5:16-23

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,^[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders,^[d] 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.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
If we continue to grow in Him, we'll have unfailing root in righteousness, be saved and protected through the blood of Jesus and have the forgiving mercy of God that waits for us.

We-as God's garden- all need to do our part. We grow and pollinate. Pollination comes from following His teachings, learning His word and telling of His Truth and Love.
If we're living in His service, He'll provide the opportunities for us to share His word with others - in ways we were intended.. (*here's where that spiritual gifts study comes in handy*)

Yes, plants can be transplanted. We can go about our lives, move to different places, do different things, and meet different people but if we're living in His service: we (the seed / plant) will remain the same.
You can't turn a zinnia into a cucumber. We have a specific job to do. A specific seed planted in us by Him, for Him. . God will grow it. He waits.. We learn.
That's a covenant. (*not a promise*)

Believe, Follow, Trust, Love, and Grow.

Thou Art Strong

The past few days, I will confess, I have not felt 100%.
I'll admit to being a little less 'jolly' and physically tired - almost all the time.
Seriously -- I think it's a caffeine deficiency. LOL
But in seriousness, I've been reading scripture, praying, and working nearly all the time: so .. yes.. I feel.. tired.

The last blog's subject was a toughie for me. God wants me to love and learn about love. He is a perfect example of it and I should be able to follow His instructions. Right? Not as easy I thought. I've prayed for help in this area. I've been studying scriptures on examples of love and part of me is so reserved (I mean cautious here. Not afraid.) in this area that I know only God can see me through this.  I've still had a few moments of struggle with the "l" word. I am trying to only use it when it's really meant to be said in it's fullest meaning. I tell my children I love them. I tell my family I love them. I tell God I love Him. That's real, unconditional love.
Essentially, I've stopped using the word unless I'm telling someone that I love them.
It's not been the easiest task: especially when one is physically tired and a state of mental unrest.

Maybe I am dwelling too much (*which I do quite a bit. I come from a long line of worriers. Another vicious cycle I pray to break.*) .. so I asked myself, and God, what is next ?
So far, I've been learning to practice - in a more intense fashion - full trust, belief, faith, and love.
What am I missing?

**Personal note**
You know, socially --> all I have is family, work, and facebook. Human interaction is limited to a professional level and small talk. It's no wonder at times I feel like I've got vulnerability when it comes to witnessing and trust. The circle is small here: REALLY small. Even on Facebook, I've taken further actions to limit who sees my page & who is on my friends list & what I talk about while on there.

I prayed for wisdom.
Lord, help me to see & understand what you want me to and the ability to act upon it. --Amen.

I came upon a quote: "Do not mistake my meekness for weakness."
This made no sense to me whatsoever. By definition meek & weak mean nearly the same thing and that is NOT STRONG, lacking courage or spirit, not violent, having little ability or power.
So, I went to scripture to figure out what God thinks and says about this.

In Matthew 5 (the Beatitudes) He says, "Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth."

Oh boy. Now there's a problem. I'm not meek.
In fact, I've always had a sense of warped pride for being built up strong and "tough" and courageous.
**Being a single mom, a full time employee, and pretty much 'on my own' a majority of my adult life has really honed me. I like being different. I like to like & excel at things that people say I shouldn't or couldn't. It pleases me. **
Especially after my last few studies / blog, I've been living w/ less fear and more confidence in His plan for me. No, I don't have any of those answers or know where my walk on Earth is headed, but as long as I believe He's got it all under control: why should I ?!!!
So, maybe I don't want to be meek? I'm all for being gentle and non-violent, but I don't want to be so extreme that I'm a doormat and people literally run over me and I say "oh, that's ok. do it again."
In Isiah, there are several scriptures proving where God promises strength to those who are weak.

·  Isaiah 35:3

Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees.

·  Isaiah 40:29

He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Honestly, while being gentle and humble and "meek" can prove to be good (*for selection situations*).. God wants us to build up. Be stronger. Love harder. Have more faith and courage.

Ok.. So while we may have our moments, we need to ask God's wisdom and direction to snap out of it.
I don't want to be weak. Physically, yes, I know! I am lacking, but spiritually - I want to be strong, solid, and stable.
Looking a little deeper here.....
 Joshua 1:7
Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 
 It's most awesome to know that in times when we don't feel quite like ourselves: children of God that we are still blessed, loved, and being cared for in the most excellent way possible. That if we continue, even if we struggle, to follow the LAW (*I mean scriptures here*) and seek the TRUTH (*Jesus*) - that we're completely taken care of - absolutely!

There is nothing in this world, of this world, or tricks of Satan playing w/ our minds, our co-workers, our random customers, or our children that can stop God from loving us. PERIOD.
There is NO GRAY AREA IN THAT.
The whole thing comes together in 1 John Chapter 4...

1 John 4

New King James Version (NKJV)

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess that^[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶ We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Knowing God Through Love

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Seeing God Through Love

¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

The Consummation of Love

¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ We love Him^[b] because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can^[c] he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

So, you see.. even in weakness, meekness, and lack of physically, mental, and emotion ability we are still being molded, shaped, and strengthened for the construction of His kingdom.
I pray that God continues to bring peace, understanding, and love to all of your lives.