GODSTRONG

Autumn began today. A season closed, and a new one started. I wrote for six hours straight following a train of thoughts from within. The voice of the Holy Spirit entered the stillness of my mind as I was waking up to my first cup of coffee— “Come to know Me deeper than the surface knowledge you have of Me.” I felt that I already had a deep relationship with God. When I refer to God, I’m collectively referring to the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit (God’s Spirit living within a believer of Christ as Savior).

We can know a lot about a person from their life story. But, to truly know a person, you must go beneath the surface of their story. I’ve been studying The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface, and I’m editing my debut novel PURSUIT to master that craft. My passion for doing that and for experiencing my internal emotions as I vicariously live out the characters, Jeremy, Christina, and Izzy, has delayed the release of PURSUIT for publication. I am yet not finished with the journey of PURSUIT. I will soon enter my tenth year of writing a fictionalized life story that developed into a trilogy about forsaken love, scandalous love, and redeeming love with these titles—

PURSUIT – A Matter of Choice

SCANDAL – A Matter of Consequence

CONQUEROR – A Matter of Redemption

Yesterday, I knew that my non-stop, nine-month quest to finish and polish PURSUIT for publication this coming November 1, had come to a halt. I’ve been in that situation many times throughout those years of writing. The flow of the fountain of inspirational thoughts stops, the passion wanes, not due to a lack of interest, but rather that God wants to work in me differently. God wants to birth a deeper relationship with Him that I have yet to know. To inspirationally write beneath the surface of my story, I first need to experience a deeper relationship with God.

That makes sense to me. The words that I compose are the words I hear and the visions I see that are inspired by the Holy Spirit within me. God wants to add to that the emotions I will experience through my relationship with Him. It is through emotions that we have a visceral connection with a person or a character. Words and pictures are surface representations that reflect our knowledge of someone. We know what someone looks like, and we can use words to describe their character. But to viscerally experience a person, we must be intimate with them. I’m not speaking sexually with that statement. True, we do have a penetrating experience with someone beyond words and pictures when we have sexual relationships. But how much more potent of a deep relationship we can have with someone without physically becoming one with them.

God is spirit, and we do not have a physical relationship with God; we have a spiritual one. We may feel physical manifestations as a result of a relationship with God, but that manifestation is a physical response of the spiritual expression of the Holy Spirit within us. I can physically feel the presence of the Holy Spirit when my nerves and muscles respond like a jolt of “electricity” has pulsated from my head to my feet. That can release a variety of emotions from my heart— inexplicable joy, piercing conviction, comforting confirmation, saturating sorrow. Those experiences are blips on a timeline separated by a flat line like a heartbeat with days or weeks unresponsive to the heartbeat of God. We may rely on those experiences to know that God is with us. What if our heart was continually responsive to God’s heart, meaning to say, that we are so in tune with God that our heartbeats are His? That would be the most intimate relationship to have with God. We wouldn’t be conscious of it— like the beating of our own heart, always there even when we aren’t thinking about it. How could that be possible?

It’s a matter of perspective.

You see with your physical eyes to view the world around you. That is a worldview where we see things on the surface. What if we had God’s view that spiritually sees beneath the surface? For example, we see a husband lash out in anger at his wife, but what we don’t see are the scars on his heart from his childhood when his father abused him. Or, we see a wife manipulate with tears to get her way, but we don’t know the hole in her heart from her father abandoning her. I’m not bashing fathers nor am I categorizing husbands as angry and wives as manipulative. Those examples point out that there is much more to see than what we can with our physical eyes.

Knowing God is more than knowledge, more than a deep understanding of scripture, more than a resuscitating jolt from the Holy Spirit. Intimately knowing God is having God’s view rather than a world’s view without being conscious of it. It is the ultimate oneness with God to have the heart of God and the sight of God. I’m not suggesting that we can become God, but we are to become like God in our sojourn in this world. God did not create us in His image for our brief time in this world. He created us for a relationship with Him to become like Him until we see Him face to face in heaven when God perfects us.

So, what is all of that leading? I’ve been writing about the mind (knowing), eyes (seeing), and heart (feeling) as a metaphor to illustrate the reality of our love for God and God’s love for us. God’s love for us is not random blips on a timeline but is a continuous steady heartbeat even when we flatline our love for God. God’s view of us is not what other’s see; God sees our heart. Knowing God is not an intellectual mass of information about Him. Knowing God is an intimate relationship that goes beneath the surface. It is visceral, not in the physical sense but spiritually “felt” in the inner being. It is so deep that we are not consciously aware that we are blessing others with His love for us that is continuous and unconditionally given and never forsaken.

You may be wondering how you can have God’s view rather than a worldview. An example is the phrase, “Follow your heart.” As the writer of an article on this site states:

“Follow your heart” is a creed embraced by billions of people. It’s a statement of faith in one of the great pop cultural myths of the Western world, a gospel proclaimed in many of our stories, movies, and songs. Essentially, it’s a belief that your heart is a compass inside of you that will direct you to your own true north if you just have the courage to follow it. It says that your heart is a true guide that will lead you to true happiness if you just have the courage to listen to it. The creed says that you are lost and your heart will save you. This creed can sound so simple and beautiful and liberating. For lost people it’s a tempting gospel to believe.

That leads to my comparison of the worldview of being “heart strong” in an article found on this site compared to God’s view of being “God strong.” Translating that Heartstrong article to God’s perspective is how you can have God’s eyes rather than a worldview. It establishes a guide for taming your heart from the Heartstrong worldview to the Godstrong view of living for God’s purpose.

Who are Godstrong people?

Godstrong people are those who have surrendered their hearts to God and walk in the Spirit. A “walk” in the Bible is often a metaphor for practical daily living. The Christian life is a journey, and we are to walk it—we are to make consistent forward progress. To walk in the Spirit means that we yield to God’s control, we follow His lead, and we allow Him to exert His influence over us.

1. Heartstrong people defy gravity.
Are you willing to overcome the forces trying to weigh you down?

Godstrong people don’t let the world hold them down from living an upward life.

Are you willing to live by the power of God rather than your own strength to overcome the dark forces trying to weigh you down?

2. Heartstrong people break the mold.
Are you willing to question the constitution of the walls that enclose you?

Godstrong people allow God to mold them, not the world.

Are you willing for God to break the world’s mold of you and allow God to be the potter?

3. Heartstrong people know their truth.
Are you willing to remember who you are?

Godstrong people know God’s truth that as a child of God, God will always love them.

Are you willing to be the son or daughter of God?

4. Heartstrong people follow their hearts.
Are you willing to tear yourself away from the safe harbor of certainty?

Godstrong people follow the heart of God.

Are you willing to surrender your heart to God for Him to lead your heart to the only thing that is certain, either eternally living with God or eternal damnation in Hell?

5. Heartstrong people go their own way.
Do you have the courage to follow your inner guide even if you look like an idiot and risk alienating those who don’t understand?

Godstrong people go God’s way.

Are you willing to have the faith to follow the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit even when you cannot see where He takes you?

6. Heartstrong people do their own thing.
Are you willing to step out and expose your dream to the light?

Godstrong people do God’s purpose in their life.

Are you willing to give God your dreams and let Him shape them for His purpose?

7. Heartstrong people televise their values.
Are you willing to stay loyal to yourself?

Godstrong people are the light of the world, and they let it shine with good values and deeds for all to see and praise our heavenly Father.

Are you willing to stay loyal to God?

8. Heartstrong people do their own thinking.
Are you willing to turn off the television and formulate your own opinion of the world?

Godstrong people take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. We see things as God sees them and do not lose sight of the truth.

Are you willing to allow your worldview to be shaped by God’s Word (the Bible) rather than by the world around you?

9. Heartstrong people slay their inner editor.
Are you willing to live without interference with the expression of your individuality?

Godstrong people allow the Holy Spirit to be their inner editor.

Are you willing to live without interference to the expression of who God made you to be?

10. Heartstrong people set healthy boundaries.
Are you willing to put yourself at the top of your own list?

Godstrong people set healthy boundaries established by God’s Word, the Bible.

Are you willing to surrender yourself and put God first?

11. Heartstrong people give their river a voice.
Are you willing to bring all of yourself to everything you do?

Godstrong people have rivers of living water that God flows through their hearts.

Are you willing to be a vessel that God’s living water flows through, or do you hold on to that blessing thinking that God will not continually fill you up as much as you give away your blessings?

12. Heartstrong people play by their own rules.
Are you willing to become the exception to as many rules as possible?

Godstrong people play by God’s rules.

Are you willing to positively impact others by playing by God’s rules?

13. Heartstrong people commit to what matters.
Are you willing to communicate to the world that you’re fully committed?

Godstrong people commit to what matters to advancing God’s Kingdom.

Are you willing to share the Good News with the world?

14. Heartstrong people don’t wait for permission.
Are you asking who’s going to let you or wondering who’s going to stop you?

Godstrong people respect others and respect God’s sovereignty and timing. We don’t need to force our way on other people or on God.

Are you willing for God to make a way for his purpose where there is no way that you can see?

15. Heartstrong people take the road less traveled.
Are you willing to work without a map?

Godstrong people do take the road less traveled, but God is their GPS, and they do not need a map.

Are you willing to go when God says go, turn when God says turn, or stop when God says stop?

16. Heartstrong people advocate against normality.
Are you willing to wage a war against mediocrity?

Godstrong people multiply their talents and gifts to advocate with God’s love. You do not need to wage a war but lead with God’s love. We are not meant to compete with others but to complete others in the body of Christ.

Are you willing to lead with God’s love to serve and help others reach their goals?

17. Heartstrong people walk where there is no path.
Are you willing to leave a bloody trail?

Godstrong people shine the light for others to see the Way.

Are you willing to shine in the darkness to Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life?

18. Heartstrong people are their own authority figure.
Are you willing to eschew the judgments of others and do what makes you happy?

Godstrong people make God the supreme authority that He is. They renounce the judgments of others and do what pleases God.

 Are you willing to choose to be joyful even if you do not feel happy?

19. Heartstrong people crush the confines of convention.
Are you willing to become the person you were before the world made you into what it wanted you to be?

Godstrong people work outside of the world’s convention in the world. They are not of this world but are left in this world to shine a light in the darkness just as Jesus did.

Are you willing to become the person you were born to be, a child of God, before the world made you into what it wanted you to be?

20. Heartstrong people inject soul into whatever they do.
Are you willing to bring your humanity to the moment?

Godstrong people inject the soul of God’s love into whatever they do.

Are you willing to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself?

21. Heartstrong people voluntarily opt out of the mainstream.
Are you waiting around to be picked or picking yourself?

Godstrong people are not of this world.

Are you willing to be chosen by God for His purpose? You don’t have to wait when you remember whose child you are, a child of God.

THE GOOD NEWS IS: When you surrender your heart to God and walk in the spirit, being Heartstrong becomes Godstrong and that is an inspiring, attractive, and memorable way to live your life.

Are you beginning to see from God’s perspective?

You may be wondering where I receive the words I write. The words may sound like wisdom, and the questions may be quite challenging. They are both wise and challenging for the foundation of those words are from the Word of God (the Bible).

I challenge you to become wise. Is that not a desire of every human being? Start by reading the Bible. I love reading these translations that use words we hear in everyday speech— The Living Bible or the New Living Translation. Decades ago, I began reading my Bible nearly every morning for thirty minutes before leaving for work. It’s a great way to start your day by walking in the Spirit.

I have provided below a scripture that relates to each of the 20 points of being Godstrong:

1. Ephesians 6:10 Living Bible

Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan.

2. Isaiah 64:8 Living Bible

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the Potter. We are all formed by your hand.

3. 1 John 3:1 Living Bible

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children—think of it—and we really are! But since most people don’t know God, naturally they don’t understand that we are his children.

4. Proverbs 3:5-6 Living Bible

If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

5. Hebrews 11:1 Living Bible

What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.

6. Ephesians 3:20 Living Bible

Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.

7. Matthew 5:14-16 Living Bible

You are the world’s light—a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.

8. 2 Corinthians 10:5 New International Version

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

9. John 16:8 Living Bible

And when he has come he will convince the world of its sin, and of the availability of God’s goodness, and of deliverance from judgment.

10. Matthew 6:31-32 Living Bible

“So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them,  and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.”

11. John 7:37-39 Living Bible

On the last day, the climax of the holidays, Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water shall flow from the inmost being of anyone who believes in me.” (He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him; but the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet returned to his glory in heaven.)

12. Matthew 22:34-39 Living Bible

One of them, a lawyer, spoke up: “Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’”

13. Mark 16:15 Living Bible

And then [Jesus] told them, “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”

14. Exodus 14:21-22 Living Bible

Meanwhile, Moses stretched his rod over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the sea, with walls of water on each side; and a strong east wind blew all that night, drying the sea bottom. So the people of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground!

Isaiah 43:19 Living Bible

For I’m going to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Don’t you see it? I will make a road through the wilderness of the world for my people to go home, and create rivers for them in the desert!

15. Matthew 16:24 Living Bible

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

16. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Living Bible

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.

17. John 14:6 Living Bible

Jesus told him, “I am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me.”

18. Romans 9:19-21 New Living Translation

Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?

19. Romans 12:2 Living Bible

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.

20. Colossians 3:12-13 Living Bible

Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don’t worry about making a good impression on them, but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

21. 1 Peter 1:2 Living Bible

Dear friends, God the Father chose you long ago and knew you would become his children. And the Holy Spirit has been at work in your hearts, cleansing you with the blood of Jesus Christ and making you to please him. May God bless you richly and grant you increasing freedom from all anxiety and fear.

Shalom and God Bless!

Jeff Cambridge © 2019