Last week I was scrolling through Instagram videos and came across a woman who earns a living saving bees. I got sucked into her videos and I watched as she saved bees from trash cans, sewers, old barns. In every random place there were bees, she came in and took them away to a new home.
I probably scrolled through 8 of her videos when I stumbled upon one particular video in which she described how a queen is made. She explained that when an old queen leaves the hive or is about to die, that the worker bees recognize the change in her scent and begin to create a new queen bee for the hive. They do this by choosing 10-20 newly hatched female larvae and begin feeding them a special diet. The worker bees have a milky white substance secreted on the top of their heads called royal jelly, and this exclusive diet turns on the female larvae's reproductive system, turning her into a queen.
When she said that these babies only ingest a special diet of royal jelly, immediately the Holy Spirit spoke to me regarding this food of royals and how it creates a queen.
The Holy Spirit said to me, "All who come to Christ are royalty, joint heirs with Jesus. Those who are feeding on the word of God, living in their Bibles and feeding on the truth, are the ones who are aware of their position in Christ Jesus. My Word reminds them of who they are, what My blood bought for them. My Word keeps people in the truth. When you know the truth, you will live and act like the prince and princess you are!"
And then the Holy Spirit began to bring to my mind verse after verse about honey. He reminded me that Israel is called the land flowing with milk and honey. There's a specific reason that the Lord chose milk and honey to describe His beautiful land.
The Cow & The Bee
Milk and honey are pictures of abundance, of provision and of fertility. Both foods represent the idea that Israel is both a nourishing and pleasant land to live in.
What's fascinating about milk has to do with the cows that create it. Cows have 4 stomachs. When a cow eats their food they chew it just enough to swallow it and it goes into the first and second stomachs. She eats until she's completely full, following the same process.
When she's done she rests, and then coughs up bits of food and chews it completely, swallowing again. This food, now called cud, goes into the third and fourth stomachs. In one day a cow will spend 6.5 hours eating all of her food.
So why did the Lord call it the land flowing with milk? Because a cow eats her food just as we read our Bibles. We consume it quickly, not digesting much. Then when we're resting or going about our day, if we come back to the words we read and begin to meditate on them, we are bringing God's word back up into our mouths, consuming the words again and again, chewing slowly before swallowing. It's during the meditation process that we receive wisdom and revelation!
Sometimes the Lord will drop wisdom into our hearts when we're reading His words the first time, but most often the real revelation comes through meditating on His words, chewing on them all day just as a cow does. When we feed on His word like this, spending hours going over verses in our mind, our entire being is nourished and comes alive!
And this doesn't have to be done out of a religious spirit. There are days when a verse or passage has me puzzled and I just work it over and over in my head. Through this working out of the Bible in my head He brings revelation light into my mind and heart to understand His words better. Or when I'm cooking or cleaning I'll mull a verse over and over in my mind. This is meditation!
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Joshua 1:8
Did you notice the result of meditation? "For then you will make your way prosperous." Did you know you can make your way prosperous? That it's something you can do?? And following that are the words, "Then you will have good success." Success and prosperity comes from meditating on the Word of God!
The word prosperous here is the Hebrew tsâlach, which means to advance, prosper, make progress, succeed, be profitable. Tsâlach can also mean to break out or come out mightily. It's the idea of your breakthrough coming by way of meditating on the Bible!
If you are praying for a breakthrough or praying for a miracle, find a verse or passage about the miracle you are contending for and begin meditating on it day and night. You will make your way prosperous by doing so.
In fact, the Hebrew word for you will make is the same word, tsâlach. Your prosperity is in what you do. When you make your way about meditating on God's word, you become prosperous. The only part for you is to eat the verses up, chew on them and rest in them, that is how you make your way! And prosperity will just come.
The Hebrew word for good success is śâkal. This word most often translates as wisdom. The Lord views success as having wisdom. Not just any wisdom, the wisdom only He provides.
By meditating on the Bible you will break through in the areas of your life that need a miracle. The Lord will prosper you when you choose to make your way in believing His words, and He will give you wisdom as you study the Bible. This is your success in life.
Eat Royal Jelly
The baby bees only consume royal jelly when they are transitioning from being a regular worker bee to becoming the queen of the hive. So too do we need to consume the diet of royals if we are to remember what we are: a royal priesthood.
I love the song Back To The Garden by Crowder. The lyrics go like this:
I was born to be royal I was made to be free But I was torn from the garden When that devil lied to me...
I was born to be royal
I was made to be free
Whenever I play this song the Holy Spirit always reminds me, "you are royal and you are free. You are no longer striving to be royal, striving to be free. You already are."
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
1 Peter 2:9
We have to be so careful with what we're consuming, because just as Crowder sings, the devil lies to me. The devil is always lying to us, constantly. He comes in to take away our knowledge that we are royalty.
The minute, the second you surrender your heart to Jesus and receive Him, you are born from death unto life! And this new life, this new way, means that you are now royal! So act like it! Consume the diet of royals!
The devil is going to come in and try to steal this word. He will lie to you all day long about the truth of what Jesus' death did for you. My friend, the blood of Jesus made you a royal priesthood! So take care that you are careful about what you listen to and what you allow into your mind and into your heart. Keep yourself in the Bible- it will remind you all day long that you are royalty.
Get In The Battle - Lead The Charge!
But perhaps you are wondering why you are facing battles if you are royalty? Let me remind you that we are on this earth to change it. We are in this world, but we are not of this world- and this world is going to remind us all the time that don't belong to it.
I have faced many challenges and many battles ever since I surrendered my life to the Lord. It was like suddenly I had a target on my back.
For a long time I acted like a victim in my mind about it- and I spent quite a bit of time complaining to the Lord about facing so many challenges.
And then one day the Lord brought me to David's story and I read it with fresh eyes. As I was reading about the number of battles he faced, the amount of challenges he had on his way to becoming king, the Lord spoke to me and said, "It's a privilege to be chosen for battle. It's a privilege to fight in my war."
I began to see battles differently. I began to see myself as a servant of the Lord. When I pray in the Spirit I'm putting on the full armor of God and fighting. When I'm being obedient to the Lord and what He has asked me to do, I'm changing the landscape of the battlefield and eating into enemy territory.
Last year was a tough year for us. We faced challenges on every side, and it was hard to go on. But I kept getting up and fighting, sometimes only on my knees with my face to the ground. This went on for months and months, and then one day the tide turned and suddenly we were seeing the spoils of war pour forth. You can read about it here: Take God At His Word.
One morning I was basking in the ways the Lord had provided so many good things at the end of our hard year and He said to me, "There are so many spoils of war to be won by My people, if they would only get into the battle and fight. Fight from the position of knowing who are you in Christ."
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
Romans 8:14-17
You are a joint heir! When you pray, pray with the knowledge that you are an adopted child of the Lord. When you worship the Father, worship Him knowing He has given you every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer! (Ephesians 1:3)
But I love how this verse ends. We are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
We will suffer in our walk with the Lord, but we suffer with Him. We never suffer alone, so share with Jesus everything you are going through, for He is already there with you in your suffering. AND There is glory in going through suffering! And not just glory laid up for us when we get to heaven, but real tangible glory to be had here on earth for going through suffering!
There is glory and spoils of war won when we fight in the battle. Every time the Israelites fought they not only won territory for their people, they often won goods, valuable items and cattle. They flourished when they went into battle! (1 Samuel 17:53, 2 Samuel 8:11, 1 Chronicles 18:11, 2 Chronicles 14:13, 2 Chronicles 20:25)
So too will you flourish when you go into the battle field and stand strong in the Word of God. We are promised evil days, but that means we are also promised good days. So stand strong in the evil day and you will then see many good days.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:10-13
The verses immediately following verse 13 talks about putting on the full armor of God. In order to do that we must be in the Bible consuming His good words. When we consume the diet of royalty, we will act like royalty. And even when evil days come we won't faint in the battle because we know we are princes and princesses, sons and daughters of the King Most High.
In fact, Isaiah says this about God's people,
"You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem in the hand of your God."
Isaiah 62:3
A diadem is a jeweled crown worn as a symbol of sovereignty. It's a sign of authority given to the one who wears it. The Lord is calling us a royal diadem, a symbol that we are a reigning people with authority. We are a weapon for the Lord! Let's act like it. Let's pick up the charge and get in the battle, claim the authority you have been given! Don't let the giants consume you, instead consume the Word of the Lord and you will eat up the giants in your land.
Take up the full armor of God so that you are able to withstand the evil days, and when you have done all, you will still be left standing to enjoy the good days.
Be like the baby bee, consume only royal jelly and you will find that you are reigning in life as a queen. You will reign in life like the royalty you are. We are joint heirs with Christ, for the blood of Jesus bought us our position and our place.
