(II Cor 10:3-5 KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Yesterday we learned how we can literally be deprogrammed and then reprogrammed through the transforming power of the Word of God. Once we are reprogrammed we will start to think Godly thoughts and those Godly thoughts will produce Godly images - we will see ourselves as successful, peaceful, prosperous, loving, compassionate, kind, etc. Seeing ourselves the way God sees us is extremely important for many reasons, but let me give you two cold morning.
First, it is important because without seeing yourself the way God sees you, you will find it hard to cooperate with God. Let me explain. When God looks at you He sees you a certain way. Not only does He see you, but He also sees your future; He even sees the legacy you will leave behind (our decisions impact our children and our children's children). So when He speaks to you and tells you to do something He has taken all of that into consideration. However, if you fail to see yourself the way God sees you (failing to take your future into consideration and only focusing on the mistakes of your past), then you will not have the faith to cooperate with God and your lack of faith will hinder Him from operating in your life.
Stated another way, God never speaks to our 'right now' stage, He speaks to our 'to be.' He wants to stretch us, but if we have a negative self-image we will be so stuck in the past that we won't be able to see our future, nor strive towards it.
Secondly, it is important because you will never release faith for something you can't see. If God wants us to live by faith (and He does), and we won't release faith for something that we cannot 'see' (and we won't), then it stands to reason that He wants us to develop the ability to see (spiritually) the future He desires for us to have. The Father painstakingly took the time to help Abram see himself the way He saw him. We all know that Jehovah's desire for Abram (aka Abraham) was that He would become a father of many nations and the at the entire earth would be blessed through him.
However, Abram was having a hard time seeing himself that way because he met God when he was 75 years old, his wife was 65 years old, and they had never produced any children. Even after walking with Jehovah for many years the relationship was still unproductive. But one night Jehovah took Abram outside and asked him to look at the stars. God asked, "Can you number them?" Of course Abram could not, and God said, "That's how many children you are going to have." Then one day God took Abram outside, in the desert, on the sand, and asked Abram to look at the sand. As he was looking the Lord asked, "Can you number the grains of sand?" Of course Abram could not, and God said, "That's how many children you are going to have."
What was God doing? God was attempting to get Abram to see himself the way He saw him, because once Abram did, once he was able to SEE IT, then he was able to release his faith FOR IT, and then BECOME IT! If it was daytime Abram could look down (at the sand), if it was nighttime he could look up (at the stars), but either way he had the motivation he needed to stretch his self-image to the point where he could believe God!
So what does this mean to you? It means that if you want to cooperate with God and to live by faith you are going to have to put yourself (God is not going to force you) through the process of mind renewal, so that you can see yourself the way God sees you. Once you do, once you get an image of yourself being what God desires for you to be, then you will have the faith to STEP OUT and do those things required to bring that image to pass! And once you STEP OUT God will back you up!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for this Word. I now see the importance of agreeing with Your estimation of me. I declare, by faith, that I develop a self-image that lines up with Your image. I am able to see myself, by faith, the way You see me and I keep that image before me. That image becomes my focal point and I then step out in faith to DO those things that are required of me to produce the image that I see, that came from You. Once I step out in faith, I know You will be there to back me up every step of the way, because You are pleased when I live by faith! I am excited about my future! In Jesus' name. Amen!
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