Saturday, November 21, 2015

From Righteousness to Peace Workshop

Romans 14:17--NIV--For the kingdom of God is.....righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

In previous blogs we have found out that righteousness is declaring that what God says and does is the right thing. God says we are righteous when we agree with Him and His actions. It is in believing that God's Word is true in spite of what is going on in our lives at the moment that brings us peace.

If I was to look at the things that surround me right now at the moment, I would be tempted to doubt that God's Word was true at all. I can't see His promise being manifested and in some cases it doesn't look like there is any way in the world that it could ever happen. 

This is where most Christians are. We judge God and His Word on the basis of what the past has brought us and what it looks like right now. And neither one of those things have any bearing on whether or not God will answer our prayer or be faithful to His promise.

Think with me for a little bit and challenge your mind. In Genesis the third chapter, God cursed the serpent (the devil) by declaring that the seed of the woman would bruise his head. Certainly, Eve hadn't had any children yet. And it didn't happen with Cain and it didn't happen with Abel and it didn't happen with Seth. Yet, it DID happen 4,000 years later. It DID happen. God DID bring His Word to pass.

He promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. And in all of this great faith that we have attributed to Abraham he only saw one son grow up before the Lord. He was around for several of Esau's and Jacob's early years but that was the extent of it. Yet, today, Abraham IS the father of many nations. God is not bound by time or space.

In John 11, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He didn't actually do it until a couple of days later. He told Saul of Tarsus that he was going to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ before kings. That didn't happen for quite some time. God foretold about King Josiah and King Cyrus hundreds of years before they were born. I could go on an on.

When I lay claim to the salvation of my children according to Deuteronomy 28:4 I don't have to see it manifested before I give Him praise for it. God has NEVER forsaken His Word and he never will. Just because one of my children isn't immediately healed doesn't mean that they are not going to be. I don't have to see the manifestation of it to believe that God will do it. That's called TRUST. 

I have had to re-train my thought process down through the years. It has taken me time to get my brain to quit thinking in the realm of "it doesn't look like it" or "I've never seen God do that before". The hindrance to answered prayer has nothing to do with God. He is always faithful. He has always proven Himself to be faithful in the past. So I have every confidence in the world that He will be faithful to His Word in the future. AND, I have every right to expect that answer. AND, I have every right to think about receiving that answer. AND, I have every right to be at peace before the answer gets here.

Now, here's where the guts comes in. Not only do I have the right to expect God to answer....BUT....I also have to right to shove God's Word into the devil's face and taunt him with it. Why would I want to do that? Because, he has been bull-dogged determined to wreck my life by fear, doubt, anger and jealousy. 

Soooooooo, not only will I shove it in his face like he has done me down through the years, I'm going to give God praise in advance.  Now, listen.....even though it doesn't look like it will ever come to pass.....even though I can't see any way out....even though I don't feel like it's going to happen. 

None of these things control the outcome of my prayers. The fact that God made a blood-sworn oath to His promises is enough for me to shout the victory. The only thing that will stop them is if I quit praying.

We can live in peace and when we live in peace it makes the devil worry because we have just started to take God's victory over him.

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