For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
I have decided, without apology, that this life that I'm living is the best life to live. I have lived in the goodness of God. Period.
There's nothing I've been through in this lifetime that hasn't been on God's radar way before it ever made a bleep on mine. There's nothing I've faced, and I say this with great conviction, that has made me want to walk away from the promise's and faithfulness of God. Where else would I go? To whom else would I turn? There's no valley I've walked through in which I've been alone for He goes before me, beside me and behind me. He has me covered! There's no mountain I've climbed that hasn't proven "worth it all" when I stood at the top with my Guide.
This I know...in all these things, I am more than a conqueror because God has made me victorious.
Sometimes it takes a paradigm shift and a total reconstructive restoration for us to realize that we're not hopeless. The enemy feeds us all kinds of lies which blind us to the truth that we "know" in our mind, but aren't feeling within our heart. In times of weakness and struggle, it's so easy to forget that Jesus already overcome the world so we could know love, joy, peace and abundant life in Him. Talk about an American dream, this should be the dream. And a reality!
The Word says no weapon formed against us shall prosper, it doesn't say it won't be formed. I am more determined than ever before to stand upon the promises of God, to walk by faith, to wait upon the Lord and finish this race well. No matter what the weapon is, this I know, I can win.
During my devotion time the other day I just began writing and this flowed out: Very personal, but healing, and I wanted to share.
Forgive me for all the days I moped about, for all the days I wasn't a joy to be around,
for all the days I was a burden, for all the days I was unsociable and self-absorbed, for all
the days I wanted to quit...it takes time, and maybe took me longer than it "should" have...
but I'M STILL HERE. I'm stronger and more determined than ever, with a testimony and
much thankfulness to the Lord - that He brought me thru, taught me many lessons and
put godly people into my life to minister and encourage me. For every word that brought
inspiration, I am blessed. For every harsh word that drove me to the feet of Jesus, I am blessed.
For every word of criticism that pushed me harder and caused me to grow, I am blessed. I am
who I am today because of Who my God is, because of the many things He's brought me
thru, because of the things He worked together for the good in my life, and because who
He's continuing to mold me into. Today I can say, I'm very thankful for every high and low,
every sunshiny day and every day filled with darkness, for every victory and every valley. God
is faithful, full of grace and mercy, and greatly to be praised. Thru it all, my faith has grown.
Thru it all my trust in God has increased. Thru it all, I have learned more about myself and my
Lord. I am blessed and highly favored!
I'm reminded of a post my daughter-in-love put on Facebook earlier today. My oldest grand-girl had called her Mommy into her room. She was so excited because she had cleaned her room up all by herself! It wasn't "clean" according to an adult standard, but she had picked everything up off the floor and put it on her dresser and bed. The floor was clean. From her perspective, she was victorious and was very proud of herself. Go girl!
I'm afraid I might be standing here today with my own two adult thumbs up. Victory comes in quite a few flavors. What I struggle with may be no problem for you, and vice versa, but what I know without a doubt is that we all struggle with something from time to time. I also know we can all stand and take a selfie with the Lord by our side as we hold our own thumbs up in victory. He longs for us to rely upon Him and His desire is for us to live abundantly victorious lives and share His goodness with those we meet who are also struggling the way we have. Our struggling is NOT in vain!
This, my friend, is what victory looks like! Have I always declared this? NO. Have I always been positive and looked on the bright side? NO. Victory looks like this - like me, all thumbs up...and nothing can take away my (or your) testimony. Thru it ALL! Greater still is that He who has brought this change about in my life and has gently led me into another season can do the same for you. There IS hope. I can't tell you exactly when or how it happened, it just did. There was a shift, a change. Will I never make a mistake again? NO! Will I ever have another "bad" day. PROBABLY. Will I be alone? NO! Will I make a comeback? YES!
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine and I'm running toward Him with my eyes on Heaven. I am blessed and the enemy is under my feet. Won't you make that declaration with me today too? Go girl! With God on our side, nothing can hold us down.
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