The Lord blessed me with this message the other night as I though I was going to make some QUICK (LOL) fresh soft prezels for a snack.
When God created us He knew what He was doing. He gave us all different personalities, talents, skills and gifts. Though we are all different, one thing remains the same;We are ALL His children. The ingredients of my pretzals reminded me of that. After I mixed some of the ingrediants together (the dry yeast, salt,sugar,flour and water)this mixture became a dough. Then the dough formed into a ball. We are the same way. When we give our heart to the Lord it is definitly easy to do, but it is not an easy process. We have to continually be folded and stirred into who God has called us to be. And even then after you have relized who you are in Him (as a ball of dough), The Lord is proud of you BUT you still are not done. The Lord then takes you to the another level him called kneading.
As I plopped the ball of dough on my floured table my recipe directions said I needed to KNEAD THE DOUGH so that it can become SOFTER! Now this step totally amazed me, because I thought the dough was soft enough. As do we at times as Christians. We feel that we have it together, that we are fully filled, that we can stand the test of time, that we have arrived! But the Lord says NO, I now need to test your strength and you patience. So I began to knead and knead and knead for close to 30 minutes. As I was doing this I noticed something spectacular, the dough started to do someting that it didn't when I first began to knead it. Once i pressed my knuckles in and took them out, The dough smoothed itself back out. Thats right, I knew I had kneaded it but you could no longer see my knuckles. When the Lord begans the kneading process in our lifes we are hard (you can see our pain, you can see our failures, we become embaressed) but the more He kneads us the softer we become to Him. And just like that dough, you will no longer see his knuckles but you will know His strength. You will be able to tell people you are trusting tin the Lord when oppostion comes you way because you know how it feels to not trust him. Let me also mention that at by this time I had been making these pretzals for over an hour. In Christ it is the same way. What may seem like forever to us, is not long to Him, Because He knows who He wants you to be. So just like God, I did not stop my creation, this dough had purpose (to feed me, lol)
Okay so by this time you would think that I could go on to form the shape of pretzals with the dough, right? Nope.
The directions then state to wrap the dough in plastic wrap and sit it in a warm area so that the dough can rise. What? Excuse me? Are you telling me that I am not even close to finish? That is correct! When you are brought to the Lord,formed and kneaded then that is when you are truely tested by the enemy. Will you rise or will you sink? Can you stand the test of time? is what the Lord wants to know. Do you need to revisit the kneading table? (I almost started shouting right there, lol) . You must understand something. The pressure of your past, temptation, finacial situations, and so much more WILL COME AT THIS TIME! Will you still rise. The Bible says "They that wait upon th Lord will have renewed strength"ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH TO PUSH THROUGH THE WRAP (the enemy) THAT HAS BEEN SUFFOCATING YOU?! My dough did and I was so proud that it did, because I definitly was to tired to knead it again (Just like God may be of some of us).
Okay, 2hours now and still no snack. So I unwrap the victorious dough and I can now form it into what I want it to look like. So I start and they are looking great. But wait a miniute, the directions say put the measurement of baking soda in a bowl and add water and stir it.HOLD UP! I thought I was done. I was ready to pop these babies in the oven. Reality check! We may have passed the test but this walk with Christ should never be tooken lightly. At any given moment a curve ball can be thrown in. Just like Job after his friends stopped with their questioning, HIS WIFE STARTED! Or like David, even though he killed Goliath then Saul wanted to act a fool. Do not ever think your walk is finished and that you are the ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN. You aren't...period. "Hath not the potter power over the clay"Romans 9:21a. With my pretzal dough in total pretzal form I had to dip them in the baking soda solution before placing them on the cookie tray. So I did and get this, the directions said to cook them for only 5 minutes.NOW THAT WAS HILARIOUS TO ME! After all of that work, they only had to be in the heat for 5 minutes and they were done. lol
So for you New believers-realize that becoming Saved is simple but there is a process after.
...................Old believers - Do you need to revisit the kneading table? Are you exuding strength when temptation comes? Allow your heart to be even more tender to His touch.
...................Non-believers-While you are judging us because of our transformation REMEMBER this process only makes us stronger. SO You will not suffocate us any longer, Ha!
Still rising,
L.A. Bonds
"We are the clay, and thou are Potter; and we are all the work of thy hands" Isaiah 64:8a
