This Far and No Farther

I often think of the Father in His role as Creator. It astounds me. I love the way it makes my brain basically explode. He's just so vast and mighty and purposeful--and even still, He invites me into intimate relationship. 

I often ponder the idea of acting and living in God's image. I've been reading (and re-reading and re-reading) Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan's Wild and Free and it got me thinking about the native language of the Father: life. We speak life over others because He first spoke life over nothingness. 

We create because He first created. We model the actions of the Father, through the Holy Spirit, simply to give Him even more of the glory He deserves. 

The more our Spirits are in sync with Holy Spirit, the more we can operate out of the identity that the Father intends for us to have--one modeled after Him. 

In all of these thoughts about His greatness, I remember how the Lord challenged Job's  way of thinking in Job 38.

“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’ Job 38:8-11

We may never be able to wrap our minds around the raw might and splendor of our Creator, but we sure can mimic His actions in hopes to look a bit more like Him each day. 

The Father speaks to crashing waves and says, "this far and no farther will you come." And because every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20), we can say the same thing to the storms we face.

Comparison, this far and no farther. Intimidation, this far and no farther. Insecurity, this far and no farther. Pain, this far and no farther. Loneliness, this far and no farther. .Depression, this far and no farther. Heck, DEATH, THIS FAR AND NO FARTHER. 

Friends, we need to start claiming the authority that Jesus won for us on the cross. Over every circumstance, in the name of Jesus, we can declare "this far and no farther." 

To be frank, life is too short to be fighting battles that have already been won. We need to start speaking the power, truth, and victory of our God over our circumstances. In that wake, absolutely no act of the enemy can thwart the goodness of God in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).

Jesus didn't die for us to mope about a situation or feel heartbroken or experience trauma or argue or walk through sickness or feel without purpose or live lonely. Jesus came to set our hearts free from the expectations of this world and to draw us into the adventure of a lifetime with Him. 

Whether or not our situations of brokenness actually change, with the mindset of the victory that was already won for us, we can walk through every moment knowing who is in control and who fights for us. 

So, we "take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), because Jesus calls us to a life that transcends all of these wimpy attempts of the enemy to steal our joy.

You and I need to stand strong on holy ground. Let's choose to be people who align our thoughts with the eternal inheritance we have already been given--and let the Victor of all handle our circumstances. 

Speak it over whatever your circumstance may be--"this far and no farther."