God has granted me the privilege to seek His face. Coming into His presence with whatever my need is also a great privilege. It's an incredible honor to be invited to ask what I desire of Him. More than anything else, God has blessed me with the honor of encouraging those who are struggling to experience the joy of their faith.
I don’t have the authority to share God’s Word with others solely based on my personal experiences. Interpreting Scripture through my experiences can be risky because my experiences don’t always align with the truth of God’s Word. On the other hand, interpreting the Word without experiencing it can also be dangerous. Experience is powerful when my beliefs align with the Word. My journey to experiencing the overwhelming joy of my faith is only revealed in my relationship with Jesus, where the Holy Spirit works through my surrender to His will.
Often, when we haven’t experienced God’s truth in our lives, such as healing, we tend to come up with lame excuses to explain why our experience differs from His Word. We grasp for any answer that keeps us from feeling overwhelmed and at a loss. Consequently, we question God and doubt Him instead of trusting in our relationship with Him. We cling to things that hinder our resemblance to the resurrected, victorious Jesus. We forget that “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).
Jesus triumphantly sits at the Father’s side, and we who are in Christ are seated with Him. We are being transformed into the image of our resurrected Savior. There are many works of darkness that come against us. All throughout our journey in this Christian life, the devil uses questions and objections to tempt us to believe lies that oppose God's truth.
Instead of seeking God’s understanding of the Word, some Christians form their own understanding. They feel the need to explain “why” the Word isn’t working in their lives. They form their understanding around what God didn’t do instead of what Jesus did. This need to justify their experience nullifies the Father being revealed in Jesus through His character and works. It nullifies the power of the Word. The person who justifies the Word according to His experience will always judge God for what He didn’t do over what He did. But those who are humbly surrendered in their heart to God will always look to Jesus through what He has said and what He has done.
“(God) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:2-3).
The Father is perfectly manifested and revealed in Jesus. He is the exact representation of the Father. If you have any thoughts or beliefs about God that you cannot find in the person of Jesus, you should question those beliefs. Consider Jesus and the fact that He healed everyone who came to Him, including those who had weak faith. He didn’t withhold the miracles from those whose faith was weak. Instead, He addressed their weak faith and then responded with a miracle to strengthen their faith.
As I write and teach God’s Word, it continually challenges me in areas where I’ve settled. I must surrender to the Word and allow it to confront those areas I’ve tried to justify. If I will submit to God’s Word every moment of my life, the enemy will flee. I will overcome the powers of darkness through the blood of the Lamb and my testimony. My faith will be strengthened, and I shall be convinced that as Jesus is in this world, so am I. And when the Word I believe in my heart manifests in my life, His truth becomes my experience, giving power and credibility to my testimony.
Pursuing a life that is in His resurrected image is costly. I can never return to the place before I surrendered to Him. I’m not impressed with myself or any gift God has bestowed upon me. God isn’t impressed with me either. And I don’t have to defend the Word of God. The Word defends itself. This is the life God has asked me to choose—to always believe and declare His victory. I may have losses in life that refuse to line up with His Word, and I'll always be held accountable for how well I manage those losses. But I must keep my eyes on His victory at all costs. No matter what I see or experience in this life, His Word is truth. Period. His hope sustains my faith.
I always pray that the devotionals I write, or what I teach are the result of the work He is doing in me. When people read these devotionals or come to me, I pray that they don’t hear or see me; I pray they hear Him, see Him, and experience Him. I pray that they look unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). The work of the Word is finished, and it is glorious.
Jesus, may I always look unto you and abide in you as you abide in me. I don’t want to dominate anyone and tell them how to exercise their faith. I want to work with others so their joy may be full. It is by my own faith I stand firm, and it is by their own faith, they stand firm (2 Corinthians 1:24). Help me, Lord, to remain faithful to your Word and to encourage those you have entrusted to me to experience the joy of their faith (Philippians 1:25).
