Finding Your Part

“My dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the WORK of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain…” I Corinthians 15:58

In order to prosper in this life; in order to flourish; in order to succeed, God is instructing that you WORK! You must do what God has given you to do. The successes you reach will depend on God’s plan for your life, but no success will come until you do the part assigned to you in that plan.

To proceed in this discussion, I want to focus a little on this question: "What is your part?"

You can only do the work you are supposed to do when you clearly understanding what that work is.  In order to see the results you are so anxious to see, you must know God's instructions; otherwise you will find yourself overly busy consumed by work which you will eventually realize actually serves no purpose.

Here’s the truth; contrary to what many preachers, prophets and bishops have been saying over the years, there is no person on this Earth whose job is exclusively to tell YOU what God wants YOU to do (and I’d be suspicious of anyone who says different). Preachers may have an inclination about you; some may even have a God-given prophecy concerning you. But the real revelation of who you are and what you are supposed to be doing is the responsibility of the Spirit of the Living God Himself.  The prophet Jeremiah quotes God saying this;

“’I know the plans I have for you’ declares the lord,…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. THEN you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you…’”  Jeremiah 29: 11-12

God says I know the plans “I” have for you.  Revelation concerning your path is God’s responsibility; its literally between you and your creator. God can reveal His omnipotent will in a single moment of a single conversation, or a series of conversations, or within the years of a decade, or two decades. Or God can reveal just the beginnings of a massive plan to you that will span across your entire life, involve 2 or 3 generations and your children’s grandchildren will complete it. No one can rush God to reveal His plan to you, and by the same token, no one can stop God from revealing His plan to you.

However, to answer the question "What is Your Part?", you must understand that there are certain universal things in God’s plan which apply to us all.  1 Thessalonians says this,

“...You were instructed how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more...” I Thessalonians 4:1

This scripture is important in identifying our part in God’s plan universally.  I know you have an agenda. I know there are things you are working towards.  I have plans I’m working on too.  But sometimes we can get so focused on our own agenda that we forget our primary agenda is to find what's pleasing to God.  This passage is a reminder that we've learned how to please God for one specific reason: “…to do this more and more”! 

What pleases God?  The whole chapter of Thessalonians 4 lists what works are pleasing in the sight of the God of Abraham.  Honesty pleases God.  Love pleases God. Peaceful behavior pleases God. Diligence pleases God. 

Paul says later in this chapter that controlling our bodies and avoiding lustfulness are also pleasing to God.  Then, bringing lost souls to Christ and Kingdom Building are definitely pleasing to God. Our part in God’s plan is to do what is pleasing to Him.   If we want to see success in our agenda; we must focus more and more on this assignment.  This sentiment is repeated in 2 Corinthians,

“God is able to bless you abundantly SO THAT in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in EVERY GOOD WORK...” 2 Corinthians 9:8.  

When good works are securely in place in your life, 2 Corinthians says God can bring abundance to your life and you WILL abound in good works for Him. In other words, if you walk honestly and are diligent today, God can bless you abundantly and you will continue to walk honestly and be diligent tomorrow. If your heart is full of love and compassion today, God can bless you with abundance and you will still be just as full of love and compassion tomorrow. And if you act peacefully at every opportunity, God can bless you abundantly and you will continue to model peaceful behavior every time you get a chance.

Furthermore, having “abundance” in all things at all times means you lack nothing at any time.  God has made His part of the equation to make grace available; blessings available; favor available; the power of Christ and His anointing available; and every thing available in abundance.  But your part of the equation is to “abound” in EVERY GOOD WORK; thus, if good works are absent from your life, the underlying issue holding up your dream list of things you expect God to do may very well be YOU. 

So what GOOD WORK are you doing?  Are you honest? How much time do you set apart for God in an average week (outside of Sundays from 11 – 2p)?  Can you be described as peaceful? Diligent? Full of love?  Do you control your body or are you constantly submitting yourself to lustfulness and fornication? God will provide His grace and His Spirit on your behalf, but He’s not going to do the good works He's assigned to you on your behalf. Your part is to do what is pleasing to God.  

Again, I know you have made plans for yourself, but more important than your plans are God’s plans!  Yes… God has plans for YOU! His plans will prosper you; not just prosper your pocket; they will prosper your soul!  God’s plans are not to harm you, but to give you hope and a real future. And the bible says once you begin to work-out God’s plans in your life, “THEN” you will call Him and He will come. “THEN” you will pray to Him and He will listen to you. To see success in your agenda, you must take time out of your plan, lay down your agenda and work diligently on your assignment which is to do more and more GOOD WORK for Him! 

Fatal Attraction

A few years ago, I went on a road-trip with my dad (something I thoroughly enjoy but don't do often enough). We traveled from the East Bay to an area north of Truckee and back. Even though we had a whole day at our disposal, I knew going in that it wouldn't be nearly enough time for us to really "catch up" as far as I'm concerned.

We ran the gambit; talked about everything under the sun from religion to politics. Then, our dialogue turned to a discussion about the popular 80/20 rule that Tyler Perry's characters mention in the movie "Why Did I Get Married".

80/20 is the old adage that basically says all married couples only receive 80% of what they need from their spouse. It suggests all marriage relationships lack 20% of each partner's wants and/or needs. The tragedy is when a man or a women walk away from their marriage chasing that 20% not realizing the value of the 80% they're leaving behind. My dad's point seemed to be him warning me not to fall victim to this terrible scenario.

"Do whatever you have to do to make your wife happy... " he told me.

That sounded like good advice; except that, without voicing it, we both knew how this same advice had worked out for him. My parents have been divorced for more years than they were married; which is an accomplishment within itself.

"Why do people do that... ?" I asked him. "... Why walk away from a marriage chasing something they're never gonna find?"

The question sounded fair, except that, without voicing it, we both already knew the answer. One word; pure and simple: ATTRACTION.

People who walk away from a marriage most often have either been chased away by abuse or drawn away by attraction. Married people are attracted to alternative lifestyles, new cars, money, jewelry, cloths... and especially OTHER PEOPLE. Counselor at California Family Court Services deal with so many cases where one spouse had no attraction for anyone other than their mate; then suddenly, within the space of a year, became so attracted to someone else that they walked away claiming their spouse isn't attractive to them anymore.

What is attraction? Is it a vibe? Is it a feeling? And what generates attraction? Physical appearance? Maybe ease of communication? Or is it something deep and spiritual like openness, one-ness or emotional accessibility? Marketing experts study attraction everyday; their intension is to put something attractive in a bottle and sell it.

Perhaps attraction will remain a mystery forever. But here's what we do know...

Married people must have a level of attraction for their spouse; otherwise, at least one of them will become more attracted to something or SOMEONE else. If every married person could keep their spouses attraction and somehow control who they are attracted to, theoretically, no marriages would end.
What if married people began to dress attractively for their spouse of however many years; not to get the attention of people they hardly know? What if married people made a conscious effort to attract each other instead of attracting some other person who isn't necessarily attractive to them (and that person whom they've attracted will try in vain to return the attraction while being completely oblivious of this other person who, for quite some time, has been attracted to them. And so on, and so on... )

Attraction makes no since; but attraction can make a person walk away from a relationship where 80% of their needs are met trying to get their hands (literally) on that small thing they've become so infatuated with that their life now revolves around them getting.

Its human nature I guess; to want what is attractive and be attracted by what you want. Its human nature to want that 20% which you have yet to experience. And, unfortunately, as the desire for what you want grows, the attractiveness of what you already have slowly diminishes. Perhaps the best analogy is the one about the dog walking on a dock with a nice sized bone in his mouth. Suddenly, he looks at his reflection in the water and sees what he thinks is another dog with a bigger bone looking back at him. So he drops his bone into the water trying to get the bigger bone. Everybody wants what they want and some are willing to sacrifice what they already have to get what they want.

But here's a news flash about attraction: You can't ATTRACT something by desiring it! For example, if you're married, you are not as attractive to a person you hardly know as you are to your spouse. You might find another person attractive, but you don't have what they want; you have what your spouse wants... that's why they married you. You aren't going to attract the person outside of your marriage that is atttractive to you because you can't become what attracts them; you can only pretend to be what attracts them. And, while all of your attention is going into pretending to be someone you are not, you are completely neglecting the one person who fell in love with the person you are and still truly desires you; not something that you are suddenly pretending to be.

The morale of this story is; there is no moral. According to the US Department of Human and Family Services, there are about 2.4 million marriages a year and 1.2 million divorces (roughly 50%). This fact means a lot of married men and women give-in to attraction and chase the alternate lifestyle or the other opportunity... or the money... or the new car... or the newer cloths... or that other person. It means a lot of married people in America do not realize that the 20% they feel their spouse "lacks" is just a mirage; its a hoax; its fake and chasing it will cost them everything. Perusing that 20% means at some point they have to face the repercussion of losing the 80%. At some point they mourn the loss of what made their life work so well. And that part of the equation is not attractive, at least not to me.

Attraction will come and go and will continue to be a waste of time because attraction alone is not Love. Hopefully you are smart enough not to waste time chasing someone or something you do not Love only to abandon someone you do. Hopefully you won't sacrifice everything searching for this illusive high of a 100% situation that doesn't really exist! And I pray you are still attracted to the person you are married to; He or she is the only person who deserves your attraction and this person has the same attraction for you.

But if you aren't, don't worry, they'll soon be attracted to someone else too.

Do Your Part!

We ask God for so many things and would appreciate most of them delivered directly to us sooner rather than later. I'm sure you're willing to admit that the timeline you offer God in the majority of your prayers is less often,

"When you get around to it, Lord"

... and is most often asked for Him to do it

"Right Now!"

We pray to God simply because we know we can do nothing apart from Him. God holds us along with this world in His mighty hand. Everything we hope for will have to come through Him because He is the Highest Power and has promised to be mindful of our earnest plea,

"... what is man that thou art mindful of him" Psalms 8:4

Knowing this, however, you must also understand that in the grand scale of God's powerful plan and in His sovereign will, there is a factor other than God Himself involved in you receiving what you have asked of Him: YOU HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY!

In all of you desires; in everything you anticipate; in everything you put your faith in God for and expect Him to bring to pass including salvation, there is a part you must play. Therefore, if you haven't received what you have been asking God for, the underlying issue may very well be YOU!

There are things God has instructed you to do, whether you are willing to admit it today or not. There is something specific God is instructing you to do; and He will not do this thing for you. Maybe there's a lifestyle change you need to complete. Maybe there's someone in your life you need to forgive. Maybe there's someone in your life you need to ask for forgiveness from. Whatever it is, for you, it will be hard work (psychological; not necessarily physical). Jesus commissioned his disciples saying,

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field... " Matthew 9:37,38.

Jesus looked over the multitude who had came seeking him on more than one occasion and noticed immediately that all of them were seeking him for a harvest, but those prepared to devote their lives to him were few. God knows you want to reap a harvest; but God is not going to sow your field for that harvest. It's up to you to follow Him!

With almost every miracle Jesus did, there were instructions in order for the person to receive his miracle. Jesus required a "step" in faith on the receiver's end for him to proceed with the miracle he had come to perform. The best example of this is shown in John 5:2-9 with the story of the man by the pool.

According to the story, there was a shallow pool of water in Jerusalem where an angel would periodically "disturb" the water. The bible says who ever stepped into the water first after the angle left would be cured of whatever disease they had. So, naturally there was constantly a multitude of poor, sick, blind, lame and ailing people camped around the pool. The story tells of a certain man who had been in his condition for 38 years trying to be the first to get in. Jesus saw the man in verse 7:

"... When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had been there a long time in that case, he said to him, 'Do you want to be made whole?'" John 5:7

Christians today want healing. Christians want deliverance. We want answers. Some need resolution to situations and we need them TODAY. But how many are sitting idly waiting for it to happen? How many are like the man by the pool waiting for their miracle to fall out of the sky? If you talk to as many people as I do, you'll find that many Christians who need prayers answered are lying around waiting for something to happen. They're sitting idely instead of working on what they've prayed for as if it is done. Many aren't doing anything other than waiting for a breakthrough to happen around them and then hoping somebody puts them in it... They're waiting for somebody to get something started instead of starting something!

The problem is, when you sit idly in a position of ailment, you become what your infirmity is. In other words, when you sit in your condition for too long, you own your condition; then you become that condition.

The man by the pool was sitting there by the pool for so long that he became "the man by the pool". Sitting by that pool had become his full-time job at which he refused to miss a day. You can tell when someone has become their condition; the first thing which happens is they begin to wear their condition like a coat. Every time you see them, they recite the long list of what's wrong with them,

"... This is wrong... that is wrong... the other thing is wrong too... then yesterday I was at the mall and got shot at... " And so on...

Next, others will begin to identify the person by their long list of infirmities,

"... Have you seen Michael? You know... the one with all the stuff wrong... the one that got shot at... "

Once a person's condition becomes their identity, in many cases, they wouldn't do their part to get free even if their life depended on it (which it does). That's why Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to be made whole?" In other words, Jesus asked him, "Will you let go of your infirmity and be healed?"

You would expect the man to say "Yes" to this question; but this man's initial answer was "No". You don't believe me? Read it for yourself. Jesus asked a "Yes" or "No" question. The man did not say "Yes", instead he gave Jesus the reason as to why he hadn't been made whole. After the man recited his list of what's wrong, in my opinion, he was prepared to let Jesus just walk away. He had been an invalid for so long that he'd become his situation. He didn't recognize that his wait was over; the Anointing power of the Most High God which he had been waiting for was in the flesh standing right in front of him!

If you identify yourself as always broke, then you've become "the man by the pool". If you say you are always sick, then you've become "the man by the pool". If you constantly tell people "My life is messed up... I never change... I always do that..." or whatever, then, sadly, you have become "the man by the pool" and I'm willing to bet people avoid talking to you.

Fortunately "the man by the pool" in this story received a second chance. Jesus ignored his whining and told him,

"Take up your bed and walk" John 5:8

At that point, the man could either do what Jesus asked and walk away from his condition, or be crippled for another 38 years (or whatever years he had left). The man chose obedience to Jesus' instruction and left the side of the pool forever.

If you sit and cling to what's wrong in your life, years will pass and it will still be wrong... and you'll be mad at God because it will feel like He's failed you. But it was YOU who failed YOU! You've got to GET UP from the side of the pool! The power of the Holy Spirit is within you RIGHT NOW; you've just got to engage Him. Fill yourself with faith ("Faith Cometh By Hearing..." Romans 10:17) and let God instruct you. Then DO YOUR PART! Stop looking for something to happen around you and get to work on a miracle that will start with YOU!

Stay In Your Place

The book of Acts records in the 16th chapter a situation when the Apostle Paul and his crew traveled through a region near Galatia. The bible makes it clear in this passage that Paul and his partners would have preferred to travel to Asia; 

 "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to..."

Acts 16:6-7 

The King James Version of this scripture says the men were “forbidden” by the Holy Spirit to go in the direction they originally chose. So, because of the guiding of the Holy Spirit, they traveled  away from Asia and by all indications, at first, they had no idea why. But eventually, Paul was given a vision that explained to him why his party had been driven in the direction they were traveling. 

 "During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, Come over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had seen the vision; we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them..."

Acts 16:10

The bible makes it clear that, as you know, these men were not traveling on vacation. Paul and his associates were on a mission.  When he traveled, he carried with him the gospel of Jesus Christ; a message that he had every intention of preaching no matter the place or atmosphere.

The question is, why were the men not permitted to travel to the province of Asia as they would have preferred? Was it that they couldn't spread the gospel in Asia?

Answer: No, they could have ministered in Asia. But there was another place God wanted the men to go. 

God was sending them to the place HE had need of them to be. So, while they would have preferred Asia, the guiding of the Holy Spirit led them 156 miles by sea to Macedonia. If you read on in this chapter, (around verse 23) you’ll find that the shortly after the men arrived in Macedonia, Paul and Silas where severely beaten up and placed into jail on trumped-up charges. 

The next question is, was that their place? Was jail the place where God wanted them to be?

Answer: Yes, jail was exactly where God needed them to be. Jail was their place at that time. 

They were on direct orders from the Lord Himself to preach the gospel which, in turn, landed them in trouble with the government of Macedonia and ultimately sentenced to imprisonment. But, if they had not gone through the beatings and the jail time, they would not have been able to witness the revelation of God’s power in their "Midnight Experience" (verse 25) which we still marvel when reading some 2,000 years later. 

In Paul and Silas' midnight experience, as they prayed and sang hymns, God shook the foundation of the prison causing the doors to all swing wide open.  And even then, when they appeared to have been set free, Paul knew to stay in that place until God told him to move.  Had Paul and Silas left the prison, the jailer would have committed suicide that night, or been murdered by the jail owners the next day.  

The place God called Paul and his travelers to held great turmoil for the men;nevertheless, it was the correct place for them to be.  This shows us that the presence of turmoil does not determine whether the place you are headed is the correct place. In fact, sometimes, the presence of turmoil can confirm to you that you are indeed headed to the right place. 

It’s the lack of provision, lack of instruction and lack of peace you have to watch out for.  In your place there will be trouble, but it is only in your place you will find protection, promotion and guidance as well as victory over the trouble.

So don’t concern yourself with what your place can't offer you.  Don’t judge the place God has sent you to by the way it looks or the amount of support you may or may not find in that place. Instead, find the reason God has placed you there and focus on what you can do for God and for someone else while you are in your place until it is time for you to move. God led you to this place because he has need of you here.  You need to be in this place in obedience to Him. If you take care of God’s agenda first, He will be faithful to take care of your agenda; i.e. the place in life you would prefer to be.

Your protection is in this place. Your provision is in this place.  Your productivity is in this place. Your promotion is in this place. Your peace is in this place. The place where God wants you is the best place for you. God will direct you to where you should be and keep in position for as long as you should be there.  Then, by the His Holy Spirit, He will move you to the next place He has need of you to be in the way that He wants you to move when He wants you to move there.  And there you will stay until it is time to move again. Period.

The "Mean" While

Do you have a list of specific things you are praying for? Things you believe God will do for you? Are you pressing towards a promise and not allowing anything or anyone to convince you to let go of your faith? Are you expecting "Great Things" to happen in your life; things which will move you from the place you are now to the place you will be in the future you envision?

If you have this list, then you are like me. I have things I'm praying for too; things I am believing God will do for me. I'm expecting to move from the level I am today to whatever level God has been preparing me for too; in my family life, in my professional life, as an author, as a musician, and as a worship leader.

I've got the scriptures, I recite confessions, and I've been holding on. I am believing that the Spirit of God will produce what I have asked. I'm believing God is Jehovah Jireh; that He will provide in the places where I need Him to provide and make conquers out of us all. I'm holding on to God's Word simply because there's nothing else I can hold on to.

I hear the word "sacrifice". I don't have much to give other than my willingness to give. I offer God my dedication, as limited as I find it to be. I offer God devotion; whatever devotion I can muster at this stage in my life and I continuously pray for a willingness to offer Him more. I'm doing the work I know to do... and even some of what I'm not sure of. What I offer God, though small, incomplete and unworthy, is the best I have. It's all I have... Is it not good enough? Is it not done well enough? Is it not big enough? Is it not enough? Then, what is enough?

If you have had this discussion with God or with yourself; especially if you've had this conversation more than once, pay close attention...
You are probably in a period of time in your life which many preachers call the "Meanwhile". This is a period when you are doing all types of work but feel you are not getting results. It's a time when you feel as though God is standing idley aside watching you struggle to jump through hoop after hoop while shaking His head in disappointment, then raising the hoops higher. It's when fear, doubt and frustration all collide into turmoil, questions and prolonged waiting sometimes bordering on depression. You feel distant from God, as if you are struggling while God is on vacation. Things can get "mean" and "ugly" in the "Meanwhile".

Call it your wilderness, your valley experience, whatever you want to call it. Basically, it's the time you face between the time you pray for something and the time you walk into your promise. It's testing time!

I'm certain you are familiar with the law of sowing and reaping. You experience this law whenever you pick fruit from a fruit tree or nurture flowers in a garden. You also experience this law when you make financial investments and as you raise children. The way this law operates is simple: You sow a seed, then cultivate that seed in order to one day reap a harvest. We recognize this law as the preferred system of operation of the Kingdom of God as described in the book of Galatians,

"... Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap" Galatians 6:8

Galatians goes further to say that to believe anything other than this simple rule is an attempt to mock God. What we don't always understand, however, is that this law of sowing and reaping is governed by 3 strict rules:

#1. You will reap what you sow

#2. You will reap later then you sow it and

#3. You will reap more then you've sown.

Rule #1 and Rule #3 are self-explanatory. Rule #1 says you will reap what you sow. This means you cannot expect to reap something different than what you have sown. For example, you can't sow rice into a field but expect a harvest of fruit. This would be mocking God as mentioned above in Galatians. Whatever you sow, that and that only is what you will reap. Then, Rule #3 says you will reap more than you sow. In other words, your harvest will be larger than the initial seed. In nature seeds come in sizes as small as pollen, but each time, what is produced is many times larger then what went into the ground.

The "Meanwhile" has mostly to do with Rule #2. You will reap later then you sow. Your "Meanwhile" is the period of time between the time you sow a seed and the time you harvest. You are fasting and praying; you are being consistent with your confessions; you are exercising your faith; never letting a contrary word come out of your mouth; your seed is in the ground. Next is the wait; and there will always be a wait!

During the "Meanwhile", Satan try's desperately to get your seed uprooted. He try's to influence you to give up, neglect your investment, stop nurturing your seed; just let your faith fall.

Look at the "Meanwhile" Jesus went through. It begins in Matthew chapter 4. First, Jesus' pride was tested as the devil dared him to feed himself in the middle of the desert which would have shown his authority. Next, Satan tried to convince Jesus to kill himself by taking him to the top of the temple and saying, "cast thyself down... " claiming angels would save him. And in his final attempt, Satan vowed to hand-over the whole Earth in exchange for Jesus' surrender. How many of us could have withstood the "Meanwhile" that Jesus beard? How many of us would have surrendered at the first temptation and turned the stone to bread? Or, how many of us would have given up on God and accepted the devils terms to receive the entire world on a silver platter in exchange for our mortal souls? How many of us already have? Hopefully none.

So why the wait? Why is there a meanwhile? Why doesn't a harvest just spring up minutes after it is planted instead of months or years?

The purpose of the wait is the seed you've planted must have time to grow roots. Everything within that seed has to stretch out of the seed's container into the good soil that will produce fruit (there's a sermon tucked away in that sentence alone). The wait is necessary for nourishment and cultivation to take place.

Consider this: What if you received a vision today that showed you what you where gaining by the time you spend in your "meantime"? What if God showed you the strength that waiting provides? What if He showed you the maturity and the confidence that will result from the time you spend believing God's Word before you received your miracle? What if God laid it all out for you so you could see exactly what He is building in you and why it is taking so long? Then would you be able to make it through the "Meanwhile"?

Of course you could. You would see clearly that God's plan is perfect in every way and, because of God's infinite wisdom, I'm certain what you saw would literally blow your mind! And you'd never complain about your "meanwhile" ever again.

Now consider what FAITH is. Paul describes faith as the substance of what you are hoping for and the evidence of what you can not see. God has designed His Kingdom on Earth to operate with FAITH as the substance for what we expect from Him. And FAITH also acts as the evidence that what we believe is true. We must cultivate every seed with FAITH if we expect it to grow. In fact, the bible says it is impossible to please God without FAITH (Hebrews 11). Jesus said FAITH is so dynamic that even if it were as small as a single grain of mustard seed, it could still produce enough power to move an entire mountain! Now that's powerful!

Waiting through your "meanwhile" may seem tough; but really, it is not the hard part. Waiting is actually unavoidable. Certain things are just outside of your control where you literally have no choice but to either wait or give up.

Waiting PATIENTLY, however, is what's difficult. Patient waiting means not only that you wont give up, but also that you wont try to "speed up"; that you wont try other alternatives; that you wont Involve yourself in an endless barrage of attempts to "help God". Too often we instinctively assume that if we do more work than we are supposed to do, we will get results faster. But God is the Lord of every harvest, thus no matter what we do, the harvest will be what our sovereign God has decided. Period. Obedience to God is our participation in the system that God has established for us. But, at the end of the day, the harvest is God's to give and not ours to demand.

The bible says PATIENCE is better than pride (Ecclesiastics 7:8). PATIENCE is also one of the Fruits of the Spirit. But, I'll admit; it's hard to be patient while you wait; especially when you are desperate.

Two things will help you wait patiently through your "Meanwhile":

A. Recognize immediately when you are in a "Meanwhile". This is critical, otherwise you will feel abused having to suffer through all of the emotions: doubt, temptation, and frustration, even anger. Recognize that Satan is working on you and don't allow him to be successful. My friend, Minister Jason Caranto put it best,

"The devil is after your future more than your present! He's determined to destroy what will become before it is!... "

B. Get your scriptures ready. When things get "mean" you need to reinforce your confidence. Draw closer to God for strength; rebuild your faith! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

Have the right scriptures memorized, book marked and highlighted. Be ready to "draw your sword" at a moments notice.

Question: What is the right scripture?

Answer: The one you need at the time!

Jesus didn't get complicated with Satan. When Jesus was under attack, he simply answered the attack by quoting scriptures,

"Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only'"

Final thought... Hebrews 6:19 says,

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain" Hebrews 6:19

Hope will pull you through your "Meanwhile". God is not looking at you with disappointment. You are his most prized-possession. Though your failures pain Him, they are also no surprise to Him. He knew of each before the foundation of the world and yet predestined you to become His child. Remember that the trouble you face in your meanwhile is what cultivates you to receive what you have asked for; which is what God has in His will for your life.

And Remember Rule #3; your harvest will be bigger than the seed! It will be worth the wait through the mean, mean, "Meanwhile". You will make it if you focus less on the wait and more on the harvest. Strive to make patient-waiting your biggest accomplishment during this season in your life.

Keep Believing!

You are waiting for something from God... It is something He has promised in His word that He will do. How long will it take? How long must you hold on to your faith? How long do you keep believing that your break through is coming? Forever?


God answered this question in 1Kings Chpt.18: 41-46 for anyone who is willing to take notice. Samaria was in a severe famine. The drought was so bad that King Ahab himself had gone out searching for a brook that might provide water and food to keep the animals alive. In verse 41, Elijah met the King and relayed the promise from God declaring it would rain. Elijah told the king to prepare himself because he could already hear the abundance of rain coming.


Then Elijah went to the top of MT. Carmel to spend time with God. He got on his hands and pressed his head to the ground between his knees. The bible said he "cast himself" down, now that's a man who didn't have time to be "cute" with God. After awhile he sent his servant to go look out toward the sea. The servant went but saw nothing. Elijah told him to go look toward the sea seven more times. The servant went six times and still saw nothing. But on the seventh time, the servant saw something; he saw a small cloud shaped like a man's hand over the sea. Elijah sent word for the king to mount his chariot and go immediately to avoid being stranded. It was about to rain.


How long should we keep the faith? How many times do we have to pray? How long do we keep showing up and believing God will do what He said?


KEEP BELIEVING TILL YOU SEE IT!

Keep going through the motions, keep praying, keep pressing. It may take seven times; it may take seventeen or seventy times, but keep believing. What ever God has promised, He will do. God cannot lie; it will come to pass. Keep believing till you see it.


And when you see it, GO! Be prepared to act on your faith at the first sight of what God promised!


Once God answered Elijah's prayer, God endowed him with POWER! So much power that in verse 46, Elijah ran down from the mountain, ran after the king's chariots and beat them to the city on foot!


You see, you may think you are losing time by waiting on God, but when God answers, He will give you so much power that you pass up people that are ahead of you. You'll surpass people you thought you'd never catch. God will move you from being the tail, to the head. When God empowers you, nothing can stand in your way.


Notice one more thing in this passage. Elijah knew what to do to get God to answer.


On his initial encounter with King Ahab, Elijah had to prove that he served the true and living God and earn the Kings trust. So he instructed them to set up an alter and then he challenged Baal, the god that Ahab had been following. The challenge was simple; which ever god could get fire to fall down from heaven onto this alter is God and would be pronounced the God of all.


450 of Baal's prophets came to meet the challenge against Elijah, the sole prophet of the God of Abraham. Baal's prophets went first. They shouted and danced around the alter from morning till noon, but they could not get fire to fall onto the alter. The bible records that they chanted, danced and even cut themselves "until blood flowed" trying to get an answer from their god. Naturally, Elijah couldn't resist but to taunt them just a little. He told the hundreds of prophets,



"Shout louder!", "Your god must be a busy man... ", "Perhaps he is deep in thought... " "Maybe he is traveling", "Maybe he's sleep".


They continued to shout and cut themselves until they completely destroyed the alter.


But Elijah knew what to do to get an answer from our God, the true and living God Almighty. He didn't yell or shout or destroy the alter or cut himself. He simply instructed the servants to pour out water onto the alter. He sacrificed the one thing that was deathly important to them all. After that, he instructed them to do it again. And then he instructed them to do it a third time. He sacrificed water in the name of the living God.


The bible says fire fell from heaven and burned up the alter right down to the soil; wood, stones and all. It says the fire "licked up" the water proving our God is real. The text indicates Elijah knew what to do because he had already been instructed,


"O LORD,... let it be known today that you are God, I have done all these things at your command" 1 Kings 18:36.


Do you know how to get fire from heaven when you need it? Here's how: KEEP BELIEVING!


The bible says it is impossible to please God without faith. Faith is what gets God's attention every time. Faith for us today is the water that Elijah poured on that alter. Faith is that thing that is deathly important but so many Christians have such a short supply of; but your faith will entreat God's response. If you need God to move, put your faith on the alter. Then do it again, and then do it again,... and again. Keep putting your faith on the line. Keep trusting in His word. Keep going through the motions, keep praying, keep pressing. KEEP BELIEVING UNTIL YOU SEE IT! What ever God has promised; HE WILL DO!

Why Not Turn The Stone To Bread?

The book of Matthew describes a critical point in Jesus' life where he had to undergo some serious testing to prepare for the work he was going to do. The 4th chapter details how Jesus went into the mountains for 40 days to complete the preparation process. This journey, according to the scripture, was specifically to deal with Satan's temptations as if Jesus couldn't go any further in his ministry until he spared toe to toe with the evil one himself.

On the mountain, Jesus entered an intense fasting period. After the fast, Jesus was faced with a very pressing issue: He was hungry, but there was only stones and rock around him. This is when Satan attacked Jesus with temptation,

"IF you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread... " Matthew 4:3

In essence, Satan was saying "... I know you're hungry. Now's the time to satisfy your need... Now's the time to do what you gotta do...

As Christians, we face this temptation all the time. The devil tries to exploit our human side because he views our flesh as our weakness. In fact, carnality is absolutely his preferred method of persuasion. We try to maintain a spiritual attitude but after a while, far too often we give in. Satan always depicts the situation in the simplest, most practical terms:

1.You have a need.

2.Why don't you do this: ___(fill in the blank)___?

Everyone of you will face this situation. If you are believing God for a new car, you will encounter doubt when you climb into your old one. If you're believing God for a house, you will be attacked by doubt as you unlock the door of your apartment. If you're believing God for success at weight loss or an improvement in your health, you're taunted by the scale when you walk passed and battle doubt with every new doctor's report.

And thats when Satan will present his appeal. He simply says why not get what you want an easier way? Why not do what seems practical to do, which may be only slightly different from what God wants you to do or maybe just untimely from what God wants you to do? In other words, why not have what you want when you want it? Why not satisfy your need?

The battle is a difficult one because, on the inside, your humanness agrees with him!

The devil makes it seem impractical to continue without the things you want for another day. He makes it seem like unnecessary abuse from God to make you live in your situation; live in poverty, experience hunger or deal with meager accommodations for one more moment. Eventually your human side pleads in harmony with Satan's temptation. They'll sing together,

"Why go through the motions for weeks, months and even years? IF you are a child of God, why are you suffering while God does nothing about it? Why don't you...

•Sell drugs...

•Use drugs...
•Lie...
•Quit...
•Fight...
•Slip a little money out of the register...
•Have Sex with Him...
•Have Sex with Him for money...
•Kill Someone
•Kill Yourself
•etc... , ete...

Both Satan and your flesh scream to you everyday, "Turn the stone to bread! Quick, while God's not looking... " hoping you will take matters into your own hands. You can see the doubt he was trying to interject into Jesus in Matthew 4:3,

"... IF you are the Son of God... " Matthew 4:3

He says "IF" as if it were something which still remained to be seen. But just a little earlier, in Matthew 3:17 God Himself announced out loud,

"THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED... "

Satan wants you to depend on yourself instead of having faith in the God who created you; the God who does all things well and has a master plan that will work everything out according to His timing. Satan wants to move you away from your faith and move you into operating by sight; the way the rest of this world operates.

Why? Because the evil one knows that the stronger your faith becomes, the stronger your relationship with God will be. Satan knows if you continue to trust God to provide your needs, you will receive new measures of faith which makes things worse for him. So, his strategy is to drive a wedge of doubt between God and you hoping eventually your flesh will cause you to stop believing God and start listening to him. Without faith, you are separated from God. Once your faith is broken, the devil's suggestions begin to sound less like sin and more like a practical solution to your problem.

Whenever you find yourself doing something that God did not say do to solve a problem, it means the devil's plan is working. Satan already knows who God is; but he needs you to forget. Any time you abandon your faith and cling to something else, even if it's something that looks spiritual, you are disconnected and vulnerable. The Apostle Paul said,

"... The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17

The Just, or in other words, those who have been justified, are instructed to cling to their faith for life. Paul went further in Hebrew 11:1 saying that faith is our evidence for the things that we cannot yet see. Faith is the only evidence we can depend on, nothing else is credible.

To answer Satan's temptation, Jesus took the opportunity to point out that there is a bigger issue than our everyday hungers, desires and other practical matters at hand. Jesus told him,

"Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word of God... " Luke 4:4.

Physical and psychological issues are dramatic, but far more important is the issue facing our very soul that, if not addressed, could land us in a condition worse than hunger; worse than poverty; worse than meager accommodations. The issue facing our soul is an eternity in Hell. If I had to choose, (and we all do) I'd rather die of starvation but live eternity with Jesus than live "real big" on Earth then die and go to Hell.

When your tempted to do something other than what God has instructed in your situation, always remember:

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN YOU SHOULD!

Cling to your faith! Don't look for "another way" to get what you need or to prove that you are right about God. Stick to whatever God's Word says and let God show Himself strong. Don't make a move until God says GO. God will provide, but it will be on His terms and in His timing; not yours and definitely not Satan's.

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17

As you stick to the Word of God, more faith will "cometh" to fight your temptation and finally pass your test! Tell the devil he can keep the stones and the bread; the only thing you desperately need is every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Your faith in God is your only real possession in this world. And, thank God, faith in the living Word is all you will ever need.