This week's guest post is from a woman after God's heart.
Regan Armstrong has such an amazing, radical expectation of seeing
people receive and walk in the promises of God and what His Son paid for on the cross.
She has a healing anointing on her life that just pours out of her!
Enjoy this post!!
There is one question that takes precedence over the rest. Its
importance far outweighs the deepest theological question one could create. And
even more so, it is the answer that holds the greatest weight. So here is the
question, “Who is God to you?”
How we answer this one question directly affects our entire
life.
The truth is we answer this question every single day by the
way we live. By the way we talk to each other, the way we encourage or
discourage, the way we doubt or stand firm through trials. See, we could go
around the world and always hear a different answer for this question.. But
what I’d like to share is who does God say He is to you?
In 1 Corinthians 1:18 it says,
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says
the Lord Almighty”
He will be our Father… All throughout scripture God uses the
term Father to describe our relationship with Him. Surely He is our Most High
King, but more importantly He is our Father.
I believe the reason it is hard for many to accept this
intimate relationship with God is because of our relationships with our earthly
fathers, which have been faulted with unperfect love.
But our Fathers love is forever perfect towards us..
A friend led a ministry meeting a few weeks ago where he shared
a story that will forever bless me. He said he was meditating on Mark 12:30-31
which says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
While he was resting in the Lord's presence reflecting on His
Word, God said to him, “Son, read it from my perspective, as my promise I wrote
to you”. When he flipped it around this is how it read.
“And I shall love you will all my heart, with all my soul, with
all my mind and with all my strength. I will love you as I love myself.”
That is who God says He is to you.. A Father who loves you with ALL of Himself.
There is a quote I love that says, “He does not distribute
Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as
if there were no others.”
For the past year or so the Lord has directed me to a time of resting... or a time to “dwell richly” as I have
referred to it. It has been such a special time of simply soaking in His
abundance.. His overflow of perfect love.
And It is only through this knowledge and understanding of who He is to us that we then can
proclaim and receive who we are to
Him.
We are the precious children of the King, the beloved of Jesus
and heirs to the Kingdom. Through Christ we have been given a righteous
inheritance. One that surpasses the riches of this world. As believers in Jesus
we have been seated in Him at the right hand of our Father. We then, are living
from that high place and God sees us in all the glory and perfection as He sees
His Son. So, through that knowledge of abundant Grace, let us be bold and truly
seek to know Him.
Ephesians
3:16-19, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you
with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in
love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long
and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of
God."
Colossians 3:16 says "Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
The definition of Dwell
is - To live or stay permanently; to
inhabit; abiding.
The word Richly
means - In a generous way or in full manner; abounding.
So to "dwell
richly" is choosing to
abide in His love for us. To soak in His promises and to call Christ’s work
finished, which seated us in Glory. We must let His Word abound deep in our
hearts, so we may hold Him to every word. It is from this place of rest that we
will trust completely in His faithfulness towards us; to heal, restore and
empower us. We need to stand firm on His promises for our lives, stand firm on
the love He has declared towards us.. to the point that we are in a constant
state of expectation.. "That we may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God". When we behold
His face, we rise above circumstances and rest with Him in heavenly realms.
This is the way of peace, living in the light of His presence. The following is
a small excerpt from the devotional
"Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young, for me it explains perfectly
the relationship our Father has created for us.
"Learn to live from your
true center in Me. I reside in the
deepest depths of your being, in eternal union with your spirit. It is at this
deep level that My Peace reigns continually. You will not find lasting peace in
the world around you, in circumstances or human relationships. The external
world is always in flux—under the curse of death and decay. But there is a gold
mine of peace deep within you, waiting to be tapped. Take time to delve into
the riches of My residing presence. I want you to live increasingly from your
real center, where My Love has an eternal grip on you, I am Christ in you, the
hope of Glory."
The only constant we have in this world is the perfect love of
our Father and King who has declared us righteous, holy and redeemed. Who dwells
within us to help us walk boldly, stand firmly and love abundantly from our
identity in Him. Our Father has only blessings and goodness to give, He has
planned a specific calling for each of us that will fulfill our deepest desires
for our life. He wants to pour out His blessings in a way none of us could
imagine. His best for us far exceeds the best we could ever dream for
ourselves. So, let us live from our High Ground, our perfect union with our
most precious Father.
You are His sons & daughters in whom He is well
pleased...
-Regan Armstrong
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