Winter Seasons Produce Stronger Roots by Michelle Holderman

Winter Seasons Produce Stronger Roots 

by Michelle Holderman

Identity Network

 

When we're going through something painful, especially when it's long term, it can leave us feeling weary, frustrated, and forgotten. After so long it feels like nothing will ever change. We feel stuck in it. Stuck in a barren, lonely place. What once used to be vibrant and full of color has now muted into a hundred shades of dull gray.

 

This is actually a truth I see expressed through nature this time of year. Those vibrant, beautiful colors in the peak of fall will eventually give way to the barrenness and harsh cold of winter. And during those long winter days, it can feel like spring will never come much less summer.

 

But even winter has its beauty. Even winter holds value and significance. Winter is a season that is more about unseen preparation than outward adornment. All the action is happening underground and out of sight. The beauty of spring, summer, and fall is more tangibly visible. And although I personally find tangible beauty in it, winter is not nearly the eye candy that spring, summer, and fall are.

 

Unseen Preparations

 

But, and this is a big but, the sweet eye candy we start seeing in spring that proliferates through summer and fall would not be possible if it weren't for the unseen preparations of winter. What goes on in winter - the barrenness and dormancy - has everything to do with preparing for the budding and blooming of spring. Summer leaves, plants, and flowers cannot blossom without spring's buds and blooms. And autumn's brilliant colors would never show apart from summer's fullness. It's the cycle of growth. The cycle of life. We cannot have one without the other. They're all necessary.

 

Root systems are what nourish and anchor trees and plants. While everything above ground is in dormancy during the winter months; roots maintain a readiness to grow. In fact, winter causes root systems to dig deeper underground and expand in search of nutrients and water in advance of spring budding. What beauty we see with our eyes - the limbs, the leaves, the stems, the buds, the flowers - is but a reflection of what is unseen beneath the ground. A tree, a plant, or a flower is only as strong as its roots. Roots are the life source.

 

God is our life source. And when we are rooted more deeply in Him, we can better endure the elements and outward assaults that come our way. Including all those He allows into our lives. In fact, they can drive us deeper into Him. I know it doesn't feel like anything comforting or miraculous while it's happening. Believe me, I understand well. It can actually feel pretty harsh, agonizing, lonely, and perhaps even a bit maddening. But if I've learned one thing it's this: growth is painful but oh so necessary.

 

Pruning and Purging

 

And the Father is very interested in our proper growth. He wants us to excel and succeed in what He's called us to do for the Kingdom. That means we will all go through times of pruning and purging, as well as times when He will place us in a winter season, what appears to be a state of dormancy, in order to mature and nourish our roots deeper in Him. There isn't as much outward growth happening because it is an appointed time for inner growth. This is also a time when we can learn how to truly rest in Him. A place where we come to learn for ourselves more of who He is.

 

It's necessary.

 

He is a really good God. He is. And He loves us so much and has a deep longing for us to really know Him. He also likes to bless us. However, we aren't always ready to handle the greatness of what He desires to bless and entrust us with. So He will place us in His designated growth process. And it usually hurts. Just like we experience growing pains during the physical or natural process of growing up, so do we experience growing pains in the process of our spiritual growth.

 

But here's the good news; it draws us closer to Jesus. It roots us deeper in His love, truth, hope, and grace.

 

This will produce beautiful, abiding fruit in our lives - that sweet eye candy. The harvest we reap for Him will also be greater because of it. And our faith will expand and grow stronger as well. We will have more productive and abundant spiritual seasons as a result. But never forget that eye candy is only a reflection of what's been really going on down in our root systems; deep down where the Holy Spirit has been at work in us, in our hearts. That's where the producing of greater things starts taking its form. That's the part we can't always see or fully understand during those long winter seasons. But He does. And this is where our trust in Him is required. He's safe.

 

I believe when we live and move and have our being in God; nothing is wasted. Absolutely nothing. Not even the winters of our lives.

 

Let your roots grow down into him [Christ], and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with gratitude.Colossians 2:6-7

 

There is a season for everything, and a time for every purpose under heaven.Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:16-19

 

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.  Jeremiah 17:7-8.

 

Michelle Holderman

www.theragamuffinsaint.com

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Shifting Into A New Season - Mickey Freed

Mickey Freed:

Shifting Into A New Season

The Elijah List

Need a word of encouragement today? You are a child of the King. God will be merciful to you today and bless you, and cause His face to shine upon you (see Psalm 67:1).

Seasons of Hope

I want to encourage you to begin to know that you can step into a season of hope no matter what your circumstances. Even though we know the world system is corrupt, we also know that Christ has given us His all-sufficient grace and mercy. Even when we don't act like His son or daughter, He still loves us.

I'm not speaking of the "greasy grace" that allows a person to do anything the flesh desires and use grace as a license to continue to sin. 

I am talking about the abundance of grace that we need on a daily basis which empowers us to have hope. Proverbs 13:12 says "...hope deferred makes the heart sick..."Since the heart is the Scriptural brain center that contains and expresses our feelings, when we lose hope we often wind up in a season of hopelessness, feeling sick at heart, so to speak.

Speaking from experience, I do not believe that there is anything that can compare with hopelessness. To me it encompasses losing vision and experiencing gut-wrenching loneliness and despair. Maybe you can relate. Having no hope overshadows us with a foreboding sense of doom and gloom. One might even compare it with having a shadow of impending death following you everywhere you go.

Yes, it is a miserable state of depression. In my book, Regaining Vision (order through The Elijah List), I go into great detail to expose hope deferred and discuss the challenges that we experience when we lose vision.

Losing vision comes from losing purpose and hope.Uselessness sets in and, before we realize it, we isolate and exclude ourselves from the very people that we love. It is the lie of the enemy. He knows the power of two (1 + 1 = 10,000).

To step out of this desperate state, we must begin to cast down everything that exalts itself against what God says about us. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Apostle Paul gives us some insight. He tells us even though we walk in the flesh, our warfare is not a carnal fight, but "...mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds..." This passage goes on to inform us that we are to cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity (my paraphrase and emphasis added).

It is the knowledge of God that tells us that we are the head and not the tail. It is the knowledgeof God that devised the plan to redeem the world that allows you and me to overcome by the Blood of the Lamb. It is the knowledge and wisdom of God that established an incredible plan by sacrificing His only begotten Son.

I know that most of us have heard this in Church. But from a hope-deferred viewpoint, the enemy knows that he is a defeated foe when coming against God's knowledge, so he challenges you and I instead. If he can mess with your thinking, he can mess with your life. If he can mess with our thinking, he can mess with our families and our finances, etc. 

This is why Apostle Paul tells us to give the enemy no place.

Getting The Point

I know that you are getting the point that the enemy has a plan to keep you cycling in hopelessness and despair. You are realizing, as have I, that the enemy attempts to establish a stronghold during times of hopelessness.

It is our responsibility to pull down his lies, bring negative thoughts that oppose God's truths into captivity, so that we can overcome seasons of hope deferred. 

Think on this a moment and you will realize that seasons of desperation, aloneness, hopelessness, and seclusion will truly steal our joy and rob us of all hope. That is not God's heart. 

(Photo via SXC by Cheryl Empey)

Saints, let me be direct for a moment. God often uses a season of hopelessness to bring us hope. God doesn't bring hopelessness, but He can use it. There is always a redemptive purpose with the Lord. 

Your assignment will always have an enemy.

In the Kingdom, the only ones rewarded are the overcomers. So when you begin to feel hopelessness, remember that the Word of God in you already has the ability to perform itself.So when hopelessness begins as a negative thought, cast down that imagination and give it no place. We must always remember that God not only gives us hope fortomorrow but strength for today.

Between Spiritual Seasons

An encouraging word can definitely be used when a person is in an unfamiliar season. These are seasons that usually spin us out of control. The only differences between our seasons are the ones that we are willing to overcome. 

We don't get to choose our seasons, we get to discover our seasons. It is during these times that we mature at a faster pace.

Just recently I was led by the Lord to write a book called Between Spiritual Seasons (order through The Elijah List). After pastoring and traveling for nearly thirty years now, it seemed that most people were either stuck in a season, coming out of a season, or going into a season. Either way, we are always in a season.

Getting caught "between seasons" can be very depressing and stressful. We all struggle with leaving our comfort zone that gives us peace, but crossing over into a new season can be stressful because we are not accustomed to the uncharted environment around us. It can even cause loss of vision, which the enemy uses to separate you from those you need the most.

New Seasons Can Bring Hopelessness

Shifting into new seasons can be quite challenging. Scripturally, we are told that our victory against the enemy, including hope deferred, was won at the Cross. The challenge is this: knowing, believing, and receiving that we have won (see Jeremiah 29:11). But know this, there is a tremendous pull from the old season that says, "Hey, come on back, you know how to survive in this season."

In my recent book, I give examples of different seasons you will encounter. Losing hope can come from the unknown as much as it can come from what is known. Transitioning from one season to the other can be done easily, but it's the attitude that will equal your altitude.

Warring Season Fatigue

When someone is prideful about being in a "warring season," they have been there too long. They're stuck! Believe me, it is not because they have conquered and overcome and have all the answers for others. It is only because offamiliarity. It has become a comfort zone. I know what some of you may be thinking. Comfort in a warring season?

When a person is stuck in a season too long, it becomes a stronghold. It can make them feel more "spiritual." The real truth is they don't know how to shift into a new season and move forward. Without their understanding the need to shift, they will then unknowingly move into spiritual performance. Shifting from one season to another is not as easy as it seems. It can be very challenging, stressful, and even frustrating. In my book Between Spiritual Seasons I have provided several solutions on how to shift from one season to another. 

(Photo via SXC by Renaude Hatsedakis)

Be Encouraged Today!

Saints, please allow me to speak another word of encouragement to you. When you feel trapped, and it seems as if there is no way out, Christ is always there. This is where our faith must abound. Let us not forget that during any spiritual battle faith becomes our most treasured asset. Sometimes it is better to enter into a spiritual rest when warring and allow the Spirit of God to do your battling. I can just hear you now saying "What? Are you saying I should rest during a heated battle?"

Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. When we rest in Him, the Word says that our trust and hope is in the Lord and not in what we can do. Having faith in our Lord allows us to remain steady and not fluctuate into high highs and low lows. Remember always that we fight from the victory and not to the victory. Unfortunately, many Believers do not fully understand their authority in Christ and they do battle in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

It is very important to also remember that warring seasons must be monitored by your discernment and others around you. Why so? 

One of the principle reasons is we must not spend so much time battling that we can't praise God. 

If we cast our cares over on Him, He will always shift us on through to our next season so that our purpose and destiny in Christ can always advance and not become stagnant.

(Photo via SXC by Chris Wittwer)

In closing, I want to leave you with another positive thought, especially if you are in a time of active spiritual warfare. In John 10:10...Jesus tells us that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy; He says, "I have come that you may have life and life more abundantly" (my paraphrase). Without Christ, there can be no abundance. So be encouraged, dear ones, and fight the good fight of faith. Greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world

.

Please allow me to pray for you:

Father, I thank You for Your hedge of protection around these precious readers. I ask that you comfort them and make them steadfast through their shifting of seasons. Lord, I thank You that You are always watching over them and guiding them even when they feel weary and exhausted. As they walk through their spiritual seasons of change, I pray that they will always draw closer to You and that they may mature in the things to come. My heart is for them to be closer to You as they are empowered from season to season. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Mickey Freed
Senior Pastor, Lifegate Church International

Email: zionministries1@sbcglobal.net

Website: lifegatechurch.org

Pastor Mickey Freed is ordained with Christian International Ministries under the spiritual headship of Dr. "Bishop" Bill Hamon. Mickey has served on the Board of Governors at Christian International for over ten years, along with his wife, Sandie.

Mickey's passion and purpose is not only to teach and preach the Word, but to also provide stability and oversight to the Church. He has traveled nationally and internationally ministering to churches and ministries, releasing dynamic truths. Ministering strongly in the gift of the word of knowledge, the Lord uses Mickey mightily in healing, restoration, and teaching leadership classes to strengthen the vision of the local Church. 

Apostolic pastor Mickey is an implementer of present truth and desires to speak the Word of God forth so that every Believer is free from bondages that withhold them from vision and destiny. Mickey is also the author of two books:Regaining Vision and Between Spiritual Seasons. Both books are designed to give the saints vision to continue serving the Lord even though there are seasons of turmoil and distress.

Pastor Mickey has traveled nationally and internationally imparting and releasing vision to thousands. Being a Senior Pastor of a successful church and ministry for over fourteen years, Mickey has walked through the challenging times of pastoring. Therefore, he is a sought after apostle who powerfully ministers to Church leadership as well as to the Church at large.

Mickey is also very active in Marketplace Ministry and believes that every Believer has an anointing for Kingdom wealth. After owning a successful business for thirty years, he has an anointing to impart financial breakthroughs as well as ministering cutting-edge apostolic truths concerning Kingdom Business.

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