I was recently looking at a venue with the intention of holding an event there and I was somewhat disappointed with the setup of the room. I am usually able to look beyond the way something appears at the moment and see the potential in it, but I was having a hard time seeing how this space could transform into what I needed it to be.

 It was not until I returned to the room on a different day when the sun was shining and most of the furniture had been cleared out of the room that I began to see how the vision could unfold in that particular space. The prior setup had actually obstructed my view of how that space could really be used. I needed to see the room as a blank canvass, ready to be designed and created into something entirely new and different.

 I reflected on how my view of the space had changed when the old setup was removed and I was able to see it in the light of the sun. I thought about how this happens in other areas of my life. God may sometimes show me a vision of how something will be and I cannot conceive of it because I am trying to understand it in the context of my prior experiences.

I realized that even though I have submitted my life to Jesus Christ and now have access to a new covenant with God, I don’t always see myself as a new creature. I still need to make a clean sweep of my preconceptions and view life in the light of the Son who makes all things new.

God is able to transform a seemingly useless, dull life into something shining and magnificent. He can turn an impossible situation into something miraculous. He can take what is cold and ugly and transform it into something lovely. He has done that for me many times over and I know He wants to do the same for you.

Access the promises of God through His Son in your life. See your life in light of the new covenant that God has made with His people. See how He has washed you in His Blood and is transforming you day by day in His glory.

Hebrews 9:11-15 (The Message)

But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven’s “tent”—the true Holy Place—once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.

Yesterday I was involved in a discussion on Facebook about who Jesus is, whether He is God or a mere prophet as religions other than Christianity profess. I usually don’t engage in such discussions because it does not matter what man says on the subject, it matters what God says. In my mind floated the question, what does God say about who Jesus is and I recalled one of my favorite passages from the books known as the Gospel.

In Luke chapter 4, as Jesus fasted and prayed, He was tempted for forty days and nights in the wilderness but He did not give in to temptation. After that, He was released into ministry and returned to the synagogue in His hometown where He announced to the congregants what He was sent to do:

Jesus’ Mission Statement: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

I think this passage causes me to fall deeper in love with Jesus every time I read it! He did everything He said He would do, and for that, there can be no other God but Him. He has captured my heart with His Love! Because He lives, I live. Because He was anointed to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom, to bring healing and recovery, I am anointed to do the same. Because He is God, I can be transformed so that I might be more like Him. (John 14:11-13; Romans 12:1-2)

So who do you think You are? Is it who man says you are? Or do you accept the words that the Living God has spoken over you? Do you accept the identity He created in you? Thank God Jesus accepted His Identity, because otherwise we would be in a world of trouble.

Luke 4:17-21 (New King James Version)

¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
¹⁸ “ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,^[a]
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”^[b]

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Let there be no confusion. When I speak of a Man who rescued me from the pit of hell and a life of misery, there is only One with the power to do such a thing. There is only One who freed my mind from the grips of insanity and emotional distress. There is only One who brought true peace and happiness. There is only One who saved my soul and forgave me of my sins. His Name is Jesus.

I fell in love with Him because He first Loved me. Without Him, there is no Love, for He is Love. If I never knew Him, I would never know how to Love. Without knowing His Love, it would be almost impossible for me to receive true Love.

Some people kick against the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God because they are afraid to relinquish control. Submitting to Him would mean departing from a dependence on man’s intellect and walking in faith. For some it’s fear of commitment – what if He’s not the One?

If that is you, I do not judge, for every man has to work out his own salvation. However, I do pray that you would come to know Jesus in an intimate way. You may have been introduced to Him before but never entered into full relationship with Him. If so, He is waiting for you to allow Him to come in and transform your life.

Those problems that you cannot seem to solve, He can fix. The love that you yearn for, He will bring. Your broken heart, He will mend. It does not matter how hard you have fought against Him. Nothing you have done in your past or ever will do can separate you from His Love – all you have to do is accept it.

If you want your life to change, if you need His Love to come in and make it right, pray this prayer today:

Lord Jesus, I believe that You died and rose again so that I can live. I need You and I no longer want my sin to separate me from Your Love. Please forgive me. Please come into my heart and rescue me today. Please show me how to live for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

John 3:16-17 (New International Version)

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.