Today has been a great day, it has been a early morning consisted of digging trenches cutting trees, moving logs, and filling a fire pit. I was with my team at a house, We had to move huge oak trees, we dug trenches. I look back and I think of the times me and my team needed help from each other to pick up the huge Oak limbs. Even though we tried to lift it at first by ourselves, we failed over and over. One moment as I was carrying a log I saw how much these trees resemble us as humans.

The bark like a rock, seemed like you could swing our axes on it for hours and never leave a scratch, yet the inside of it was soft, felt like you could just scoop the inside of the tree out with your bare hands. He gives me some weird things to explain and to give me a new revelation about different things, I am glad He does it this way, its just how He speaks to me I really enjoy it. Our relationship you could say is unique. He already has had me in John 15, teaching me about abiding in Him and what that truly means and looks like.

John 15:4-7 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Now imagine us as a tree, we have these tough outer shells of saying we can and will do anything. That even though times may be hard and a storm comes along I will be tough, I will endure. And we continue to think of ourself as a strong tree, roots deep into the ground, with bark that is not easily ripped off. That we are flourishing and growing to new heights greater then ever before. Yet we forget what lies on the inside, we forget about the soft heart we forget about the things that truly mean something to us. We forget the memories that we have been asking God to wipe away.

We put on this, “I am big and bad” show so much.. When will we realize the moment we are truly willing to become vulnerable with our fellow peers and leaders and most importantly God. Is when ever we will grow the most in our relationship with our heavenly father. I am pretty sure Jesus was being so vulnerable that He was bleeding while pleading with His father. Why do we get scared of asking God a question, or sharing our feelings with Him?

We think we have become this massive tree on our own, because of our own strength or we have gotten to this destination because of our pursuit or our discovering. I am pretty sure, He calls himself the vine and we are the branch, we must first realize that without being first in Him we will never grow and would have never grown. Without first realizing that He is the one we must be abiding in, we will never get to where God truly desires us to be or go any farther in Him.

We continue to ask for more wisdom, discernment, understanding of the word, knowledge, more of Him. Yet we are not willing to read the Word that He wrote and placed on the earth for us. How can He expect us to be faithful with more if we are not being faithful with what He has already entrusted us with? (Luke 16:10)

We will never have fruit if we do not abide in Him, in other words entrust our life’s and continue to sacrifice our selfish desires for Him.

I look back at the times of difficulty in my life the challenges of feeling unqualified, not capable of amounting to anything, the challenges of listening to others voices then the one I should be listening to. These challenges that I have came across in my short journey, have brought me to this point of acknowledgement that to be rooted and established, to truly abide in Him, is to become the Word not just read His Word. His word we take for granted so much, we forget the very breath He breathed into our very lungs in the beginning of time. (Gen 2:7)

We have been given the very breath of the Alpha & Omega, The Great I AM, The Creator of the endless Galaxies. Yet we use it to curse and say wrenched things. We have been given the Keys to the Kingdom because of what the Son had gone through, yet we throw them like they are cheap.

My questions is when will we come to the realization of the very freedom that was given to us? Or how about that very freedom, when will we think how about the cost? The blood that was shed for me? The pain that was taken, that I might not have to endure it. The light that was put out for a do time, that my light from the very darkness of my soul would be ignited that it might burn bright and show light of its own.

He left His rightful place on the throne, and came to take the worst deaths in the worst time and age. That I may live the blessed life and in the perfect time & age.

I forget the cost that was paid for me, I forget the Perfect God that sacrificed His perfect son, not average son, but perfect son for me. I forget He is the one that breathed into me. I forget these things more then probably anyone. That’s why I place a ring on my finger, not to just symbolize something in the natural, but to remind myself what ring He gave me when I was dirty and a mess. I have a key around my neck not to just have a key around my neck, but for anytime I look in the mirror I can remember He has entrusted me with the Keys to the kingdom, and how He has entrusted me with a great measure of things.

So when I have doubt in Him I can grab hold of the key and say “I trust you.” If He has entrusted me these things, I can trust Him with my little problem, my little challenge, my little bump in the road, my fear of the future journey, I can trust Him with that. I forget to often He gave me the ability to read, to walk, to write.

I apologize if I ever seem to be always talking about how much He loves me, or how much he has given me, or spent for me. All I know is I never will be good enough, be strong enough, have enough money, be the most intelligent, most educated person, to be actually deserving of His Grace. So I will talk about my beloved, and how He is mine, and I am His. I will talk about His faithfulness and my lack of faith, I will talk about His Love for me, not my love for Him.

I will talk about the blessings He has given me not to be prideful but to share the story, the story of a hopeless, broken, weak, sinful man, was purchased by a spotless sacrifice that he never deserved. That he did not even ask for, that he actually ran away from. Yet the creator of the universe chased after me, He counted me worthy. The Man I once called fake, a liar, the one I said never did anything for me. Continued to chase after me as I ran farther and farther into the darkness. His love continued to pursue me. His light continued to shine on me.

I will tell this story till my last breath exits these lungs.
Sometimes He just needs to remind me.
He often has to tell me, I am All He says I am.

I pray that He may fill you.

Joseph III