Breakthrough

As I'm walking this process of being made a new creation out and asking what the first steps look like for this to take place, God has really spoke to me through Philippians. That I would have constant fellowship with the spirit, affection, compassion for everyone, making my joy complete. To be of the same mind, same love, united in spirit intent on one purpose. Jesus emptied himself taking the form of a bond-servant and humbled himself by becoming obedient. This is what I'm going through, so much humility and vulnerability to recognize the lies and remove them from my character. I'm working through this salvation with fear and trembling. It's a scary process but I know that God is at work in me both for his will and to work for His pleasure.

A couple girls got different pictures for me while they were praying with me and this is what they got:

Superman Costume: little kids wear a superman costume with fake muscles and a mask and a cape. This was me, and God is taking off the costume of unreality of my own strength and showing me that I have true muscles and strength that were placed inside of me by Him and without Him, I can't do anything.


Clear, Tall, Glass Container: I'm being filled with clear, fresh water God is pouring in me that is filtering out any rocks and dirt (representing my past) from the bottom of the container. The work the Lord is doing is like a huge wave ready to fill my container. The enemy makes the wave look huge and scary but God is gracious and compassionate and will give me little waves at a time, bringing healing and restoration one little lap at a time and after one is accomplished, we will conquer another one.

"I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do is forgiving what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you." -Philippians 3:12-15

Even though I have not yet reached my goal the Lord has placed for me, I will hold fast to the desire to know Jesus and reflect him fully and completely. I am motivated and acknowledging the fact that I have a long ways to go but I will not dwell on my past but seek restoration. I will press on with the mindset that there's always more to be learned, submitted, expressed, and it will all be experienced in this process. I'm going through a continuous process of sanctification and if anything interferes with this, I must remove it from my life. The Holy Spirit will conform me to the image of Christ, possessing his character.

"God predestined me to become conformed to the image of his Son, so that He would be firstborn; to those whom he predestined, he called, and those whom he called, he also justified, to those whom he justified, he also glorified." -Romans 8:29

You love Jesus only as much as you love the person you love the least. Let that sink in for a little while. This was really convicting to me. As a society, we are conditioned to the fact that you can only love if we get something in return. God knows everything about us, and still chooses to love us. So we need his power to love like Jesus because on our own, we do not have the capacity or capability.

 AGAPE=LOVING WITHOUT ANY THOUGHT OF REWARD

Something inside of our human minds thinks that we "deserve things". In the world we live in, people seek satisfaction at our cost and it ends up being hurtful. I no longer want to put limitations on friendships and relationships; agape love is not selective. When we love with consistency, we express the *true* character of Jesus just by living this out. I want to be compelled to do something out of the compassionate love that God has given me and not because there's a slight possibility I'll get something for myself. God's unconditional love will get us over the barriers we place on our ability to love and our relationships. What's so ironic and comforting is that God steps out of his authority position to just love us with everything and we should want nothing but to do the same.

These are some things that are cutting deep to my core. So often, we will lose our frame of referance, get weighed down or tripped up, lose sight of our focus and the finish line. I keep reassuring myself and God keeps speaking to me to just run with endurance. To have confidence in the fact that he is doing a mighty and beautiful work and to just keep being obedient and submitting. I'm a person of results and product so I'm extending grace for myself also so I don't beat myself up when I'm not a completely transformed person in 36 hours. That's what makes this journey and process so exciting!! We can think we know all there is to know but God is endless and He can do the impossible. :)