I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas! It is such an exciting time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the reality of God’s peace on earth and His will toward men be experienced and accepted by all!
As we rapidly approach the end of 2023, I want to deposit a word in your heart that I pray will carry you into the new year and inspire you to believe for everything that God has promised. It’s not over until God’s word is fulfilled concerning you. Psalms 138:8 (TPT) says, “You keep every promise you’ve ever made to me!” It is God’s word that will sustain you fully to the end!
God, although self-sufficient, decided to partner with man to carry out His will. Jesus was a perfect illustration of this as He said in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Jesus’ humility and obedience to God purchased mankind’s redemption and placed us back into a relationship with the Father. As you and I walk out God’s plan for our lives we must do so in absolute dependence and reliance on Him. I want you to know that God is working continuously on your behalf, but the benefits of His accomplishments must be acquired by a steady gaze on His word and attentiveness to His voice.
The recognition of God. Psalms 138:8 (NKJV) says, “The Lord will perfect [complete] that which concerns me;” What God has perfected in us and for us is revealed in the diligent pursuit of Him. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God’s will is clear, but man must respond to the work of Christ by turning from his old ways and repenting. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” What I want you to see is that God’s perfected will is not automatic. What He has finalized and fulfilled is revealed and acquired through a relationship with Him.
God is saying that the year may be over, but His promises to you are not. Don’t stop delighting in Him and turning to Him because of distractions created by the demands of life. Only God can accomplish that which He has started. If He said it, He will do it. If He spoke it, He will bring it to pass. (Numbers 23:19)
The expectation of God. Isaiah 64:4 (AMPC) says, “For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.” God’s working for you, so be expectant!
The word wait here is not passive nor hopeless. On the contrary, it implies one who is filled with the knowledge of God and joyfully anticipating His divine assistance!
John 5:3 gives us the story of the man healed at the pool of Bethesda, it reads, “In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.” We’re dealing with both an illness and a time issue. The danger with circumstances and timing is they can erode the image of God’s word concerning your abundant supply and destiny to the point you become cynical and complacent; callous to seeing the miracle God has for you.
How you wait for God is significant and of most importance, so we must do a self-evaluation to check and see how we are waiting or expecting. Am I waiting passively and anxiously as if I have no word from God or power? Or am I hopeful, looking with great fervency and expectation of now-fulfillment? Remember that expectation unloads the weight of waiting and is the breeding ground for the miraculous. The lame man at the pool of Bethesda when asked by Jesus if he wanted to be made well, replied, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred…” One of the indications of a weak expectation is excuses. When you are confident in who your God is and what He has promised, you won’t wait for a move, you’ll create one by believing His word over the current circumstances with great joy!
The justification of God. Psalms 37:23 (AMPC) says, “The steps of a [good] man (righteous man) are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in His way [and He busies Himself with his every step.] I took the liberty to add righteous man as it is the central theme of this chapter.
The degree to which we accept our justification in Him is the degree we accept confidently our steps being directed and established by Him. It is from the shame of sin-consciousness that we resist the counsel that God gives which leads us to satisfaction and increase. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Jesus became sin, so we could be made alive in the spirit, well in our bodies, and financially supplied. A righteous position gives you the confidence of belonging in the presence of the Father without guilt and shame and the qualification to receive everything He has for you in this time and season. There is no denial or rejection, only abundant acceptance, and allocation!
Our justification, expectation, and recognition of God release the completion, action, and dedication of God’s fullness. He has promised and set aside everything for you that produces absolute success in every area of life. So simply believe and begin to live in the fullness of Him.