Faith Forward
None of us has been fully able to escape the lure, the distraction, and the influence that "peer pressure" continues to bombard us with. There's a never ending quest to becoming more and doing more, to acquiring more, in painting such an ideal perfect little picture of what our lives should be and what we should have in it, that venturing to do anything other than the 'prescribed norm' would be atrocious and render us deficient! Peer pressure misleads us into believing that if we do not conform then we do not belong, all this at the expense of our values, our beliefs and more importantly our God given design, our God given mandate.
1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" Until we experience the fullness of God's love for us we will come short of knowing the safe haven it offers. His love is perfect and pure and dispels the fears of insecurity and the need to reinvent ourselves just to fit in. Romans 8: 15 "The spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry Abba Father" There is no greater comfort and assurance than being a child of God with a Heavenly Father whose love for us is all excelling. The world pressures us to conform, but Jesus teaches transformation and reformation. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds, when we change the way we think, we change the way we live and a renewed mind is made secure and safe within the parameters of the Peace and Love of our Heavenly Father. So if you are comparing notes with your neighbour, (the infamous Joneses) stop! God has better for your life, He has more in store for you. You have to believe, you have to exercise your faith!
I'm reminded of Abraham and the conversation he had with God in a vision, "Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield your very great reward" Genesis 15:1. "What can you give me since I remain childless?" "A servant in my household will be my heir", was Abram's reply. Clearly Abram was aggrieved at being childless, nonetheless it was a fate that he and Sarah had long resigned to. But then God interjects - "This man will not be your heir, but a son who will be your own flesh and blood will be your heir!" You see it's never over until God speaks over it, until God intervenes and interrupts. It's almost always when we're at a place of 'confident resignation' that God stuns us with the most impossible implausible proposals. As if this announcement did not have Abram reeling into a stupor, God beckons for him to go outside and scan the skies. "Look up at the sky and count the stars - if indeed you can count them - so shall your offspring be!" As the endless twinkling constellation of stars mesmerized Abram they unquestionably helped stir and fan into flame the seeds of faith from within the pit of his belly - Each expanse, each gasp fortified his faith and cemented his belief! I believe said Abram and it was credited to him as righteousness.
I believe God continues to provoke our faith. Life is not all about our plans, our last wills and testaments - we are created for more - we are more - we are the embodiment of God whose Love and Spirit enables us to believe beyond belief, to hope beyond hope and not to succumb to the pressures, the charms and deceptions of our time. Gods Promises and perspective takes away the weights that incline us to think and believe that we need to be someone special with a certain set of abilities, skills and attributes to become significant, purposeful and able. None of these are prerequisites for Gods work - I believe we can because He said we can! Believe - Only believe and surely it will be credited to you as righteousness. God moves when we do!
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