Garden Ministries

Janet Smith – July 17, 2021 ©gardenministries.org

John 4:34-38 (CSB) My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.

Luke 12:54-56 [Interpreting the Time] (CSB) He [Jesus] also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does. 55 And when the south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why don’t you know how to interpret this present time?

There are two main seasons in the life of believers who aspire to mature in their faith and be used by God to their maximum potential and created purpose. These two seasons are:

1. The Wilderness: receive God’s promises and patiently endure in faith as the word is tested
2. The Promised Land: the struggle to shake off the effects of the wilderness and to humbly enter God’s season of rest and refreshing

The season of The Wilderness starts with God’s promise and a baptism of hope. We are then sent on a journey where our faith in God’s word is tested and our hope is tried. We fight through this battle zone until, through faith and patience, God’s word of promise grows up fully formed within us.

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that the number one characteristic of God’s love is patience. When our trust in God’s word is complete and our faith—unshakeable, then Christ’s love within us will manifest peaceful patience and His radiant glory will shine forth. This marks the season of entering The Promised Land. Only God knows when our season in The Wilderness has prepared us to enter the season of The Promised Land. Hint: we will always think we are ready before we actually are.

Both seasons of wilderness and the promised land are good seasons. And both seasons are best managed by keeping eternity in view. Without our anchor of hope secured beyond the veil and fixed in faith on Jesus, we will certainly get stuck in the weeds of our carnality and get lost to the snares of each season’s spiritual terrain. Do we want to overcome? Then we need to know what season we are in, and as we pass through it, keep eternity in view. What does it mean to keep eternity in view?

Our eternal beginnings are described in Ephesians 1:3-6 (CSB) Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.

We learn here that we are in our God’s eternal thoughts before He ever breathed life into our earthly body. We do not, however, learn from Ephesians 1 that any human being has the ability to exercise their free will choices before they existed in their earthly body. The idea that humans could make freewill choices before they were born is hard to back up with scripture. [See my article “The Human Spirit Pre-Birth Existence” https://gardenministries.org/2016/06/07/the-human-spirit-pre-birth-existence/]

Purposes of the Wilderness:

1. Produce humility
2. Cultivate unshakeable faithfulness

Deuteronomy 8:11-20 (CSB) Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, 13 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, 14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. 17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish. 20 Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.

Hebrews 6:1-10 (CSB) [Warning against Falling Away] 1 Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do this if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned. 8 Even though we are speaking this way, dearly loved friends, in your case we are confident of things that are better and that pertain to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints — and by continuing to serve them.

Hebrews 6:11-20 (CSB) 11 Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, 12 so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance. [Inheriting the Promise] 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: 14 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. 15 And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

We are being prepared for the greatest move of God in the earth since creation began. The end of the age and its harvest is in view. The gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit will manifest in those Believers, who stayed engaged with God during the wilderness season of preparation, like we have never seen them manifest before. Isaiah prophesied and Paul confirmed this unique time as a time like no other. Romans 5:1-5 tells us that God’s out-poured love follows the wilderness season(s) of character shaping. God’s revealed glory will manifest the out-poured love of God in Christ’s fullness on a level and display that compels the harvest to respond.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (CSB) But as it is written, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.

Isaiah 64:4 (CSB) From ancient times (Hebrew: olam = eternity) no one has heard, no one has listened to, no eye has seen any God except you who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.

Unique times call for unusual preparation. We may have had hints of this preparation in our lives before this last long stretch, but the grueling nature of the last season of preparation has been for many, unprecedented. Why? To ensure we are ready to go through the most difficult times of human history and not lose sight of the goal and purpose of it all: that is to be presented to Jesus as His pure and spotless bride who rules and reigns with Him for all eternity.

If we know what season we are in, we can remind ourselves of what we are doing and what we are not doing in that season. The season of the wilderness will feel restrictive and confining. The sooner we can accept and embrace that reality, the sooner we can move toward reaping the benefits of The Wilderness—that is: humility and unshakeable faithfulness.

Think of the season of The Wilderness as being in prison with occasional day passes to get out and a few visitors who get in. By accepting our limitations and restrictions, we can literally rejoice that God has us in a very focused time of learning. And though it can be hard at times to keep plowing this hard ground, if we keep eternity in view, we will better see this confinement or imprisonment as necessary relief from earthly distractions. We will stay focused on our God-given assignments as He cultivates humility and faithfulness.

Examples from the Bible of the wilderness season of promise, waiting-and-contending, and confinement:

Read: Acts 7 Stephen’s Sermon before martyrdom: Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Joseph, David, Ruth, Esther, Job, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, Paul, John. And most of all, Jesus.

1 Corinthians 2:6-9 (CSB) We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age (Greek: aión: a space of time, an age), who are coming to nothing. 7 On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.

The evil rulers of this age want to keep humans trapped in the power of their dominion and stop Believers in Jesus from overcoming them. As long as a Believer’s old man nature remains uncrucified and unsubmitted to Christ’s Lordship, the evil powers of this age will affect how we experience life. That’s why Paul tells us who our real enemies are. And guess what, they aren’t human!

Ephesians 6:10 (CSB) Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

The Believer’s way through this battle is through faith and patience in God’s Word and letting it cut the fleshly selfishness off of our God-born spirits as we embrace the cross as Galatians 2:20 describes. If we don’t embrace the cross and follow Jesus into full maturity, our unsanctified souls will continue to succumb to the increased pressure exerted by the rulers of the age.

Hebrews 12 describes the wilderness season of sonship maturity as a season of discipline where we “struggle against sin” as we learn to stop resisting God’s corrective side of love. There can be much joy in this season if we keep eternity in view and simply Trust God where we don’t yet understand Him or His ways. If we don’t look at Jesus as our example and trust His leadership, we will keep looking at ourselves and/or blaming others. We may never make it out of this wilderness and die in our unbelief.

What does a season of discipline entail? It is the season where we learn the side of God’s love that embraces the cross. Our God-given assignments are designed to bring us into maturity. They will necessarily include opportunities to pick up our cross, deny self, and follow Jesus. We will be called to make daily choices to rely on Jesus rather than relying on ourselves. In doing this, we will no longer be what Philippians 3:18-19 describes as “enemies of the cross.”

Philippians 3:18 (CSB) For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. 20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

In both seasons, we learn to accept God’s love that comes with strong discipline. In one season, it is pounded into us. In another season, it is gently sustained. In every season, we are commanded to love God first. We learn to discern what God’s love is versus what human self-love is. As we embrace the eternal love of God, that cannot fail, our own fickle, fallen, human, self-love is replaced. Can we tell the difference between the two yet? If we follow Christ, we will.

Proverbs 23:12-16 (CSB) Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge. 13 Don’t withhold discipline from a youth; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die. 14 Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol. 15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice. 16 My innermost being will celebrate when your lips say what is right.

Focused on earthly things: when the tyranny of time in this age bears down on us and we do not choose to rise above it, by sinking into the humility of trust in God and waiting for Him, we will sink into self-centered earthly thinking, and look to our old man carnal nature for ways out of the pain and pressure. This is where the rulers of this world apply their elementary principles and try to get us to seek worldly pleasures to alleviate the pain and pressure. But Ephesians 3:10-11 tells us that the church is supposed to be the overcoming example to these very rulers. God’s eternal purpose is supposed to showcase His multifaceted wisdom through us, His Ekklesia church in the earth.

We are called to overcome the rulers of this age and the spirit of the world through faith and love for Jesus. To overcome them, we absolutely need an eternal perspective on our purpose in Christ. It is NOT to fulfill the American Dream or any Globalist’s Dream. It is to fulfill God’s Ephesians 1:10 dream which is to bring all things in heaven and earth together in Jesus Christ. As the end of time in this age quickly approaches, overcomers in Christ will transition into seeing things from heaven’s eternal perspective.

Without an eternal perspective, when the tyranny of time and its pressure hit, and the pain rises, we will struggle and scramble to process all the mixed messages. This need not be the case. We can be very sure-footed and unafraid in the high places if we are fixed on Jesus and His  eternal purpose and how it plays out in our everyday life. This will keep us from falling into the traps of our real enemies who are hell bent on keeping Believers from overcoming them by entering into bridal union with Jesus.

Steps toward recognizing and choosing the path of humility and faithfulness:

• Is my intimate love for Jesus growing or shrinking? Why? Am I pursuing Jesus or pretending to?
• What season of God’s love am I in? Wilderness & Discipline OR Promised Land & Refreshment.
• Has God given me promises that carry me beyond this wilderness season? What are they? Am I eagerly believing them and making daily choices that back up and walk out what I say?
• Has God given me assignments and mandates within this Wilderness or within this Promised Land? What are they and am I faithfully walking them out as I grow in my love for Jesus?
• What is the tyranny of time trying to pressure me into right now? Do I have thoughts like this: “I think I’m behind, I’m late to the table, I’m not good enough, I think they are behind, they are late, they aren’t good enough, they are holding me back, etc.” Can I take responsibility for my walk with God?
• When I am tempted to shut down in passive, victim-oriented shame and indulge in self-pity, or when I am tempted to blow up and blame others in angry pride, will I instead take responsibility for my life in God and choose to be the God-loving person I want to be in that moment?

Whenever we choose to rise in faith and take on an eternal perspective by looking at Jesus as our answer, we step outside of time and by grace, we are given access to heavenly wisdom. James 3:17-18 describes the fruits of righteousness available to us when we access this heavenly wisdom. We become peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.

An eternal perspective lifts us up above the rulers of this age and gives us access through Christ to heavenly wisdom. Heavenly wisdom is transformative because it renews the way we think and feel. The love of God flows through heavenly wisdom in truth and subdues the evil ruler’s lies and pressure to conform to their demonically-laced earthly wisdom and self-centered solutions.

Luke 18:8b (CSB) “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes (Greek: erchomai), will he find faith on earth?”

When Jesus comes, will He find me eagerly waiting and believing that He loves me, that He wants me and cares deeply for me? Do I believe that that the season of The Wilderness is to prepare me to humbly receive when God pours out His love with great generosity in The Promised Land? Beyond words, does Jesus have evidence of my faith, hope, and love for Him? If we are faithful in and humble with little, we can be trusted with more.

 

 

Janet Smith – June 13, 2021 ©gardenministries.org

Romans 5:1-5 (CSB) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5: “disappoint” in Greek: kataischuno: dishonor, humiliate, frustrate, disgrace, shame, put to utter confusion.

What are we hoping for? We HOPE for the glory of God and this glory comes as the out-poured Love of God like we’ve never experienced it before. The big surprise or unveiled mystery is that the glory of God’s out-poured Love comes through the bride of Jesus who has grown up into Christ’s headship and has Him fully formed within her!

Titus 2:11-15 For the grace of God has appeared [Greek: epiphainó (ep-ee-fah’-ee-no): shined upon], bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing [Greek: epiphaneia (ep-if-an’-i-ah): manifestation and shining forth] of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession (costly, treasured, select, specially chosen, prized), [who are] eager (boiling over with passion) to do good works. 15 Proclaim these things; encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Colossians 1:27 (CSB) God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The Titus 2:13 “blessed hope” is the shining forth of the glory of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The mystery of this blessed hope is that not only is Jesus going to one day come physically and visibly “in the clouds” (Matthew 24:30), He is also coming and shining forth “physically” through His purified bride who has made herself ready and has Christ fully formed within her. She will rise and shine when His Light comes to her and when the Holy Spirit bursts forth the Father’s Love from within her. Isaiah 60:1-3 tells us this will happen during a time of deep darkness and harvest.

What is the glory of God we hope for? His glory is the out-poured Love of God in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The glory of God that we hope for is when the Holy Spirit bursts open from within a ready people and shines forth God’s Love in fullness (Romans 5:2-5, Colossians 1:27, Titus 2:13).

Who supplies this Love that won’t dishonor or disappoint us? Romans 5:5 says “the Holy Spirit.”

What are we waiting for and why do we have to wait? We are waiting for Christ to be fully formed within us as the death-to-self process makes way for the Holy Spirit to release the fullness of God’s Love within His holy and blameless vessels. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are given a portion—a deposit of God’s LOVE—especially as we experience His peace and grace through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying process. But we do not yet have the fullness of God’s out-poured Love as Romans 5:5 promises.

Ephesians 1:4 (CSB)) For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him

Ephesians 1:4 describes God’s eternal purpose in creating us. His purpose is for us to walk “holy and blameless in love before him.” We were created to be fully occupied and possessed by the Holy Spirit Who always exudes the radiant glory of God’s Love. The key word to remember here is “holy.” The Holy Spirit within us groans and labors within us to make us holy, set apart, blameless vessels in which He can burst forth the fullness of God’s Love. John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Though we may not yet walk in the fullness of God’s love, the hope for the glory of God releases the grace and peace we need to get there. The Romans 5:5 and Titus 2:11-13 hope promises a grace to be cleansed and an outcome that will not frustrate, dishonor, or disappoint us. Why? Because God’s love, the Father’s perfect love, has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given us.

It is impossible for the Father’s Love to disappoint us. Rather, we will be instantly healed when He pours Himself out like this in our hearts. We need faith to believe for more than what we currently know of the Love of God. We have the down payment to point us to the fulfillment. This means there is a portion but not yet the fullness of our inheritance described in Ephesians 1:11-14. The fulfillment is the glory that our hope is holding on to in faith for more.

Ephesians 1:11-14 (CSB) In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. 13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

The riches of our glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus is this: God’s Love through the Holy Spirit fully released and bursting forth in full measure within a matured and ready bride. Rooted and firmly established in His love, we are empowered to comprehend its explosive magnitude, far beyond our human capacity to know it in our own strength or mind.

Ephesians 3:14-21 (CSB) For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen

Do we yet have this full measure of God’s Love bursting forth within us? Perhaps not. But we are fervently hoping for this full measure of God’s Love. We are pressing into Jesus with our all to obtain His full measure and stature formed within us. He must increase. We must decrease. If we want to see the Love of God ever-increasing from within, we cannot underestimate the power of forgiveness and unconditional love.

To the degree I will not forgive—the most basic feature of God’s Love—is to the degree that I will not know His Love and forgiveness for me. I need all the Love of God I can get. I need the Love of God to endure hardship and, like Paul, to “boast of our afflictions.” I need to forgive and forget the past and press on toward the upward call in Christ. I can’t really press on if I’m bogged down in self-pity and unforgiveness.

What is keeping us from full access to our heavenly spiritual blessings and from the release of God’s Love in full measure? Whatever is still empowering the dark powers of middle heaven to block us from entering in to it. Why do these dark powers have power over us? Didn’t Christ defeat them on the cross? The short answer is Yes, Christ defeated them on the cross. The long answer is, by growing up into Christ, we are ascending in faith and patience UNTIL we reach unity in the faith and obtain to the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4).

As we grow up into Him Who is our Head, we will displace those wicked rulers of the air. We will walk with God under an open heaven with full access to our heavenly spiritual blessings. We need to be given the keys (i.e., the authority) to open doors that no one can shut. These keys go to those who are willing to undergo the process of becoming holy and blameless before God in love.

Picture God’s Heaven. Picture Earth. Picture the spiritual air in between God’s heaven and our earth. The spiritual area in between God’s heaven and our earth, we call “middle heaven.” Some call it “the second heaven.” It is the spiritual area of “high places” where the “ruler of the power of the air” occupies until this area is fully cleansed and Satan is cast out.

Revelation 12:7-9 (CSB) Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out — the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him

Ephesians 2:2 (CSB) …in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.

Ephesians 6:12 (CSB) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens (i.e., “spiritual wickedness in high places” KJV).

Between God’s dwelling in the heavenlies and us on earth, there’s a war zone. This is where every attempt to keep us from breaking through and God establishing an open heaven is resisted by the wickedness still occupying those places.

We may ask, “Didn’t Jesus defeat them on the cross?” Yes! He absolutely did.

Colossians 2:15 (NIV) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Ephesians 1:19-23 (CSB) He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens — 21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Then what’s the holdup? What are we waiting for? Ah yes. This is the point of the journey. We are waiting UNTIL we all grow up!

Ephesians 4:12b-15 (CSB)) to build up the body of Christ, 13 UNTIL we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head — Christ.

Once we grow up into Him who is the head—Christ, the enemy will be fully under our feet because our feet are fully in Christ and we walking in union with Him because we are fully surrendered to His leadership. We are completely dependent on God in every aspect of our life. We no longer walk with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. We are fully invested in seeking first the kingdom and righteousness of God. We are separated into Christ and becoming holy and blameless before Him in Love by the inworking of the Holy Spirit within us.

Romans 8:5-9 (CSB) For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. 6 Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you…14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.

Every time we say “NO” to sin, the flesh, and the devil, and say “YES” to Jesus, we are engaging with the Holy Spirit’s work to bring us into matured sonship. Our “YES” to Jesus means we are fighting to grow up and overcome the powers of the air that seek to keep us immature and incomplete in Christ.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

The wicked rulers in high places are trying to stop us from maturing in Christ and inheriting the fullness of God’s out-poured love [the glory] by keeping us distracted and dependent on their earth-born worldly solutions. As mentioned before: Yes, Jesus defeated every wicked ruler of darkness on the cross and put them under His feet. The evil powers still operating from middle heaven are left for us to overcome. In Judges 3, we see God leaving enemies in the land to teach future generations how to fight His battles and overcome.

Judges 3:1-4 (CSB) These are the nations the Lord left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan. 2 This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.

The hope for the glory means that we choose to let the Holy Spirit do His work and grow us up into Christ. We want to be freed from our attraction to the world and delivered from the lusts of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life’s possessions. More than anything or anyone, we want nothing to separate us from first love for Jesus in everything. We rid ourselves of every hindrance and shed every encumbrance.

Revelation 12:11 (CSB) They conquered him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.

God’s love is always reverberating from Him toward us. He is for us. And yet we do not feel God’s Love like we hope to feel it and know it. Even though God’s very nature reverberates His Love toward humanity, the evil powers of the air are resisting us. They are resisting us being able to connect with God’s love and grow up into the fullness in Christ.

The dark powers of middle heaven cast their dark lies upon people. They seek to undermine God’s word and His promises. They try to steal our faith and wear down our hope during the seasons of enduring. As the hardship of training and discipline goes on and on, these wicked rulers exploit any delay and relentlessly accuse God, telling us He doesn’t Love us like He says He does. But when we choose to bow and wait, and believe what God has said, no matter what is going on, we dis-empower these spirits and the middle heaven veil becomes thinner and weaker. The very attack sent against us is used to bring God’s answers because we are warring with them and overcoming them with faith in the truth of God’s word and through patience.

Whenever we give in to these lies, we literally shoot ourselves in the foot and steal from ourselves because every lie we believe empowers the veil of darkness to thicken. Our refusal to grow up keeps the veil empowered and is part of why we feel separated from the glory of God’s Love bursting forth from within. The Holy Spirit bursts forth within mature sons. Romans 8:35-39 assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ—the love of God that is in Him. We can purpose to believe and obey God and declare to middle heaven the truth of Romans 8 over our lives.

Romans 8:16-19, 35-39 (CSB) The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed… 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Janet W. Smith – Copyright 2013

It’s not that we have lost our love
Or sunk to candor’s low,
Or that we pity some—not all,
And loveless keep our faith so small,

Of course, we care
Of course, we care
Of course, we see the need,
It’s that we’ve lost our way, our ship—
Our sails are torn asunder,

And when the wind begins to blow
Our course we cannot know.
For lust has grounded she who sailed
So mighty in the earth,
And power-drunk, she sits aground
No longer in the Way.*

Yet still…

Of course, we care
Of course, we care
We just forgot the “how.”

Oh may this mighty ship return
To She** who saw our first,
And grab the lines that keep us strong
And find our anchors there.

America! America!***
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

———————-
* “The Way.” Jesus is the Way. John 14:6 NIV, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”

** “She” is Wisdom. Proverbs 4:6 NIV, “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.”

*** Lyrics from “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” by Katherine Lee Bates, 1859-1929.

Janet Smith – 9-4-2020 ©gardenministries.org

Supernatural signs and wonders will become an everyday reality as the emerging Bride of Jesus Christ begins to walk in new levels of authority and power. But there are two sides to the end-time story. There are also those who emerge as the Revelation 17 “Harlot.” They too will walk in powerful signs and wonders.

The Bride’s power comes from the Holy Spirit’s end-time harvest work as He brings His wheat into His Barn. The Harlot’s power comes from Satan’s arsenal to lead many astray into a counterfeit “gospel” of compromise and mixture. The Harlot represents the Tares that Jesus referred to in Matthew 13. The Bride represents the Wheat.

In the face of fiery persecution, the Bride of the Lamb will show His Lamb-like heart and will not return in kind when reviled. Instead, like Jesus, the Bride will entrust herself to the Father’s ability to righteously judge the situations at hand. While the Harlot will competitively seek to dominate and subjugate those who do not comply with its false doctrines and mandates, the victorious Bride will lean into Jesus as her All-in-all and trust the Holy Spirit to convict the hearts of those He speaks to through their witness.

Matthew 13:24-30 NASB Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’

Scripture tells us that signs and wonders will come to both camps: The Bride and the Harlot. Those given to the Harlot’s religion will emerge as Satan’s witnesses. They will promote a “shining” counterfeit religion supported by false signs and wonders but reject the centrality of the cross. Some of these will say they are Christians, but they are not.

Matthew 24:24 NASB For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 NASB …that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

The real and the counterfeit will be fully matured and discernable only by the Spirit of Truth and those who love the Truth. How will we know which is which and who is who? John 13:35 tells us that Love is the way to know who belongs to Jesus. Those who take up their cross and emerge dead-to-self and alive unto Christ, will shine in the glory of God and perform the “greater works” described in John 14. These shining ones will be known for their obedience to Christ’s greatest commandments.

They will hold fast to their first love Jesus, and walk in gracious humility toward others as they fiercely proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ unto the ends of the earth. They have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they do not love their lives unto death (Revelation 12:11). These are those who are God’s end-time witnesses, who, like the two Witnesses in Jerusalem, who are preaching to the Jews, these will preach the gospel throughout the earth and display great signs and wonders that point to Christ’s supremacy and great love for mankind.

John 14:12-15 NASB Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

The love of God is perfectly expressed in Jesus on the cross and now in Heaven on earth through His followers. Christ’s Bride will display God’s love. The love of Jesus is different then the world’s “love.” Christ’s love is perfect and bears the Galatians 5 fruits of the Holy Spirit.

John 13:34-35 NASB A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

The world’s “love” is self-serving and fear-based. The world’s Harlot religion will be undeniably evident in these two issues: sexual immorality and idolatry. Just like the name implies, the Harlot will not hold to what the Bible defines as sexual purity in marriage and will encourage idolatry, i.e. honoring and venerating other gods and powers, in their varying forms of religious practice. Another evidence of the Harlot religion is its sterility. It can only bear the deeds of the flesh and cannot bear the Galatians 5:22 fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-26 NASB But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

There will come, and has already started, a separation in the Christian camp. Even with the possible cost of losing their closest family members or friends, there will be those who still choose to embrace their cross and publicly confess their uncompromising devotion to Jesus. They will stand firm in the whole counsel of God provided in scripture and seek heavenly wisdom (James 3:17).

Matthew 10:32-39 NASB Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36 and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

The Bride’s uncompromising stand of faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and her firm belief in the Holy Scriptures will draw intense persecution. The line of demarcation between the emerging Bride of Jesus Christ and the world’s religious Harlot will pivot around those who are willing to face persecution for following Jesus (i.e., they are willing to “lose their life for His sake”) and those who will compromise to avoid persecution (i.e., they will try to “save their life”). Jesus knows those who are His own.

Those who call on the Name of Jesus also know they cannot compromise with what the Bible calls sin. They must turn away from these things or they are being hypocritical. The Harlot will be known for hypocrisy—saying one thing and doing another.

2 Timothy 2:19 NIV Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Satan also knows those who belong to Jesus. The Bride of Jesus Christ will shine in great love and humility amidst the backdrop of persecution and injustice. This persecution ensures pure heart motive’s in the use of God’s authority and power. Peter tells us that the Spirit of glory draws the insults of those who reject Jesus as the only Way to the Father and to eternal life.

1 Peter 4:14 NASB If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Paul told us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “…all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul also said in Philippians 3:18 that “many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

Those who reject the hardship of the cross and its death-to-self process, are those who have set their mind on earthly things. If we are not willing to undergo the painful process of yielding our will to the Father in the fiery trials He allows, we are likely to succumb to the harlot religion’s seduction.

James 4:4 NASB You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

God will allow His own people to be persecuted to purify and preserve a righteous heart motive. Christ’s Bride will carry and display the glory of God at personal cost and will always point to Jesus Christ as the only and exclusive way to the Father and to eternal life. They will not take the credit or the glory unto themselves but always give it to Jesus, the One they love, serve, cherish, and follow. If we do not let the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctifying our self-centered, soul-life ego, we will be ensnared by the Harlot religion.

When we allow our soul life to be led by fear and selfish ideals, our ego remains uncrucified with Christ. Galatians 2:20 is not yet activated and at work within our hearts. We cannot purify our own souls and we cannot discern our own selfishness, unless the Spirit of Truth reveals it to us. We cannot “die to self” without the Holy Spirit’s conviction and empowerment. We have to ask for this process and then submit to the Holy Spirit’s work through the fiery trials He brings our way. We are not in charge of our death-to-self process, Jesus is.

The pure and spotless Bride of Jesus Christ will stand firm, even unto death, and publicly confess that Jesus is the exclusive Way to eternal life with our Creator Father God. In the face of the Harlot religion’s false peace and false unity, the uncompromising Bride of Christ will appear as an enemy of peace and will be persecuted for her devotion to Jesus. This persecution, and unwillingness to compromise, marks Christ’s Beloved. Her fiery, first-love for Jesus and His body sets her apart from the others.

1 Peter 1:3-9 NASB Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

Janet Smith – 9-4-2020 ©gardenministries.org

Very difficult times are upon us and in the midst of it all, the Bride of Jesus Christ will emerge—shining with the message of hope and light. As she emerges, this treasured Bride will be persecuted for her faith and love for Jesus and that’s why her preparation is so important.

When Jesus addressed the 7 churches in Revelation 2 and 3, He ended with, “whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” This means that one of the most important factors in the Bride’s preparation is to recognize, listen to, and obey the Voice of the Holy Spirit. We are to focus our efforts on distinguishing His Voice from a religious counterfeit or from our own soul’s attempts to convince ourselves of what we want, more than what God wants.

Learning God’s Voice is relationship-based and includes the daily study of Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit living within us. As our relationship with Jesus Christ deepens, the Holy Spirit, as the Teacher, leads us into the Psalm 23 Valley of the Shadow of Death. This is the valley of the cross where we get to apply what we learned in study hall. It is a valley where death always leads to life.

Knowing God’s Voice and what He said to do, and then doing it until it’s done, is how we come into completion. Knowing what to do, but doing our own interpretation of what we really want to do, will not bring us into completion. If we are avoiding the restrictions of God’s narrow path, we may just be spinning our wheels and not maturing. What’s really exciting is that when we do get on the track God wants us on and the fruit of Holy Spirit starts manifesting, we wonder why we ever pushed back in the first place. Never mind the regret though, everyone is invited to humble themselves like this.

Most of us avoid God’s way because we know it involves death-to-self and will take us into a fiery trial that we don’t want to face. Thankfully, God brings us many opportunities to embrace the cross and follow Him. He gives us solid proof of how things work out for those who say, “Yes.” Daniel and his comrades were taken captive and then promoted to positions of significant leadership during difficult times. Above all else, their faithfulness to God in the face of death was paramount to their success.

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, Father declared over Jesus, “My Beloved Son.” Right afterward, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He would endure the discipline of testing. The one led to the next and teaches us that Christ’s sonship process is directly connected with His time in the wilderness. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit trains us in the wilderness of testing so that we can grow up and become mature sons of God and fellow heirs with thee Son, Jesus.

As our human example, Jesus was discipled and comforted by the Holy Spirit as He underwent the hardship of testing. We too undergo the Spirit’s discipling through hardship and testing, comfort and nurture. This is a part of the purifying process of building intimacy with Jesus. We need what Jesus needed so we can stand faithfully in love with Him through the times ahead.

God wants us to succeed and never condemns us when we stumble. He is faithful to lovingly convict us of our self-centered thinking that causes us to treat others poorly and reject ourselves. As soon as we genuinely confess our sin of unfaithfulness and ask for forgiveness, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from the negative effects of our sinful mistrust and willful disobedience (1 John 1:9).

But we must go beyond confession and make ever-increasing choices to turn away from sin.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Preparation for Bridal union with Jesus is really just learning how to die to our own way of doing life, turning to Jesus in submission to His authority, and choosing to rely on Him instead of others. Jesus showed us how to do this when He walked the earth. He emptied Himself of all of His personal rights and yielded His will in complete obedience to His Father—even unto the Father’s call for Him to bear the painful consequences of every single human being’s sin, and then die with it on the cross.

While we will not be asked to go where Jesus went for us, we will learn trust and submission in the same way He learned it. We too, are called to empty ourselves of our own initiatives and grand designs and ask God to sanctify each and every desire before we take matters into our own hands and lead the charge to nowhere!

Hebrews 5:8 NASB Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

1 Peter 4:1-2 NASB Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Jesus learned obedience through suffering and we follow Him by learning obedience in the same way. Jesus showed us that fallen humanity needs a completion process so He went through it Himself to help us learn by example how the process works. In Hebrews 5:9, the Greek word teleios means “perfect” and refers to a process of becoming complete. God’s discipline, though grievous for the moment, produces eternal fruit. If we stay with Him in it, He promises to lead us out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death-to-Self and into resurrection joy!

There is no human being exempt from needing discipline. Therefore, it’s time to hunker down and let God’s love in like we’ve never let it in before. Can we accept that there is no way around the painful embrace of the cross? Will we finally, just lay down our way of taking care of ourselves and yield to God’s way? Fixed on Jesus, the Author and perfecter of our faith, will we let Him complete us His way?

Proverbs 22:15 NASB Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

The Hebrew word for “foolishness” in Proverbs 22:15 actually comes from the root word for “evil.” Scripture is not saying children are evil. It is saying that because we are all born with a sin nature, even innocent children will naturally choose to disobey their parent’s leadership until they receive enough consequences to motivate them to make the right choice. The process of learning this doesn’t make them bad kids. They’re just acting out what is going on inside and need confident and consistent direction as they learn how to manage their emotions amidst everyday challenges.

As much as we all wish we were perfected without painful discipline, scripture tells us that humanity is born with foolishness bound up in our hearts and and we need corrective discipline to remove it far from us (see also Hebrews 12, Revelation 3:19).

Children aren’t born trained to love like God loves. They don’t yet know how to respectfully cooperate with others. They need their parental caregivers to raise, nurture, and train them in these matters. Parents who refuse to discipline and correct their children are not acting “more loving” toward their kids.

Life on earth is painful and sweet. Children need to learn how to process the painful side of life within the context of a loving parent’s tutelage. Without learning how to process painful consequences from loving parents, children will incur pain from being in a broken world and be ill-equipped to deal with it.

Bridal preparation means we need to be heart-strong in the face of the great challenges ahead. Without developing the fortitude that Christ’s imparts as we embrace the cross, we will remain weak and fall over at the first sign of persecution. How can we disciple spiritual newborns if we ourselves are not being discipled? Disciple is another way of saying disciplined. Without confident and consistent discipling, children grow up weak and insecure; unable to deal with the hardships of life.

No matter what our age, when love comes to us in the form of discipline, it’s good to bow and endure until the point of it is attained. Discipline aligns us with God’s Truth so we can effectively and unselfishly love others from a humble heart. Because the Truth sets us free, we will soon learn the comforting benefits that come from discipline because the fruits of the Holy Spirit have ripened within us and start to spill out.

Sometimes we need multiple corrections to keep us on that Truth track, but if we stay with it, our mind will be renewed and freed from the lies that pull us off the Truth track. Abiding in the Spirit of Truth keeps us from veering off into ditches and yields a sense of peace and comfort exclusively available to followers of Jesus Christ.

Falling in love with Jesus and seeking to intimately know and obey Him will bring us into open-access to the Living God! (John 14). Without intimacy, we may think His principles and grace are all we need and miss the bigger reason we were created—that is, to respond to the Bridegroom’s wedding invitation and marry Him. And while we may still be saved from eternal death in hell, without yielding our vain imaginations and ego-driven soul life in obedience to the commands of Jesus, we will not become complete—ready to marry the King of kings! True love for Jesus manifests in selfless, sacrificial love for God and others, and always manifests in a willingness to go the way of the cross.

While it may be easier to love “perfect Jesus,” it’s not always easy to love our imperfect family. The first great commandment always yields the fruit of the second commandment (Matthew 22:37-39).

The wholeness of God’s Love has two sides. There is His kindness and there is His severity; His comfort and His correction. The Psalm 23 Shepherd’s Rod strikes our self-centered egos and judges our poor decisions by delivering consequences to turn us away from them the next time. The Psalm 23 Shepherd’s Staff tenderly pulls us out of sin’s dark ditches and nudges us back into the fold. Our Good Shepherd wields both sides of God’s perfect love. We don’t just get the half of God we want. We get all of God. He doesn’t come piecemeal.

1 Corinthians 13 describes how love is the distinguishing factor between the real or counterfeit use of spiritual gifts. Without the love of God, the Harlot religion’s counterfeit use of gifting means nothing and receives no eternal benefits. Conversely, God’s love will shine out from within a cross-hugging, self-sacrificing Bride as she patiently endures hardship, is kind to those who revile her, will not envy or compete for attention, and she will not covet, simply because of this—she doesn’t have to. She belongs to the King!

1 Corinthians 13 NASB If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Janet Smith ©gardenministries.org April 2019/2020

Emotional maturity means we have learned how to fully trust and abide in our caregiving, Good Shepherd’s leadership. We are able to process our emotions, especially those created by pain and disappointment, from a place feeling intimately confident in God’s love.

Without the sense of being extravagantly loved by God, we are unable to trust and abide in our caregiving Shepherd’s leadership. Instead, we process painful disappointments through stressful cycles of pain and anger, mostly relying on soulish fight-or-flight instincts. This approach feeds a victim mentality and never leads to a peaceful resolve. With the right approach, we can rebound and recover from disappointment.

The first step to finding the right tools is to find the right toolbox. Who and what are we looking to for our answers? Are we trusting God and submitting to how He exercises His leadership in our life or are we still mad at Him? It may be just that simple. But can we answer the question honestly? If we can, we will have to take responsibility for our bad behaviors (and perhaps that explains why we often choose to stick our head in the sand and stay ignorant or try to push the blame on others). But honest answers to that question is a step in the right direction.

If we learn to process pain and disappointment by looking to God, waiting on Him, and submitting to His Way, we are in the right toolbox and we will find right answers. With God’s Truth, our emotional responses to pain and disappointment will mature and eventually feel less painful and disappointing.

Ask this question: do my fiery trials leave me feeling more like a failure than a victor? If the answer is failure, then we are not processing our disappointments from a place of abiding in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. We also forget that the way of the cross is painful and we are stuck in a cycle of self-pity thinking we should be treated better than we are. This is because our pride is keeping us from processing pain and disappointment submitted in vulnerable trust of the Spirit of Truth’s leadership.

This pride leads to a sense of shame and we feel rejected by God. When we feel rejected by Him, we won’t trust Him, and mistrust of God is unbelief. Can we see the downward spiral of sticking our head in the sand and doing nothing because we are afraid that the lies may be true? Thankfully, as soon as we see our mistrust and unbelief as sin, we can confess it, receive forgiveness, choose to trust God, and let go of our offense toward His leadership.

Trusting God where we are afraid is the key to moving forward out of our stuck places. We won’t feel a need to trust in areas where our pride has blinded us so don’t even try to tackle that side. We have to be honest about what we’re afraid of and trust Him in that place and take risks to become open, honest, and vulnerable about our fears. The fruit of facing our fears with greater trust and vulnerability will address our pride and lift the blinders.

Another part of our self-pity problem is that we give too much emotional responsibility to others to care for us that God has not first given them to give to us. Reliance on human love above God’s love is idolatry and will always leave us feeling short-changed and disappointed. Can we stop turning to people or things as our answer?

Human love was separated from God in the Garden. Broken by sin and self-centered to the core, human love is always self-protective and self-motivated. Because of this, the fallen nature’s capacity to extend human love is restricted and should not be sought as the answer to our heart’s longings. Jesus knew this and only trusted the Father to take care of Him (John 2:23-25, 1 Peter 2:21-24).

We can only truly trust and rely on God’s perfect love to take proper care of us (1 Peter 5:7). When we don’t, we are setting ourselves up for painful disappointments. The Lord is our faithful, trustworthy, caregiving Shepherd. We lack nothing. Can we trust God to take care of us? Can we process our fiery trials in truth? Do we trust His motives when He sends us affliction and testing? If we only want His comfort and reject His correction, we will remain emotionally insecure and unstable. We will engage in relationships from a selfish victim’s perspective instead of a God-centered victor’s outlook.

While most of us don’t mean to hurt others, yet we hurt them anyway. Our soul-based attempts to “love” others is by nature, self-centered. Only God-centered love can heal a broken heart and deliver us from rejection. We need the love of God’s discipline to find peace for ourselves and to pursue peace in our human relationships.

Hebrews 12:10-14 NASB He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

Those who pursue bridal union with Jesus Christ will intimately know the riches of God’s perfect blend of truth and mercy in the middle of their trials and tests. Christ’s love is the only trustworthy love. His love alone truly satisfies the human heart. If we have hope that God will fill the voids in our heart with His love, we will do the hard work of wholeheartedly pursuing Him and receive both the comforting and the painful methods He uses to heal and set us free.

Let’s never forget that every substitute for God’s love is idolatry and it will disappoint us. The sooner we come to the end of these substitutes and embrace this truth, the sooner we will enter into the hope that does not disappoint and humbled enough to receive the love of God poured out within our hearts.

Romans 5:3b-5 NASB we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Psalm 62:1-2, 5-8 NASB My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. 5 my soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 23 NASB The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Janet Smith – 4-3-2020 ©gardenministries.org

D.A.D. – Depressed, Addicted, Dependent
D.A.D. – Disciplined, Approved, Delighted-In

Who’s Your Daddy?

If we can properly discern and embrace our Heavenly Father’s seasons of discipline, we will view hardship through a whole different lens than one of disappointment. If we don’t view the tough seasons as overseen by our trustworthy Heavenly Father, we will look to whatever means we can to get out of the uncomfortable hot pot.

If disappointments are left to fester and not resolve upward toward God in greater trust, we may succumb to depression, addiction, and become dependent on things or people instead of God. If we are depressed, addicted, and dependent on false ideologies, we are looking to the wrong D.A.D. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to the right D.A.D. He disciplines, approves, and delights in us.

Depression and addiction are often the fruit of resisting God’s pruning process. When He comes to strip away our self-centered ideologies, if we sulk in anger, it will turn into bitter accusation and drive us away from trusting God. We will look for other ways to deal with our pain. When God pokes our emotional and physical comfort zones and challenges our logical reasonings, He is after our greater trust. It seems counter-intuitive but this is how He works. He confronts our mind to reveal our heart. Will we trust Him?

If we won’t let go of our way and submit to God’s way, self-pity gets in and drives us to endlessly mull on our disappointments. This path leads to depression, addiction, and dependence. Self-pity is the prideful elevation of self. We think we know better how we should be treated and when we are disappointed with apparent contradictions, our pain and anger drive us to look for something and someone to blame for our misery and something or someone to rescue us from it. This leads us to the wrong D.A.D.

Embracing God’s seasons of discipline and growing in greater trust and faith in His leadership will always lead us on a path to humility and the right D.A.D. Humility protects us from depression, addiction, and dependence on other things that separate us from our loving Father. If we view God’s discipline as something we inherently need to feel loved by God, we can better humble ourselves and accept it when it comes. If we don’t think we need His discipline, we will resist it and fall prey to the vultures of despair.

If we have suffered under cruel forms of discipline or were completely neglected and received no discipline from our earthly parents or leaders, we may have an even greater tendency to misinterpret and resist God’s discipline. But God is faithful to all who come to Him. Our Good Shepherd will gently and firmly lead us into valleys of discomfort that compel us to come up to Him.

He wants to bind up our broken and neglected hearts. He is the only true answer to our heart’s cry. Our Father God will carefully peel off the callouses we put up in resistance to Him out of reaction to poor human leadership. If we let Him, Jesus Christ will replace these hard places of the heart with childlike trust in His leadership.

We don’t have to fall into depression, addiction, and dependence if we humble ourselves and if we properly discern and embrace the truth of our heavenly Father’s loving discipline and pruning process.

1 Corinthians 11:31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

Hebrews 12:4-17
Revelation 3:19
Deuteronomy 8:5

Janet Weaver Smith – 3-17-2020 ©gardenministries.org

When crisis and change happen, we need to re-prioritize how we do life so we don’t freeze with worry or sink in shock. Sorting out what our non-negotiable priorities are from negotiable priorities will help us simplify the process.

When re-prioritizing, think about Relationship and Communication. Ask, “Who and what are my most important relationships and what needs to be done to best preserve, support, and sustain them? What is my communication plan to stay close to these relationships?”

Relationships: God, family, friends, co-workers, bosses, employee’s, pets. These are some of the main relationships affected by change. Which relationships are non-negotiable and have highest priority? Which ones, if any, are negotiable? How do we grow the non-negotiable relationships in the midst of change? Once we prayerfully reassess our relationships and re-prioritize them, we can pursue the ones that will best help us weather the changes with greater peace and joy.

Caring for our family and our living environment is always a high, non-negotiable priority, but how we care for them may need re-prioritizing. If the change is evolving, then our response is evolving. If the change is sudden and dramatic, then our response may need to be immediate and dramatic. Whatever the magnitude of the change determines the magnitude of our response.

Denial is only a temporary stage in the grieving process. If we stick our head in the sand and stay in a bubble of denial too long, we will miss important windows of opportunity to better respond to the next stages of impact that are still coming. Waves and birthing contractions come in sets. As we learn the rhythms of these waves, we can better position ourselves for the next wave.

Our first relationship priority is to humble ourselves before Creator God and turn to Him in prayer. Prioritizing our relationship and communication with Jesus Christ as our First Love sets the right atmosphere for planning and comes from a place of abiding in Him.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Good humor is especially helpful during hard times and joyful fellowship can strengthen us. Conversely, a flippant or overly casual response to a serious turn of events is unwise.

Isaiah 22:12-14 Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. 13 Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” 14 But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.

Values: What practical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical values are non-negotiable? What values are negotiable? If change requires us to let go of negotiable values, we need to let them go.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In my article entitled, The Global Economic Shift that Sifts and Sorts Out the Real and The Unshakeable, I described the importance of relationship during crisis. Here’s an excerpt from that article:

“What these retirees can look forward to on the other side of this global economic shift is the true wealth of forming real relationships before the economic shift happens. These relationships would help them survive and recover from the changes.

Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Then ..it was time for me to leave this [burning] building…I was headed toward the exit when security personnel stopped me and asked for my ID before I exited. It’s strange that I would need an ID to get out. A person usually needs an ID to get in. I didn’t have my purse or my ID with me so I had to go back inside the tightly secured area to look for my purse. I … was surprised to find it sitting there unattended. I looked through my purse and noticed that most of the contents were gone but the cash was untouched. The cash seemed to have no value.

I believe this … means that there is no way to physically anticipate and prepare for what is lost, left behind, or even stolen in this economic shift. We will be left with what is left and will have to go with what is there once everything falls and starts to sort itself out.

Besides the obvious need to keep our eyes on Jesus through the big changes ahead; prayer, and cultivating heart-knit relationships with strong communication are the priceless treasures we will be the most grateful for after this globally impacting economic shift sorts out what is real and what is unshakeable.”

— end of excerpt

A global shift is underway. Here are a few tips to help us stay focused on Jesus as we set new priorities:

• Get above the storm and pray, “COME LORD JESUS COME!
• Praise the Lord, dance before Him, worship Him, and bring His light into your spiritual atmosphere!
• Be humbly honest when we feel afraid. Ask your spiritual family for help and prayer.
• Ask the Lord to deliver us from the fear of death so down the road, we are not vulnerable to taking the mark of the beast.
• Get out of our comfort-zone boats and ask for the faith to walk on the water with Jesus. Luke 18:8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?
• Ask the Father, seek His face, knock on His door in pray and love Him with your whole heart, mind, and soul. Our Heavenly Father loves spending time with His children.

Janet Smith – 2-10-2020 ©gardenministries.org

Galatians 2:20 NASB I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.

A mature son is considered emotionally and spiritually mature mainly because their self-will is laid down and no longer rises to compete with the will of God. Like John the Baptist, a mature male or female “son” continually says, “I must decrease,” (meaning; my self-centered willfulness must die) and “He (Jesus) must increase,” (meaning; the perfect, proper, pleasing will of God must ever rise because He is Lord.)

Galatians 3:22-26 NASB But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons (Greek: huios: mature sons) of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

An immature son is not emotionally and spiritually mature because their self-will is not yielded to the Father’s will. He is not yet their Lord. This child is an heir without access to their inheritance.

Galatians 4:1-7 NASB Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children (Greek: népios: immature person), were held in bondage under the elemental things (Greek: stoixeíon) of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Greek: huiothesia: the consummate condition of the sons of God, which will render it evident that they are the Romans 8:19, 23 mature “huios” sons of God).

The two meanings of Galatians 4:3 “elemental things” (Greek: stoixeíon pronounced stoy-khi’-on):

1. The basic components or rudiments with which mankind was indoctrinated (before the time of Christ), i.e. the elements of religious training or the ceremonial practices amongst Jews or Gentiles before faith in Christ was available. (Biblehub.com)

2. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) however renders stoixeia as “elemental spirits,” i.e. spiritual powers or “cosmic spirits.” This view of the “elements” is as ancient astral beings associated with the very beginning and make-up of the earth. (Biblehub.com)

Colossians 2:8-9 NASB See to it that no one takes you captive (Gal. 4:3 bondage) through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men (i.e., empty religious forms), according to the elementary principles of the world (cosmic persuasions taught by the deceptive powers of the air), rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Galatians 4:6-10 NASB Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods (i.e. enslaved by the elemental principles of cosmic powers who act like “gods” but are not). 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.

In modern terms, turning back to elemental things and putting ourselves “under the law” means we are turning away from the freedom and forgiveness Christ purchased for us and we are turning back to engage in the elemental influences and principles of the world.

But we don’t have to take this route. We can say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” and choose to pursue a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. If we continue to stand on the truth of His Word and obey His commands, we will prove faithful to receive our inheritance as mature sons. Overcoming the temptations to indulge in self-centered bondages while we wait is part of the maturing process.

When we daily and ever-increasingly yield our wills in God’s direction and apply our faith in tangible ways, we are decreasing and Jesus is increasing in us and we are maturing. It may not feel like it in the moment, but as we make room for Jesus to dwell in our hearts through faith, our roots are growing down deeper and becoming stronger. When the storms come, we will see just how strong the roots are.

Storms and trials present the perfect opportunities to mature in Christ. They are the time to draw upon the Word’s promises and dig into the wells of the Holy Spirit’s greater grace. As we cry out for God’s answers and press into Him all the more in faith, hope, and love, we are moving forward.

If we passively disconnect and veg out during the storms, we are wasting what the storm can do for us. If we don’t press into God in faith and dig deeper wells of trust in His Word when we are challenged and tested, we will remain unchanged for the better when the storm passes.

During the trials of our faith, choices to passively disconnect or engage in religious striving do not facilitate transformation. Intimate communion with Jesus and faith in God’s Word is what transforms us. Faith that digs down and boldly believes God is good in the midst of the storm; and faith that feeds on His Word and trusts His character is what releases the Holy Spirit to come and root out lies and sanctify our soul.

Transformation happens when we face storms, bow our hearts in reverent submission, and draw upon His greater grace to get through. When we hold up His living Word in faith, and cry out, “I believe you God. Help my unbelief!” we are opening the doors to our heart for a divine exchange: His flesh for mine.

This raw faith cuts through the lies and accusations trying to stop us and activates God’s transformative power like a spiritual lightning bolt that electrifies our heart and changes us from the inside out. Even our weak and most pitiful efforts to press in during a storm are born of the kind of faith and courage that opens heaven’s gates and matures our character.

Luke 17:4-6 NASB And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.

Sin requires the conviction of the Holy Spirit to clearly see where we are missing the mark. We need His clear direction and forgiveness to get properly aligned. When Jesus said to forgive seven times seven, the disciples cried out, “increase our faith!” The forgiveness we need an increase of faith to give over and over. This helps keep us free from bitterness that warps our ability to hear and see Jesus. Unforgiveness is a form of mistrust and unbelief. We need faith to forgive others and to receive His forgiveness.

Faith as small as a mustard seed tells us that our even our weakest efforts to yield our wills to God and obey Him has great effect. We should not judge our simple choices to obey God as inadequate. Even the smallest turn of the heart toward God in the weakest moments are precious in His sight. Yielding our will to the Father like Jesus did—especially in the Garden—is one of the greatest gifts we can give God.

If we are not seeing transformation and an increase of the Holy Spirit’s fruits manifesting on the other side of a storm, we can probably trace it back to the choices we made while we were in the midst of the storm. Were we passively resistant? Unforgiving? Indulgent? Willfully ignorant? Self-focused? Lazy?

Galatians 5:13-16 NASB For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
When the storms of life render up areas of brokenness and need, what will we do? Will we fixate on fixing them and sink in shame and failure? Will we deny them in pride and blame others? Or will we ask for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and Christ’s cleansing forgiveness and move on with our lives?

Galatians 5:17-21 NASB For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If we can’t see where we are in sin but an honest look at what we’re doing reveals the deeds of the flesh manifesting in us, then we can safely say there is sin and we need the Holy Spirit’s conviction to help us see where we are missing it with Him. He is always specific, never condemns, and gives us hope and grace to confess and repent. Condemnation and shame are general and make us feel hopeless.

John 16:8-9 NASB And He (the Holy Spirit), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

It is wisdom to ask the Holy Spirit to bring conviction for sin. When we ask, He will bring His beautiful and sparkling clarity to where we have missed the mark. In His kindness, He will empower us to repent, and He will pour out His grace with clear direction for lasting change. It will take humility to receive the conviction and apply the grace, but once we do, the balm of Christ’s forgiveness will come and bring peace and hope to our grief. The Spirit cleanses our heart from unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and we feel clean and hopeful afterward.

Galatians 5:22-26 NASB But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

One of the hardest times to deny indulging in fleshly passions is when the storms hit. That’s why it’s important to begin the crucified-with-Christ, “I no longer live,” death-to-self process in the quiet times before the storm. If we invest in our First Love relationship with Jesus prior to the storms, when the storms come and test us, our firm belief in the truth of the Word and our love for Jesus will use the storms to put down even deeper roots of faith and mature trust. When it is all said and done, the storm will produce an even greater confidence and trust in God.

To be crucified with Christ means that when storms come our way, e humble ourselves before God and press into His more and ask others to pray with us. We do not sink into passive resistance to the Holy Spirit and to yield our will to His because we have learned that the self-centered way through a storm will not transform us into Christ’s likeness.

To embrace the cross of Christ means that we resist numbing our emotions with useless means of passing the time and instead, run to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We choose to consume His Word and cultivate an atmosphere that draws His Presence. In the face of the storm, we declare His Word is Truth and hold fast to it until the storm subsides. By faith, we lovingly burrow into God’s spiritual belly and activate His transformative power within ours.

Philippians 3:18-21 NASB For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

If we will not yield our wills to the will of the Father and make room for the increasing Presence of Jesus, our old nature will continue to occupy that space and instinctually resist God’s call to the “deny ourselves and pick up our cross” process or we will strive to perform for those whose approval we seek to please.

Luke 9:23 NASB And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Galatians 6:12-15 NASB Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

2 Peter 3:12 tells us that the day of the Lord’s Parousia “coming” can be hastened. But how? By earnestly desiring Jesus Christ formed within. The more His Parousia Presence abides in me, the more He has already come. He first comes in us before He comes for us. Knowing, eating, believing, and obeying the Word of God is key to having His abiding Presence and the benefits of His eternal Life increase within us. Why are we wasting time on useless worldly pleasures that can’t satisfy?

John 6:48-58 NASB [Jesus said] I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. 52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Jesus calls Himself the “Bread and the Water of Life.” He wants us to relate to Him as fresh baked bread whom we can turn to in our spiritual hunger and partake of. The more we spiritually consume Jesus, the less we will consume the world. John was told in Revelation 10:9 to “eat the Word.” We can “eat” by opening our eye gates and our ear gates and meditating on the manifold ways Jesus connects with us. Just to name a few, we can explore who He is as the Word, the Light, the Life, the Water, the Way, the Song of Songs, the Bridegroom, and so many more facets to our magnificent God.

Revelation 3:20 NASB Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

When we spend more time eating with Jesus and learning about His majestic humility and less time eating the World’s offerings, Jesus Presence will increase within us and driving out our self-centered, empty desires. This will mature us. Christ formed within us is the fruitful outcome of time spent with Him.

1 John 2:28 NASB Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming (His Parousia: Greek: Parousia: the arrival of the owner king whose Presence alone can deal with a situation).

Tell Jesus how much you love Him and how much you want Him. Spend more time in fellowship with Him and let the Prince of Peace be your main source of refreshment and stress relief. Fall in love with Jesus. He will empower you to boldly seek His face and obey Him in the midst of the storms. Without an established, fiery love relationship with Jesus, empty religion won’t hold us through the tough times ahead. A house built on the sand is easily blown over in the wind.

John 15:12-14 NASB This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you.

When the Holy Spirit graciously answers our request and convicts us of sin, after we confess it and ask for forgiveness, then we must go on to replace that old man nature and its habits with the new creation mindset and pursue fresh revelation of Jesus Christ. This happens through intimate daily fellowship with our First Love, Jesus. When we fall in love with Jesus, our desire to obey His commands will not be burdensome. It will be our great delight to wholeheartedly love and serve Him.

With Jesus’ abiding Parousia Presence dwelling in us, sin has no hold on our heart. Because “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” the life I now life, I live by faith in the One Who gave Himself up for me. Amen. Come Lord Jesus! Come.

Janet Smith – 1-2-2020 ©gardenministries.org

God is judging His church and calling leaders to greater levels of humility. The fire-born, purified, end-time harvesters will carry the Presence of God with no personal agenda. They will discern and do only what they clearly see the Heavenly Father doing. Before King Jesus comes to fill His end-time bride with His fullness, the Spirit of God goes before Him in a forerunner Role, straightening crooked places, removing rocks, and leveling the uneven places of the heart.

God is provoking His people to confess and repent of their valleys of rejection and mountains of self-promotion. Bold confidence in Christ’s forgiveness and restoration is driving out false humility and shame. Choices to prefer others and cast our need for significance upon Him who intimately cares for us are replacing bad habits of self-promotion and anxious striving.

1 Peter 5:4b-7 NASB … clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

God is gracious to all who come to Him. When people are drawn to Christ shining in and through His people, His gentleness and humility will treat them respectfully. Jesus is appropriately approachable to those who come to Him and so must we be. Awkward and broken people don’t always come in ways we personally appreciate. And sometimes we are the awkward, broken person stumbling into someone’s space. But when we or they come and provoke our yet-to-be-sanctified attitudes, can we sink down into humility and ask for the wisdom from above to respond by His Spirit?

Jesus always knew how to extend grace and deal with the many who came to Him. He knew when to push forward and when to withdraw. Whether it was to the one, or to the many, Jesus treated people with truth and respect. He never got pulled into people’s desperate need or floundered in offense toward their sin. Fully surrendered to and aligned with the Father’s will, Jesus showed us how to love people in truth.

James 2:8-9 NASB If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

A “Celebrity Christian” is not a calling. If leaders in ministry let others treat them like celebrities, they are subjecting themselves to idolatry and creating division. Demands for special treatment without first giving more of ourselves is hypocrisy. Scripture tells us to be like Jesus and treat others at least the same, if not better, than we treat ourselves—especially those who are closest to us.

Philippians 2:3-5 NASB Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus

Matthew 7:12 NASB In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

If God calls someone center-stage, then they should stand boldly and proclaim what God has put in them to proclaim. When the spotlight becomes a means of feeling worth and significance, then we have sunk into idolatry. The spotlight has become a stumbling block.

If we need people’s praise and approval to feel good about ourselves, we are prone to use what God has graciously given us as though we own it and it is ours to control. We will skim a portion of its glory and give it to ourselves. It has become a drug we cannot kick.

How do we know if we are people-junkies who need their praise and approval? Can we go without it—indefinitely? If God asks us to leave the limelight and enter a long-term season of obscurity, can we say, “Yes” and go there with Him? He may not ever ask this of us, but if He does, our “Yes” is always there.

It is not our IQ or our talents and possessions that prove or disprove our worth before God. Our fashion, education, and career choices have nothing to do with our worth before God. It is Jesus Who died a brutal death upon the cross that proves our worth to God.

And it is our naked faith and trust in He Who died, and now lives for us that connects us to that sense of worth and purpose. Humility always views Jesus Christ and Him crucified as center. Humility is the conduit through which all heavenly assurance flows and naturally prefers others to self without a second thought.

Whatever God gives us is given so we can better point people and their praise to the Giver of Life—Jesus. Whatever I think belongs to me as a possession I will seek to control. If I believe that everything belongs to God, I will hold it with an open hand of trust and complete reliance upon Him to Whom it all belongs.

If we covet the credit and praise for what God has given us, we will never get enough to feel satisfied and will live in a perpetual state of discontent. The secret of contentment is this: God owns everything and we are His stewards, who own nothing. Whatever God chooses to graciously give or wisely withhold from us, we are to accept as faithful stewards of His glory.