“He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.”
Romans 4:19 MSG
There comes a point in life that your faith becomes stronger by facing the facts, not weaker.
The facts may not be friendly or encouraging or what you want to face but as a child of God, you can face them. You can deal with reality instead of running from it.
How? By knowing that your circumstances do not define you, God does.
God chose you.
God loves you.
That thing that God has called you to? You can’t make it happen but He can.
To be who God has created you to be you are going to have to let go of “doing your best” and embrace “depending on God”.
You new life in God’s family isn’t “success and failure” based.
It isn’t “today, I did a good job” so I’m feeling good or “I totally messed up ” and being depressed.
You will do a good job. You will make mistakes. This is not about denying how you feel. It is about allowing God’s feelings for you to be the foundation of how you experience your life.
His part is to guide and provide, your part is to follow and trust.
In Jesus, you have full rights as a child of God to live fully persuaded that God is able to do above and beyond all you can ask or imagine.
“He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.”
Romans 4:19 MSG
There comes a point in life that your faith becomes stronger by facing the facts. The facts being that human effort can not achieve the fulfillment of God’s promise.
That thing that God has called you to? You can’t make it happen. You never could.
Once you really grasp this your faith is set free to rest in God alone.
To be who Jesus has created you to be you are going to have to let go of “doing your best” and embrace “depending on God”.
This sets you free to shift your focus from yourself and your works to God and His works.
It shifts from giving yourself the glory of “today, I did a good job” or depression of ”I totally missed it” to giving God all the glory for all He has done and will do, instead.
God chose you.
God chose you to be a partner in the promise but the lion’s share of strength, inspiration, motivation, and miracle is all God’s.
Your part is to receive, rest, wait, and give glory to God.
Your part is to live fully persuaded that God is able to do above and beyond all you can ask or imagine.
My friend, don’t tiptoe around God’s promises today, dive into them. Take the plunge and live fully persuaded.
“Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word.”
Hebrews 10:23 MSG
What promise keeps you going right now?
For me, it is this one:
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 NIV
I love it because it was his work to begin with, his work to continue, his work to complete.
It is a reminder that it is not my work that completes me but his and it encourages me to keep my focus on the relationship I have with him because that is my work.
It keeps me going.
What promise keeps you going?
What word are you holding on to right now?
Hold it with a firm grip and don’t let go.
Jesus is able and faithful to keep his promises to you.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Romans 4:18 NIV)
What does this mean? Against all hope, Abraham in hope….
It means that even though everything in his life seemed to indicate otherwise ,Abraham believed that God could keep His promise.
It also means that he kept living his life, everyday, not looking at the impossibility of the promise but in the possibility of God.
God initiated it, spoke it and would fulfill it.
Not because of Abraham’s faith but because of God’s faithfulness.
Cindy Grasso 