PRESSED

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—

I am going to a very challenging time both personally and professionally. While away for a long weekend I had a reminder on my phone pop up, BE Strong! It was out of my “notes” section of my iPhone. It was very weird and random and absolutely needed at the exact moment it happened.

As I have been reading this book and creating study comments, I have been "experiencing God" as I go. Without going into any detail, the crushing that I am experiencing is traumatic to say the least, yet not without purpose. We don't walk through hard times without hope or promise. I am in the phase of Crisis of Belief and Adjusting currently. I know what God has spoken to me but the walk has been more of a climb with several falls.

In Experiencing God, Blackaby speaks about the 7 Realities of Experiencing God and uses the story of Moses at the burning bush to illustrate the points.

1. GOD’S WORK - God is alway at work around you 2. RELATIONSHIP - God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. 3. INVITATION - God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. 4. GOD SPEAKS - God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. 5. CRISIS OF BELIEF - God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads to a CRISIS of BELIEF that requires faith and action. 6. ADJUST - You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. 7. OBEY AND EXPERIENCE - You come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you. *8. REPEAT (I added this step...)

Dream = Dependence

We live in an independent culture. Grit, determination, and tenacity are all things I am familiar with. Dependency is hard for me.

Jesus realized that He could do nothing by Himself. Yet with the Father working in Him, he could do anything….He never took the initiative to dream a dream or launch a new ministry. He lived His life in absolute dependence upon His Father. But this came out of RELATIONSHIP.

Whenever it seems that God is not doing anything in your life, focus on the love relationship with Him and stay there until He gives you a new assignment. But rest assured, the assignment will not be easy but it keeps you in that relationship with Him. He will never call you to do something that He will not equip you to accomplish.

Matthew 7:38 Give and it will be given to you, good measure, PRESSED down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bossom. For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.