God is working in you for your destiny.

How amazing it would be if we lived our lives “on earth as it is in heaven”. God sees us so differently than we see ourselves. He sees us through the blood of Christ without imperfection. We are perfect. He sees the destiny that He planned for each one of us.

That destiny can be ours, but we have to be willing to submit ourselves to Him to make it happen. Where we are today, who we are today is probably a long way from what that destiny looks like.

What will He need to do in us to make us into what we are called to be? We’ll have to be changed. Change usually hurts! We hate it. But when we stop and consider that we are being transformed, it’s easier to accept.

Whatever God has planned for you is going to be awesome, because He knows your heart’s desire, your gifts, and talents, so whatever it takes to get you to your destiny will be worth it. Trust Him. What you are going through now may not make sense to you, but it may have great value in shaping you for what you will become.

God does not see you the way you see you.

When we look in the mirror, we tend to see blemishes. We’re trained to see everything wrong, inside and out. Competition is alive and well in our society, and we are pressured to pursue perfection from all sides. When we come to Christ, we can bring in all those old, unhealthy attitudes with us.

Comparing ourselves to other people is a bad idea. Looking up to people and being inspired is good, but gauging our spirituality with others is not. Growth is personal and, what you see in others may not be what God sees.

God does not see problems like you see problems. He looks at what you’re missing and steers you toward developing you into what He wants you to be. He’s not as judgmental as we think He is. Which means, we should not be either.

Turn your attention to the things God wants for you instead of what you think is wrong. It’s a completely different mindset. If you have a temper issue, then you really need peace and patience. God has that. If you live in fear, you need a great shot of love so you understand that God will completely take care of you.

Stop listening to the voice that says you’re not good enough, and start listening to the God who thinks you’re fantastic.

It is very dangerous to assume that because God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that He will not be mean. We moved from an Old Testament view of God dealing vengefully against Israel when they sinned to the realm of grace and love. But don’t be lulled by the sweetness of the message. God still means business.

forgiveness is not an option

Mat 18 23:35 tells the story of the servant who was forgiven a huge debt, but sent a fellow servant to prison for a minor debt. The master was furious with the unforgiving servant and sent him to the torturers until he paid all that was due.

What did Jesus have to say about not forgiving people? So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. (18:35)

Do not be misled by the message of love. Yes, His love is far beyond anything you can imagine with your human understanding, but He demands obedience. If you have been forgiven of every sin you confess, then you must forgive others who offend you. There is no middle ground because you don’t feel like it. Go back and read that verse again. It’s frightening. Forgiveness is not an option.

I always used to wonder what the scripture meant: Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Mat 18:18) I thought that maybe evil forces were free to enter heaven just like they do here, so if we bind them here, they are bound there.

Make it so.

But I don’t think that’s the meaning. While I was pondering this verse, the Lord reminded me of Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise. (You Star Trek fans will understand.) Whenever a crew member suggested something the captain liked, he said, “Make it so.”

I think the same thing applies to this verse. What ever we bind on earth, the Lord agrees with us and says, “Let it be bound.” He lends His authority to make it happen. That’s a lot of trust on His part. We better know what we’re doing, because we have the power of heaven backing us up.

But that’s just the point. When the enemy attacks, we can bind him, and the Lord will agree. “Let it be bound.” Obviously, the same applies when we loose something, like the peace of God, joy, righteousness, grace, etc.

We hold a lot of power with the authority we’ve been given, and God is just fine with it. It’s His idea. He smiles and says, “Make it so.”

A new name written which no one knows.

There is something deliciously intimate in our relationship with God. Cast off the harsh picture of judgement and punishment. That does not belong to those who walk in the kingdom, who are called by His name. To us it is given to know His heart and feel the pulse of His love for us.

To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. (Rev 2:17) What makes this so exciting is that only God can see into your very soul and know your secret hopes and dreams. Very often, He’s the one who put them there in the first place, so when He sees you cherish them, He is pleased.

He is giving us a new name that only He knows, because only He can see and understand our deep longing and desires. He sees what no one else can. He’s giving us a name that speaks to the depth of who we are. It is His private love note to us, a message that we will understand instantly.

When you walk in this kingdom, overcoming is a blessing, because it keeps us exactly in that place of presence and love for eternity.

God, make us hungry for you.

I am amazed when I read how people followed Jesus out to the wilderness. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others. (Mat 15) They not only followed Him to the wilderness, they followed Him up a mountain — the lame, the blind, the mute, and the maimed. How hard that must have been for them, as well as those who helped take them out there.

Not only were they willing to travel out to inhospitable areas, they were willing to stay as long as it took to get their miracle. Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. They were out there three days!

I have to wonder how much we want to know the truth of God. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. (Heb 12:4) How desperate are we to be free, to be healed and transformed into who God has called us to be? How determined are we?

God, I pray that You make us hungry to know you. Make us thirsty in our souls, so that only Your presence will satisfy us completely. Give us no rest until we give our lives entirely to You. Every day.

Most people don’t feel comfortable about how they look. That’s why the cosmetic industry is massive. But it goes even deeper than that. We don’t tend to see ourselves in the same positive light as other people do. This is an interesting experiment to watch.

As believers, we don’t have the freedom to think badly about ourselves because Jesus paid the ultimate price to redeem us. When we are covered under His blood, we are made new. God sees us as perfect, because we are. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (Jam 1:4)

Don’t feel perfect? That doesn’t matter. What you think does not affect what God has done for you. And if you continue to think badly about yourself, then you are saying, in effect, that what God did for your isn’t very good. That’s not the truth. What He did for you is fantastic and you are perfect and wonderful because you’ve been redeemed.

God does not want you to live with a poor self-esteem. You are His now, a royal heir, and you need to live like it. Allow Him to start changing your self-image and you’ll feel better inside and out.

Where is your focus?

Nothing in life is more important than your relationship with God. Nothing. And not just because you need to confirm where you go when you die. Salvation begins when we ask Jesus into our hearts. Our life begins then, not later.

How do we know this? Because Jesus taught us to pray, on earth as it is in heaven. That means that your life now should reflect heaven. How will that happen if God is not your number one priority?

God must be first. Jesus said to him,  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Mat 22:37) This is not a suggestion. This is a command from God and always has been.

And when we do line up our priorities with our focus on God, He promises to bless us and take are of all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Mat 6:33) ALL these things to be added to you are all the things you need for your life. It’s a promise, and God cannot lie. When your focus is right, everything in your life is blessed. You just need to be honest about where you focus is.

No one understood who Jesus was or what He was up to until after His resurrection. The disciples tried to understand, but clearly didn’t. The Romans mocked Him by calling Him King of the Jews. Even the Jews expected a king who would return them to the glory days of Solomon. John the Baptist knew the Christ was coming, but wasn’t sure what He would look like. As anointed as John was, he didn’t expect Jesus to be so low key. No one expected a humble servant King.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, not your expectations.

It’s a problem when we set up expectations that God has not. His ways are so much higher than our ways. His ideas are vast and creative. If we try to organize Him into our thinking, then we’ll never see who He really is.

Don’t miss your blessing through expectation. You may have a dream in your heart of “x”. That’s fine. God can bless it and make it “X”, but only if you let Him get you there His way. The journey He needs to take you on is probably not one you would choose for yourself.

Don’t miss what God is doing for you because you weren’t looking for what He has planned. Keep your heart open and and content with Him, and He will be everything you need Him to be.

Don’t live with unforgiveness or fear.

The two biggest enemies in your life will often be unforgiveness and fear. Both are sin and we tend to hold onto them with a tight grip. Unfortunately, when we do that. we block the blessings that we need in our lives.

Unforgiveness goes deep when we’ve been badly hurt. We may be willing to forgive small things someone has done, but if there is something that caused deep pain, we are unwilling to even touch it, let alone forgive for it. This is dangerous. Jesus was very clear: But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:15) Yikes!

Fear is another favorite weapon of the enemy. For some reason, we don’t tend to think of fear as a problem for us. We think it’s acceptable to worry about things. God doesn’t agree. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (IJohn 4:18)

If you live with fear and worry, then you haven’t had a true revelation of God and how much He loves you. If you really understood that He will take care of everything, if you let Him, you could live in peace.

Take a look at your life and see if you are holding onto unforgiveness or fear. It’s time to let go.