The Handle of Belief

We often seem to be more impressed by the power of what happened in the Garden at the fall of mankind than by what happened at Calvary that cancelled that power and truly tore the veil between heaven and earth. 

We find all kinds of explanations and even some kind of twisted comfort in knowing there is a reason we sometimes behave so abominably.  We grasp for some kind of excuse for why we are so ineffective at influencing our culture.  We vest a lot of confidence in the power of the deception that broke us in Eden than to look confidently at the Cross and the power that trumped every effort of the enemy that day, and for…EVER.  

We are far too content to live in the definition of the fall than in the deliverance from it that was purchased for us on a blood-stained hillside and given to us as a glorious gift to live in and from. 

We too often behave as if the only thing we have is the promise of the reservation of a grand future home in heaven where peace will FINALLY reign when we pass from this life, and we spend our years here hoping for God to bring to earth what He “seemed to make available” by rising from the dead.  He DID make it available.

We pray too often begging Him to give us what He told us we already have. 

We are here to distribute the endless inheritance He has left us and invest it into the people on the planet in our generation.  There are storehouses with shelves sagging from the weight of the provisions we have been scheduled to give away (the good works prepared for us to do—Ephesians 2).  And we sometimes instead posture as orphaned kids, begging for bread to stay alive.  Yes, sometimes we have to persist in our prayers, but our God is the Bread of Life and gave it away liberally as He walked on earth because He kept thanking His Dad and handing it out.  We are invited to live the same way, to learn to live like that.

We are no longer victims.  We are victors because of both a battle that has already been soundly won and a Brother who has invited us to join the family and share the inheritance. (It’s infinitely better than an offer to become a Gates or a Trump—two words, by the way, that should remind us of the real story and opportunity.)   The forked-tongued lies still try to persuade us from the truth that we are free and attempt to keep us from the authority and call we are called to walk in. 

Imagine the gift we could give a dry planet and a hungry world if we would believe that the Cross made a difference for the goings on of THIS day?

These blessed years are not just for us to do wishful thinking about the final revelation when all the stops will be pulled out and every eye will see, but to walk in the truth and the power that has already been revealed, bringing it to earth so others can see Jesus now.  We get to announce the news that He has won.  The celebration party has already begun.  The kingdom is here.  All the oil of anointing has been poured out so that the rusty hinges now can swing open widely as we get to each closed door that still seems stuck.  Belief is the handle that enables us to pull it open. 

That’s why the work of a Christian is to BELIEVE.  And when we do it will change everything.