Let me turn your perception about yourself upside down…
I want to declare to you the goodness of God’s work in your life! I love that Isaiah spoke about it when he said, “Behold, I do a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:19) God is always wanting the opportunity to reveal the newness of His Spirit to you, the newness of His character, the newness of His promise. He is continually working in you; He has already performed and laid it out for you.
Here’s something that is amazing to me: the Old Testament is an account of God’s willingness to do things for servants. (The people of Israel were called the servants of God). Time after time in the Old Testament, we see how God did things for them.
In the New Testament, we see a different picture. The four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – give testimony of God being with mankind. It shows the presence of God as Jesus was on earth. We get a true picture of God. When Jesus came on the scene, He showed us really what God does. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. (Acts 10:38)
Jesus showed the love and mercy of God and revealed God’s character. That’s pretty special, but there’s more.
Starting in the book of Acts, we see not only God being for us, and God being with us, but God being in us! This is how God sees us and wants to be seen in us. We learn to live a victorious life; we learn we don’t have to be ashamed of what we once were; we’re now empowered to be His daughters and sons. It’s Christ in us, the hope of glory.
“Christ” means “the anointed one and His anointing.” It’s actually the Holy Spirit in us; Jesus is seated at the right hand of Father God – administrating all of God’s power – and Holy Spirit is exercising that power as God’s muscle.
Part of getting used to different (our sermon series in May 2021), we see that “different” is something that’s meant to be an integral part of our life; we are to be changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit!
In Acts 2 we see the Holy Spirit’s manifestation in lives at Pentecost. The Bible tells us a mighty wind came and people began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. It was a purifying and revelatory fire that caused people to see things differently.
These Are Those…
Seeing things differently caused others – even non-Christians – to see God differently. The book of Acts chronicles many examples of this. When the Holy Spirit filled believers at Pentecost, it caused others to be amazed and perplexed! (Acts 2:12-16). After Pentecost, believers began to realized they had something to give, in the Name of Jesus! (Acts 3:1-8).
People began to realize that Christians who walked in the power of the Holy Spirit – even though they might be considered “common” and uneducated and untrained – had spent time with Jesus. This was apparent because of the boldness and wisdom the believers had! (Acts 4:7-13)
Those who believed changed their attitude toward their lives and substance; they began to share with others in the local church their possessions out of love for them. (Acts 4:34-35). They were also used in miraculous acts out in public! (Acts 5:12-16).
These are those who – because they saw themselves differently – gained a reputation that showed they were different! Whether they were perceived in a positive or negative way, they certainly were perceived as making a difference!
Acts 17:6-7 showed the effect Christians were having: “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too!” said one group of people. “These are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king – Jesus.”
When you see yourself as different through Christ Jesus, you begin to make a difference! You begin to affect lives! You bring hope! Too many other things have tried to turn the world upside down. It’s time for the Church to do so for God’s glory.
To watch the May 23, 2021 message on which this post was based, CLICK HERE.
