HARD REALIZATIONS LEAD TO HARD RESETS!

Why are hard realizations so hard?

• Hard realizations contradict your current reality.
• You knew the truth of the matter deep down inside, but you preferred the payoff -- the tradeoff in believing the lie -- to be more valuable than recognizing the truth.
• Once you see the hard realization, you can't unsee it. Your perspective is irreversibly changed.
• It's emotionally painful; it's humbling and destroys a part of your ego… your pride.
• Hard realizations lead to unavoidable change, and change is hard.

 

Hard resets…

• Are not casual or temporary decisions. It's a complete restart… an overhaul.
• Are no longer you working the Word; it's the Word working in you.
• Your response to hard resets are either accept it and work with it or reject it. The choice is yours.

Who you were before the hard realization is NOT who you are afterwards, and THAT is by God's design. Restarts are a commitment to change that comes from within you. It requires courage that God will provide to overcome the painful and unpleasant change working within you.

Biblical examples of hard realizations and hard resets: David, Ester, Jonathan, Paul and even Jesus. In every case their courage came from God and sacrifice was involved. Sacrifice is the currency of the Kingdom… trading something of value for something of greater value.

God is strategically involved with hard realizations and resets to humble and realign His people, and to return their allegiance to Him.

Let's revisit last week's teaching. Freedom has boundaries. There are limits to what you can do. Everything has boundaries. Satan has usurped and hijacked God's boundaries and made a world for himself. While God is ultimately in control and has authority of ALL things, Satan's world temporarily operates under God's authority and within His boundaries.

Our freedom as Christian is limited by the boundaries that God has set forth or is limited by the boundaries of Satan's fabricated world. Yet many on the pulpit and in the pew are spiritually ignorant to believe things inconsistent with God's word about their authority. Any authority that we have is through Jesus Christ. The church has told us that we can be anything we want… so long as we work hard, study hard, give of ourselves through ego-gratifying service and tithing, and to become our best self. By doing so we will receive our heavenly reward, our breakthrough. That is a lie and is a hard realization for many to accept.

7 Takeaways

1. There is no self apart from spiritual authority. Our authentic self is NOT what we think and feel -- it comes from God. We are operating under God's divine nature or the sin nature. Our identity comes from whom we belong to; it's either the Father or the father of lies.
2. Our sovereignty is given to us by God within a context (boundaries) that we didn't create nor can we control.
3. We are subject to the Creator or the controller of context, whether the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit. The unholy spirit loves to mimic God and deceive His people.
4. We should not assume that standing on God's Word equates to spiritual authority and God's approval. True authority is based on relationship; those who are genuinely relating and surrendering to God… turning away from sexual sin, greed, self-love, pride, and manipulating people to get what they want.
5. God has not authorized every church or religious leader of titles, positions, power, possessions or even miracles, signs and wonders. Satan controls the world's fame and fortune. He raises up church leaders that serve the lie. Wealth is NOT proof of God's approval nor is poverty proof of God's absence or disapproval.
6. Evaluating the fruit and vetting the church are absolutely necessary; the results inform how you spend your time, money and resources.
7. We are only Christian and affirm our faith by the we live and surrender to the Truth. All who live Godly will suffer.

What hard realizations are you facing today?

Prov 27:6; Heb 1:3; John 13:15-17