God’s
people often look at themselves through eyes that greatly diminish who they
really are and whom God has called and created them to be. When we do this, we
are not walking in the power and authority that God has given us. It is like a
mighty soldier who is equipped with the most powerful and advanced weaponry that
could easily overtake the strongest foe, but instead of standing and advancing
against the enemy, they curl up into a ball like a frightened child, and say,
“I’m afraid - the enemy is too big - I can’t do this.” If a soldier responded
this way in battle when the enemy got too close, the enemy would overtake that
soldier very quickly, and the soldier would either lose their life or be taken
captive.
We
often behave this way in our daily lives when we encounter spiritual battles.
God has already defeated the enemy, but we look at him as if he is a Goliath
that we cannot overcome. Many mighty men cowered in fear and ran when Goliath
challenged them, but ONE young boy did not let fear or intimidation stand in his
way! David was the only one who stood up against Goliath because he knew who
his God was, and he trusted Him completely. He did not look at his own
limitations or weaknesses, but he stepped out in faith, based on the knowledge
that his God had always been faithful to him and could always be trusted. David
had built his relationship with God over the years by spending intimate time in
His presence worshipping and communing with Him on a daily basis. God had been
faithful to David, and David knew he could trust God to defeat Goliath through
him, just as God had defeated the lion and the bear through David.
You
may feel like a small, weak and ineffective sapling, but in actuality you are a
strong and majestic oak tree that is very capable of withstanding the strongest
foe or the fiercest of storms! You are God’s Mighty Warrior, and He desires
that you see yourself as He created you, rather than seeing yourself through the
eyes and the lies of the enemy. You will never know what you are capable of if
you don’t step out in faith and try.
If you
feel that your “oak tree” has become twisted and bent in the storms of life,
come into God’s presence and let Him pour out His healing balm of Gilead upon
you where you are broken and bent. He will take those places and heal them and
straighten them and bring them into a place of perfect alignment with Him.
The Lord is
showing me a vision: I see an oak tree that is very big and very strong,
but it has become twisted by the severe beatings of the storms of life. But
when God touches that tree, instantly that oak tree becomes perfectly straight,
aligned and healthy.
I hear the
Lord saying: Yes, you are a
mighty oak tree. No longer believe the lies of the enemy that tell you
otherwise. You truly can do ALL things through My strength, so press into Me
and I will strengthen your hands that hang down and your feeble knees that
threaten to give way, and I will make straight paths for your feet. I will turn
what was darkness into My marvelous light, and you will see yourself in a brand
new way. I am healing those deep wounded places within you – those areas where
you thought you would never be free. Rest in Me and let Me complete the work
that I have begun in you - you truly will be unrecognizable so changed will you
be!
Remember, you are a mighty oak tree, and you truly can do
ALL things through Me – never forget that. Do not let yourself be pulled out of
place, but set your face like flint, and together, the two of us will overcome
everything that tries to stand in your way!
Philippians 4:13 AMP
I have
strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and
equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I
am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].
Isaiah
42:16 AMP
And I will
bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they
have not known. I will make darkness into light before them and make uneven
places into a plain. These things I have determined to do [for them]; and I will
not leave them forsaken.
Job 36:16
NIV
He is
wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction,
to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.
Isaiah 61:3
NLT
To all who
mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing
instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness,
they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
Hebrews
12:12-13 NKJV
Therefore
strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,and make straight
paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be
healed.
Isaiah 50:7
NIV
Because the
Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face
like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
Becky
Porter
No comments:
Post a Comment