Faith Life Community Blog

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden (held)  of it (Acts 2:22-24)”

Dear friend and partner,

In our last discussion, I mentioned Joseph, a man of great dreams, whom God gave a different cry of joy as he saw his dreams fulfilled in Egypt. However, it is important to know that Joseph did not just arrive at the place of his dream without suffering in the hands of men. Men took his coat, drop him in the pit and send him to slavery. Do you know that people who have dreams and who chose to pursue them fearlessly may also suffer various forms of attack and persecution in the hands of men? Of course, the devil may use fellow men to try and persecute you for what God is about to do and release in your future. But, I’ve come to announce to you today: Don’t panic, your life and dreams are safe in the hands of God.

Let’s start with Joseph. In Acts 7:9-10, the Bible told us that men “moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and made him governor over Egypt and all his house.” Can you see what men did and what God did here? Men  moved with envy, sold him into Egypt and sent him to prison for an offense he did not commit. But, God was with Joseph and He gave him favour and wisdom in Egypt before Pharaoh. It means, regardless of what men or Satan have planned against you and your dreams in life, God has a greater plan! and His plans are for your good and not for evil, to bring you to the expected end (See Jer 29:11).

Similarly, in Acts 2:22-24, Peter spoke on the day of Pentecost about how Jesus suffered in the hands of men and how God by his foreknowledge and counsel raised him up. Remember, Jesus was born to be king but men crucify him so that this dream will not come to pass (See: Matt 2:1-2; Luke 23:35-38). Again, men did what they could do to Jesus: hung Him on the cross and slain him, but God raised Him up from the dead.

Fortunately, Jesus knew what men were going to do to him. In Matthew 17:22-23, he said “The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again.” Notice the phrase: “betrayed into the hands of men”. Men “betrayed” him. He was left in the hand of men to do whatever they want to Him. However, the story does not end there, Jesus also knew what God would do. He knew “on the third day he shall be raised again”. He knew God has the power to raise him up. And that was why at the darkest moment of his life, while suffering on the cross (in the hands of men), he cried with a loud voice: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46)“. Since he could not raise Himself, He put his trust and hope for the resurrection of His body in the hands of the father. Men may crucify and slain His physical BODY but His SPIRIT is committed into the hands of the father. And this is similar to what we see in the life of Job, you remember the devil launched the worst of attack on the BODY of Job and his material possessions, but Job’s spirit was kept safe in the hands of God in the midst of it all (See Job 1:11-12). That’s why everything that Job loss “resurrected” back doubled!

To me, all these go to show that there is a limit to what men can actually do to you and your dreams as a child of God. Men can kill your BODY but they cannot touch your SPIRIT. They can DELAY the fulfilment of your dreams but they cannot DENY it. They can take your coat of many colors but they cannot take the dreams from your spirit. They can PERSECUTE and HATE you for your stance but they cannot STOP God’s plan concerning you from being fulfilled. I want you to know that God is perfectly in charge and He regulates how far men can go. That’s why there is no need to be afraid of any form of persecution and attack of men. In Luke 12:4, Jesus encouraged us with these words: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do”.

So, when Jesus cried, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”, He knew God would never fail Him and He was safe and secure in his hands. And Jesus, speaking of us, said, no man would be able to pluck us out of the hands of God (John 10:28-29). And Paul also wrote to Timothy: “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12).” That means when your life and dreams are kept in the hands of God, no one can pluck you out of His hands or abort your dreams.

Finally, I want you to remember that God is with you in the midst of whatever you may be going through and that he will never leave nor forsake you. Remove every fear of men and anxiety about the future. No matter what you may have suffered in the hands of men, your life and dreams are safe in God’s hands. God is able to keep whatever is kept in His hands. You can be confident that He will be faithful to His words and promises concerning you. And just like David, may you boldly declare: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will triumph on my enemies (Psalms 118:6-7).”

Have a very blessed day!

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FAITH FOR DAILY LIVING is a Total Life Empowerment bulletin published by FAITH LIFE COMMUNITY. It is specially designed to teach believers how to live a daily life of victory and  attain excellence in all areas of life – spiritual, family, finance, career, business, and job.

The mandate of FAITH LIFE COMMUNITY is to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God (Habakkuk 2:14). We aim to bring together a community of people that understood who they are in Christ and impact their community for the Kingdom of God. We teach and inform people  how to receive the life of God and manifest the glory of God in all the earth.

For further details,  check: www.faithlifecommunity.org or email: feedback@faithlifecommunity.org

This article is culled from the series: UNLOCKING YOUR PERSONAL GREATNESS.  You can contribute to any of our articles by posting a comment on the website blog www.faithlifecommunity.org/blog. You can also join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/faith_life

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If you do not know JESUS as your SAVIOUR and LORD, some of the information given in this article may not apply to you. To accept JESUS as your LORD and SAVIOUR, simply pray the following prayer in faith:

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” and “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9). You said my salvation would be the result of Your Holy Spirit giving me new birth by coming to live in me (John 3:5-6, 15-16; Romans 8:9-11) and that if I would ask, You would fill me with Your Spirit and give me the ability to speak with other tongues (Luke 11:13; Acts 2:4). I take You at Your Word. I confess that Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. Thank You for coming into my heart, for giving me Your Holy Spirit as You have promised, and for being Lord over my life. Amen.

If you have just prayed this prayer, please contact us and let us know of your decision. We have a free Salvation Package we would like to send you to help you begin your new life in Jesus! Send an email to: feedback@faithlifecommunity.org

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 17th, 2010 at 1:50 am and is filed under Greatness, Visions and dreams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.