Strong

Eph. 6:10 'And that about wraps it up, God is strong and He wants You strong.'(msg)


This is where He had me camp out this morning. Another simple, yet very powerful statement from our Father. He is strong and wants us strong. He doesn't want us weak, guilty, judging, condemned. Just strong in HIM!

I began thinking and praying through this. God, if your desire for me is strength, You are going to take me through situations in life to strengthen me. You don't get strong by 'coasting' through life. You get strong by eating good food, fighting, praying, maybe being in unknown situations that cause us to rely on no one but our Father. This idea I used to have that when something was hard must mean that I was doing something wrong, does not ad up.

Granted, there will be times when we know we are disobeying, like Jonah, and He will allow things to pan out accordingly.

I want to be very careful and clear. I am not in any way saying that God causes 'bad things to happen to us'. That is not His character. I believe He ultimately wants best for us and wants us to grow. He can, however, and does, take things the devil was hoping to destroy us with and redeem them for His glory. He's just that awesome :)

I am thinking about times when a situation has come around to me where I had the choice to say 'yes' or 'no'. Do I say yes even though its an unknown and very uncomfortable? Or do I say 'no' because I am comfortable and I am 'good' where I'm at.

Conflict is a big spiritual muscle I had to learn. I used to run, never looking back, from conflict. I would do everything in my power to avoid it at all costs. That was not right. I had not allowed God to 'grow' that in me. Over time, I began to realize that there was a lot of conflict starting to happen in my life right about the time I was ready to deal with some things from my past. Instead of running, some friends kindly pointed out that this was a good thing to learn how to do with grace and God's help. It was not comfortable, but it was so necessary. I have come to be 'o.k.' with God's permission, to stand up for what is right and true, establish boundaries if needed, and not run in the other direction. Conflict is going to happen! That is one element of this life we can count on, whether in marriage, family, or friends. Growing that muscle to handle it with God's integrity is a massive life lesson you and I will use time and again.

So, God is strong, and He wants you strong. He is in your corner! He is fighting for your strength in this crazy battle called life. Eph. 6: 12-'This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels'.(msg)

It does God no good to sit there day after day and 'raz' us for what we have done wrong or haven't done. Not saying He will not convict us of sin in our lives, but once you have asked forgiveness, its over! He already took care of it years ago! You are glorifying no one by beating yourself up and feeling guilty for something He already took to the cross. He wants you strong, not guilty and wallowing in self pity over how bad of a person you are. Get up! Make it right with your Father and move on. This life is too short to spend a day on something He already took care of for you. Eat your spiritual food, be intimate with your Father, and get back in there and fight! Remember, He wins.

Perspective...

I was having quiet time the other day and God hit me with a really good nugget. 


He had me read through Mark 7 and 8.  I read through many miracles and how the disciples just 'couldn't' grasp what was going on.  Even after 2 miracles of bread and fish for 5,000 then 4,000 people, they were arguing that they hadn't brought enough food for themselves. I had to imagine how maddening this must have been for Jesus.  'Really guys?  You still don't understand who I am and what I am capable of?' There are 13 of us and I just fed 9,000!

I then came to Mark 8:33.  Jesus was starting to talk about what must happen to Him soon, suffering,  rejection, killed and 3 days later He would rise again. 8:31-32. As he talked about this, Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him. (v32) 

'Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter.  "Get away from me, Satan!" He said. "you are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's". 


I stopped here and started realizing how important this truth must be.  If Jesus told Peter to 'get away from me satan', how important for us is it to have kingdom perspective?  How many times have I seen God work, opening doors, miracles, and still find myself worrying or just not trusting because I have let my mind go from Kingdom, to earthly perspective? 


 This is what I journaled that morning...



'Daughter, this is a simple, yet powerful truth you need to grasp and hold on to..In this life, you must have My perspective, not earthly or self.  Pray for this daily, for your family and for others. Always stop and ask Me if you are seeing things from my view, or yours. Remember what I am capable of.  Never forget.  I am God! I can do anything! Don't you see? Nothing and no one is in my way. I am God, your Father, your Daddy, your best friend, your lover, your protector. Do not doubt me. Listen carefully for my voice. I alone am worthy. Do not be afraid. Do not loose hope. Life gets hard, but you are my daughter. Rachelle, you are a daughter of the King! Do not ever forget that. You have the freedom to carry out kingdom orders from Me! You have an 'in' with Me! I am never too busy for you. I know everything. Stay in Me-Root yourself in only Me. Do not look to the right or to the left, keep your eyes on Me!' 



Everyday since, I have been asking God to constantly renew my mind.  Every time I come to a situation and my mind starts going down 'that road', I stop and ask to see things from His perspective.  Big picture.  What does this look like on Your timeline, not mine?  I can honestly say, it is very encouraging.  We have problems and this life is so hard, but He already knew this very minute the problems we would be having.  He already knew and made a way for that problem. It might not be our solution, but He does know best.
I love that He is never afraid of our problems. So many times I would think, no God, I got this, this is too ugly and messy, 
You don't want to know what I'm really thinking right now. 
So He smiles and says, 'Try Me'. 
He already knew! Some of my favorite times with Him are me whining at Him and He just sits and listens until I'm done.  Then He scoops me up, smiles, and says, 'My Turn?'. 
His peace washes over me and I am reminded of His undying, crazy, love for ME. He is always ready and excited to hear how we 'really feel'. That is true relationship. Its ugly, imperfect, unpredictable, and so worth it. If we came to Him with perfect problems and things we already 'took care of', where would His miracles be in our life?


I challenge everyone to go to their Dad with something real. Trust me, He can take it. In fact, He wants to take it. See what happens and ask Him for His 'Big Picture'.