Have you ever played the game, “Mother, MAY I?” Here’s how it works: Players line up at the starting line and the goal is to get to the finish line first. The leader, called “Mother,” gives a command like “Take a giant step,” or something else that means to move forward. Something like a bunny hop, spin around and take two steps, or even take a baby step forward. Before moving forward, a player must ask, “Mother, may I?” When mother says, “Yes, you may,” the player then follows the instruction. If a player moves without permission, he or she is sent back to the starting line. Whoever reaches the finish line first, wins the game.
Sound like fun? It was one of my favorites.
I thought about using this game to show you what can keep us from fully living like Jesus in the earth. Last month I told you that “this Glory inheritance is straight from the heavenly realm, and it belongs to you as a child of God. Jesus made it possible for you to live in Him, in His Light, so completely that He moved you from being controlled by the darkness in this world to living as one with Him.”
Like the children in “Mother, may I?” we have been called by the Father to live in the light—to come to a higher place and live as one with Jesus. He has called us out of the kingdom of darkness and made the way for us to enjoy a new life with His wonderful Son, Jesus. He even asked us to help Him heal the sick and share the love of Jesus.
Even though we have His full permission to walk and live like Jesus on the earth, we still can’t do it alone. Maybe you’re wondering, How am I trying to be like Jesus on my own? Or, maybe you think, I KNOW I can’t be like Jesus! I’m not good enough!
That’s just it. When we think we aren’t big enough or good enough, we feel stuck with ourselves as is.
Let’s read this verse from last month. Look closely at who is the One doing all the “work.”
Your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us by living in the light. He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:12-13, The Passion Translation).
You are not “as is.” God MADE you worthy. He RESCUED you. He TRANSLATED or MOVED you into the kingdom of His beloved Son. God is the One who did everything! Our part is not nearly so difficult. What is our part?
Let your heart soar with gratitude. RECEIVE the glorious inheritance—it’s freely given so you can’t pay for it. Be MOVED out of darkness and into the light and LIVE in that light with Jesus. Our part is to receive what He did for us and let Him lead us, move us and shine through us.
So simple, right? The Father gave His only Son to die for us, so we could be His children too. Think about it like this: Jesus came to earth to be like US so that we could be just like HIM!
God’s plan for us is awesome! So why haven’t we seen more of His miracles, power and life coming out of us?
One reason is we don’t see ourselves the way God sees us. We hear the negative thoughts the enemy says to us like, “You’re not good enough, smart enough or brave enough to do the things that Jesus did.” Then, we look at ourselves and see our faults, weaknesses and shortcomings; and it seems to prove that God couldn’t use us to heal people, much less do miracles like helping people out of wheelchairs or legs growing back! Kids aren’t the only ones to think this; adults are the same way! We have allowed the enemy to rob us of who we really are by telling us that we are just human beings.
YES, we are human beings with human weaknesses. And that is exactly who Jesus died for! We know Jesus died to save us, but He really died to FILL US WITH HIMSELF! We will see more of Him flowing out of us when we stop focusing on how weak we are compared to Him. He didn’t come to COMPARE, but to SHARE His greatness with us.
When we realize that our human weaknesses are the very place Jesus can shine, we will begin to live as ONE with Him. Giving Him the opening is just a matter of those things we mentioned before.
Superkids, say this with me: “I LET my heart soar with gratitude. I RECEIVE the glorious inheritance. It is freely given to me so I can’t pay. I was MOVED out of darkness and into the light, and I now LIVE in that light full of Jesus!”
Father, may I?
YES, YOU MAY!
We win!
Commander Kellie