And how many of us are in such a position that we'd have to say, Ok God, you've got to stop with all this victory, I have too much? Have you ever wondered what the scripture means in Genesis chapter one verses 26 - 28 when God is talking about making us in His image? For me, this is one of those passages that sets my mind on "tilt". So, get your bible out and read this with me. I believe it will help you understand just what God has invested in YOU. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen 1:26-28 (KJV). There is so much information to absorb from these verses but what captures my interest the most is how God chooses to make us in His image. What does that image look like? How would it function? Why would He choose to do this in us? There are probably countless other questions about this. In brief, His power to change, His grace to overcome, all that God IS resides inside of every born again believer. In other words, God is living on the inside of you being God, living out His "Godness" through our spirit, soul, and body. Like the picture above, we all have the capacity to be the same even though we have different colors. We still have the ability to be that cookie ie that child of God in His image. Incidentally, we hinder God being God inside of us when we make choices contrary to His Godness through the soulish realm of our mind, will, and emotions. I hope this inspires you to move through life more slowly, giving yourself time to recognize God inside of you tackling your everyday challenges. Learning to yield our ways to God's ways takes some time so start today. When you wake up in the morning, sit on the side of your bed long enough to recognize God inside of you. Give Him the room to live His life, His thoughts, His ways, His power, in your life so you can experience His kind of life, His high thoughts, His high ways, and his overwhelming kind of victory in your everyday life. Gosh that was a mouthful. This is why I said earlier that this sets my mind on "tilt, ding, ding, bonkers, flash, and more tilt". When I think of God, I never think of Him as being challenged on any level, not mentally, physically, or emotionally. I never think of God as wringing His hands wondering what to do about adverse situations. I never catch God struggling to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I never catch God short of words or coming short of an answer to anything at anytime. I never witness God having a bad hair day, right. So, in closing, our being made in His image means that He created in us the capacity to live a God kind of life [His kind of life] in this earth. We can think His thoughts, we can be in a position of authority as in a King, we can choose which plan we are to work, His plan or our plan. Personally, I choose His. I tried the ways of this world -defined as beg, borrow, steal, and stomp on anybody who gets in the way- and it brought only sorrow and defeat at every corner. Thinking God's thoughts, accepting our rightful place in Him - Eph. 2: 6, working His plan puts us in position to experience His kind of victory. And how many of us are in such a position that we'd have to say, Ok God, you've got to stop with all this victory, I have too much? I want you to understand something. See, we were born with a nature to sin, to be rebellious. It is the Grace of God that allowed him to keep loving us enough to send Jesus to the cross for us to remove that sinful nature just by believing Jesus would do something like that for us. It's all because of this Grace, that we are saved, it is a free gift. And it is all because of this Grace that God would allow us to have any -A N Y- rewards in heaven. He's even got a huge celebration planned for us called the marriage supper of the lamb. Our reward for allowing God to be in us through Jesus is an invitation to the grandest ball ever - the marriage supper of the Lamb, Rev 19: 17-19. All the "who's who" will be there. And I am not talking about Hollywood's a-listers either. I'm talking about YOU and ME and anybody who allows their heart to believe in Jesus as savior and Lord. We, collectively called the Bride of Christ, will be the "Belle of the Ball", we are the object of His divine affection, and we are the recipients of His everlasting love. See yourself victorious today. In His Service, La Donna I can't say this enough. There are no discrepancies, there are no controversies in the word.
If you've been studying the bible any length of time, you have probably come across some scriptures that seem to disagree with each other. For example: we see in the book of Psalms the word fear is used extensively. Not every use of the word means to be afraid of God. In many of those instances where you see this word, it means to have a reverential respect for God. You can't stretch your imagination far enough to see any relation between those two uses of the word fear.
How do you get past those times and still trust God? What are you supposed to think about those? Can you come to a reasonable conclusion and continue to study the word of God? Listen, in times like this, the first thing you will have to do is to shut down most voices. Even well meaning folks will argue there are discrepancies in the word. I can't say this enough. There are no discrepancies, there are no controversies in the word. It can't be because God cannot lie. Did you get that? God cannot lie!!! Let's explore this. Titus 1:2 says: In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" This is also in Heb 6:18, "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:" So, if God cannot lie, what do we do with discrepancies? First, you need to understand the bible was not written in English. The OT was originally written in Hebrew and the NT was written in Greek. Why our translators chose some of the words they did is anybody's guess. I personally think they could have done a much better job. This is where having a Greek and Hebrew Lexicon will help. Strongs has a good concordance with references to Greek and Hebrew words with explanations. It behooves any student of the word of God to obtain a good Lexicon. Another resource is to use E-Sword, it's a free download and they use Strongs. My husband likes using a Brown, Driver, Brigs, concordance. So, anytime you get hung on discrepancies just realize it's not a discrepancy because God can't lie and you just simply need some understanding on whatever you are studying. As always, if you need help with understanding the word of God, please don't hesitate to contact me. I have a tons of resource material, I'll be glad to help. Just shoot me an email and I will get back with you. I hope your new year is off to a great start. Get on fire and stay on fire for God - it's the best decision you will ever make. God loves you and so do we. â âLa Donna Holstine
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