Monday, February 25, 2013

Harnessing the Greatness Within....Part 2


In my last post I showed that as Christians we all have greatness within us and in order to harness this greatness we first must believe it is there. Meditating on God’s word is one sure way to change or mindset about who we are in Christ Jesus.  Not only should we meditate on the word of God, but we must also be obedient to the word of God. In our obedience to the word we are saying to God “I trust you with my life” So whatever He asks me to do I know it is something that will build me up, not harm me.

Coupled with obedience is submission to God and then to each other. To submit means to come under, to give in. James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Harnessing the greatness within calls for us to live a life of humility. Jesus Christ was the greatest example of Humility- Phil. 2:5-8
Phil 2:3 tells us- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (NIV). Humility is allowing God to do what He wants to do in our life.
To harness the greatness within we need to live a life of patience, we must wait on God’s timing for things in our lives. We cannot become anxious; we must wait on the Lord. Hebrews 10:35-39; Isaiah 40:31.

Living a life of Love is another necessary ingredient in harnessing the greatness within. John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

With a life of obedience, submission, humility, patience and love we can boldly approach the throne of God in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.

Mt. 21:22 says- And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. In addition the word of God further states in John 15:16: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. I can hear some saying “whatever I ask in His name”?  Yes, because if we are grounded in God’s word then we will not ask for unnecessary things- James 4:3 calls this asking amiss.

In His Service,
 
Vilma 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Harnessing the Greatness Within Us -Part I


In each of us lies the potential for greatness, however, some people are able to achieve it but for some it remains elusive. For the next couple of posts I would like to talk about some ways in which we can access the greatness inside. The first thing that we need to do is to recognize that there is this greatness within us. This is a hard concept to grasp for some of us especially when you look in the mirror and the person looking back at you has no resemblance to greatness.  You see instead, failure, disappointment, and rejection.  Let me assure you that what you are looking at is an exterior that is masking the true person within. If you are unaware of something, how can you appropriate it? I John 4:4 says: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

There are two basic spirits within the world, the spirit of the devil and the Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior we become born again. John 1: 12 tell us "But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name."

 Jesus Christ places within us the Holy Spirit.  This Holy Spirit has already triumphed over the spirit of the devil according to what we see in I John 4:4. So we are already over-comers. We will always have the victory if we rely on who is in us than relying on ourselves. So how do we access this power within us? I believe that having a new mindset is important. We need to change our thinking about who we are in Christ.  We cannot function on how we feel; instead we need to act on what is the truth of God’s word. We need to start thinking in terms of how God thinks. The way a person thinks will determine the way he feels, and the way one feels determines the way he will act. It therefore makes a lot of sense that if we want to change the way we act, we must determine the way we think. We cannot start with the action. We must start with the thought. If we want to activate the power within us we must change our beliefs. We must expose the lies that we are basing our behavior.  In John 8:31-32 we find these words, Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. We need to change our thoughts about situations by abiding in God’s word- reading, listening, studying, meditating, and memorizing. As we saturate our minds with God’s word, we are in essence thinking His thoughts. Before we know it our feelings no longer will have control. Know the truth it will set you free. What is or perhaps who is the truth?  The truth first of all is Jesus Christ according to John 14:6- “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.  So we know who the Truth is now need to ask What is the truth? Everything that God says. Let me emphasize for us one of the many.  Ephesians 1:19-20 says:  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms (NLT).

To sum this all up as a born again child of God we are fully equipped with power. However we cannot allow this power to just lie dormant within us, we need to harness it and set it to work. Stay tuned to find out how we do this.
 
In His Service,

 
Vilma