Gooood Morning Gogeous,
It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. A new day filled with promise. A new day to turn and lean into Jesus. A new day to seek Him and find Him.
His mercy is so great. His love is unfailing. His kindness is vast. He is patient and ever ready to recieve you. He will recieve you again and again and again. He is waiting for you to ask, so that He can give. He is waiting for you to seek, so that He can be found by you. He is waiting to give you rest. He is waiting for you. He has all you need. Everything you have been lacking, can be found in Jesus.
Peace, joy, rest. He has it all for you, and in great portions.
What is required? To turn from your ways and believe in Him. To trust in Him. To depend on Him. To stop running, turn around, and just crawl up into His arms. To stop working so hard for what is already done through Christ. To learn to recieve the good gifts He has prepared for you long ago.
Gorgeous Girl, whether you are a brand new believer or you have been walking with Jesus for decades, we all have room to grow closer to Him. We all have areas that are in need of a healing touch from Jesus. He has it for us, we have a partnership in receiving from Him. We have a role in receiving the gifts and taking possession of the land. We also have a role in keeping possession of the land. Many of us have recieved our promises from God just like the Israelites, but struggle to keep them. You may have recieved the Lord’s peace, but struggle to STAY in peace. Received His portion of joy, but struggle to KEEP that joy. You may have had victory over an area of your life, only to have the struggle return again and again.
The Israelites and their stories continue to offer great lessons, hope, and insight into God’s ways and how He relates to His people. The Israelites have been victorious and delivered into their promised land, but they failed to follow all of the Lord’s instructions. He warned them to drive out all of the people who lived there before them. He warned them to not leave survivors in the land because these people would tempt them and cause other problems for them. Well, the Israelites didn’t listen and they left people who fled to the hills and outer areas of the city. They didn’t do the hard work of completely driving out the people. And those people eventually came back and made their ways become part of the Israelites through marriage or slavery. These relationships caused the Israelites to begin to worship other gods and to experience other issues that would have been avoided had they completely driven them out in the first place.
This is a common theme in our victories today. We drive out old patterns and ways of thinking with the help of our Lord. But we hold onto small remnants of our old chains. We mostly walk in the ways of the Lord, but we hold back an area or two that we will control. Or we are victorious for awhile, but then flee back to an old way of being when the pressure hits. Why? Maybe because we didn’t completely eradicate the root issue and only the symptoms or because we may have left survivors of the old patterns living in the wilderness of our thoughts. We didn’t drive out all of the old patterns of thinking completely. We left some behind.
How do we move ahead once and for all? The answer may be that we have to choose daily whom we will serve. It may not be a once and done victory. It may be a daily victory that we recieve when we rise in the morning and say, “I am filled with the peace of Jesus that surpasses all understanding.” “I am a victorious follower of Jesus Christ and no weapon formed against me will prevail.” “I will delight myself in the Lord today and follow all of His ways over mine.”
Over time, the small daily victories will become great and mighty. The old ways of thinking, being, and seeing will be replaced by the clarity that comes from the Lord.
Whenever you feel your “enemies” whatever that may be for you, rising back up, remember Whom you belong to. You can flee back to the Lord again and again and again. His arms are always open wide, ready to recieve His people.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Help us. Strengthen us. Grow us past old ways and into new one. Give us total and complete victory over our battles. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Blessings to you today friends!
Vanessa Lynn