So when God gets ready to use us, he might strip us away from some things and some folk. Don’t let it alarm you if you find yourself with no friends , no family (around) , no boo. It’s all apart of the process. “We must respect the process.”
Man God is a jealous God. Scriptures says in Exodus 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. So with that scripture it tells us to not worship any other gods. And folk gotta realize that when it says any other gods its not only meaning like other religions kinda god like Buddah or whatever other gods some folk worship. There are other gods that we tend to worship. And some of those gods can be money, people(significant others), items, etc. And God wants to be first. So if there is anything that we are giving more time and energy too than God he will either take it away himself or he will ask you to sacrifice (give it up to him) like how he told Abraham to do with Isaac.
Like i’ve said this Christian walk isn’t going to be easy. It’s literally going to cost you some things. But i’m going to tell you right now if you just trying to stay comfortable you might as well plan to just stay exactly where you are at mentally, physically and spiritually. We are to grow daily, monthly, yearly. Folk should see growth with you continuously. So when you have trials, and tribulations, more than likely God is bringing you through the process of growth and maturity. I like to call it the Pruning Process. I like to call it that because if you go over in John 15:2 it tells you that He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. So that being said, God will examine you and if he finds branches that isn’t producing fruit he will cut them off. So in the natural; That attitude you got, thats not producing fruit; he cuts it off. That promiscuity ain’t producing fruit; he cuts it off. That PRIDE ain’t producing fruit; he cuts it off. So he cuts off those branches when you pray and ask him to and for the branches that are producing fruit he PRUNES them so they can be even more fruitful! So if you have patience, he prunes/enhances your patience. If you have the fruit of gentleness he prunes/enhances that! So you can see where i’m going.
The part that folk gotta realize most of the time during this process, God wants it to be just YOU AND GOD. God wants you to give him everything you have, and then most importantly he wants you to give him YOU. People follow all of his instructions, such as letting go of folk they in relationships with, letting go of jobs, letting go of stress, letting go of friends, but then they say well God i’ve given up EVERYTHING. And God is like no you haven’t, “You haven’t given up yourself,– you haven’t trusted me with you yet.” God is waiting with opened arms to walk with you down this narrow path. He says that the path will be narrow and only a few find it so it’s not like you are going to be of the world were everyone is living how they wanna live. This narrow path that its speaks about over in Matthew 7:14 will be worth the walk. God is right there holding your hand throughout the whole process. Let him prune you.
You must walk this process alone. You can’t be trying to have someone help you and enable you. Some folk are scared to walk the path alone because they want someone else to be there holding their hand, not knowing that God is already there holding their hand. People don’t want to get out of their comfort zone, not knowing that that is the best part of the process because it produces a lot of growth and perseverance. I’ve had to realize in my life that the pruning process is singular. God wants to clean me up, and he wants to clean me up with nothing in my hands that I am holding on to. I got to give him EVERYTHING. Even when it hurts, even when it don’t feel good. Tears in your eyes because of the frustration and pain you feel in your heart due to the unknown. The unknown of thinking “Okay God, If I give up all this stuff to you and what if you don’t come through on my behalf?” And this is where we must TRUST IN HIM. As it says in Jeremiah 29:11 For 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. I realized that God has to get me right first before I can even offer to help anyone else out. Folk will come to you and say they want to know God and get closer to God but they want your help–I have to say “hold up sister/brother I’m battling that same issue, before I can help you, God gotta deliver me and help me. But I sure am going to pray for you” — this process is singular. Give them to God and pray for them earnestly.
During the journey its going to be LOTS of tests. Satan now sees you as a threat and he wants to throw you off the narrow path doing any and everything he can come up with. For example; you’ve been impatiently waiting and seeking for a new job because its not comfortable anymore at the one your with now and you want to just bounce. Satan might try and distract you with a job offer and you knowing God told you to stay where you were but this new job opportunity seems a lot easier and more comfortable — you won’t have to deal with the people that you working with now that are giving you a hard time etc. Just when you quit and take the new easy job thats when your boss tells you that they were just about to promote you make you Manager over all the folk that been giving you a hard time. So Stand Still. The devil is a liar. To single folk, he might put in your path that finnnnneee brotha/sista that you been praying OUT LOUD to God about, not knowing that this is one of satan’s demons trying to take your soul and make you loose all your salvation. Have you doing things you told God if he delivered you from this or that you wouldn’t do it again. Demon would have you compromising with God and doing what makes you feel good at the moment. Don’t risk it. Stand Still. Satan might even put in your head that you need to pick up and move to another state because you tired of the place you live right now and you tired of this or that.– You not knowing that God is about to bless you with a better situation that you will enjoy and be content where you are–but you must Stand Still. Man it actually should give you encouragement to know that Satan is after you because that means you are going in the right direction. When your getting tested, when you having all types of thoughts about this or that, you GOT TO be close to your harvest because Satan wants to get you off track so you can’t get all the good and perfect gifts from the Lord.(James 1:17)
Don’t fall for his tricks! You are too close! You can’t run away from the process, You MUST go through it and GROW through it. The word tells us in Psalm 23:4 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. Notice that it doesn’t say though I SIT through the valley of the shadow of death. It says I walk through the valley of the shadow of death! So you will be keeping in moving through all the trials. And you will fear NO EVIL , because God is with you. God reassures us many times in the bible how he NEVER leaves us. So during this season where we must go through the process to prepare and get disciplined for what God’s has for us to do– we gotta know that he is there with us keeping us in line. The rod is for the disciplining, keeping us in line. When the sheep would get out of line they would use the rod to push them back in line. So thats exactly what God uses his rod for as it states in Psalm 24:4. The staff would be there for the sheep when the big bad wolf would try and come and eat the sheep. But in the natural God uses the staff to protect us when the enemy comes to try and kill, steal and destroy us.
Stay encouraged guys, you are closer than you think! Fight the fight! This war is spiritual not physical. Don’t quit! Keep your eyes on Christ and STAY THE COURSE. Be patient and know that All things will work together for your good. (Romans 8:28) It’s just a matter of time before you really see that this was all worth the process.
Be the light loves,
Jasmine
JASMINE KING 