The Rewards of Being Grounded by A.P.

 "I will comfort and establish you..." 2 Thessalonians 2:17

"The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." 2 Thessalonians 3:3

God has been doing a new thing in my life.

Opening my heart and spirit to understand and receive, that which has always been available. But I was unable or unwilling to let it in.

My mind is made new. My heart and focus are new.

Confidence and liberty and joy are surging through me. I know I am loved.

I know I have the ear of the King of Kings and fear is gone! Hallelujah!

Then old patterns returned, and my vision was clouded.

I wondered if I was losing what He had given me.

I opened the Bible to these verses and began to ponder what it means to be established.

“Establish” in the dictionary reads: "to set up on a firm, permanent basis..."

Then I looked what it meant in Hebrew.

“To set up, make firm, fixed on a solid ground, strong roots, unshakable and lasting, strengthened..."

I know what it means to establish a marriage. A home. A homestead. A garden. A business. A friendship.

These do not happen over night. It takes time, focus, energy, often hard work.

But what does it mean to be established in Christ?

My first thought was set, made firm.

In marriage, or a business, or a town, you see it written as: "Established on such and such a date."...

That is when it began, from there it will (or should) grow and thrive. You look at so many towns established throughout history, and some grew and thrived, then died or shifted, yet others became cities.

Why? What caused one to grow and the other to fizzle out?

"I will establish you"

....I need to allow Him to set me on a firm foundation.

He will offer the opportunities that make firm in me this new mind and heart. He will make me established.

“Yes. Yes, and yes!”

My humanity is so easily shaken!

Circumstances of life can feel so terrifying and uncertain. Will He set my feet on that rock?

Absolutely.

The catch is, I have a choice to make.

There are certain commands, such as: "rejoice ever more, pray without ceasing, take every thought captive, surrender, bow, receive, give...."

These are all parts of being established.

Established to remain. Lasting. Forever.

The question is: what have we been established on before that was untrue? What needs to be removed?

As we grow in establishment in the Lord, He reveals the mixture--the untrue--and replaces it with the “new”!

As we go through the trials of life–health, finances, relationships, housing, economics, governments, etc etc.--we are learning how to allow God access in that moment to overcome the fear.

For me, fear is the biggest enemy, and my tool right now for fighting that one is to sing. When I am singing my thoughts are more on the words of the song rather than the circumstance.

As I focus on Who God is, love fills me, and fear evaporates.

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3.

As I practice this I am being established. I am establishing new habits.

He is the God who heals. He is the God who spoke and the world was made. He is the same today as then.

He is more powerful than any circumstance. He is full of compassion. He is the one who sets the captive free,

He is the God who hears our cry......

Always and Forever.

Hallelujah!