AUTHOR: Jennifer Lescano
THE PROCESS.
This subject has been on my heart for a few weeks now. Add some years to that. Like 20. But seriously. It’s something I felt needed attention and was the focus for today’s post.
And as I sat with my girls a few days ago to see a different Annie movie, Holy Spirit hi-lighted Daddy Warbucks’ statement in one of the scenes.
He said, “The house is all spiffed up. Looks like we’re ready.”
Yes, we’re complete in Christ. Yes, we’re always equipped and ready and we do not lack a thing.
However, there is a process that takes place in our lives that leads us to a place of spiritual maturity.
As I typed that last sentence, Holy Spirit brought up Elijah.
If we look at his journey in 1 King’s 17 and 18, we see he started on a journey. 17:2 “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 Go from here and turn east and hide yourself by the brook Cherith east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.
Cherith means cutting and separation.
God sent Elijah to Cherith and told him he would be fed by ravens. So here we have a prophet following the leading of the Lord. Followed by more leading to a place called Zarephath which means REFINERY. In that place, God now feeds him through a widow who says she has nothing and whose son ends up dying.
And when the son dies, he cries out to the Lord and says, “O Lord my God, have You brought further calamity upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?”
And he stretched himself upon the child 3 times. Boy comes back to life and now God tells Elijah to go to Ahab. And tells him he will send rain upon the earth. Let’s not forget that earlier in Chapter 17, Elijah prophesied no rain.
So now the Lord tells him to show himself to Ahab. Throughout the journey, we see the word of the Lord said this and do that and Elijah did it, right? There was obedience.
Now in verses 18 and 19, Elijah stands up to Ahab tells him what the problem is and in a place called Mount Carmel which means GARDENLAND, he gives him instructions where he gets to show off the God he serves.
That’s followed by Elijah hearing rain and prophesying it and ending up in a wilderness after he hears about a threat from bully Jezebel.
All that to say, there is a PROCESS.
There will always be fruitfulness. But with it comes the cutting and the refining process. The separation. The learning to depend fully on God and God alone. It’s a process.
The heart process. Where forgiveness and love is foundational. It’s a process.
In the refining process, we go through trusting God and not ourselves. In every area of our lives. It’s a process.
We learn to close the door on pride. Because it sure does feel good when you give a good word at the right time, right? But that bubble gets popped fast. Gently, but fast. It’s a process.
When gold is refined, impurities come to the surface. What impurities? Things we didn’t even know were there about ourselves. And it’s ok. Our heavenly Father knows how to handle us with care. It’s a process.
Fear of man. What’s that? I heard that so many times before even understanding it fully. It’s where what we do or say goes through a man-made filter for pleasing others. It’s a process.
Love is foundational with prophecy. Jesus is.
When we learn to prophesy or learn about “the prophetic,” we are not learning an art. It’s not a subject we want to master and get a certificate for to show the world we can prophesy and do it accurately.
It’s simply learning to hear God’s voice, know what that sounds like, and be his mouthpiece. We’re learning what it’s like to be Jesus. It’s who we are.
Learning what it’s like to know the thoughts of man at times and remain steadfast in love. It’s a process.
Growing in discernment and every gift of the spirit is a process.
There’s a dying to one’s self in all of this.
I think the process starts with dying only to find out we were dead all along. LOL Galatians 2:20 (I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Let’s embrace the process.
Some of us are in a process we didn’t even know we are in.
Father, show us where we are in the process and what that looks like.