Appreciating What God Has Done for Us

 

Many people feel like their lives are coming apart at the seams, and the pressures of everyday life is mounting. Problems appear to have no readily available solutions, and this can take a toll on our emotional and mental wellbeing. We feel downtrodden and without hope because that is the information our external environment is feeding us. The truth is that we live from the inside out not the outside in. This is a hefty piece of meat and most will not digest it, but we’ll have to if our intention is to live with the power and authority that God has given us.

We are not supposed to give up and acquiesce to defeat in our lives. Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Because of what God accomplished through Christ on the cross and through his resurrection, we now have God’s Spirit living in us. Through the Spirit, we are more than conquerors over any and all adversity, but many of us will not believe this.

God commands us in Galatians 5:25 to walk in the Spirit. This means we are to live life with an understanding that we are equipped internally to walk in victory externally. God commands us in 2Corinthians 5:7 to walk by faith and not by sight. We cannot live spiritually by relying only on what our physical eyes see, but sadly, this is how most people operate. They believe only in what the physical world tells them. This is not a mindset that pleases our Heavenly Father.

A worldly mindset is a mind that is limited to information and knowledge from the world. It produces a consciousness that doesn’t rely on faith in God. A worldly mindset relies totally on what can be perceived by sight and the other senses. The Bible refers to this way of walking through life as being ‘in the flesh’ because it is allowing the flesh and blood body to govern us, and God never intended us to live that way. Jesus Christ is Lord! He governs us through his Spirit, and this will require us to submit and humble ourselves to the Spirit’s guidance.

The Apostle Paul talks about his conversion from Judaism to believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our wonderful Redeemer spoke to Paul and in Acts 26:18(NLT), the Lord told Paul that he was sending him to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.” We desperately need the light of Christ and to turn from the darkness of satan. Our eyes are blinded, and this is why we panic about the situations of life. We fear what others and the world can do to us.

Fear doesn’t come from the One True Living God. Fear belongs to satan, and all darkness is rooted from the fear of being without hope. This can never be the fate of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is our hope and Romans 5:5 assures us that our hope in him does not disappoint.

1Thessalonians 5:5(NLT) declares, “For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.” This is our reality and identity. Misery will always be the result of denying who Our Creator made us to be. We are His sons and daughters, and our hearts must swell with gratitude for the truth of who He has created us to be. And not only this, Ephesians 1:3 tells us that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm because of our union with Christ, and Romans 8:38 declares that nothing can separate us from this love.

The wealth of what God has done for us, who He has made us, and all He has given us in Christ is beyond comprehension, yet it is our reality. We cannot embrace this staggering reality in Christ with all our hearts if we refuse to demonstrate our appreciation towards God. The way that we demonstrate our appreciation to God is to have faith in Him. It is to understand that He lives in us! Philippians 2:13(NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” We must appreciate that God has appointed us for His purpose, and if we submit to Him with all that we—if we surrender our whole hearts to Him—God will direct our paths, bless our lives, and open our eyes to who He has destined us to be. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

 “Appreciating What God Has Done for Us”  by written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.