Haggai 2:19-20 (NLT)
“I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”
God has given you a promise. He has promised from this day onward to bless you. So why is it that you do not feel blessed? What is keeping you from all that God has for you? Why do you feel depressed, defeated and disgusted with life when it is supposed to be abundant and rich according to the Word of God? God’s Promise for your life was established before you were born. He created you with the express purpose of falling in love with the Lord all over again. You were created in His Image to be His People which means that there is an inheritance reserved just for you. The problem is not in the promise but in our ability to achieve His Purpose in our life. Is your seed still in the barn? Is your harvest not yet found? Is there a famine in your land today? Well it is time to declare this is the day that ends and now you will move onward to the blessing that the Lord has promised you!
Luke 9:62 (NLT)
But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
The problem is not being pointed in the right direction. By His Word and His Spirit, Children of God have a moral compass to excellence as well as an excellent example. The challenge comes in moving in the right direction. Repentance and revelation just establishes the Truth about God in our heart. Righteousness must be maintained by doing the Will of God His Way. This is the place most people lose their freedom once more. Salvation is when we put our hand on the plow of God’s Way, but attempting to furrow rows worthy of planting seeds of faith that produce confident hope cannot be done by those who do not take a step forward or look to their Eternal destination. If a farmer begins to plow, but looks back his rows will show his lack of attention. Are you like the careless farmer who fails to plant seeds of righteousness because the past has captivated your attention? Cultivating crops in the natural and spiritual is a difficult and laborious process. In the field, we are challenged by rocks, weeds and hardened ground but spiritually we are challenged by fighting flesh and a hardened heart unwilling to be broken for the Lord.
John 8:56-58 (NLT)
Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!”
Abraham is a man known for his faith in God. He trusted the unknown and unseen Reality of God without question. He remained faithful, righteous, godly and holy throughout his life before Jesus ever came to the earth. Abraham by faith could see what was coming and confident hope allowed him to rejoice before it arrived. This brings us back to the scripture from Haggai. “From this day onward I will bless you”, are you willing to move forward by faith before you see the evidence of God’s Blessing in the natural? See most people will not make a commitment without being enticed or encouraged to do so before putting forth any effort. What’s in it for me? God has blessed me with a great job. Over the years, I have received multiple promotions. Each time, I have taken on the responsibility before my supervisor was able to secure an increase in pay. Now as the supervisor of many employees, most of them have been employed much longer than I have, some have come to me to ask for a pay raise or promotion. I often ask them, “What should I tell our administrator you have done to request an increase?” Time and time again, they reply, “Well I have been here (blank) number of years and never received one!” Faith without works is dead just as desiring a promotion and working for one are two very different things. Many believers will leave this world with their “hand on the plow” because they never moved beyond calling on the Name of the Lord to living by faith for God!
Romans 5:1-5 (NLT)
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Jesus Christ has brought us to a place of undeserved privilege. Now it is up to us to take a stand and move forward confidently and joyfully by faith. It will take endurance as we work hard to show the results of our salvation through obedience. (Philippians 2:12) Revelation knowledge becomes a revival when we take such understanding and apply it to our life. There is more to life than this. God has promised great blessings for His People, but it is not going to happen if you are living in the past or bound by today. Your confident hope is for a future time that will not lead to disappointment and is yet to be discovered. It will take a lot of faith and some effort, too! Abraham understood that this life was only the beginning. “And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.” (Hebrews11:9-10) God has been good to me! He has been so much better than I deserve. Our family is blessed, but if I decide to live on God’s Earthly Blessing never pressing for the prize that awaits me in Glory or desiring a Crown of Righteousness, it all means nothing. (Philippians 3:12-14) His Provision for my life is to sustain me on this earth, but the Prize of faith is eternal and can never be claimed in this lifetime or by those who choose to live in this world.
Hebrews 13:13-16 (NLT)
So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.
To live as a Child of God who desires to receive all that God has promised requires thinking out of the box. It will require you to be in this world, but not of this world. Life as a Christian will make you uncomfortable in this life and hopeful in the life that is to come as a result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ! This world has nothing for me. As I move forward to follow Jesus Christ and mature as a Christian, worldly things and sinful desire will become less and less appealing if I am in fact changing my residency from earth to His Kingdom and proving my allegiance to His Name by faith. Transition requires action. You cannot be a Child of God and remain the same but must move from Glory to Glory in your life. You should live as Jesus did and follow His Footsteps if you desire to share His Name and live with Him in Heaven. Otherwise, you are a traitor with no business being let in. How does one move forward from life as you know it to God’s Promise? You put your hand to the plow, stop looking back and move onward from your present position into His Presence by faith moving deeper and deeper each day!
Hebrews 6:1-3 (NLT)
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
When my overly enthusiastic ten-year-old goes running through the house, my husband will say, “New rule – no running in the house.” Now it is not a new rule, but once again she has chosen to ignore it and must be reminded. We have kids ranging from 10 to 22 years of age. This has been a house rule through all the years of parenting. God’s Word has been established forever. It was written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of man. Jesus Christ came to be a living example of God’s Word wrapped in flesh to further signify its importance and provide a sacrifice to reestablish a relationship between God and His People. However, most of His People still have no knowledge of who the Lord is or what He expects never moving beyond the basic teachings of their childhood. To move forward requires knowledge, understanding and wisdom found in God’s Word as a foundation for faith! It creates good ground for seeds of righteousness to grow!
Job 17:9 (NLT)
The righteous keep moving forward and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.
Righteousness requires our attention to keep moving forward. Repentance cleans our hands in the Blood of Jesus Christ and living by faith continually separating ourselves from sin and evil maintains this position and catapults us closer to the Lord each day. You cannot move forward if you keep falling backwards. We must designate our life as holy!
I Peter 1:13-16 (NLT)
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
Your struggle with sin is now over. You must be holy because God is holy. To maintain a strong relationship with the Lord requiring putting away the past and living a life separate from worldly ways and sinful nature. You must establish a position of faith that prepares a place for God’s Presence which will bring His Blessing and allow no one or anything to compromise your Temple as you wait! God saves your inheritance until you are able to hold on to it. Have you reserved a place for the Lord in your life that is maintained by faith and secured by confident hope that He who has promised is faithful to deliver? If you are unable to wait on the Lord, maybe you do believe that He is coming? Faith allows you to wait because you know He is coming and are reserving a special place in your heart and life for His Arrival. Expect God!
Isaiah 58:7-8 (NLT)
Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.
You have to move forward to find God! He invites you to live a godly life and promises to meet you there providing salvation and healing for His People. It is not found in your past or present. It is a future hope. Are you willing to live a godly life without anyone watching and no earthly benefit? If you do, salvation will find you and healing will come! The blessings of God are reserved for the righteous. Holiness ushers in His Very Best as He fills your life with His Presence. Godliness moves us to where God is and His Abundance with it! It is time to move onward leaving the past behind, pressing through today, looking forward to tomorrow!
Luke 9:42 (NLT)
As the boy came forward, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he gave him back to his father.
Please do not be surprised if the enemy tries to keep you from moving forward into God’s Best! But do not be dismayed just the Lord met the boy, rebuked the enemy, healed his body and returned him to his father – the Lord has done the same for you! Press on, press in! Do not give up and crawl if you have to because the best is yet to come! Don’t miss it lost in the past or aimlessly wandering in today! Move forward!
2 Peter 3:13-14 (NLT)
But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
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