Jalapeño Tree
I had an opportunity to fulfill something I believed the Lord put on my heart regarding walking in my calling(music), but in my flesh I had the opportunity to fulfill a desire that I thought I could not turn down, Going to Jalapeño Tree.
My nephew asked me to stay the night with him at my granny’s and I had a thought in my head recently, that my granny’s living room may be a good place to record a song I had been trying to finish. Initially, I told him no, and I was torn between conviction and guilt about it, but of course I just tried to brush it off. The feelings consisted, and I just continued to brush them off but then came another experience in the midst of this.
And in the middle of this experience I was still in my head about saying no to my nephew, but mostly because I knew it was a chance to do something much better than eating at one of my favorite restaurants, fulfilling my fleshly desire. And in the midst of it all God began to speak to me and it became more clear about what I was doing. I was choosing to fulfill my fleshly desire over my spiritual purpose. I was choosing comfort instead of allowing myself to feel uncomfortable and making the hard decision to say no to my flesh(Jalepeño Tree).
At one point I even told myself, I’ll stay with him another time, and the Lord convicted me saying, “Jalepeño Tree isn’t going no where, but souls are and tomorrow isn’t promised.” I was even debating on taking God’s Grace for granted after receiving this message through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but I rejoice and am glad that I can say, I chose God today.
Your flesh will have you thinking that you have time to get right with God, but if you think wisely, ask yourself, how much time do you think you really have? The Bible says that “nobody knows the time nor the hour of Jesus return.” This conviction is what helped me make my decision, because I wanna be ready when He comes back, and I wanna make sure that I did my part to make sure that others are prepared as well. I chose eternal life today. For Matthew 16:25 tells us “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” At first I was trying to save my earthly life, I love going out to eat with my parents and spending time with them and there is nothing wrong with that, but I would love to spend eternity with them in Heaven with Jesus so I have to make some sacrifices(lose some of that time) and make that hard decision because what the Lord is using me for can help their souls to be saved. Life with Christ requires us to do the hard things, but “The joy of the Lord is our strength,” and all that He has promised us in eternity helps us to do those hard things. And it’s not that God doesn’t want us to enjoy life on this earth, it’s that He wants us to realize and remember that we were created to FIRST SERVE HIM, so that He can freely GIVE us the desires of our heart. That’s why it’s important that our hearts must be in the right place for us to receive certain blessings from God. God wants us to CHOOSE HIM FIRST because HE CHOSE US for that reason. If you are trying to make a hard decision, ask yourself which one would be most pleasing to God, and, most likely, that’s the decision you ought to go with(use your Bible too). And even when you make the decision that you believed God would be most pleased with, and it’s not exactly what you thought it was going to be like, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong decision. It was a GOD-DECISION. And if it was indeed a GOD-DECISION, then Be still and know that He is God and that He is working all things out for your good. The Bible says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)
And not only that, the Bible also tells us that “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
So you have to trust and believe all that the Lord says that He is and promises to be for You in His word. Imma give you some more Bible, it tells us that,“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11 NKJV
You can try and twist and turn the living words of God all you want to justify your decision making, but if it does not please God, then the Lord will not allow it to be. The decision that you make in intention to do what is pleasing to God, if it doesn’t turn out how you thought it ought to turn out, still rejoice because it turned out better. Better than you ever could’ve done for yourself. As humans, even if you believe and you know that God is Omnipotent(Almighty), and Omniscient(All Knowing), and Omnipresent(Exists Everywhere at the Same Time), and because we have been made in the likened image of God but fall into sin, it’s hard for us to relinquish all control over our lives. But it starts when thinking this life is our own. We weren’t just created by God, we were created for God, we were created because it pleased Him(He saw that it was Good - Genesis), and we only still exists today because of God and His Love for us. Even though we sinned against the Lord, He came down here to reconcile us to Himself, so that we can truly live again the way He designed us to. And we can’t do that all the way on this earth, it’s the result of the fall. Jesus is our chance to give our life up to God, live for Him, so that we can live forever when we leave here, so that death is no longer the end, but the beginning of something beyond our current understanding. I look at it like this, Life on earth is practice for eternal life in Heaven. That’s why here we practice living a life that is pleasing to God, because a life that is pleasing to God is the life that God has always intended for us to live/have. Death is a result of the Garden of Eden. So if in Christ, we no longer die for sin but to sin, and that’s why our earthly bodies are left here on earth(which shall be destroyed) and we will receive a new/resurrection body once we leave here(I Corinthians 15:44). So giving your life to God and truly devoting yourself to GOD FIRST, not just in your bio but truly living and walking it out, is you outwardly saying yes to eternity.
But it starts in your heart, the psalmist writes, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”
Psalms 51:10-17 NKJV
Cause a contrite heart means you that you know AND YOU CARE that you offended God by doing something that isn’t pleasing to Him. That’s a repentant heart, and a repentant and contrite heart the Lord won’t despise. Meaning He won’t hold it against you. That’s why Jesus died for us. Because the Lord didn’t truly desire the lambs, calves, pigeons, and doves during the Old Testament times. It was symbolic, the people are the ones who slaughtered the burnt sacrifices and the people were the ones to crucify Jesus. The priests were required to lay down the offerings on the altars so that the sins of them and the sins of the people would be forgiven, but Jesus sacrificed Himself and now stands at the Right hand of God interceding on our behalf so that we can obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. Our part to do is believing and receiving. Believe that Jesus did what He did for us to be forgiven for all sins(past, present, and future) and Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is our helper Who helps us walk according as God created us to walk. It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts us and helps us to have repentant hearts. The Holy Spirit will let us know if something is right or wrong, but we have to be WILLING to LISTEN and OBEY.
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.”
Isaiah 55:6 NKJV
Psalms 34:18 NKJV
Most people want to hide from God when they sin or that think that God is far away from them, but that is a deceit and a lie. That is the time when we should be calling upon Him the most. We are all sinners saved by Grace and have fallen short of the Glory of God. The Lord is always close and will never leave us nor forsake us as long as our hearts are in the right place. Because the Lord knows when we want to do right but seem to still do wrong. “The Spirit is Willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The power of love is shown in difficulties
, and I killed my flesh today, and am now able to walk more boldly in the spirit. I got uncomfortable but it was worth it for my growth. I no longer feel stuck.
