Free to be who you are

 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.” Phil 2:5-6

Confidence in who you are frees you to live the life to which God has called you. I meet a lot of people who are constantly trying to prove how good they are. They use every situation to demonstrate their experience, constantly playing a game of one-upmanship. This was brought home to me recently when a person I was working with always responded to any information you told him with, “yes, I knew that” – even when there was no possibility that could be the case. So often I felt myself saying, ‘just chill out’, ‘be who you are’!

Jesus knew exactly who He was; He didn’t have to try and prove it or to convince others. He was so confident in His identity that He didn’t need to use this position to His own advantage.

You no longer need to grasp after position or use what you have to gain advantage over others. Your success and blessing is found in Jesus not in proving to others how good you are. Be confident in your position as a child of God. In Jesus you have been made perfect before God and there is nothing that you can do to improve your standing in His eyes.

Today be free in who God has made you to be and live confidently in the security of His love.

Don’t minimise your gifts!

 “Don’t minimise the powerful gift that operates in your life, for it was imparted to you by the laying on of hands of the elders and was activated by the prophecy they spoke over you” 1 Tim 4:14 (TPT)

Many of us walk around each day with a powerful gift within us waiting to be exercised. So often our gifting gets neglected - life has a way of burying things deep inside. Somehow in the busyness of work, family and friends we can feel like we never fully get to live the life we were designed for.

There is a powerful gifting in us that can so easily be minimised by our approach to life or fear of others. So often we measure the power of our gifting against human ability and the apparent difficulty of the circumstances we face.

Today remember that God has given you gifts to fulfil His purpose for your life. He is the one who has called you and it is He who will use the gifts within us to achieve all He has planned. You don’t need to worry about whether or not you can do it – it’s not down to your abilities, God will supply all you need.

Be encouraged that God will never call you to do something that He will not enable to you complete. Don’t minimise your gifts!

Your kingdom come...

 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

You are powerful. So much more powerful than you could ever imagine, God has placed us here to usher in His Kingdom, He has trusted us as his ambassadors here on earth, kingdom representatives (2 Corinthians 5:20). God has not asked us to bring his kingdom purely by preaching, teaching and speaking but by signs, wonders and miracles even more amazing than Jesus did himself (John 14:12)! You may not feel like it, but you are a kingdom ambassador, empowered and enabled to bring Jesus into any situation you face and see it changed in his presence.

It is in understanding that it is not you, but Christ in you that makes this possible. He is the power; we are the conduits to see the world blessed! Take the pressure off, realise the presence of Jesus everywhere, and see His love for everyone, you will soon enough see His Kingdom Come! Simple!

From head to heart

 1 John 4:19, Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 

An understanding of the love of God to us through Jesusneeds to grow in our hearts.  The knowledge needs to pass our heads and reach our experience and hearts. We have considered this recently at Exchange Church.

My journey has not been a smooth one.  What made it even more difficult was that my head believed one thing, but my heart could not fully grasp what it meant.  I studied the bible, I knew doctrine, yet my emotions were in the basement. 

It took years for my heart to fully grasp the truth of God’s love for me, and only then could I start to find emotional healing that stuck.  It was knowing, not just believing God loves me that turned my life around.

Child of God you are loved.  There is no room for shame when you know that all of your sins have been totally forgiven.  There is no room for fear when you know that you are accepted because of Jesus, not your performance.

Keep your head cool by trusting in the water of God’s love to extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy.

Perfect love casts out fear

 Mark 4:39-40 - When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.  Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"

Looking at the plain English, the fear is mentioned as they talk about the wind and waves obeying Him.  Demonstration of power without the trust that He loved them deeply, could be very frightening indeed.  How would I feel meeting a person who had power?  Would I be worried about what they would do to me?  Was their doubt in His power or was it more a worry about what He could do to them with that power?

If they had faith in Him, the miracle would not have taken them by surprise.  If they truly understood who Jesus was, then a demonstration of His power would not frighten them. They were afraid of His power because they had not yet grasped His love. 

“Who is this man?  He is their friend and the one who loves them deeply. Now as I think, perfect love casts out fear, I see deeper dimension.  Knowing we are loved by the God of the universe helps us to not fear His great power. 

Religion scares us into submission to a powerful deity. Grace woos us into trust because we are loved by our Dad.

An answer for every fear

 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Every fiery dart can be extinguished with the water of God’s promises

Fear of missing God’s will: - Exodus 15:13 NLT - "With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed.

Fear of judgement – 1 John 4:19, Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 

Fear of lack– Philippians 4:19 NLT - And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Find the triggers of fear in your life and treat them with the truth of the love of Father God. In other words, go to the promises of God rooted in His perfect and unfailing love to extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one. There are 3 examples outlined above but there are many more.

What is it that makes you most afraid?  Find out from God’s word that He has provided an answer.  If you do not know the bible so well, ask a mature Christian friend.

Keeping a cool head

 Ephesians 6:16-18 NLT - In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet

Why do you think we are told to, ‘Put on salvation as your helmet’?  This is because most of our battles are fought in the mind. Fear happens right where we live, in our minds.  The enemy seeks to influence our lives by throwing things at us that make us afraid.  But if we get the message that God really loves us, the fire of his attacks can be extinguished.

God’s love revealed in His word is like water to extinguish the fire of fear.The Holy Spirit is the fireman who has been sent to wield the hose.  Think of it, He is our comforter, the one who comes along side to help and to give us courage.  He is the one who applies the bible to our hearts.  As He does so, he reveals to us that every one of our fears can be met with a promise from the bible.

That puts new meaning on keeping a cool head.

LOVE’S FIRE EXTINGUISHER

Ephesians 6:16-18 NLT - In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Nine years ago, I had just embarked on a project for UCB to try and get schools to receive the book of hope magazine as a text for RE.  I was walking home from the shop when I felt God speak to my heart; “Get people to pray, for you will be under attack.”  I knew it was because I was stepping out in this endeavour.  So I asked for prayer.

Guess what, the attacks came from all sides; but I knew it would be alright, for God’s people were praying for me.  I had been prepared to meet the fiery darts of the enemy with the weapon of prayer.  The work was not stopped and a local ministry took on the role of supplying the magazines to schools.

The enemy may attack, but He has already been defeated on the cross.  So whatever fiery dart he throws your way, remember that God has it covered.  He has provided you with weapons to protect you from the fire.

This week we will look at the specific attack of fear.

What do you see?

 “Go away for the girl is not dead, she is sleeping. And they laughed at him.” Matthew 9 24-25

With what eyes do you look at your life today? If you approach every situation today with your natural eyes you are going to be disappointed - You are going to see decay, lack, failure and limitations.

Our world is a fallen place and the consequences are evident wherever we look.
But Jesus already has the victory. Death has been defeated. When we see obstacles and impossible situations we are called to approach them with eyes of faith. We are to look at what appears to be dead and command God life. Whenever we do this those around us will think that we are crazy. They will say we're deceived. They will mock and laugh just as they did when Jesus declared that the girl was sleeping. But did the people continue to mock when the girl got up?

Don't let others’ unbelief stop you from pursuing your breakthrough. When you stand you will see the breakthrough and you will see that blessing does not just flow to you but all those around you too.

Rest to bear fruit

 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4 NASB

When a branch is cut off a tree it begins to die.  At first it looks healthy enough as there may still be some fruit on it, but soon this will wither and die as the branch has been removed from the fruit producing life of the tree.

Our performance-based society can affect our approach to work.  Thinking that success is based on how hard we work, can lead us to live a life ‘flat to the mat’, missing out on quality time spent with God.  This hard work and effort yields only mediocre results.

Success is a by-product of spending quality time in the presence of God.  When we spend regular time in His presence, being filled with His Spirit and Word, we effortlessly bear fruit.

Today you can rest from your works, spend time with Him and watch Him work through you – He gets better results!

Looking outside ourselves

 "Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]” Philippians 2:4-5 AMP

The world we live in is consumed with greed; many people I meet are more interested in "me, myself and I” than other people. Promotion means competing against someone else for that position; it’s "dog eat dog!" The problem is, when life becomes self-seeking and self-serving, then you become the only person who matters. 

Thankfully I learned there is another way to live; when I got married I soon realised that I had to think about another person's needs and interests. It certainly did take a few years to get used too, especially sharing my bank account! Then the kids came along and after 4 wonderful beauties, I have known so much blessing in giving all that I have to make sure they have everything. 

When I read this verse, I get really excited as living like this helps move me towards being more like Jesus. He is the perfect example of never once thinking of self. Jesus totally gave of himself to others, which ultimately led to his death on the cross! 

Take time this week look for ways to encourage others, ways to give your time or help in some way. I once read a saying that has stuck with me, "By helping others get to where they want to be, you'll automatically get where you want to be!"

A saying that symbolises the very heart of Jesus! Amen to that!

You are complete

 “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Colossians 2:10

We can often forget the huge scale of Christ’s act of redemption. The cross was a completed work; it was finished, not a stone unturned, not a speck of sin left owing on your account! It is done! So much so that the bible actually tells us we are “completed”. The Greek word for completed here is “pleroo”(Strong’s G4137) meaning filled, well supplied, furnished or literally crammed! You are overflowing with Gods goodness, love, peace and rest!

Look to him today and be thankful that you can go through anything knowing he has provided for you already! He has gone before you and prepared success for you no matter what your giant may look like. God is good, His work is complete, and you are fully provided for!

Hold on

 “When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’” Luke 7:19 (NIV)

There are times when those things that once seemed so clear become a source of despair. John had baptized Jesus; he had declared, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” John had seen the dove descend from heaven and heard the voice of the Father affirm His love for Jesus. But now as he sat in prison separated from the world, doubts crept in.

When we find ourselves in dry places and nothing seems to be happening, it is so easy to doubt the calling of God on our lives. I love Jesus’ response - He didn’t launch into a detailed argument of why He was the Messiah nor did He try to convince them with words – He acted: “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard”. (Luke 7:21-22).

Jesus recognised that sometimes words aren’t enough, sometimes all the arguments in the world can’t provide the clarity that action can. Jesus knew how John was feeling and He immediately responded by practically demonstrating His love and power. He knew where John was and He knew exactly what John needed to bring him confidence and comfort.

Wherever you are today – Do not let go in the darkness those things that you were so sure of in the light. God sees you and He knows exactly what you need – He will act.