“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He (she) shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.”
Psalm 92:12-14
This psalm talks about the life of a Christian. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). It speaks of a vision that God has for His children. He reveals to us what His plan for our life is to flourish. It refers to the flourishing of a palm tree. When you think of a palm tree that is flourishing, you think of it as green, fresh & beautiful. That is how God sees us.
You may be asking yourself the same questions that I asked myself several years ago, which were, ”If God wants me to flourish, then why don’t I feel like I’m flourishing? Why are things a mess?” The key that I learned was that to truly flourish in life, you must be planted in the House of the Lord. The psalm says “Those (you and I) who are planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish.”
What I didn’t realize was that my life is a seed. The Bible says that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest will not stop (see Genesis 8:22). Our life (time, talent and treasure) are a seed. What we choose to do with that seed will determine the harvest of our lives. Where we choose to plant our seed determines the growth that will be produced in our lives. Some people choose to sow their lives into other ground, like work or sports, and as time goes by they wonder why they have less and less time to spend with their family and are even more in debt than never before. That is because they are sowing their seed into other ground and not into God’s kingdom (His House).
May I encourage you today to take a moment to pause and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how you can sow your life (seeds) more into God’s House because His vision for you is to “flourish”. If you can’t give a lot now, start with what you can give and watch God multiply your seed.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
A few years back, my husband and I gave all we had to building our business. We gave hours (time), finances (invested our own money) and talent (worked on developing our skill) because we thought that would give us personal fulfillment and freedom. But at the end of the day, we found ourselves working more hours than ever before, more in debt and struggling in our relationships. On the outside, it looked like we were doing great, but inside we knew something was not working. One night we decided to go to a Wednesday night service at Word of Life Christian Center. That night, Pastor Kuna shared Psalms 92:12 and that in order for our lives to “flourish” we needed to be planted in the House of the Lord. We couldn’t be planted anywhere, it had to be in God’s House. We decided to surrender our plans for the plans and purposes of God and today we know that we are flourishing because we are planted in the House of the Lord. (Deneen Quartero)
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“Lord, I have decided to be planted in the house of the Lord, surrendering my time, talent and treasure and in doing so, your word says… I FLOURISH.”
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
- Old Testament: Esther 5-6; Proverbs 16:17-33
- New Testament: Luke 20:1-8; Titus 3:9-15