Good Morning Friends!
I pray that your weekend is off to a peaceful,
restful and enjoyable start. It is cloudy here in Virginia Beach with a
forecast of rain this afternoon. However, the possibility of rain does not
disappoint me. No – I believe what Scripture says, that ‘the spiritual is not
first; the natural/physical comes first, and then the spiritual’ (I Cor.
15:46). And so I believe that there will be shower/outpouring of His wisdom
into my spirit and a rain/flood of His Spirit into every situation which
concerns me.
BELIEF is a powerful
thing!
What we BELIEVE has a powerful
impact, both positively and negatively
Maya Angelou is quoted as saying, ‘When
someone shows you who they are, believe them.’ It is a powerful
quote and one that has stayed with me from the first time that I heard it. To
me, it speaks to a need to operate within the boundaries of reality.
Too often though, we ignore the obvious truth in
exchange for a lie. I am not certain why this happens. Perhaps we have been
conditioned, as part of the fallen nature of man to gravitate towards what is
false. Perhaps we have just gotten too busy with life, technology and religious
practice to be observant. Perhaps our lenses through which we view the
world have been permanently tainted by our individual life experiences. Whatever
the cause, it seems to happen quite frequently that we convince ourselves that
what we see and have been told is not the truth – both positively and
negatively.
There is a story of a woman in an unhealthy
relationship. She is belittled,
demeaned and abused – verbally, physically and emotionally. She is terrified
and miserable. Yet, one day she escapes that prison. And after much time,
another man enters her life, a gentle man. He respects and honors her; he
protects her and encourages her. He does everything she ever dreamed that a
God-sent man would do. But she does not believe what he says or what he does.
Why? She still looks at life, and him, through the lens of hurt and
disappointment. Rather than enjoying the reality of what is before her and the
joy-filled vision of what could be, she embraces fear and uncertainty; she
rejects him and chooses aloneness – while she keeps waiting for the future that
she has dreamed of, the future that was standing right before her eyes and
which just walked away from her presence because she said, ‘No thanks.’
Sounds a bit unbelievable – does it not?
Yet it is a reality for many women (and
men) out there.
Sadly, it is also a reality for many
Christians.
You see – we can be just like that woman I
described.
Some of us have been so damaged by the past, by
relationships, by hurtful words, by damaging actions and by ungodly voices; we
have been so injured that we have a hard time seeing anything other than what
we have previously experienced.
Although we have a Gentleman standing in our
presence – telling us that He chose us (I Peter 2:9), that we are
lovely (I Peter 2:1-5), that He will protect and defend to the death and that
He has already (John 3:16) – we question that truth which is right before our
eyes. At times, we elect to ignore it altogether.
As we read Luke 1:28-29, we gain some insight from reading the story of a
young lady receiving a vision and revelation from the Lord. Mary, a young
virgin, engaged to be married, was visited by a celestial being on assignment
from the very throne room of heaven. The account reads, ‘And
having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the
Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.’
It seems like a wonderful greeting to receive
from an angel.
How many of us would love to hear an angel tell
us that we are highly favored and that the Lord is with us? Yet she was
troubled at his saying. And, he had not even revealed to her the total sum of
God’s plan for her to carry the Messiah. He merely told her that she was highly
favored, blessed and in the company of the Lord.
I am not sure what Mary’s life had been like up
to that point.
I am not certain what your life has been like up
to this point. I am, however, well-acquainted with what my life has been like
up to this point. And if I am honest, there have been times when my response
was just like Mary’s when God showed me what He had in store for me.
Yet, He responds to me just like the angel
responded to Mary:
‘Do not be afraid … for you have found favor
with God.’ (Lk. 1:30)
The same message is delivered to you today:
Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with
God!
Since God has shown you who He is, BELIEVE HIM
When God shows you who you are and what
He has for you, BELIEVE HIM!
You see – if we are not careful, we can get caught in a cycle where, we
look at the bad and try to convince ourselves that it is good. We look at the
good and are convinced that it must be false. Or that if it is true, it could
not possibly apply to our lives.
Often times – we are taken aback when we hear what God thinks of us because our
self-view is not aligned with His God-view. It can be intimidating
once we realize who God says we are because, once we know, we must rise to the
call or walk in disobedience. A new revelation of who God says He
is and who He says you are will always require action on your
part.
You will have to push past fear, intellect
and experience and BELIEVE.
You cannot let fear prevent you from
journeying with God – whether it is fear of an unknown future or fear induced by a
living knowledge of past disappointments. You must be intentional about drawing
near to God, finding out who He is, finding out who He says you are and what
His plans are – despite your fears or insecurities and without consideration of
what it will cost you. No price is too great to walk with God.
God has proven His character. He has told you and shown you who He is. He has done the same
thing for me. He is a good God (Num. 23:19), who has good plans for each of us
(Jer. 29:11), who looks for opportunities to show Himself strong on our behalf
(II Ch. 16:9), who is working all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28), who
will do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or think – if we will
only let the power of His Holy Spirit work in us and through us (Eph. 3:20).
We can trust what He has revealed. And, when we do, we will
experience God and all that He has for us. Further, we will hear others testify
of our faith, just like Mary did when she went to visit her cousin
Elizabeth: ‘Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a
fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.’ Luke
1:45
Blessed are those who BELIEVE,
For there will be a fulfillment of those
things which were told them from the Lord. Hallelujah!
I am praying for you …
Praying that you will experience God’s presence,
like never before; praying that you will know Him; praying that you will
believe Him; praying that you will experience all He has for you. I pray that
you will have a blessed weekend! Sending much love your way ...
God Almighty who plants into
our hearts His heavenly hopes and visions,
will not fail us when we press
forward to possess them.
