The Pressures of this World

by Rick

Today we continue our series “God is faithful!”  Yesterday’s message was entitled, “Living on earth as it is in heaven.”  One of the main points I made is that we, as Born-Again believers, live in two realms at the same time.  We are in this world, but we are born from above.  I will build on this thought today.

So what does this mean for you today?  A few things.

1.  When you are Born-again, but you live as a mere human, you are living beneath God’s best.

— In Genesis, before the fall of man, Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.  He walked with God and God walked with him.  He never went to school.  He never had an education.  He received revelation from heaven daily.  He was a human conduit of the divine.  He was a channel through which heaven visited the earth daily.  Adam had no limits.  He was so supernatural that he did not even realize the fact that he was naked.  He was clothed with the glory of God.  This was BEFORE the fall and BEFORE The Law.  This is a picture of what Jesus came to redeem you to.  

— When Adam sinned, he lost the Holy Spirit, he was kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and he was resigned to living his life as a mere human.  Every human born in this world is born with the inheritance of Adam.  We are born as mere men, with a hole in our souls that was created when the Holy Spirit was removed.  People try to fill that hole with sex, drugs, alcohol, money, fame, and etc.  But that hole can only be filled by the agent who occupied it in the first place, the Holy Spirit.  We are born with this void, and we must be Born-Again to fill it!

— Jesus did not redeem us back to Moses or back to Abraham.  Jesus redeemed us ALL THE WAY back to Adam.  Once you are Born-Again, then like Adam, you get to walk with God and enjoy God walking with you.  

— Once you are Born-Again, you get to live like Adam did in the Garden, before the fall.  You get to live like Jesus did when He was filled with the Holy Spirit on this planet.  

— Wouldn’t it be a shame to repent of your sin, accept Jesus as Lord, get Born-Again and filled with the Holy Spirit, and then go back to living your life the same way you did before you were Born-Again?  

— If you choose to live your life as a mere human, you are certainly choosing to live beneath God’s best, and God will not stop you.  God will allow whatever you allow.  God will permit whatever you permit.  But if you choose to live this way, you are wasting God’s grace!  I don’t know about you, but I refuse to allow the grace of God towards me to be in vain!

2.  When you fail to tap into the supernatural of the Holy Spirit, you wind up dealing with the pressures of this present world just like those who don’t have the Holy Spirit.

— Many people struggle with the pressures of life.  They hold an internal debate with themselves over their self-worth, self-importance, and the meaning of life.  This internal debate often leads to stress, strain, and an overwhelming pressure to perform.  God never called us to live this way.  He gave us His Spirit so we could hear from Him directly, so we could have the answers to life’s most important questions, and so we could be empowered [supernaturally] by Him to maximize our purpose and potential while we are on this planet.

— You were not designed to live life with the pressure to perform.  When I was in the Army, we often said, “Pressure can burst a pipe.”  This is a reminder that pressure can be extremely detrimental.  If you attempt to carry around the “cares” of life, they will weigh you down.  God designed you to be a “care-caster” and not a “care-carrier”.  God wants you to cast all your cares and anxiety over to Him (1 Peter 5:7).  He can handle them; you cannot.

— Remember, you are living in two realms at the same time.  You are in this world, but you are not of this world (once you are Born-Again).  You are a spirit, you possess a soul, and you live in a body.  Your spirit communicates with God, Spirit-to-spirit.  Your body communicates with this world through your five senses.  Your soul then gets to decide which input you will live your life based on.  Your soul is the control center for your life (Prov 4:23-27).  

— When you feel pressure and your anxiety level increases, your soul will get input from both your spirit and your body.  Your divinity will lead you to deal with the pressure supernaturally, considering God’s amazing power and grace.  Your humanity will consider the seriousness of the situation and think about the issue from strictly a human point of view.  When you get all that input, you are left to make the decision in your soul.  Your soul contains your mind (the way you think), emotions (the way you feel), and will (the way you make decisions).  If your soul chooses to listen to your divinity, then you will deal with the situation empowered by God’s grace.  However, if your soul only listens to your humanity, you will have to deal with the situation like any other human.  This is a problem because God will lead you to deal with things that exceed your power, ability, and strength.  If you keep relying on your humanity, you will get stressed out.  If you rely on God’s grace, you will enter into God’s rest concerning it, and you will overcome the challenge by God’s amazing power.  Life will still be challenging; it’s just that you are not facing the challenges alone.  

That’s enough for today.  I have more, but I will stop here.

Declaration of Faith:  

Father, I thank You for leading me to LEVEL UP in this season.  I LEVEL UP by tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit.  I am in this world, but I am not of it.  I am Born-Again.  I am born from above.  There was a time when my life was all about me!  I pursued my own desires, I did things my own way, and I relied on my own strength.  This meant I had to take on the pressure to perform.  If I did not do it, it would not get done.  If I did not make it happen, it would not happen.  But those days are OVER!  My old man is dead.  I am dead in Christ.  I died to sin, self, and selfish desires.  I also died to the limits of my humanity.  I now live for YOU!  I only do what You tell me to do.  I only say what You tell me to say.  I only pursue what You lead me to pursue.  The pressure I used to carry around has now been transitioned over to You.  I am free from the pressure to perform, and I get to enjoy a stress-free environment daily!  GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!  I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.

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