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— Read on m.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-life-redone-laura-eve-harding/1117436948

There is a freedom in not having it all figured out; in searching. There’s a freedom in not trying to belong. But finding all you need in Jesus Christ. Relying upon His strength in the midst of whatever life throws at you. Knowing that you are complete in Him.

Sometimes I will admit that my relationship with God can seem like an uphill battle; against my heart. In a wider sense, I think we as believers can be fooled into thinking because sometimes we’re responsive to the Holy Spirit promptings that we have it all together. The Bible states in Psalms 139, Though the Lord is high yet He has respect to the lowly. But the proud and haughty God knows only from a distance. That means that He still is around the proud but not nearly as close to them as when their hearts are soft and in their heart of hearts they truly know their need for God. To lay it out, I’ve been battling a proud heart and trying to break it up myself. I can’t do that myself. It’s a Spiritual battle that can only be won by Gods strength. I have to humble myself, repent and ask God to change my heart. Make me responsive to His Spirit. Help me to come back to my first love. Thankfully, He is restoring my heart to a right place.

Our strength ought to rest in the fact that in Jesus is everything we will ever need from this life to the next. Healing, either in the physical, mental or emotional capacity is available if only we take the Word as a medicine everyday and believe that it is enough. The Bible is the perfect Word of God. No imperfections in it. No half truths. No lies. Nothing false. Nothing that is not applicable in some sense or another today. That’s because it is the Spirit of God. And God has not changed. Plain and simple.. There is no truth apart from God’s Spirit that can change anyone or any thing.

God is three in one; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I remember when I really realized that the Word of God is Jesus. It was mind blowing. Jesus is the Bread of Life. I was teaching a women’s Bible study that I was writing myself. Listening to the Spirit of God give me lessons every week. When I tried to teach this truth to those ladies I’m not really sure that they truly understood it and it could’ve been because I didn’t truly understand enough to allow the Spirit to flow through me and teach them. As a matter of fact, I need reminding myself of this truth daily. Because it seems that once you get a hold of that truth in your heart and understand that, “where the Spirit of Lord is there is freedom,” you will never be the same. And yet everyday we still need reminding.

It means that when I read the Word of God it’s a declaration of Life to me, and because it’s Spirit, it’s everything I’ll ever need. The Kingdom of Heaven is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God… Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35). I need to eat of this bread daily to be satisfied. My heart needs to be soft in order to digest what I read. Put simply, eat the bread, internalize the truth and see it produce Life in my life by the Spirit; in my body, in my heart that I cannot take credit for. And then God gets the glory for the great things He has done in me, period.

This led Him to say, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the wild birds found shelter and roosted and nested in its branches. And again He said, To what shall I liken the Kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and his in three measures of wheat flour or meal until it was leavened (fermented) (Luke 13:18-21).

Jesus spoke in parables when teaching what the Kingdom of God was like. He said that it would appear small from the onlooker and hidden yet with the person searching for it in faith it would yield a harvest unimaginable. Faith is the key component to make something appear clear that is not obvious to the senses (Heb 11:1). Faith comes when we set aside our intellect and become like a child. A child just believes. They don’t understand.

A mustard seed does not stay in the planters hand and grow to become big beautiful tree. The seed is cast or thrown out into soil, where it grows to be a large tree. Once grown, the birds can perch on it and find safety and make their homes in it. Also, leaven is a key in baking bread that rises. Without it being mixed thoroughly into the dough the bread bakes flat.

Likewise, when we compare the kingdom of God to these things it’s apparent that our faith by itself doesn’t do really do much of anything except reside. But if we combine our faith with the power bestowed upon those who house the Kingdom of God within them we can move mountains. Leave legacies that lift God up and promote His purposes.

The word kingdom in basically all of the Gospels means the same thing. In the Greek kingdom is basileia. This word speaks of the authority we as believers have because of what Christ died to give us. In fact, Luke 17:21 says that the same kingdom of God lives within the believer. Strong’s concordance agrees with this conclusion and states that the Kingdom of God is said to be where the King is. Where His rule is acknowledged. First in the heart of the individual believer and then in the churches (Acts 4:19, Eph 3:17, 1 Pet 3:15, 1 Cor 12:3,5,11; 14:37).

When we let that authority become something we can understand and mix into our growing faith, we can use it for God’s glory to shine doing His work just as Jesus said we would. Then people will come flocking to find God because the unexplainable will happen right before their very eyes; miracles such as healing sickness, opening blind eyes, raising the dead as well as seeing people delivered from the chains Satan has them shackled to. There will be righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). (A side note: the Kingdom of Heaven is always the Kingdom of God but the Kingdom of God is not limited to the perimeters of the Kingdom of Heaven. Strong’s concordance)

Only in the New Testament is the word basileia found referring to the kingdom. In the Old Testament there are a few different words used in place of the kingdom but they never have to do with the authority Christ died to give us. It only refers to God’s power and the authority that He has. In the Strong’s Concordance of the Bible it says that because we live in a fallen world the Kingdom of God in the Greek is the sphere in which at any given time His rule is acknowledged.

Why shouldn’t we search out these hidden things so we can see the power of God working in and through us everyday? Our fear holds us back, or regret for not knowing these truths when we had loved ones sick and dying and we could do nothing because of our lack of understanding or belief in receiving more. Maybe we’re old in our faith yet we’ve never learned these miraculous truths.

Take a step of faith and fight to grow in your faith. Never become satisfied with what you know about God. That’s when complacency sets in and we are mediocre in our relationship. Strive to know more of God. Those mysteries and secrets He unveils only to those who search with their whole heart (Luke 11).

“…evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith & showing the proper fruits of it. Test & prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize & know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you…” (2Cor 13:5)

“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12:9)

As the Apostle Paul wrote truths in 2 Cor 12:9 he proclaimed that in his weakness God’s strength is stronger. He recited over and over that God told him when facing any kind of lack His favor would be enough. Because His Power was supernatural. It was beyond Paul’s understanding. It was enough to move Paul along in his journey. It was enough to keep Paul pushing forward to bigger and better things.

In the same way, that ‘dynamis‘ strength is not given to us to camp in our misery and claim His grace is enough to help us deal. It’s offering to give us divine help in our time of need. So that teleioō’ can bring to completion in our lives whatever’s bogging us down; we can stand over it and say God’s grace is enough. That will be a testimony to whoever’s watching that we serve a real God.

How’s your faith serving you? Are you standing over the storms of life or are they terrorizing your home, your mental, physical, or emotional health? Are you watching people around you overcome as you find yourself stuck? Are you producing uplifting fruits because of your faith or because of your lack producing bad fruits. They will be poisonous to your health. The Word says we are to try our faith to determine if it’s of genuine quality.

Asking God to help us is key. Grace, grace, grace. Reach for it. It’s that enabling power to get up, pickup our mats and walk.

“Keep your loins girded and your lamps burning,” (Luke 12:35). In order for the fire of Jesus to really keep burning brightly in our hearts we have to wrap the truth around us. Anything that comes against us to dim that light has to be cut down with the Sword of the Spirit. We have to understand how big God is and cling to Him. “The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.“ (Ps 34:7). “Buy the truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment and judgment, instruction and understanding.” (Pro 23:23) Our very lives depend upon us staying in truth.

(Acts 2:42-43). These apostles were special messengers that were anointed by the HS to do miraculous works. As the church fellowshipped w these people a sense of awe and wonder of God come over them. Wow. Shows us how much we miss it. We need the right fellowship.

“But going on ahead to the ship, the rest of us set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for that was what he had directed, intending himself to go by land [on foot].” (Acts 20:13).

What caught my eye about this verse was that instead of jumping aboard a ship to journey onto his next place, Paul walked there by himself. I read that this could have been because it was a shorter route by land but also it could have been that in order for Paul to keep his flame burning for God, he denied himself the pleasure or the rest he would have aboard a ship, as the route he took was not a an easy one but actually very dangerous.

How many Christians could have that said about them? They deny themselves of pleasures or a life of ease, so that the Presence of God is alive and shown powerfully in and through them? In truth I can’t even say that about myself.

I can imagine Paul did enjoy his time alone with God on his walk but if the terrain was so treacherous then how much was he really enjoying that walk while treading his path in sandals and a robe? Really puts things into perspective for us modern day believers as we live life for ourselves and our comforts instead of protecting our relationship with special Presence of God; whatever the cost. Doing what we need to do for the protection of our inner lives so that when people look at us it’s not us they see but the glory of God radiating through us.

Really how many Christians can honestly say that they have an intimate relationship with God on a daily basis? Not just going through the motions of religion. Religion is deceptive. It can be made of a routine of doing all the right things. Spending time with God. Reading the Word. Praying a list. Relying upon our own strength and wisdom instead of God’s. Or even resting upon our laurels with an aim to be positioned in the church to do an important task. To the outsider it may look and sound like we’re doing and saying all the right things but are our hearts right as we do these things?

If we compare our fervency to know God, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings to the Apostle Paul’s in the Bible, I bet the majority of us fall way short (Phil 3:10). And we accept that’s the way it is and excuse ourselves by saying we’re sinners saved by grace. When I don’t think that’s what God intended for us when Christ died for our sins; half-hearted faith that’s worked out by means of our own power. Or even positioning ourselves in a comfortable place within the church to serve. He wants us to venture beyond our understanding of Him. Reach for more of His Presence and allow Him to live and move and to actually have us (Luke 11:10-13, Acts 17:28).

So what are you actively doing in your life to encourage growth into new understanding of who God is? Or even to experience God in new ways? Are you seeking God for more new revelation of Him in His Word? In order to live closer to Him and give Him the ability to show more glory through you? Or have you entered into a state of just floating around, satisfied in your understanding of who God is, creating a sheer boredom in your walk with Him?

At this point in my life I am praying that God would do a new thing in me. That He would reveal new facets of Himself to me. Yearning for Him to get more of me and I yo get more of Him. Satisfy me. Pressing in. Its a daily challenge and I admit that I fall short but I praise God that, I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21). I find the more I press into God the more He helps me to experience Him in a real way. That’s grace. Taking that time with Him everyday to just sit and commune with His Spirit. To worship Him. To adore Him. To plead for His amazing grace to help. To listen to Him speak to my heart. Putting away all distractions. To just be with Him.

It’s a choice between settling for the mediocrity or going after more of Him. How much might our relationship with God grow if we seek to do that every day? And turn our lives around from either settling on the mundane life or riding out the chaotic life to a life of peace. It would transform our attitudes or our perspective and virtually change our lives.

I want to encourage you to consider how you can seek to know God more deeply. Ask Him to make your heart ready and expect Him to overwhelm you with His Presence. Yearn for it. Thirst for more. Ask, seek, and knock for more of His Presence (Luke 11). Jeremiah 29:13 says, we will truly find God when we seek Him with our whole-hearts. Now that’s a challenge worth the fight.

And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity]. (Ps 9:10)

https://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000651360

Written with teenagers in mind, I share an honest story of my failures but also of lessons learned from being a rebellious teenager. Fighting a battle, losing a couple of lives in the process, you’ll read the book and be touched. Hoping that it will help you to see your responsibility in your life. And seek out the ultimate answer to your issues.