Hey everyone! So I know I’ve been doing one blog a month (except for last month because I was super busy, but that’s no excuse) and that’s pretty cool I guess. I am going to start trying to blog more often now though so we shall see what takes place. I would like to thank all of my supporters and what they have done. Together we have already passed the first three financial goals, now we just need to get to that total! Thank you so much and I can’t wait to share all of the wonderful things that God is going to do on this trip. It is not just me or my fellow racers that are going but it is all of my supporters that are going with me. Once again, a huge thank you! I love you and I am praying for you!
For the past couple of weeks God has been dealing with me about ‘Identity.’ We all desire to know who we are and what we were made for. Some of us look for our identity in Christ and some of us look for our identity in other things. We are captivated by the idea of who we are and the possibilities of what we could become.
When looking for our identity there are things that we can’t help, like the way we grew up or our past or current mistakes. We are influenced by the things people say to us and affected by the actions of certain people in our lives. Sometimes we think we know who we are but when we lose a friend, a parent, a sibling, someone dear or even something dear in our lives we then feel like we have lost who we are.
Who are we? Who are you? Who am I? These questions have bombarded me the past few weeks and I’ve come to tell you that you are who God says you are. We live in two realities but there is only one truth to live by.
The first reality is the reality of fact. It may be a fact that you did some awful things in the past. You can’t change that. It may be a fact that you have insecurities. It may be a fact that you get depressed or that someone has wronged you or you have wronged someone and feel terrible about it. Whatever it may be, it’s only a fact but it’s not truth.
John 8:31-32 says, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'” The truth shall set you free. What is truth? The truth is, God calls you his son, his daughter, and his friend. God says that you are forgiven. God says that He loves you. When you feel like no one loves you, that may be a fact and you may be living in that reality; but it is time to live in the reality of truth. God says you are loved. God says your past is erased. God says that He is with you always. God tells us many things in His Word but it is up to us to believe in those truths and live in them every day. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He spoken, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” God doesn’t lie. What He says, He means. What He means, He says.
In Genesis 32:22-32 Jacob wrestles God. If you have been raised in church then you know this story and you know that ministers usually preach on the way to get blessed is to wrestle with God in your prayer closet but I am going to open this up differently. The name Jacob means, ‘one who supplants, or undermines, or one who grabs at the heel.’ Jacob’s life was filled with lying, deceit, and running away from his problems. Jacob deceived his father into giving him his brother Esau’s blessing. Jacob was one who, in our judgmental eyes, didn’t really deserve a blessing. Jacob had a bad past and was running away from his problems. God met up with him eventually and Jacob began to change his life. Jacob’s life was not easy though because his father-in-law lied and deceived Jacob as well. Jacob’s circumstances didn’t seem to be going well for him. Jacob then finally found a way to be released from his father-in-law Laban and starts to travel when he finds out that his brother Esau is armed with many men coming toward him. Jacob’s past is coming back to haunt him, but one night he sees a man, or what he thought was a man, and wrestled him until daybreak. Here we see Jacob wrestling a man. We see Jacob wrestling God. But, we also see Jacob wrestling himself. You see Jacob’s past was haunting him and Jacob was tired of running from the facts and instead of running, he wrestled. He wrestled with God. He wrestled with the truth of what God said about him. You see in the end, God told Jacob that he would no longer be called Jacob but he would be called Israel. Israel means, “God preserves or contends. God prevails or triumphant with God.” While Jacob saw himself as a liar, a cheater, a coward, a loser, and basically all around defeated; God called Jacob chosen and triumphant. Jacob then started believing in the truth that God had called Jacob, now Israel, to and has blessed him and his family for generations.
You may be facing different facts of life and that may be your reality right now but it is not the reality you have to live in. Your reality may be financial difficulty, but God says He is Provider. Your reality may be sickness and disease, but God says He is Healer. Your reality may be insecurity, but God says stay IN my SECURITY. You may be facing the fact of rejection but God says I have accepted you. You may be facing loneliness but God says you are not alone for I am with you always. Whatever reality you are in, it’s time to step into a new reality. Stop living in the reality of facts and live in the reality of truth and see God’s glory, miracles, wonders, and love in your life today.
Thank you once again for your support! Let’s get to the final goal! We are almost there! Let’s live in the reality that God Provides together! Praying for each of you. God bless! Love you!!!
