A New Beginning

          When the Spring season comes around, most people look forward to the joys and activities that the warm weather brings. However, before the joys and activities can be enjoyed, the rain and the pollen that comes with the changing of the season must be endured. As I write this letter, two particular biblical stories permeate my thoughts concerning the changing of the season. The first being the journey of Israel to the Promised Land and the second being the leading of Jesus into the wilderness after His baptism.

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          God used Egypt to save Israel from a famine in the land, but it was not God’s intent for them to stay there. He had promised them their own land, but they became inhabitants of the land of Egypt. After a period of time, they became servants to the Egyptians. God sent Moses to deliver them and after their deliverance, they were immediately led into the wilderness. They could not go into the Promised Land without first encountering the wilderness experience.

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          Jesus, after He had been publicly identified as the Son of God (at His baptism), was led into the wilderness, by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted of the devil (before He started His earthly ministry). After encountering and defeating the temptations of the Satan, the scriptures tells us that Jesus came out of the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. It was only then that He began an open show of dispelling Satan and his forces with signs, wonders and miracles.

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          God has made each of us some promises, but before we can enjoy he manifested fruit of these promises, we must endure the wilderness experiences.  When the word of God comes to us, the Bible clearly teaches us that there will be an immediate encounter with the devil. It is during this encounter that we overcome the enemy, and the character of God is developed in us. It’s during this time in the wilderness that we come to know the God that we serve, as well as the faith that we say we have in Him. Bishop Nathaniel Holcomb, former pastor and founder of the Christian House of Prayer, taught a message and authored a book entitled “When the Squeeze is On”. Within this message, Bishop Holcomb stated that “When the squeeze is on, what’s in the person will come out of the person”.  The wilderness experiences that we face have a tendency to apply enough pressure upon us to show us if we are truly able to stand for God, or if we are going to give in to pressure and act on our own.

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          Here at Go and Teach Christian Ministries, God has given us the heartbeat of "shining brightly" for our King. As we move toward the promises of God, let’s stay focused on the vision that He’s given and allow Him to develop our character through our wilderness experiences. Let’s not seek a permanent dwelling in the temporary place that God has used as a refuge for us. Let’s seek God’s will for our lives that we may get in on what he’s doing, instead of asking Him to get in on something that I have chosen to do. By doing so, truly, we will experience the release of God’s anointing and power and see the manifested signs, wonders and miracles that He has ordained to follow each of us.