WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.840 Today, we're going to take a posture of peace by leaning into God's permanent passion for us. 2 00:00:09.600 --> 00:00:16.000 Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale. Posture is a podcast that serves as a short audible fist bump to remind 3 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.280 you that God is in everything. Together, we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture 4 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:29.280 of perfect peace. In Psalm chapter 100, verse 5, it says, 5 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:39.360 For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through 6 00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:49.840 all generations. Okay, did you catch that? Endures forever, continues through all generations. 7 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:58.640 God is permanently passionate about you. He is permanently passionate about you. 8 00:00:59.760 --> 00:01:06.400 Genesis 1-26 says that he made us in his image and likeness. So just to be clear, 9 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:15.120 he is not made in our likeness. God is not like a human. The Bible says in Numbers 23-19, 10 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:21.760 God is not a human that he should lie. He's not a human being that he should change his mind. Now, 11 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:29.440 why do I say that? Because too often, we give God human characteristics, especially when it 12 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:35.440 comes to defining and trying to understand his love for us. Sometimes we give him the 13 00:01:35.440 --> 00:01:42.880 characteristics of an abusive father, saying that he creates our suffering to teach us something or 14 00:01:42.880 --> 00:01:47.520 to discipline us. Sometimes we give him the characteristics of an unfaithful husband, 15 00:01:48.080 --> 00:01:54.640 believing that we must perform in a certain way to get him to show up and be with us and stay 16 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:00.640 with us. Sometimes we give him the characteristics of a finicky friend, believing that there is a 17 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:07.360 chance that he won't do what he said he'll do, or he won't come through on his promises. You know, 18 00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:12.800 even in the best human love that we can experience on earth through healthy families 19 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:19.040 and friendships and marriages, even those can sometimes feel fragile. Those relationships are 20 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:26.240 still susceptible to disappointment, blown expectations, and misunderstandings. But God 21 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:34.240 is God. There is no one like him. We say it. We sing it often. We sing, 22 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:41.920 there is no one like you, Lord. But do we believe it? Do we believe there is no one like him? If we 23 00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:53.360 do, we must also believe that he loves us like no one else loves us. He is permanently passionate 24 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.840 about you. My friend and mentor Graham Cook once asked a question that just has never left me. 25 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:09.200 He asked, do you really believe what God believes about you? You see, it's way too easy to believe 26 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:15.040 that what you currently think about yourself and what others think about you is what God thinks 27 00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:23.520 about you. But God is God. And I'm telling you, if you start seeing yourself in all that you 28 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:30.560 encounter in life the way God sees, it will change your life. You will live differently. 29 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:40.640 You will live powerfully. To be totally honest, 2020 has not been at all what I expected. It's 30 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:48.080 actually been so much better than I could ever have dreamed. Because despite all the craziness 31 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:56.160 and chaos of external circumstances, there has been this victorious steadiness in me like never 32 00:03:56.160 --> 00:04:02.400 before. And let me just tell you, it's not by my own willpower, brilliance, positive thinking. It 33 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:11.360 is from a living God who I know is permanently passionate about me and you. And it's this fresh 34 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:18.800 awareness of the empowering presence of God within me that has made me more myself than ever 35 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:24.720 before. This is what I want for you. This is why I even host Posture every day. I'm sharing this 36 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:32.560 message over and over again because I see the chokehold of anxiety and unbelief going limp 37 00:04:33.200 --> 00:04:40.880 as our generation pulls back from perfectionism and performance and takes a rightful posture of 38 00:04:40.880 --> 00:04:46.880 perfect peace. This is what Jesus died to give us. Now this Wednesday, Graham and I, we're kicking 39 00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:51.520 off a three-day live challenge on Facebook and I would love for you to join us. I'm going to put 40 00:04:51.520 --> 00:04:55.680 the link in the description of this episode with all the details. We're going to be talking more 41 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:59.840 about this. We're going to be talking about this permanent passion that God has for us. 42 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:07.000 what God actually believes about us, and we're going to be talking about the position Jesus put us in. 43 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.000 And it's a good position. 44 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:14.000 Let's be the generation who takes God at His word 45 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.000 and displays the glory of His permanent passion and perfect peace 46 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:24.000 to a world who is desperately longing for this good news. 47 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.000 The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26.3 48 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:36.000 And in Hebrew, it is shalom shalom, meaning complete wholeness. 49 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.000 Nothing missing, nothing broken. 50 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.000 This is who you are in Jesus. 51 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.000 Let's declare this together. 52 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:47.000 Today, I am kept in perfect peace. 53 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.000 With my whole heart, I trust the Lord. 54 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 I am strong, I am victorious, I am whole. 55 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Remember, friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus' ultimate win. 56 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:03.000 Not because of anything you did, but because of what He did for you. 57 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:08.000 With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus' victory on display 58 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.000 and Satan's defeat on replay.