“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God."
Matthew 5:9 Amplified Bible
Someone posted these words that resonated with me profoundly, “an atmosphere creates a welcoming environment without words.” Immediately, my mind began to reflect on the environments I previously and currently am a part of that are very uninviting. However, I had to take personal inventory/accountability and ask myself if I am creating atmospheres that produce a welcoming environment.
The Truth makes us free. Not brutal honesty or someone micromanaging our behaviors to show us where we need to take corrective action but understanding and applying God’s word brings about freedom that is impossible to achieve by any other means.
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. | 2 Corinthians 3:17 New Living Translation
Here is a rhetorical question:
Is God everywhere?
Absolutely! However, why is there so much oppression that exists in many areas of our lives and the environments we occupy? Simply because we have not allowed Jesus to be Lord of every area of our life. Therefore, a better way to look at this scripture is “Where the Spirit Is Lord, freedom is experienced.”
Let's take a closer look at a biblical story.
There was a blind man in the bible who some acquaintances brought to Jesus and begged Him to heal him. Interestingly, Jesus did not heal him on the spot but took him aside, spit on his eyes, touched him, then asked, “If he could see anything?” Miraculously, the man could see again, but he saw people as trees walking around (imagine the imagery). So, Jesus touched him again and his vision was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly!
This verse of scripture had me bewildered for years but now I realize that the miracle wasn’t necessarily the restoration of his eyesight but the healing of his heart! God’s ways go beyond our human comprehension. God can’t be explained but must be experienced (I heard someone say).
There are times when God must heal our hearts for us to see clearly.
We see so many things from our experiences, especially the negative experiences that left a bad impression on us. Consequently, we project our negativity on others. We hold others responsible for the mistakes of others without ever accepting personal responsibility for our actions. Most of us have had bad religious experiences, been taken advantage of, betrayed by those we trusted, and (take a deep swallow) have hurt, betrayed, and taken advantage of those who were trusting and unsuspecting of us.
Therefore, our understanding of God and life is significantly flawed because it is not filtered through the correct lenses (this is for us who think we know scripture very well). The good news is God wants to give us corrective lenses. It’s going to take the hard work of revealing, healing, letting go of the guilt and trauma, and taking personal responsibility for our mistakes and aggression.
The Bible says that Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear and his natural strength unabated. (Deut. 34:7 NASB). Why? Because “By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see and kept right on going.” (Heb. 11:27 MSG).
We must allow Holy Spirit to correct our limited vision so that we may also see clearly from His perspective.
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