His Heart, My Home

We learned in our last post that God always has an expectation for our victory in every temptation, test, and trial that we face in life.
(2 Corinthians 2:14)

The reason we don’t always experience and enjoy the victory is because we often approach our problems and challenges from the wrong end. Our walk of faith is backwards (sorta like Michael Jackson’s moonwalk!)

Let me explain what I mean. As temporal (time-limited, time-controlled) beings, we move through life’s time-line one step at a time. As we do, we wear blinders, so we can only see what is right in front of us, the “now” of the present moment.

One day we encounter a difficulty, a “Triple T” (temptation + test + trial). So we begin to pray for the Lord to help us overcome the fear, the sickness, the financial crisis, or whatever challenge we are facing.

In our minds, the battle is on. We think maybe we can win it, if we can just convince the Lord to give us more strength, and more resources for our fight. We hope that eventually we can drive the enemy away and claim victory. Often we try to “help God” by figuring out what to do next, and we wind up making a mess of things.

But the difficulty that we are experiencing at that moment in time is really just like the preface of a book. It’s not the whole story! There is so much more! Remember… God is the Author and the Publisher (Finisher) of this book!

And God, in His infinite wisdom and creativity, approaches our problem with a mind-set and a strategy for victory, completely different from our own. (Isaiah 55:8-11)

Let’s discover His thoughts and strategies for victory revealed in the following verses:

☆ “I declare from the beginning how it will end and foretell from the start what has not yet happened. I decree that my purpose will stand, and I will fulfill my every plan.”
(Isaiah 46:10, Passion Translation)

☆ ” ¹ Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. ² You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. ³ You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! ⁴ You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. ⁵ You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me!“
(Psalm 139:1-5, Passion Translation)

☆ “For we are His workmanship (His own master work, a work of art) created in Christ Jesus (reborn from above, spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used) for good works, which God prepared (for us) beforehand (taking paths which He set)  so that we would walk in them (living the good life which he pre-arranged and made ready for us).” (Ephesians 2:10, Amplified)

☆ “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
(Jeremiah 29:11, The Message)

The King James Version of Jeremiah 29:11 says the Lord desires to give us “an expected end.” The word translated as “expected” is the Hebrew word “tiqvah” which means, “that which is longed for”.

What are you longing for? If you’re sick, you’re longing for healing. If you’re fearful, you’re longing for peace. If you have challenges in your marriage, you’re longing for reconciliation and wholeness. Those are the “expected ends” that God wants you to experience!

The good news is that He has a plan to get you to the “results you long for” in the most glorious way. He can do that because His “ULTIMATE SOLUTION” ensuring our victory was enacted before the foundations of creation were even laid. (Revelation 13:8)

This is how Father-God brings us to victory:

While we’re stuck in the muck of a battle in a foxhole called “NOW”, God, who knows the end from the beginning, is working to change our focus. He wants us to see and put our faith in the already “COMPLETED WORK” of Christ’s redemption, rather than the difficulty of the present moment.

God’s starting point is Christ’s victory over fear, sickness, sin, shame, demons, death, and hell! He wants us to start at the “BLESSING” and apply it retroactively to the “CURSE”, with which we are currently struggling.

The revelation He is trying to communicate to us is this:

“Satan is fighting a battle he has already lost!
I want you to celebrate the victory I have already won for you through my death, burial, and resurrection!“

We all know how GPS systems work on our phones, and in our cars. We simply put in our planned destination, and hopefully the GPS gives us the best route and instructions to get there.

God’s Powerful Salvation (GPS) works in a similar way, but without the imperfections! We put in our “desired destination” from His Word, declaring the end from the beginning.

Then, His Spirit will lead us along the path He has already prepared, so that we arrive at the destination end-point of our promised victory. The Bible calls living like this a walk of faith.

“For we walk by faith, and not by sight.”
(2 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV)

Or we could say, “We navigate by our GPS, not by our “back-seat driver”. (But be careful, guys, not to proclaim that “confession” too loudly, unless you enjoy sleeping on the couch!)

The Johnson New Testament Translation puts it this way: “We live by trusting Him, rather than actually seeing Him.”

To walk with Him, we must trust Him, staying sensitive to the inner witness of His Spirit within us. We focus on Him, not the problem that we are going through. We stay connected to Him.

And now, we, like our Father, know “the end from the beginning.” So the “battle” in the “middle” won’t freak us out, stress us out, or wear us out!

” ²⁸ Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become tired or grow weary; there is no searching His understanding.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power. ³⁰ Even youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, ³¹ but those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.” (Isaiah 40:28-31, Amplified Bible)

The antidote for spiritual stress and worldly weariness is found in verse 31. It is the Hebrew word “qavah”, translated as “wait“, and which means, “to twist or braid together“.

[ * I worked in a manufacturing facility where we made electric utility cable that could carry up to 35,000 volts. To keep the cable from stretching and sagging too much in the spaces between the utility poles, we twisted or “plexed” the legs of the cable around a steel neutral cable. Thus the actual current-carrying legs of the cable took on the strength of the steel neutral cable, making the entire cable stronger, and more resistant to stretch, sag and storms.]

That’s what God is telling us in this passage of scripture. He wants us to “wait” upon Him. We are to be “plexed” together with Him, twisted and braided together with Him, made one with Him, exchanging our lack of wisdom and strength for His unlimited wisdom and strength.

The wisdom and strength He imparts to us enables us to spread our wings, like eagles to soar in the Spirit-Wind of God. We rise higher and higher, and see things from a different angle. We perceive the “big picture” from God’s perspective.

But, as much as we would all like to, we can’t live every moment of our lives soaring in the Spirit-Wind. Remember, it’s a “walk” of faith, taken step by step, often stubbing our toes on the rocky soil of this imperfect world, rather than dancing on the cloud tops.

After mounting up with wings like eagles, we will find ourselves, back on the ground again. But now, we’ve been changed, renewed, transformed, and enlightened with a new perspective, new vision, new energy, new joy, and new strength.

Now we know how to do it like the Master…
how to run and not be weary, how to walk and not faint! We know now what we didn’t know before. We know the end from the beginning!

Our present is victorious! Our future is truly glorious!

We have an expected end… to which we will ascend!

World without end… Amen and amen!