True relationship. In true relationship we must be aggressive in our love. God was so aggressive in his love that he sacrificed his Son for us.
What will you sacrifice, to love others like Christ? True relationship is sacrificial. Sometimes we sacrifice our feelings of the moment, to keep the relationship for life.
Fear not, my child, for I am with you. I created you, in my image, and call you by name. Do not fear man or the enemy because, I, Yahweh, your God, am with you. Trust me and lean not on your own understanding. I uphold you with my right hand. Everything in your life is first sifted through my hands, of love.
It is time for you to decree: “I will not be shaken because Yahweh is my foundation. He is with me and I will not fear. No matter what happens, he holds me close. I put my trust in the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. His love surrounds and upholds me.”
(Speak this scripture and insert your name when it says Jacob or Israel:)
But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. (Isaiah 43:1-4 NLT)
Change my heart, so that I’m easily bent to Your ways, flexible to Your Spirit, supple in Your hands, only influenced by Your love, fully persuaded in Faith, completely yielded to You, and adjusting readily to Your change.
Wait on the Lord, embracing testing and trials, with more receptivity. He is using these things to purify your heart and to mature you. Love is his motivation. Trust him, as you go through the process and know it is for your good. Keep your focus on Jesus and don’t get distracted by your circumstances. His life, light and love surrounds you and will radiate from you, as you rely on him with thankfulness.
My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up in you the power of endurance. And then as your endurance grows even stronger, it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking. (James 1:2-4 TPT)
It is not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters. If you get angry or throw a pity party about the injustice of your circumstances, you will indulge in toxic emotions and let negativity control you. What your enemies meant for your evil, God uses for your good. His fingers of love sift everything that comes your way. He uses adversity and suffering to refine and make you more like Jesus. Stripped of the things that impeded your process, the light, love and light, of Jesus, shine through you.
What the enemy thought was the biggest defeat for God, with the shame, the kiss of betrayal from a friend, punishment and crucifixion of Jesus, instead set untold numbers of people free from the bondage of sin, curses, sickness and death to eternal life. What first seemed the biggest loss, for God ,was instead his biggest victory. You will see the same thing in your life, when the enemy tries his best to defeat you. Instead the negative brings positive results that far surpass the suffering. You go through the fire and come out as pure gold. Your test becomes a testimony that frees others.
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-4 MSG)
We cannot SEE nor EMBRACE our FUTURE, if we are either BLINDED by or HANDICAPPED by our PAST. One cannot fully embrace the NEW, until one has completely released the OLD. Be dismantled from the old and mantled with the NEW TODAY!
No one can give away what God gave to you. When God says, “It is your time,” neither the world nor the church can say different. God’s word is the final authority in your life.
We are not to live in fear or to have awe of the enemy. Know the Lord Jesus lives inside of us and we have his power. The enemy cannot intimidate us because our Lord has his seat far above the enemy and we live with him, as his body. The enemy was conquered and we have no need to fear him.
The Lord delivers us from the enemy, so we can live in victory. Listen to the Lord, not the enemy and remember who is with you.
Fear not the enemy!
“That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”( Ephesians 1:19b-23 NIV)
