Change is the essential process of all existence.

Take Hold of Your Identity

Remember that it is God who gave but we must take hold of that which was given!

Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.

This is such a well-known and quoted verse and yet I find myself asking the question “Do we REALLY understand its meaning?” God was trying to show Zerubbabel that all he needed to do was to Trust, Believe and move forward on the given instructions. The Lord Himself will see to it that all works out according to plan.

In the New Testament we have a phrase for this kind of God/Man working relationship, and that phrase would be “By Grace through Faith”. The Grace of God is everything that “HAS” been completed on the cross and Faith is my trusting, believing that it is already done and acting upon it as if this is so. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, as simple as it sounds, it is still one of the greatest challenges that we can face. That challenge is to not do God’s part and stick to the part given us. You see in reality everything has already been done, God has already done everything that He is going to do and it is now time for us to believe that it is done and act on it as if it is so. If we could only understand the completed work of Christ, then we would start to see as He sees and the completed would start to manifest.

I have found this true in my own journey, for years I tried to build people into men and women of God. My motives were pure and my heart was steadfast yet many times I found myself frustrated with the results. I had forgotten that it is His work and not my work and that He is the one that transforms the hearts of men. You see as a pastor and as a leader it is my job to oversee and guide people to that reality, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to reveal the reality to the individual. Thankfully I am able to learn and change, the result being that as I take my hands off the situations, I find the Hand of God on the situations and people grow, people change. If I will focus on believing in the finished work and help others to see that finished work then we together can experience that finished work.

The plan of God is not something that human intellect can interpret or even understand. The plan of God is a spiritual matter that can only be interpreted by the spirit through faith. Often times we find ourselves struggling and I believe this is solely because we tend to mingle spiritual things with natural things. This is like trying to mix oil and water, no matter how hard you try, a separation will always occur.

We by nature are spiritual creatures and thus it is only normal for us to live by the spirit but the problem that often occurs is that we forget who we are and we can slip into the delusion that we are natural people. This delusion causes us to measure life and success according to external things that the five senses can relate to. When we do this we find ourselves on the outside of God and His Kingdom trying to look in. One cannot see the things of the Kingdom from the outside; it can only be seen from the inside through faith.

What then is the answer? Well instead of looking for a single answer, why not walk out the journey? The spiritual life is a continuum, it is practised daily. The spiritual life is to continually live one step beyond your understanding. It is in this one step that we find Christ daily, that we experience Christ daily. It is in this one step that we begin to experience what the Bible calls faith. Always remember that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. It is in walking that faith comes alive and spirituality becomes the normal.

1Corinthians 2:7-16(NLT) No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—His plan that was previously hidden, even though He made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 2:8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 2:10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 2:11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 2:12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 2:13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 2:14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 2:15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 2:16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.