Ready To Level Up?

Ready To Level Up?

Have you given God glory for that undeserved gift He blessed you with?

Were you even deserving of it?

Had you prayed and fasted for it or was it a complete surprise?

God’s blessings are free to all His children. Some He just gives for no reason at all. Others we must put in some work for in order to receive them. In the Book of Joshua 5:12, it reads, “And the manna stopped.” Here we find the Israelites had become complacent in their receiving of God’s daily blessings of manna from Heaven. They had become lazy and expectant of just rolling out of bed, walking outside, scooping up the manna from Heaven and eating it. They were now too lazy to go in search of or to work for their own food/needs.

God had delivered them into the promised land and now He was going to do a new thing in their lives and take them to the next level in their faith. In order to do so, He had to get them to the next level in their faith.

Sometimes to take us higher, God has to pull out or allow our safety net to be pulled out from underneath us to grow us and kick start our independence. Much like the Dad who tells his maturing son that when he hits 18 he has to leave the house. Or removing that helicopter mom who can’t seem to stop hovered overhead and as such never trusts that child to live independently.  

Now preferably we have developed and guided our children enough that they are prepared for this transition, either by heading off to College, the military or employment. Why do we do this, to help our children get to the next level of maturity we have to challenge them so that they begin to depend less on us and more on God and the skills and preparation we have imbedded in them towards self-sufficiency and independence!  You see God needed to mature the Israelites in their faith by pulling the rug out from under them by stopping their dependency on His manna in order for them to stand on their own two feet. You see He was weaning them off their breast milk to ready them to go to the next level. That next level required putting in some work, or working out their faith. Now, they would have to till the soil, plant the seeds, tend to the fields in order to generate a harvest to sustain themselves. In other words, rely on themselves and the fruits of their labor to eat. At this ‘next level’ God could now grow their walk in other areas. Help them to now increase their prayer life as they had to turn to Him in prayer for a good harvest, nourishing weather and holding back pestilence. It was not that they would come to need God less, no!  To the contrary, they now needed Him in so many other areas of their lives until it was illuminated for them.

Our Christian faith can be compared to a video game. Video games are not meant to be conquered or completed. To the contrary, each level has challenges you must overcome to get to the next level of play. Each level helps the player become stronger, wiser, more confident while it teaches us and matures our faith as we grow stronger from the trials we have overcome, just like in the video games. And like the video games, our walk with God takes us higher and higher. We never complete our walk, we just keep advancing closer to His Glory.

Our faith grows as we grow from each trial we overcome!!

Never grow complacent or weary in your well-doing because you shall reap, if you faint not. It’s Biblical.  Steady and ready yourself for the never-ending journey ahead. He is perfecting you as you advance from each level to the next.. 

Are you ready to advance with Him, level up by and with Him?” How dedicated is your faith walk? Don’t expect something for nothing. Honor Him by working for His unmerited Favour. 

Father God, as we enter into this season of blessing — the blessing of Your birth — let us humble ourselves and, with a grateful heart, be more cognizant of all the little things we should be grateful for. A sound mind. Health. Forgiveness. The capacity to feel and give Love. Your direction. Your protection. Our spouses and children. Our parents both in the physical and spiritual realm. Our faculties. But most of all our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Move us God to show our gratitude for The Holy Spirit within us through obedience to Your Word, not man’s, sacrifice of daily praise, Loving and treating others as You have directed us in Your Word. Forgiving those who wrongly persecute, abuse us and use us. Guide and remove us from Satan’s traps designed for us based on our human weaknesses. Cleanse us and strengthen us along this Christian journey so that we do not go astray. Amen 🙏🏽 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽