God did not intend for us to live on the fringe of freedom. Christ brought with him to this dusty place empowering principles for the healing of any wound. If He can raise a four-day-old body from the grave, He can invade any grave we find ourselves in with the power of His resurrection. The tragedy for the limping Christian is to confine such a powerful One as this to the limitation of our own fears and woundedness. For when we do, Christ walks His life in us as a crippled Savior, and we offer to the world, through the witness of our lives, a lame deliverer. But if we lay hold of the heritage of life and power God has bequeathed us through His Son, then we offer the world the overcoming Savior and conquering King God always said we had.
Belief is the thing. I believed, once, that something fearsome lived under my bed, so I took flying leaps at night into bed to keep an unseen hand from grabbing me. Lying frozen as the feather matress folded over me, I hid there till I could still my pounding heart and not be found out. Strangely, I never saw the monster beneath my bed, but instinctively, I knew it was there....and nothing but the light would take it away.
Truth does us no good if we do not believe it. If we do not believe Christ can heal our broken heart, then it does not matter that He came for that very purpose. If we do not believe He can spring us from our prison cells, then it does not matter that He holds the key in His hand. Though the comforter has come, our hearts will still weep. Though the Great Physician knocks on our door, our wounded souls still bleed.
If we believe the Truth....all things are possible. If we believe our fearful hearts or wounded souls, then there is no hope in Christ. Even He could not do many miracles in Nazareth because the people there did not believe. Will it be bread or a stone? Will we walk with a limp or will we run free?
Though we may live in Dallas, Nazareth may not be far away. What we believe is what we get.
Brenda Cox
Ask God to show you where you are believing something to be true that is not true. Look for those flawed beliefs in your points of anger or bitterness; anxiety or worry. Ask God to show you why you believe the lie. Why can you not forgive or rest or trust?
What must you relinquish if you are to let go of the lie and embrace the truth? Is it your rights? Your right not to have been treated that way? Your right to have had a better life? Is it your insistence on justice or fairness? Is it your right to understand? Your insistence on having answers or retribution? Is it your insistence on an eye for an eye?
What we hold onto becomes our traveling companion. His riches went with the young ruler in His sadness as he turned and walked away from Christ. Their mindset and preconceived notions went with the Pharisees into a darkened place.
The winged life requires us to break our shells and leave our nests and relinquish our rights to have it otherwise.
What hard shell or comfortable nest may urge you to stay where your are with Christ and go no farther?
What mindset may be hindering your walk with the Lord? What pre-conceived notions?
What are you holding onto that causes you to turn from following Christ?
The Winged Life offers spiritual and Scriptural principles that unlock God's ways in our lives, facilitate His healing of our broken places and His liberation for our captive souls.