God bless everyone and thank you for reading my first blog EVER!!! LOL...it's a long one, but important!! :)
First and foremost, Happy New Year!! Wow! It amazes me how the start of a new year can fill us with a sense of refreshing, a sense of new beginning, and a sense of hope and victory!! I think most of us will agree that 2011 did not contain the easiest 12 months of our lives. Although there were moments of great victories, there were also many events that inevitably defined 2011 as a rough year -- spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, etc. But I have got to share with you something that has changed my outlook on this past year. I no longer look back at 2011 as a "rough year". Instead, I look back and I smile, knowing that it was a year of PROCESSING. Of Processing? Yes! God was taking us through a process that was necessary for us to be able to REIGN in 2012!! I call it the process of "Gold Panning"....
Now, the process of Gold Panning is one that separates the true gold substance from the "lighter" substances. The gravel material that is being processed is placed inside a pan. This pan is submerged into a river with a light current and is shaken to enable the real gold (heavier) to separate from the lighter material (gravel). Once the lighter material is separated, it is lifted and taken away by the current. The true gold particles remaining in the pan are removed from the current and held for further processing.
What does this all mean? To begin explaining this, we must make a quick stop in Zechariah 13:8-9. The Bible reads: 8: "In the whole land," declares the LORD, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it./ 9: "This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'"
This verse explains this Gold Panning process. In 2011, God had a plan to "clear the road" in preparation for what is soon to come in our lives. To do so, he allowed certain storms and currents to come into our lives so that our FAITH can be tested and only those that remained STRONG in their faith, survived! Like a popular song states, "tried in the fire but we're coming out GOLD!" This trial could have been a negative report, a moment of discord or offense, a time of loss, a season of financial hardship, or one where we felt lonely and hopeless. But realize, he NEVER once let go of us, even for a second!! The pan represents his hands, that were always there sustaining us from the storms, currents, and fiery trials. But it was NECESSARY to be tested because a victory cannot be achieved without first going through some type of endured suffering. Because if it could, then what would be the point? Could we really call it a victory? Because it would not hold the same value that it does when you know that it took FAITH, PERSEVERANCE, and GRACE from God to achieve it! And that we couldn't have made it WITHOUT GOD!! Many of us even noticed that many people began "disappearing" from our lives-- but it was all part of the PROCESS that God spoke about in Zechariah 13:8 --> "2/3 of the land would perish and 1/3 would be left in it". God was removing all that would hinder His plans for our lives, even if it was unexpected, undesired, or simply not understood -- this could have been friends, jobs, relationships, addictions, etc -- becassue he was preparing us to REIGN in 2012! I often stop myself from asking God, "but why and how?" regarding certain situations I do not understand. I stop myself and I just thank Him because He saw something that perhaps was going to delay or hinder His purpose in me that perhaps I cannot see right now, but I TRUST GOD and I know that I have what I have and who I have in my life because GOD is working on something on my behalf!! So Brother/Sister, let me tell you that the 1/3 of the gravel that was left in the pan after being submerged in the current and shaken around forcefully, the same 1/3 that was tried in the fire during 2011, is us -- me and you, who are reading this blog!!
Now here is the best part: in Zechariah 13:9 it says "they will call on my name and I will answer them" // meaning that in 2012, this is the season that God has PREPARED US FOR!! Now we will say "Abba, I declare this", "God, I desire that", and "Lord, do in me this" -- and we will see the fruit of the faith, patience, perseverance, and obedience that we sowed during the rough 2011. This is the time when we will see that which we did not see but declared as if it was, we will witness that which we declared over our lives, our friends, and our families, and GOD is getting ready to LAUNCH US into our ministries!! He is going to do in us the things we once believed we could do in Him, He is going to take us places we never imagined we'd go, we will perform the same miracles Jesus performed on earth, and we will see God's Kingdom ESTABLISHED on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN!!
So get ready people because we have been panned and tried in the fire during 2011, but in 2012, we CAME OUT as GOLD and GOLD is a symbol of GOD'S GLORY, ETERNAL DIETY, RIGHTEOUSNESS, KINGLINESS, and POWER!!!
IT'S TIME TO REIGN!! SO START EXPANDING GOD'S KINGDOM ON EARTH AND HE'LL EXPAND YOUR KINGDOM IN HEAVEN AND POUR OUT SUCH BLESSING THAT THERE WILL BE NO ROOM TO STORE!!
BELIEVE IT, RECEIVE IT, AND START TO WALK IN IT!! GOD SAYS, "IT'S YOUR TIME AND IT IS YOURS!!!"
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Ok, we can collect the offering now....HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA)
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
