In Christ, Life Blooms Even in Our Desert Moments.

In the past few weeks, a spectacular bloom of flowers has sprung forth in Death Valley, California.

Incredible.

The hottest place on earth, and the lowest point in North America, is witnessing an incredible growth of plant life in spite of the most dire and difficult of circumstances.

Yet look at these flowers!

and

Here are some other photos of what tourists are visiting, viewing, and sharing with their friends and family all over the world:

When I saw this majestic field of gold in the midst of a barren land, I thought of these verses of Scripture:

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. (Isaiah 35:1-7)

Notice that the wilderness cannot stop His grace in our lives.

The desert speaks of our flesh, our dead works:

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their unbelief. They did not "labor to enter His rest" (Hebrews 4: 3, 11)

What is unbelief at its core? When you and I do not believe that Jesus  completed a perfect work at the Cross, and that to this day He is working in and for us. If we believe that we have to work, or that every challenge or obstacles depends on our effort to overcome ...

You are wandering/wondering in unbelief.

Notice in the above verses that "the glory of Lebanon shall be "given". We cannot earn glory or favor.

God our loving Father bestows this glory on us, and He does this righteously through His Son:

"And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:" (John 17: 22)

Notice also that our strength and courage does not come from us, but because of Him!

"Behold, your God will come with vengeance" He comes. "He will come and save you."

God is our Savior: Jesus.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus quoted this verse to John the Baptist's disciples, who wondered with their earthly leader if Jesus was--and is--the Messiah whom they were waiting for:

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

"Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Matthew 11: 1-5)

We have received His Life, because that is why He came (John 10: 10)

Today, recognize that even in the most desert, or deserted, periods of your walk on earth, He is your life, and He is in the business of prospering us in every way (3 John 2)