MONDAYS WITH KERRI
Satan seeks to twist and pervert all of God’s gifts, and he specializes in using our emotions against us. Our emotions, like our relationships, become “handles,” which he uses to mentally rip us around. Therefore, we must know The Truth in its most pure and unadulterated form. We are set free when The Truth is not tampered with. Truth that is changed or altered in any way is no longer truth.
So, here is The Truth. You and I are blessed. It is not a feeling or an emotion. It is fact. You may know the darkness of operating in an emotional storm that makes you feel alone, betrayed, hopeless, or abandoned. You may feel forgotten, unseen, unheard, or neglected. Most of us have or will face that pit at some point. However, those are all feelings, not truth. In order to embrace The Truth, we must learn how to choose it. Then we can operate in Truth and not in how we feel.
One of the primary issues for Shelley (in last week's blog), and for each of us, is that we often have a faulty understanding of what being blessed means. We have been deceived into believing that being blessed is the reward we get when we are good, when God lavishes His favor on us, or when we get what we want. However, this is not a biblically accurate picture of the blessed life. Being blessed is not when we get a good seat on an airplane; avoid waiting in line at the grocery store, or when the shirt we want is on sale. Blessed refers to living in close relationship with the God who created you. It is an intimacy with Him that allows situations and people to cause us to know and remember our need for Him, not distract us from Him. A blessing then, is simply a reminder of The One who created us. It is anything that keeps us in a place of wanting, needing, and loving Him more than anyone or anything else.
This necessary shift will come for us as we understand that the ultimate blessing is the blessing of His presence. However, the only way we come to the place where we want Him more than we want anyone or anything else in life is when He removes everything we are holding in our hands. Being blessed often comes through lack, suffering, and in the darkest places of our lives. When we stop trying to hurry out of these painful places, we learn that to be blessed means we are utterly dependent on Jesus. To be blessed is to know that without Him, in this very moment, we cannot even find the strength to take another breath. This paradigm shift changes our entire perspective. When we embrace it, our hearts and minds will be transformed. It is the first step we must take on our journey from The Betrayed to His Beloved.
In order for us to live in the truth that we are blessed, we must not only believe it, we must claim it! Not because our lives are perfect, but because we can resonate with the criteria outlined here in Matthew 5:3-11.
God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is given to them. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses
those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them. God blesses
those who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for they will receive it in full. God blesses
those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts
are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be
called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted because they live
for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when you are mocked
and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers.
These verses should revolutionize our understanding of what a blessed life really is. In them we see that it is only in realizing our complete dependency on our Heavenly Father that our hope will be found in Him. He really is The One worth living for. It is when we know we need Him more than the air we breathe, that we are truly freed.
//Questions//
1. What a wonderful thought "the ultimate blessing is the blessing of His presence." Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal if there is any part of you, even a small part, that does not agree with Kerri's statement and are looking for blessings to come in other ways that do not align with the truth of God's Word.
2. Can you see that God may be trying to bless you through allowing lack, suffering or dark places in your life to create ultimate dependence on Him? Are you willing to believe this dependence is the greatest blessing you could possibly receive?
3. Do you need Him more than the air you breathe or has something else taken His place in your life? If so, confess this to your Heavenly Father and receive His grace and mercy to be truly free from anything less than God's best for your life.
To read more on this topic order Kerri's book
