We offer this to attendees of our Pressing Reset Workshops. It just occurred to me that maybe I would just offer it to anyone who was interested. It’s not just for workshop attendees...
The Final Word about Original Strength
From the beginning, before the beginning, you were always meant to be strong. I have never been more certain of this. Before you were, God knew you. He planned you, He created you, He fashioned you awesomely and wonderfully, and then He called you His masterpiece.
Think of it. You are His masterpiece. This idea, this truth, continues to grow in my head, not just my heart. Everything about Original Strength; every workshop, every new person I have met, every story of a health problem being erased, every story of hope being born – it is all nothing short of miraculous. God blessed me by answering a prayer to become bulletproof - to be strong, resilient and capable. But the blessing never stopped there, it only began there. And God didn’t just answer that prayer for me, yes He loves me, but He also loves you. He answered that prayer for you, too; before you were even born.
Our very design, our original blue print which was put in us before we came into the world, already carried the program we would need to become strong, to stay strong, and to regain strength. He knew what we would need physically and He gave it to us before we would ever think to ask for it.
But we wouldn’t need strength just physically, we would also need strength mentally. True resilience requires both a strong mind and a strong body. And this is another bit of the miraculous; the movements that were designed to make our bodies strong also help to make our minds resilient. The better we move and feel, the better we can think and be. But the movements can only help us to overcome so much. In fact, just as the body influences the mind, good or bad, the mind influences the body, good or bad. And, if the mind has more of an influence over the body than the body does over the mind, we may just need a mental reset. For example, it will be impossible to be physically resilient if your mind is constantly tormented with fearful thoughts of dread and stress. You will become physically sick because your mind is sick.
Ponder with me. We were given physical resets before we ever needed them, and before we were even born. Do you think it’s possible we’ve been given mental resets before as well?
About the same time God was teaching me how to move like a child again, He also taught me a verse which I did not fully understand. To be honest, the verse continues to reveal itself to me with every day that passes:
“Those who hope on The Lord shall renew their strength. They shall rise up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:39
Sounds a lot like a reset doesn't it? The truth is we were all given Everything we would ever need before we were. Just as you were not meant to be weak, frail or fragile, you were also not meant to be afraid, discouraged, and depressed. You were made to be strong in every sense of the word; physically, mentally, and spiritually. You were made to overcome all situations and conquer all threats.
Our mental reset is hoping in God, relying on God and allowing Him to be our Source. He wants to be all that we need. In Psalm 18:1, David says, “I love you Lord. You are my strength.” David knew how to rely on and trust in God, his Protector, his Comforter, his Warrior. David knew there was nothing he couldn’t handle as long as he had his thoughts and gaze fixed on God.
That is how we press reset, mentally. But it is easier said than done. This is because mental resets, like physical resets, can only go so far. We are three parts of a whole, not two. To be wholly strong and resilient, we need to also be spiritually resilient. We need a spiritual reset.
Like the other resets, the spiritual reset has also been given to us, we just often don’t realize it.
In the very beginning of the Bible is says that God made man in His own image. It says we were created in the image of God, which means like God, which means like Father, like Son or Daughter.
David says in Psalms 8 that, “..When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”
Do you see it yet? God made us, created us as His children, to be like Him.
Paul says in Roman’s 8:19 that, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.” But what if creation is simply waiting for God’s children to realize who they are? If you realized who you truly were, wouldn’t your true self be revealed for all the world to see?
Enter Jesus.
Jesus was/is the Savior of the world. He lived his entire life on Earth without compromise. He never backed down or cowered in the face of opposition and he never gave into fear. He was the perfect expression of God’s love and he was the perfect expression of the potential of mankind. And, Jesus knew who he was. He also knew who we were too. He told everyone who He was and he told everyone else who they were. He loved, he forgave, he healed and he set free. He met everyone where they were at by loving them, like God loved them. Jesus was the physical expression of God’s love for us. Did the world need a Savior? Yes. No one knew who they really were. Does the world need a Savior? Yes, because still no one knows who they really are.
There is a lot of theology about the mission and life of Jesus, but through it all, Jesus’ message is very simple: God loves you. He created you. His life is in you. We are to be One with God and never separated from Him.
Jesus said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
…that We may be One in Him…
Do you see it? God loves you. You are His child and His life is in you. If you really knew that, with the deep strength that Jesus knew it, your spirit would be rock solid and resilient. And that is your spiritual reset: knowing who you are. You are God’s child and He loves you.
Knowing this, knowing who you are, and Who is in you - Who will never leave you nor forsake you, is powerful. Knowing you are God's lovely, cherished child will give you the mental peace and strength to overcome anything. Knowing that it is God's will for you to be healthy and vibrant, knowing that you can do all things through Him - who strengthens you, will change the way you think! Your thought processes will change! As you realize who you truly are in God's eyes, you will become mentally bulletproof. As you become mentally bulletproof, you will become even more resilient physically because your spirit will help fortify your mind and body. Spirit, mind and body; it’s all a dance…
Listen, I’m not saying you will never have struggles in life. The more you realize who you were meant to be, the more life will throw at you. That’s the point of being resilient. There would be no need to become bulletproof if no one was shooting at you. Right? You may be attacked by those closest to you; by those who don’t know who they are. But because you know who you are, because God lives in you and wills for you to be strong in Him, no weapon formed against you will prosper.
I’m also not saying you’ll never feel guilty about anything, but if you do, it’s because you have forgotten who you are. God isn’t putting guilt on you, that’s you doing that. And I’m not saying you’ll never have a pain or a sickness, but even if you do, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t meant to be healthy and strong.
I’m certainly not saying you will never get knocked down or you will never fall, but what I am most certainly saying is that you were made to rise up; again and again, like the eagle. That is your design. God is your Original Strength. You are His masterpiece. I believe you should know that…