My Father is The Vinedresser

John 15:1. Jesus says that His Father is the Vinedresser.

Let’s look at the second part of John 15:1

“… and My Father is the vinedresser” A vinedresser, or husbandman, is not merely a farmer. Grapes are more than an annual crop that is pulled up after harvest and forgotten. Here in New Hampshire, our growing time is not long. When my husband and I plant our garden, we know it will only be for a few short months. Come Fall, we harvest whatever has grown and we pull up the rest and put it in the burn pile. We do not have much of a chance to get to know our plants.

Not so, with grapevines.

The vinedresser’s grapevines remain with him for decades. He comes to know each one in a personal way, much like a shepherd with his sheep. In early Israel, the branches of cultivated grapes were either allowed to trail along the ground or were trained to grow over a pole. When the stems were trained along the ground the grape clusters were propped up to keep them from contacting the soil and rotting.  Vineyards were smaller and the vinedresser could know each vine. He knew how the vine was faring from year to year. He knew which ones were more productive and healthier than others. He would know what they responded to and what special care each one needed.

Much like us, each vine has its’ own personality ( so to speak) and the Vinedresser knows each one. He has been caring for each vine for years. He lovingly nurtures it, pruning off the dead areas in the correct amount and at just the right time. He fertilizes it, giving it the nutrients to grow strong and healthy. When the fruit or branch is dragging in the dirt or is low on the ground, He gently lifts the branches by propping them up and tying them. He is involved in the care and He takes measures to protect them from insects, disease

So, when Jesus calls His Father the Vinedresser, He is the only One. Again as Jesus uses the as a definite article to describe Himself in the first part of the verse in John 15:1. (See my previous blog post titles, “Jesus is The True Vine”). In sentences and speaking, we use the as a definite article when there is just one of something in that place.

As Jesus earlier described Himself as The True Vine, now Jesus is describing His Father, the Vinedresser, the Only Father, the only Vinedresser in charge of the branches. He is also describing Him to the disciples and to us in terms of His relationship to us, His attitude toward us, and His action in our life.

He cares for them (and us) personally and He is the only One wise enough to know us, to know our heart, to know our potential…to know exactly what to do to make them (and us) fruitful. God alone is responsible for the results. We cannot always see what the outcome will be. We must trust the vinedresser and His process.  

Rest assured, my fellow branches…with such a caring and intimately involved Vinedresser, as His branches, we can experience complete confidence and security.

Jesus is The True Vine

In John 15:1 Jesus says that He is the true vine. 

We are going to look at the first part of that verse today.

“I am the true vine…”

The True Vine. When Jesus describes Himself as the vine, He calls Himself the “true” vine. By “true” He means, “genuine, real, authentic.” Those of you who know me well, know that I love grammar and parts of speech. I noticed that He uses the word the — to describe Himself.  In sentences and speaking, we use the as a definite article when there is just one of something in that place. Here Jesus declares, I am “the” true vine, not “a” vine or one of the vines. But the True Vine.

Why does He say the “true” vine? What is happening in the culture? Who or what is being followed?

According to the NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, the word used here is Alethinos (al-ay-thee-nos’) Adjective

• Definition: real, true, genuine
• The opposite of what is imperfect, defective, frail, uncertain.

 Who or what is the vine that was not true?

For Jesus to say it this way, Himself being “the” true vine…it must be in some type of contrast to something else that the disciples might have considered the true vine. What could that be?

Maybe following the Jewish law at the time or the many works and rituals that the Pharisees told people to follow. Looking forward in Galatians 2, we read about a dispute between Peter and Paul, it seems it is more likely to do with the thinking at that time,  that a person is part of God’s family simply by being joined to the nation of Israel; by being of Jewish descent… Jesus says they need to be joined to Him. In the Old Covenant, the vine is the symbol of Israel as God’s covenant people.  Jesus makes a new covenant. He is the true vine, the true Israel, of which all believers will grow from. He wants to make sure they understand that they need to stay connected to Him. To obey what He told them and to practice what they saw Him doing.

And it goes for us too…. As we can see all around us… the “world” certainly values other things, believing there are other ways to God, and allowing idols to fill our lives. Those worldly systems and beliefs contrast with who Jesus is saying He is. We need to be discerning. To follow Jesus, accept No substitute!

Jesus says in John 14:6, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I love this verse! Again, Jesus is using the definite article. The Way. The Truth. The Life. The Only One.

Question for us to ponder—Are there things in the world that look genuine to us, that look like the truth but they are false?

What is Spiritual fruit?

Bearing spiritual fruit is evidence of a life-giving connection to Christ.

What is this fruit Jesus is talking about? How do we produce or bear it? Galatians 5:22 (NLT) tells us:

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…”

The works or practices that come out of us without Jesus is putrid & rotten. It is our sinful nature. It is of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 AMP describes the characteristics this way:

 ^“Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Notice in Galatians 5:22, it says fruit of the Spirit, not fruits. I think the fruit develops together, like a cluster of juicy, sweet grapes. They are attributes of Jesus growing within us. They are in direct contrast to the workings of our flesh, the practices of the sinful nature that still lives within our earthly bodies.

When a grapevine is ready for harvest, what are the signs that we look for??? …ripe grapes. Juicy, sweet, full of flavor

What about from a Christian truly abiding in Christ? What do we look for? We should see the temper, disposition, and lifestyle mimicking Jesus. We must love and honor God, love one another, and do good; this is bearing fruit.

When we are squeezed by day-to-day events, people, and situations…what comes out?? Sweet spiritual fruit or sour grapes reflecting our sinful flesh??

As I mentioned earlier, God wants Quality fruit, Lasting fruit, Kingdom fruit. It is only produced, like anything we plant…the seed only grows, matures, and bears fruit by meeting certain conditions.

What is needed to develop & bear fruit: what does a plant need?

• Good soil or good rootstock. God has already taken care of this part. We are attached to the Perfect and True vine …Jesus. We can bear fruit wherever we live & regardless of what is happening or not happening in our lives… as long as we remain in Him.
  • Don’t break the branch. Stay connected by being wholly and fully committed to Jesus the true vine.
  • Water— John 7:37-38 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
  • Nourishment—John 6:48 “I am the bread of life”.
  • Light—John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
  • Air—The Holy Spirit flows through us and around us to aerate our lives with truth, guidance and direction. By allowing the Holy Spirit to be the breath of circulating air within us and around us. To give Him the freedom to change us, to produce Christ-like qualities within us that develop and show to the watching world, the fruit of the Spirit…and to keep it from dying or rotting on the branch.
• Pruning & supervision is Required.
• By allowing the Father, the vinedresser to lift us up or prune us as He sees fit, to understand and accept that He is in control. By knowing God that sees the whole picture and He knows & does what is best for each of His children. Weeding is required to remove unwanted foreign plants that could choke out the branch.
  • God may take someone, something, or some situation out of lives that is hindering our productivity and development of mature fruit.
  • God may allow storms and trials come into our lives to shape us. Where we get our nourishment will determine how we grow and what “fruit” we bear.
  • God has the right to adjust our position or place in life.
  • God may move us from a place of comfort and self-assurance to a place of uncertainty, so we develop a greater trust in Him.
  • God may move us away from people or things that we have developed an unhealthy reliance on.
  • God may move us next to other people to help us or help them share the load and journey.

As we sincerely abide in Jesus…as we stay connected…He offers us privileges that we would not naturally have any claim to. We have privileges that we can “Own” as part of our inheritance because of His sacrifice and His restoration of our relationship with God.

One of those privileges and a fruit that develops in us that I want to mention today so we can lay claim to is… His Peace. Jesus tells us Himself that He gives us His peace.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 NKJV

He knew we would be disheartened, persecuted, and fearful. Again, He encourages His disciples right before He goes to the cross and the promise flows to us…  that we may have peace in Him.

We will bear or produce much fruit. Grapes grow in a cluster. They may ripen at different times and speeds even though they are in the same cluster. Our fruit is developing through the Holy Spirit but it is up to us on the speed it develops and what is included in our cluster.

For example—Perhaps you have one or two characteristics that are ripe and ready to use. Maybe you have patience but your fruit is not mature in the area of kindness, love, and lack of self-control. When encountering a difficult situation or difficult person, you react from the flesh, speaking with hurtful words and unkind actions. Those are areas that the flesh still rules, areas you haven’t given over for the Holy Spirit to work with you on.

Patience is another fruit I would like to briefly mention. When we are patient, it puts us in control of ourselves. Being patient gives us time to choose how to respond to a given event or circumstance, rather than let rampant emotions take over. Often times impatience makes us react in damaging ways as we look for shortcuts and quick fixes.

The enemy of God’s children, Satan uses impatience & other practices of then flesh to derail us from achieving God’s purpose in our lives. We do not have to let him win. He does NOT have the power. WE DO! We have more POWER than he even dreams of WITHIN us! He is a defeated foe. That is why he hates us.

As we learn from Jesus and the Scriptures, and as we allow the Holy Spirit to develop Spiritual fruit, His fruit in us—we have the fruit available and we learn when to act and how to react.

What comes out when you are squeezed?

Majesty

Majesty. What do you think of when you hear that word? I think of purple mountains rising above a sea of smoky haze, the sunrise exploding with vibrant color to usher in a new day, the intricate transforming life cycle of a butterfly, and all the beauty and vastness of this universe we live in. Most of all though…my thoughts focus on our Creator God!

Genesis 1:3, says, Then God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. God spoke the universe into existence! The Majesty of His voice, the Power in His Words created everything.

The voice of the LORD is powerful. The voice of the LORD is full of majesty. Psalm 29:4 NKJV

Wow! Doesn’t that make you sit up and take notice? We have His Majesty all around us. There are so many vibrant colors, textures, and signs of His creative genius that it makes my heart swell in awe and wonder!

I have had the spectacular privilege these past few years to witness up close the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. It is truly majestic! They start from a tiny egg, barely the size of the head of a pin, carefully laid on the underside of a tender milkweed leaf. When disturbed milkweed oozes a sticky, milk-like substance that is toxic to most creatures. The caterpillar hatches and feeds exclusively on milkweed, initially on only the fine hairs under the leaf. Then it moves onto the actual leaf. Yet, the caterpillar instinctively knows through God’s excellent plan, how much to munch without breaking through into a vein. If it broke through, the milk would glue its’ tiny jaws shut and it would die.

The caterpillar goes through five instar stages, growing from about 1/10 of an inch to sometimes more than 2 inches as it reaches the end of this caterpillar stage. It is amazing to watch as the caterpillar hangs upside down in a “J” formation. Soon it wiggles and squirms to shed the skin one last time revealing a beautiful green chrysalis or exoskeleton.

Then all appears quiet for several days. As each day goes by, many wonderful changes are underway! We cannot see what is going on inside, but God knows and the metamorphosis continues. It may seem like all the newly forming creation can see is darkness. That may be right, but it trusts the process.
I think we can be like that. Sometimes we cannot make sense of life. It seems dark. We are truly in darkness until the Light of Jesus shines into our lives-then we too, burst forth as a new creation!

We can see the orange & black of the wings! Almost ready to burst forth!!

When black and orange are visible through the membrane of the chrysalis, a breakout is near. Upon emerging, the wings are tiny and wet.

Drying her wings

Much energy is needed to pump the wings up to full size. Like the butterfly emerging, our “wings” are small and need to be pumped. Pumped with the power and majesty of God running through our lives. As the Monarch stretches her wings, so we too must stretch our faith and trust, and as we do…we grow and fly.

This is only a tiny part of the glorious world that God has created for us! It is far from stagnant and boring. It is as Majestic as our God is!

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:1 Amp.

I hope you take a moment to witness His Majesty firsthand in the beauty and splendor all around you. It is truly breathtaking!

My new friend!

Privileges-His Peace

I am sitting on my front deck, amid an array of beautiful plants as we receive, here in NH a soft, late summer rain. I can hear the gentle tap, tap of the raindrops as they fall on my canvas umbrella. I look out at the birds flying to and from my feeders. They flutter and squawk as they all vie for a sunflower seed. Of course they scattered when I brought out my camera. But if you look closely, there is a chipmunk in the house feeder!

I am reminded of how peaceful the outdoors can be. I am at my most serene here in my garden.

That got me to thinking about being a child of the God Most High. It is not about religion. It is not about what church we belong to or go to. It is about the Creator of the universe sending His Son Jesus to take our place… to take my place and your place on that wooden cross. Jesus alone bore the burden of our sin and disobedience as He died in our place.

It is about a relationship. It is about saying, “Yes, Jesus I need You as my Savior. Yes, I believe You died for my sin. Forgive me. I repent. I believe You rose again and I will rise with You and I can rise above earthly circumstances because You are with me. You share all that is Yours with me. I have an abundant inheritance of privileges from You!

As a believer and follower of Jesus…He offers us privileges that we would not naturally have any claim to. We have privileges that we can “Own” because of His sacrifice and His restoration of our relationship with God.

One of those privileges that I want to mention today so we can lay claim to is… His Peace. Jesus tells us Himself that He gives us His peace.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 NKJV

He knew we would be disheartened, persecuted and fearful. Again, He encourages us that we may have peace in Him,

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NKJV

There are many more verses that you can look up on peace when you have a few minutes. I want to close with one more.

Galatians 5:22 says that peace is a fruit of the Spirit. As we abide in Christ, we will not only have His peace to deal with tribulation but also have peace in Him as we acknowledge Him as Lord and develop a friendship with Him, but there is more…peace will be a fruit that is produced by the Holy Spirit through us.

May you find His peace today. Claim Jesus and claim His peace in your life!

Abounding

I have been mulling this word, abounding, over and over for the past month. I have scribbled a few thoughts here and there and have not gotten back to fully investigate it until today. I love that word, abounding…it is a word so full that it overflows in my mind and fills my heart with wonder.

Last year I was abounding in Monarch caterpillars! Thank You Jesus!

The dictionary says abounding means to have or possess in a great quantity; existing in or providing a great or plentiful quantity or supply, abundant. Teeming with, swarming, and thronging are some synonyms.

Abound appears 30 times in the Bible is various forms.

Few things in life are abounding until God becomes a real part of our lives. Then we begin to see that He lavishes on His children many wonderful things, starting with love and faithfulness.

Even things that seem so simple, yet are a joy. God has lavished on me many Monarch caterpillars through the years. Last year I was abounding in them, with over 120 healthy, hungry babies that grew, went through their metamorphosis and emerged as beautiful butterflies!!

Psalm 86:15 NIV says, “But You, LORD, are a compassionate and loving God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”

In an earlier blog post, I have talked about how much God loves you and I. I think He loves to make us smile! He is abounding in love and faithfulness. To abound in love is to have a great attachment to and great affection for. God is not stingy in His love for us. It abounds, it pours out onto us because God’s very nature is love.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV

God is able. He is the One who makes His Grace abound to us. Abound so that we will have the ability in abundance to do every good work that He calls us to do. WOW!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NKJV

Be encouraged! God is the one Who fills us—fills us to OVERFLOWING with all HIS BEST…all we have to do is say “YES! I Believe! Yes!

May you ABOUND in HOPE by the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT.

Bear Fruit

Jesus tells us in John 15:1-2, “I am the vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

In verse 2, I had to take a pause. I have read that verse many times. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit”, Jesus is saying, “the Father takes away.”

Wait! Wait a minute. If we are in Jesus, how can that happen?! My take on it is… some of those branches may “appear” to be connected to Jesus, the Vine… but are not—those branches are “dead” and will never produce fruit. Perhaps they are those who sit in a comfy pew and sing all the right “religious” songs and say all the right “churchy” things, but their hearts are far from God. (Matthew 15:8-9 and Isaiah 29:13) God, the vinedresser removes those branches, so that the “living” branches, those truly “abiding” in Jesus can accomplish their purpose.

Cucumber on the vine

Have you ever looked at a vine? Let’s look at one of my cucumbers on the vine…(Isn’t this baby cucumber so cute!) When the branches stay connected and get all their nutrients from the vine—they bear fruit, they bud, blossom into a flower, and through a maturing process—become a full sized cucumber—identical fruit to what that vine produces. They must stay connected. They cannot just show up on Sunday, grab a few sips of the Holy Spirit and expect to bear the fruit of the Spirit. It is an “all in” relationship. NOT a religion or merely an affiliation with a church.

In both the cucumber vine, and in our relationship with Jesus, we cannot just be “around” or “attached” to the concept of Jesus. That is not enough. I think it is possible for a person to claim the name of Jesus and miss Who He Is. The Great I Am!

I think it is possible for a person to go to church and associate with believers, even think they are doing all the right things, yet not have the life-giving benefits of being fully attached and fully abiding in the TRUE vine.

Many years ago, I had an ivy. I was watering it one day and as I moved it to soak the soil, one of the branches broke. Not all the way through, but almost. It was such a beautiful branch, healthy and green. I did not want to lose it. Thinking I was so smart, (bear with me) I got out my Scotch tape and taped it back together. You can probably guess what happened. For a few days, all seemed well. It was going to make it!

Nope, sad story. At the end of a week being only partially attached to the main vine, it shriveled up and died.

We can be like that. We can join a church, sit in a pew every Sunday, tithe, sing all the praise songs, shout out an amen when the message is good, and yet—be so far from Jesus. We can be attached to the church, or attached to the idea of God but not connected to the Source of life. Eventually, God the vinedresser, the One with ultimate knowledge and authority—will remove those false branches and discard them.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be discarded. How can we bear fruit?

Jesus says in John 15:6 (NKJV) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.”

We must “abide” in Him and He will abide in us. His life source flowing through us. Producing the fruit of the Spirit as we totally depend on the Vine for all things, all direction, all wisdom, all power to accomplish His will in our life.

Jesus was crystal clear in saying, We can do NOTHING without HIM. And in case we think “we” chose Him. He goes further in John 15:16 (NKJV). “You did not chose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

He has all the POWER, He gives us DIRECTION, He has CHOSEN us. He has APPOINTED us. The FRUIT comes from Him. Fruit that comes from Him REMAINS. It does not die on the vine but is His LIGHT to others. His LIFE BLOOD flowing through us produces FRUIT that RESEMBLES HIM! How cool is that!

We need to fully obey and abide in Him. Hold tight to the VINE. He does the rest! THANK YOU, JESUS!

You are CHOSEN, & APPOINTED to BEAR HIS FRUIT! You are EQUIPPED, now GO!

See you in the garden!

He shall strengthen your heart

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV

Are you struggling? Ready to give up, ready to “lose heart’? I have been there myself. It is a dark place, a place where fear & anxiety rule. To lose heart would be to give up, to give in and not have the strength to overcome whatever struggle is in our life.

King David, the author of this Psalm, knew heartache and betrayal. If you read all of Psalm 27, you will hear his anguish as he begged the Lord to hear his cry. I have begged the Lord to hear my cry. Maybe you feel that way right now.

You and I need to know that we can go on. Through whatever is happening in our life, we can go on. We need strength. Sometimes our hearts are so weary, so tired…we want to give up, but we must not quit.

Do not give up. Believe that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. As a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ, we will definitely see the goodness of the Lord when we get to Heaven. But to see the goodness of the Lord while we are here among the living…yes, sometimes we need that encouragement now. To know that God is in control.

The verse goes on to say, “Wait”, have courage that you will see the good things that are here and God shall strengthen your heart.

It is as we wait, that we must be of good courage, to be in a positive mindset and then the Lord shall strengthen our heart. He will strengthen our heart. He will help us hold on.

He will help you hold on. Go to the Lord with your struggles and as you wait, perhaps for answers, trust Him and let Him strengthen you through it all.

Hush, My Child

My grandson Kaleb has been picking out a weekly Bible verse for me by choosing from cards with a verse on each one. This week he chose Psalm 46:10,

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

A verse I think of often.

As I meditated on it this week, I wondered what it meant to be “still”? Merriam-Webster defines it as meaning:

• Devoid of or abstaining from motion
• Uttering no sound, quiet
• Calm, tranquil
• Free from noise or turbulence

I like the thought of resting quietly in the Presence of God. God is saying, “Hush my child, be quiet and trust Me.”

In this fast-paced and chaotic world, it is difficult to be quiet.

How many times have I asked God for something, to answer a prayer or help me with a trial in my life, but have I lingered in His presence to hear His response? Not often, I am sad to admit. I usually throw up a quick prayer, hope God is listening, and I move on with my day. I am sometimes too busy with my day that I forget who is the Giver of my days.

My thoughts are all over the place and they are far from “still.” I read a recent study that says humans have about 6,200 thoughts per day. Wow, that is a lot and how many of them flip flop back and forth? I must tell my anxious thoughts to be still, to shut up the thoughts and ideas that hinder me from following God. I must hear what God is saying…I must acknowledge He is God. He is in control. He is aware of the situation and He will be exalted through it all. I must trust Him.

Being silent or still before God can seem awkward at first. But it is the time that the Holy Spirit speaks into our heart.

We need to be still to hear His voice, to receive His peace, His joy, His guidance.  The next time we pray, let us pause to remember that He is God and deserves our attention and praise.

Keep Seeking God

I have written on this topic before. To seek the Lord with all that I am. I keep going back to it for myself…SEEK…to seek Him in ALL things. I struggle to keep my eyes on Him,. When life is going smooth, do I need to still seek Him? I can handle life right now, it’s all good…or so I think…can you relate?

I seek His comfort and strength when I am weary and emotionally drained.

Do I seek Him when I am so full of praise and joy because I have remembered that He is an Awesome God? I searched my heart and I cannot say that i always do that.

To seek Him means to build a relationship with Him, to want to be with Him. If I seek Him often, longing to get to know Him, then when I am feeling low, or want something, He will listen. Not that I will get all that I ask for, or in the way that I would want. That is Not the main reason to seek Him. I believe it is vital to seek the Lord in my walk, in our walk with Him because we want to know Him, and we want to grow closer to Him and serve Him. Why do I say that…why should we seek Him? What is the benefit? Here are but a few…

Psalm 16:11 (NKJV) “You (meaning God, our heavenly Father) will show me (you and I) the path of life, (life through the death and resurrection of JESUS) in Your presence (At His feet, in His Throne Room, in the middle of you busy life—you focus on Him!) is fullness of joy (Overflowing, cannot hold anymore); at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (words) added by me.

Wow, who would not want direction to the path of life and fullness of joy! I know I would! The path to life through Jesus. The path away from death and sin! Joy, not just a fleeting moment of happiness, but fullness of Joy in His Presence. Time seeking God and spending time in His Presence is pure, overflowing JOY! Praise His Holy Name!

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.” Lamentations 3:25 (NKJV)

God is good to us as we wait and seek Him. To the soul who seeks Him. Our very core of our person, that chooses to seek God. We should be careful not to seek Him only to get what we want or to have Him be like a genie in a bottle to do our bidding. It is in our best interest to seek God to get to know Him, to receive wise counsel and direction from Him, to want to spend time with Him.

King David pleads with God in Psalm 27:7-9 (NKJV),

“Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me and answer me.                                   When you said, “Seek My face.”  My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD I will seek.”                                            Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger;                                                   You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my Salvation.”

“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 (NKJV)

When we cry out to God as we seek His face, He will hear us. Let that sink in! The God of all Creation hears you! He hears you and He gives an answer!

There have been times in my life where I have felt that no one was hearing what I was saying. Maybe they politely listened, but they did not hear what my heart was saying. God hears what our heart, our deepest inner place, is saying in the way a father would. A perfect Father who is God! How comforting.

God goes beyond hearing us…He will have mercy upon us and answer us. He will never leave us or forsake us. Although life will not instantly become perfect, we will have God with us.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” James 4:8a (NKJV)

When we seek God, we draw near to Him. We come into His presence to ask Him what His plan is for us. What He thinks of our situation. What His wise counsel and direction is for each moment. He is with us, willing to guide and instruct. Willing to give us Salvation, new life, His peace and strength and many other good things, IF we SEEK Him to genuinely want to know Him more.

May you be richly blessed by God as you seek Him.