by Maria Hartman

No fiction can beat this fact: READY?

Zephaniah 3:17  The LORD Your God is in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

What if you and I lived this as if it was a FACT? It doesn’t mention anywhere that this is conditional, based upon our perfect performance. Could it be because it has nothing to do with us other than the fact that we are the recipients? I think that may be the reason.

Matthew 20:18-19 tells us how Jesus had an eternal perspective all His life, including when He went to the cross. Listen carefully to it:  Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death anddeliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.

Jesus Christ knew all things. Look at the highlighted words and what He knew would be. All of it was in His power to stop, yet there was another ‘will’ that came into play here; the will of the Father, and the Son’s desire to complete it. But long before any of it actually happened, Jesus saw the resurrection as a completed FACT. He lived His life as fact… never living based on what He saw around Him. He would rise again.

Friends, IN HIM, our victory is certain as well. It is not a possibility or a hope without a foundation. No event or person can alter it, just as no event or person altered the victory of the Savior. We too will rise again! Praise God! And though we grow so weary from time to time, living like fiction is what is real rather than embracing and clinging to the promises of our Savior, they remain for us today. We can live with an eternal perspective instead of one that gives way to discouragement. Look again at what our gracious God wants us to know. He never keeps what is important from us. Read it aloud: The LORD (my) God is in (my) midst. The Mighty One…the only One who can save….He will rejoice over (me) with gladness….He will quiet (me) with His love…He will rejoice over (me) with singing… Wow…..how beautiful

For Today: Now, can anything ruin your day? Can anything improve your day? If we really understand what we have been given, nothing can do either. Therefore, let’s live like Jesus today; focused on fact.