It’s good to keep an eye out for practical ways to serve God better. Frank Viola has posted a set of six affirmations that he reviews every day. In his own words, “These affirmations ground and center me as a kingdom citizen at the start of each day.” I recommend that you read the original post here: https://frankviola.org/2019/02/07/6affirmations/
This follows on something I have mentioned before, about beginning each day in the presence of the Lord. Right now, I want to focus only on the first affirmation—”Let go of the way life ought to be and find joy somewhere in whatever your life currently is.” What follows is just one way to unpack it.
The first thing that comes to my mind in support of the affirmation, overall, is Psalm 118:24. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” When we experience disappointment, it always helps to direct our attention away from our discouraged selves and on to Jesus. When, in the morning, we know that we face a challenging day, the reminder that God is the source of this day reassures us that we can draw upon the life of Christ to meet the challenges. That way we don’t merely make it through. We can see that God has revealed His hand regardless of the outcome. As Charles Trumbull put it in his book, Victory in Christ: the present is “when God’s best blessings of victory for us are to be realized. God wants us to have His best now.”
With respect to the way life currently is, I have learned one thing. My expectations for and preoccupation with the future can rob me of joy right now. Jesus is in the here and now. It is in his presence that there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). Jesus is the ladder that Jacob saw, extending from earth to the throne, with messengers passing continuously between us and the Father. True joy can be traced back to its origin in God. It is not constrained by my present circumstances.
When Jesus found himself in distressing circumstances, he did not allow them to overwhelm him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Jesus had a soul, and on occasion it was troubled. But he also had a spirit, and it was there that he received life from the Father. He always elevated that source of life above the influence of his mind, will and emotions. In the same way we receive life in our spirits by Jesus, who is the Spirit of Life (1 Corinthians 15:45). Every day we have a new opportunity to draw upon the life of Christ. Taking that opportunity begins with letting go of contrary influences that try to reach us through the soul.
It’s easy to lose sight of God’s purpose. Jesus had a firm grasp on that while he lived on the earth, and later the apostles did also. God’s purpose in creation is an eternal purpose. He has included us in his purpose by placing us in His Son. As the apostle Paul puts it, “And because of him [God] you are in Christ Jesus…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). It is also easy to lose sight of our actual position as God sees it. As Paul again says, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Here is Paul yet again:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7)
If that is the way I always thought about my life I would have nothing to let go of, but that’s why I need affirmations and reminders. Thank God for His word and His servants! This is the day that the Lord has made. I can look at it from the perspective of being securely seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. Today is a new opportunity to live by the life that Christ makes available in my spirit. It is up to me to keep pressing in to Jesus so that my spirit (rather than my soul) dominates my choices. If I do that, no matter what the day brings, I can be sure of my place in God’s purpose.
There are five more affirmations to consider, and perhaps more that could be added. I may return to them in future posts.
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