Today we continue our series entitled, “God Loves You”, under the overall theme for the year of, “Supernatural Manifestation.” We have been looking at the following two passages and we will go back to them today:
The Apostle John said:
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
(1 John 4:16, 17 KJV)
King Solomon said:
God has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
(Ecc 3:11 AMP)
I made the following statement about these two scriptures:
“The Bible is clear that God made plans for us before the world began. The challenge for us, when we are born and begin to walk through life is to: (1) accept Jesus as Lord, because our journey begins with Jesus (2) receive the revelation of God’s plans through the Holy Spirit, (3) fight the urge to feel unworthy and to disqualify ourselves before we ever get started, (4) renew our minds to believe what God believes about us, (5) wait on God’s timing for the things He revealed to come to pass, and (6) launch out to experience what God revealed when the timing is right. Now, what I just said in these six points is much easier said than done, but the pursuit of it becomes the joy of the journey with Jesus.”
We have looked at all six points and for the a while now we have been focused on the last one: pursuing true experiences with God. Flowing in this vein, we have also been looking at the context behind Paul’s famous declaration that he could DO ALL THINGS through Christ (Phil 4:13). This is what Paul said:
“I have learned to be content with what I have and with whatever happens. I know what it is like to not have much and to also I have plenty. I have learned the secret of how to live through any kind of situation—when I have enough to eat or when I am hungry, when I have everything I need or when I have nothing. I can do all things through Christ, for he is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” (Phil 4:11-13)
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s see.
- You can’t place any confidence in things. This is why it is hard for rich people to make it to heaven. They rely too much on what they have. God is not opposed to you having things, but He is opposed to the things having you! If you place confidence in WHAT you have, and not WHO has you, you will quickly learn that things cannot sustain you. Paul’s confidence was in God, not in things.
- Paul learned that his financial statement (what he had and/or what he did not have) was NOT the basis for his ability to accomplish what God called him to do. Whether his financial statement was up or down, it did not impact his ability to DO ALL THINGS. Because he was not doing ALL THINGS in his own strength. He was attempting to do ALL THINGS through Christ. Paul learned this valuable lesson through his encounters and experiences with God. This is a lesson we must all learn.
- God does not just teach us through His book (the Bible), He teaches us through encounters. These encounters offer us the opportunity to truly experience the God we read about. Our experiences teach us things about God we can never learn in a book. And more importantly, it takes our learning from our head to our heart. Once a life-lesson is emblazoned in your heart, no one can take it from you.
- When you know that you are IN Christ and Christ is IN you, and you know that You are just like Jesus in this world, you can have the confidence Paul had. You can say with boldness, “I can do all things through Christ, because, as Jesus is, so am I, in this world!”
- Through his encounters with God, Paul learned what he could do, because he learned he was not the one doing it. It was God, living in him, giving him the words and performing the work. Have you learned the same thing? Have your encounters with God taught you this valuable lesson? When you learn (and I mean, truly learn) that God is IN you and He is the one performing the work, you learn how to live a life with NO LIMITS. You can’t be limited, because God is not limited, and He is the one living in you, giving you the words and performing the work. This is why it is SO important that you get to the point where you literally see yourself as Jesus is, in this world! The day you see yourself AS JESUS IS, and you launch out to perform what God called you to do, knowing that He is the one doing it, is the day you become unstoppable. You cannot be stopped, because God cannot be stopped and He is the one living in you!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a year of Great Victory for me. My victory is not based in me. My victory has is based in You! You are the one living in me. You give me the words. You perform the work. I thank You for all You bless me with, but my confidence in NOT in things. My confidence is in You! Whether I have or don’t have, I have learned, like Paul, that I can still DO ALL THINGS! Because I am not the one doing it. I am unstoppable! I cannot be stopped, because You cannot be stopped, and You are the one living IN me and THROUGH me! So I enter this day with unshakable confidence and I boldly declare: as Jesus is, so am I, in this world! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
