The Flourishing Believer

When I first received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I was 11 years old.  Sadly we seldom went to church when I was growing up so even though I walked down the isle to receive Jesus, I was not being fed the Word of God because we did not go to church.

At the age of 26 I recommitted my life to the Lord, yet I was still not going to church.  I felt that reading my Bible and having what I thought was a good relationship with God was OK, but it wasn’t.

Even though my wife and children went to the Catholic church every Sunday, I felt I did not need to go.  It was just me and God.  Sadly I formed a selfish, know it all attitude.  Then one day while reading my Bible, the Lord showed me how wrong I was to think I did not need to go to church.

Psalm 92: 12 (KJV) “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”  Yes I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and I agree with this.  However I needed to read on to see the conditions for flourishing.

Psalm 92: 13 – 14 (KJV) “Those that be PLANTED in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.”

Yikes!  There is the key to flourishing, bringing forth fruit in old age and be fat and flourishing.

In this verse, fat refers to prospering.  

To be planted means to be transplanted into.  To flourish means to bloom and grow.  

The courts of our God refers to a yard.  It is a place surrounded by a stockade.  It speaks of a place of walls. God has always had a place where His people would gather.  

I realized that God has anointed men or women to teach and preach the Word of God.  I realized I needed to be taught by those anointed of God to teach the Word of God.  I had to swallow my pride and my selfishness.  I need to be planted.  I also realized I needed a place to serve others and a place to form relationships.

Let’s read these scriptures in the Amplified version.

Psalm 92: 12 – 14 “The uncompromisingly righteous shall flourish like the palm tree (be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon (majestic, stable, durable and incorruptible.)

Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.  Growing in grace they shall be full of sap (of spiritual vitality and rich in the verdure of trust, love and contentment.”

Ever since I made the decision to obey this scripture, I have grown in my faith and my relationship with God.  I would encourage anyone not going to a church that teaches the uncompromised Word of God, to go to the church where God directs you to go and watch how your life will begin to flourish.

- Pastor Jim