Straight Talk on Taking by force all that God wants us to have!
Mathew 11:12: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you didn’t care what you had to do to get it, that you committed yourself- heart and soul to doing everything you had to do until you finally succeeded? Now that’s what I’m talking about –that dogged determination - clenched fists / gritted teeth or whatever it took to fight and know the sweet taste of victory?
- Maybe you fought to be married to the person you loved?
- Maybe you are a Cancer Survivor who has fought bravely?
- Are you the person who has worked his way to the top by hardwork and succeeded?
- Are you the ex overweight victim who today can proudly say that you are in your optimal weight margin?
- Are you the athlete who never gave up and as a result now have trophies lined neatly in your show case?
- Or are you the parent who just wouldn’t give up on your rebellious teenager and now glad that you never gave up?
- Or a mother who has suffered labor pains and delivered a beautiful baby into this world?
- If you are any of the above, you are definitely a winner! Congratulations ….What is common in all the above scenarios? The answer is one word: PERSEVERANCE – that stubborn ability not to give up - no matter what happened - in order to win the prize!
A movie I watched very recently reminded me of this same word. The movie is “The Adjustment Bureau” .If you haven't watched it as yet,I suggest you do .Here’s the link for the synopsis. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385826/
My favorite part of the movie which was actually very inspiring was how David Norris (Matt Damon) would just not give up what he wanted - no matter how hard it got and in spite of being warned repeatedly that he was fighting a losing battle.Inspite of not knowing how he would make it, he just keeps on keeping on and finally gets what he wanted in a totally unexpected way!
The hero in the movie reminded me of Jacob of the Bible. In Gen 32:22-32 we see Jacob wrestling with an angel. He wouldn’t let go in spite of being in pain and wrestled with the angel until the break of day. When asked to give up, Jacob gives an incredibly remarkable reply. Gen 32:26: “He said, I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And to sum up the story, he ends up getting what he wanted - the blessing! What a glorious lesson to learn. Though Jacob always limped after that, yet he was no longer Jacob meaning ‘Deceiver’ but Israel meaning ‘Prevailer’- from heel to hero!
The Lord has been teaching me in the past few weeks that the same thing is applicable to us also in our Spiritual Walk with Him. Often in life we may be doing all the right things.We may have accepted Jesus and confess our sins to Him, praying and believing in Him and yet there may be some areas in our lives where we are not able to see the victory we want so badly. The reason is that now we need to stop asking and start receiving.We need to claim the victory, to step forward and take by force what is already given to us by God.
Every time Jesus did a miracle for someone, he first made the person do something in faith. For instance, when he wanted Peter to walk on the water he said “Come.” Until and unless Peter took that first step, he would never have walked on the water. In John 5 Jesus asks a man who has been paralyzed for thirty- eight years not only to rise which in itself was humanly impossible but also to take up his mat and to walk. The man walked because of his faith.
When the Israelites came to the Red Sea, Moses had to stretch out his hand over the sea before God parted it, similarly God expects us to take certain steps in faith before we can visibly see our breakthrough. Jehovah God loves it when we honor Him with a blind obedience and childlike faith in His promises. In John 20:29 Jesus says: “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”.
You may ask me “why doesn’t God (if He loves us so much ) just give what we ask immediately to us? Why does he insist on our taking steps in faith?” The truth as He is teaching me is that God loves us too much to allow us to remain as we are. Just like a loving mother teaches her baby to walk by close supervision and encouraging the child to walk himself and try again even if he falls , our Heavenly father help us strengthen our spiritual muscles so that day by day we become more like Him. As the saying goes: “there is no strength without struggle!”
Always remember that we are more than Conquerors because we are the Children of God!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Take care, God bless,
Sparky Laurie
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