Good Afternoon Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Growing up, I remember three people who heavily influenced my life. The common theme taught to me by all three people was to believe I was going to be successful by building and having a “positive, can-do, I will succeed” image of myself. One of the three was my Mother. She taught me about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I heard my mom on many occasions praying or stating the Scriptures. She had a tough life. I distinctly remember her saying on many occasions that she was making it every day by the love and grace of God. I truly didn’t understand it then, but little did I know she was laying the bricks of the foundation which would lead me to Christ as my Savior and as the King and Lord of my life. I also have faint memories of my Mother’s Mother, my Grandmother, praying over me as a very young child. Our precious Father brings these memories to me to show me there have been generations praying an image over me as I do the same over my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to come.
What is your image of yourself? In the natural or physical realm, this can be a tough question. Our image of ourselves, especially as adults, has been shaped largely by life, by experiences, by successes and/or failures, and by our own opinions. We start out as young children with amazing dreams, visions, expectations, and desires. By the time we’re run through the blender of life, we’ve seemingly lost our ability to dream, to have a positive vision, to have true expectations and not just hope, and are weighed down by our experiences which usually don’t match the dreams and expectations of that young child. This is sad. And we see these people all around us, maybe even ourselves, just putting one foot in front of the other heading subserviently into the remaining days of our lives on this earth. We have our lot in life, and we’re now a slave to it. Sadly, this is true of many Believers, too. We’re called to be a light to the world, but the world can’t distinguish us from itself because we look like the world. Yes, we love God our Father and Jesus our King, but we just haven’t experienced what we thought we would experience nor achieved the results we thought we would achieve.
Last week, as I was preparing to teach on Saturday, the Lord spoke to me during one of my prayer times and said He wanted me to start doing “Image Builders” with the group. He gave me two verses, which I was familiar with already, and said this is the reason much of The Body of Christ, The Church, is so weak.
Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Isaiah 5:13
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
You’ll notice in both verses God says His people are destroyed, or are in captivity, because of a lack of, or a rejection of, knowledge. What knowledge? The Word of God. The Believer’s by product for not studying God’s Word, not having a love for His Word, is destruction or captivity. The Scriptures are plain and simple to understand.
Let me share another verse that makes it very plain you need to know God’s Word and who you are in Christ.
Galatians 4:1
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
The Holy Spirit through Paul is instructing us if we’re ignorant of God’s Word or we reject some of God’s Word, it is the same as being the lord of a kingdom but functioning as a servant because you don’t know who you are and the role you inherit. This is what God is saying in Hosea 4:6 and Isaiah 5:13. Because you don’t know who you are or you don’t believe who you are, you will suffer at the hands of the world and Satan. We should be giving orders to Satan and his demonic spirits and to our ministering spirits.
Remember, your destiny, your near-term and long-term future on this earth are based upon what you believe and speak. This is why our Father tells us clearly to speak only His Word over ourselves and not to agree with the enemy and the world of whom he, Satan, is god.
The following verses are “image builders.” Confessing these verses over and over, daily, will help you build an image in your soul that agrees with God’s image in your spirit. God sees you as His Word says. We have the wrong image, in many cases, of ourselves.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Deuteronomy 6:10-11
10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Deuteronomy 8:7-10
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.
I Peter 2:24
Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed.
Psalm 1:2-3
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 112:2-3
2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Psalm 103:1-5
1 (A Psalm of David.) Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Joshua 1:5
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 1:3
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Deuteronomy 8:18
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Genesis 12:2-3
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Deuteronomy 28:2-14
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and He shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in His ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in His season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Isaiah 54: 14, 17
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD.
Psalm 37:18-19
18 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Job 5:20-22
20 In famine He shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. (beasts of the earth are referring to evil spirits)
I could list hundreds more verses. But this is a great start toward building God’s image of you in your soul. You may not yet believe these verses, but the more you say them, the greater belief your heart will develop. It’s like the saying, “if you tell a lie enough, it becomes the truth.” It’s the same with The Word of God. You say it over and over, day after day, week after week, because it is a spirit Word, it will become Truth to you – meaning you’ll finally receive the revelation of Truth from it. It will become real to you.
Have a great day and weekend in Christ Jesus.
Larry