“Think of it! One solitary man when I called him, but once I blessed him, he multiplied” (Isaiah 51:2 MSG).

Abraham was blessed to be called and called to be blessed. He was one man standing alone but obedient to God. He was awaiting his assignment after having received the promise of blessings. When our future is in His hands, we can rely on His promises regardless of the current circumstances. God calls us alone. He calls us to Himself to personally respond to whatever He commands. Only then are we in the position to proceed. Some are waiting for the party to join them before they move beyond their present state. The blessings accompany us along the way even if we have to travel down the lonely road less traveled. He is with us to guide us along the way. Then He will bless with blessings that none can take away. The continual blessings of God will go from generation to generation.

“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8). 

There is a future after a fall. There is life and victory on the other side of apparent defeat. It is the enemy who has devised the plans and set the traps for my failure. He has studied my weaknesses and mocks my strengths when I take pride in them. Yes, it is too easy to believe that I have the strength to stand alone. But when I fall God who is my sufficiency, is there to pick me up. Do not rejoice over me when I fall. There is much I have yet to learn but now I will learn in humility, trusting God to show me what I was unable to see. My victory is merely delayed and not denied. I will arise from this place as the light of God’s love shines upon my path guiding me in the direction of His will. 

“How is it you do not understand?” (Mark 8:21).

Every act on the part of Jesus has a much deeper meaning than we have yet come to realize. It was not just the feeding of the five thousand on one occasion, nor the four thousand on another. He was instructing them to trust Him for their provisions when it appeared there were none. The miracle of Jesus took place as He distributed the fish and the loaves into the hands of the disciples. But the miracle was compounded when the fish and loaves were multiplied as they had more than enough to feed the multitudes. There are multitudes that are hungry for the living bread of life. We are to feed His sheep and feed His lambs. Even when it may appear as if we do not even have enough for ourselves, when we distribute to those we are commanded to feed at the end of the day, there will be basketfuls to take home. He will allow His miracles to be performed through our hands.

“And yet I show you a more excellent way” (1Corinthians 12:31).

The order of the Church and our lives is to be arranged by the Holy Spirit. He guides us through the gifts that were given to the Church on the Day of Pentecost. Many gifted people have not fully understood what it would take in order to get the most out of what was left after Jesus’ ascent into heaven. We are to earnestly desire to be endowed with the blessings, which are the extension of His work on the earth. He works through His Body, which is the Church. When gifts are given, the potential for change is present. The gifted are the called, which are endowed to be a blessing to others. But the way they are used may be to the best of their abilities yet they may still fall short of God’s intended results. When the gifts are given, the way to use them must be shown—a way that is better than the best we ourselves are able to offer. It is the way of love. Only then can we employ the gifts without taking ownership of them. It is then God working in us to do what He alone is able to do. He loves through us and reaches the hearts and lives of people that He is willing to touch. There are ways known and unknown to us, but we must allow ourselves to be shown a more excellent way.

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward” (Hebrews 10:35).

Once confidence has been attained, there is nothing standing between God’s promise and the fulfillment of the promise. To trust in the Lord with all of our hearts comes as a gift to believers. This is a level of trust that does not demand further evidence, but stands on God’s integrity as our guarantee. The only entryway available to the adversary is when we cast aside what we have attained over time. We must guard what is most precious from the allurement of the enemy whose objective is to cause us to surrender what can bring us to the promised reward. It may be closer than we think, the attacks may escalate. Don’t treat what is most precious as being useless because the promised blessings are not in sight. Reaping His promised blessings lie ahead if we do not lose heart.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5).

The pronouncement of the two angels at the empty tomb is the challenge to this generation. We need answers. This is a desperate time for so many in searching for real answers. People are tired of pacifying words that merely delay the imminent failures that they have grown so accustomed to. Some are wishfully thinking that some semblance of life may yet remain among the ruins of yesterday’s shattered dreams. They have driven their stakes and set up their tents in graveyards rather than in the place where new life is blossoming. Jesus was once there but only for a little while. He was carried there because no life was within His body. Now it is as empty as those who attempt to live their lives without Him. But now as being resurrected, He has moved beyond where men were able to place Him. He is where He has decided to be. Now is the time to meet Him where He chooses to reside. He is among the living. For those who have spirit-life within them and a will to do His Father’s will, their lives will take on their truest meaning. Only there can they find true joy and peace within their souls.

“Not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life” (Hebrews 7:16).

The High Priest, Melchizedek was a High Priest by the sheer force of resurrection life rather than mere genealogy. This was a different class of priesthood signifying an important future event. God’s promise to us is an endless life. Jesus, who is the Begotten of the Father, was with the Father from the beginning. Those of us who are in Christ have entered into eternal life. He is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Nothing of the law could produce it. All of its fleshly commandments could only point out to us our deficiencies. So many are yet trying to compensate for what is lacking, thus giving them a false hope of resolving issues that are too deep for them to fathom. In Jesus Christ, we have eternal life. To know Him is to take full possession of His promises. We die to our former state and the futile efforts of reforms to preserve our souls. We then rest in Him as being our sufficiency. It is His grace alone that saves us and delivers us from bondage to liberty and life eternal. Not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life — He lives! (MSG Hebrews 7:16) 

“Sit here while I pray” (Mark 14:32).

When Jesus was facing the most agonizing moment in His life, He needed to be alone with the Father. He was away from the multitudes with their pressing needs seeking Him out for assistance. Now He was with His small select group of disciples with whom He felt the liberty to be transparent. Yet His instruction to them was to sit as guards rather than participate with Him in that moment when He needed to talk to His Father. There are times when we need to pour out our hearts and express those deep feelings with God that only He is to hear. It is because only He is able to understand what we are not always able to fully articulate in words. On other occasions He would teach them to pray and corporately approach God as “Our Father.” Now He wanted to speak to God as “My Father” because no other could understand the deep longings of His heart other than the One who knew Him best and love Him the most. We too need some alone time with God. Out of those times we are able to cultivate an intimate and personal relationship with Him.

“No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26).

The curse of barrenness shall be broken over the lives of God’s people. There may be a period of dryness where it seems as if nothing is being produced. Some will think that God has disfavored those who appear without while many others rejoice with plenty. Can God be trusted in seasons of drought as much as when the sun and rain bring forth an abundant harvest? After what was thought to be the promise is aborted that God prepares the womb for the future delivery. He will show His people what they otherwise would not be in place to see nor understand. There is something much greater awaiting those who are faithful to Him. Much more will be gained than what was previously lost. God will turn their mourning into dancing. As the result of the sowing of His people, they shall bear much fruit and their fruit shall remain!

“From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do” (John 14:13 MSG).

Out of the personhood of Jesus, He does what only He alone is able to do. It is the character of Christ to love unconditionally. Every act was an act motivated by love and an expression of love. His objective is to free those who have sought the authentic but have settled for a substitute. Too many seekers have succumbed to merely settling for a level far beneath the level established by Christ. Therefore the results are restricted to their limited understanding. The only prayer that the Father is obligated to answer is the prayer of His Son, as His passion burns deep within our hearts. He honors His Son through hearing His prayers through yielded vessels whose lives are fully engaged in the works of Jesus. They are His sons brought to glory. Through them, the works of God continue.