Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes

I started this reading plan through Youversion.com - it is the Joyce Meyer Promises for Your Life Daily Devotional.  It should take a year to complete.  At the rate I am going it will take me a year and a half!  Anyway, today I was catching up on some of the missed devotionals I have piled up and thought I would share.

For anyone that has been through, is going through, has followed someones journey through and prayed for an adoption specifically international adoption I hope this devotion speaks to your heart.  The very first line "Whatever you are facing in life, or whatever is coming, God has already given you the faith for it." is so true, yet so hard to grasp when you are in the midst of a struggle, a time of "Why is this happening (or not happening)" or unsure of your path.  You already have the faith to make it through the storm you just need to act!  You have to release your faith in order for it to work, through works, actions and prayer.  Faith is there, we just have to act upon it!

I also love the line "faith in God isn't based on our circumstances or how we feel.".  Through our adoption with Daniel, through the red tape, the struggles and the year long wait to bring him home.  I never lost my faith in God, that in his timing He would bring our baby home. We prayed constantly, asked people to pray and in the midst of it all we found ways to help and raise donations for other orphans.

Now we are starting a new journey, we have been officially waiting for 1 month and this is a great reminder to hold on to our faith.

Below is the devotion.  My prayer is that it speaks to everyone reading as loud as it spoke to me.

Faith to See Yourself Through God's Eyes
Whatever you're facing in life, or whatever is coming in your future, God has already given you the faith for it. It may not look like it, and you may not feel like you have what it takes to overcome, but faith in God isn't based on our circumstances or how we feel. 
The enemy would like for you to believe that you don't have a chance in life, that you're too weak, too poor, too whatever. But God has a different view of you. God sees you through the eyes of love. He sees not what you can be, but what He has invested in you, not what you or others may see. 
Seeing yourself the way God sees you leads to a life of overwhelming victory.
But it takes faith. You can't just hear that God loves you and sees you as His child, you have to believe it. It takes faith to move forward and overcome the challenges of life. And faith does you no good if you don't know how to release it. You have to release your faith in order for it to work.
We release faith through our words, actions and, of course, through prayer. It's up to us to act.
First John 4:4 is a scripture we quote a lot, and almost anytime I say this verse in a church or meeting, everybody claps and cheers. But how many people really believe that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world?" 
The truth is, the One in you is greater and He loves you. So stretch your faith today and see yourself the way God sees you. It doesn't matter what the enemy wants you to see or how things might look. Our faith overcomes through the One who lives in us!
You dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. -1 John 4:4

May we never forget the One in us is greater than anything in this world and He loves us so!  Today I find comfort in reading and knowing I am loved by Him.