Is He in your life?

Hello All,

I hope you all remember me... the ODB lady. Wishing that all is well with everyone and that although we're at the verge of economic crisis, know that God is faithful and just. I also want to take this opportunity to thank you everyone who continues to pray for me as well as the numerous follow up emails requesting for the daily bread. So without further ado, let's get on with today's message.

Does God exist in your life? Or is He a figment of your imagination?

As a child, my siblings and I were surrounded by a very strong atmosphere of religiosity, both in school and home. Our mom was a devoted servant of a church in our town. We were told to pray and do the ritual practices at church. I thought I knew God then. I would say that He lived in my heart, but nobody really explained to me about the importance and the difference of having a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Him. I guess I kind of assumed too that I already had one.

Not until things were going wrong in my life did I start searching and caring for the REAL MEANING of a relationship with Christ. I was so in hurry to find out that I even longed for something I could touch, hold, feel and hear to give me proof that there is really someone out there who has my best interest.

Let's be honest, no one enjoys the feeling of brokenness. But after receiving Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of my life and devoted some of my time getting to know Him through His words, (believe me it was tough understanding it at first, but the more I spend time with Him the more He reveals Himself to me), I learned to depend on Him & His promises everyday. My hopes became brighter and being broken gave me an entirely new perspective on God's plan for my life.

Just the other night, I I tried going through different books to understand what Jesus was trying to say in this verse: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." After much research, I came to the conclusion that this passage teaches us that death is necessary for a harvest. Jesus' death for our sins led to glory and life not only for Himself, but also for us.

Therefore, only by falling and breaking can a single grain produce a rich crop. If it stays isolated and protected, it will never produce anything.

I truly believe that's how the Lord works to mature His children. He allows us to be broken to bring spiritual growth and supernatural ministry into our lives. And the process is always the same:
1) He targets the areas where we're not submissive to Him.
2) He arranges circumstances and selects the tools with which to break our self-sufficiency.
3) He controls the pressure and timing of those circumstances to bring us back into His will.

I mean, the choice is still ours... if we refuse to be re-formed through this brokenness and continue to cling to whatever God wants us to release, then He will put us on the shelf. Just think about it, yes, we resist brokenness wherever we turn, but just like the single, unbroken grain of wheat, we will become fruitless and alone if we continue to follow what we think is best for us. Our biggest problem is we choose to hang on to the things we think bring joy. We want to persist in relationships that are blocking our spiritual growth. We want to take the easiest way hoping that God will bless our laziness and impatientness. My friend, this is not the road to maturity that our Father in heaven has prepared for us.

There's no doubt that brokenness hurts. But God's word, proclaims that it hurts more not to be broken. Don't be distracted by short-term happiness. Look where God is leading you and let Him do whatever it takes to get you there. When God says "NO", when He takes away instead of adding more, when He divinely manages what we have, how much we have, and how long we have it, He is helping us keep our eyes on Him. don't despise these moments. Instead, recognize them as the voice of God calling you back into His loving arms. Yes, it won't be easy, but in the end, as you continue to trust that God delivers and redeems people from all walks of life, you can look back and see how amazing and genius God is for putting your pieces back to whole again.

Have a joyful day everyone!

God speed!
Lovely