113 - Our God is Greater

When we are overwhelmed and our hearts seem to condemn us, what can ease our minds and slowly take our focus off ourselves is this truth: God is greater. His greatness is the driving force of our story as believers in Christ. Who He is and what He has done outweigh who we think we are based on the circumstances and situations that weigh on us. These are not the final word on how we see ourselves, nor are they our true reality.

His thoughts toward us are greater, rising above the thoughts we have of ourselves. We no longer see ourselves through our own limited understanding, but through who God says we are. His is the everlasting and final word. It is God who sees all, who is greater than our hearts, and who knows all things. In Him we place our trust, even when we cannot see clearly. We surrender to Him because true understanding does not come from within us, but from Him and from His reality.

Once, all we could see was this world and ourselves defined by it. Then the power of God entered our lives, setting our feet on solid, higher ground. Our eyes shifted from seeing only ourselves to seeing His greatness. What He did for us forever removed the old way we viewed ourselves, renewing our minds to see ourselves in His light. His greatness settled the unrest in our hearts that came from judging ourselves by what we did or did not do. It was what He did that changed our thinking. We stepped into a new reality, moving away from the degrading thoughts of our old mind and into praise. His righteousness and holiness became our righteousness and holiness. We were clothed in a new understanding.

Walking in the light of who He has made us is God’s transforming work in us. Through the Spirit, our minds are renewed and we are changed. We now possess the mind of Christ and are able to see as He sees, both ourselves and our relationship with the Father. We have been made like Him in true righteousness and holiness. This purity in our inner being comes through His cleansing power, making us saints and priests to our God. We rise above all because He rises above all.

We become in the flesh what He has already made us in the Spirit, by His power. This is a gradual process, moving from one degree of glory to another. Who we are is expressed in all we say and do, not by effort of the flesh, but by the work of the Spirit. We set our minds on the things of the Spirit, not on the things of the flesh, which no longer define us. As we fix our eyes on Christ, we see ourselves as we truly are. We are like Him. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.

Our God is greater, and that makes all the difference. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. As we step away from old ways of thinking and the ongoing lies of the enemy, and turn toward God’s way of seeing, we allow His power to work in and through us. He changes us from the inside out. Christ has cleansed the inside of the cup, and the outside will follow. It is God who brings the growth. It is God who produces the fruit in us. We are vessels of His love and power, filled to overflow.