Goedemiddag gift of GOD! Tena istellin (እው ሰላም ነው) light ! May the Love and peace of GOD which surpasses all knowledge and understanding fill you. May the joy of the LORD be your strength and his presence your garment. This article is actually an excerpt from my article "The Trap of Half-Truths (P.1). Watching the Tokyo Paralympics I thought that it might as well be an article.
" Then GOD said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image [Tselem, Strong #6754, Hebrew], according to Our likeness [Demuwth, Strong #1823, Hebrew] [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” So GOD created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created [bara, Strong #1254, Hebrew] him ; male and female He created them "
Genesis 1: 26-27, Amplified Bible (AMP)
Then the LORD GOD formed [yatsar, Strong #3335, Hebrew] [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].
Genesis 2:7, Amplified Bible (AMP)
GOD is spirit (John 4:24). This means that His substance (His foundation, His nature) is not material. He created us all without exception in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 5:1-3). Then He blessed us (Genesis 1:28). Through Adam (the first of the race) He gave us creativity, dominion over the earth, and over all living things on it. Then from the dust of the earth, He fashioned (formed) the body (Genesis 2:7). Finally, He inserted the breath of life, and we became living souls.
In the spirit are consciousness, intuition, and the ability to commune with GOD. The soul, the organ of our personality, is composed of understanding (intelligence), will, and feelings. Within the body are the five senses (sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste) that allow us to interact in our environment on earth. We are individual spirits, with a soul, residing in a body.
In His image and likeness means that every human being, regardless of colour, weight, height, morphology, with or without disability, is a reflection of GOD through their qualities (character), abilities (skills, creativity, gifts, talents, ingenuity, leadership, functions, potential) and the quality of their relationships with other individuals. No single creation can contain all that GOD is and all that he is capable of. He is Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Transcendent, anf Immutable. That is why we are individually and collectively reflections of GOD. This is not the case with animals because they do not have the capacity to create, invent, or transform.
We create, we invent because GOD is the creator. We transform because GOD transforms. We have a sense of justice because truth, righteousness, and justice are the foundation of His throne (Psalms 89:14). We love because GOD loves. He is relational and infinitely great.
Looks, gifts, and talents may set us apart from others, but they do not make us who we are. We are not what we do. It is because we are, that we do and can do. I personally believe that GOD allows exceptions to remind us that his love is unconditional and his glory limitless.
We can easily agree that the value of a new car is not determined by its colour but by its characteristics. Even more so, we should agree that the value of a human being is not judged by the colour of his skin. GOD is relational and infinitely great. It is folly to look down on others because of their race, accent, position or social status. We may have preferences, more or less affinity with some. But let us be always aware that our affinities and preferences do not determine the value of people. We are all trademarks of GOD valued in the blood of JESUS. Because GOD loves us all with unconditional and Eternal love (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8), we are all equal in dignity and rights.
I could have shared photos of famous and disabled people in this article. Paralympic Champions, Actors, Farmers, Artists, Bloggers, Writers, Entrepreneurs, Financiers, Engineers, Vloggers, and more. But I deliberately chose people of ordinary appearances, everyday heroes. Not because I had a disabled brother, but because by reading their stories, for some by listening to them, I realized that the difference between them and who gave the race (with or without disabilities, Christians or not) often comes down to two choices: refusing to identify with one's disability and stretching (maximizing) the best. Stretching the best of who you are, what you know, what you can, and what you have, day by day, in a progressive and continuous way.
I don't know what your handicap is. Is it spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, geographic, social? Is it an addiction?
Perhaps you are currently in prison, in an accommodation center, in a hospital, or a refugee camp. Maybe you live in a country at war or in a persecuted territory. I don't know what you went through, how, why, because of who or what you got here.
But I know that GOD can do infinitely more than you can think or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). There may be no one near you who has been through or can understand what you are going through. Someone you can relate to, someone you can talk to. GOD is omniscient and omnipresent. He is the best person you can have by your side. You may not realise it, but the truth is that He is already with you. It is no coincidence that you are reading this article
I suggest a simple prayer. Put your hand over your heart, close your eyes and say: "LORD make me aware of your Love, your presence and your support. Amen." He answers your prayer. It won't be spectacular, you probably won't have a vision of JESUS or angels. Your situation may not change overnight. He answers you today. He will answer you tomorrow and the day after. Furthermore, He answers you every day. One day He gives you His peace, another His joy, the understanding of His Word, the answering of an unspoken prayer, the baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT, a manifestation of His presence (the feeling of fire on your head, hands or feet), He gives you a song, a verse, lets you hear a testimony, gives you a dream, a vision, directs you to a book, preaching, a film, etc. Gradually, although not perfectly, you realize that you are not the same person. You crossed the desert, survived the storm, climbed the mountain... Because He was with you 🙂 Until then, like Pastor Nick Vujicic and millions of others, I say hold on!
** Goedemiddag = Good afternoon in Dutch
** Tena istellin (እው ሰላም ነው) = Good morning in Amharic
To go further :
- God Will Never Leave You, Joyce Meyer
- Don't Quit, Keep the Faith, T D Jakes
- Making Sense of God: An Invitation to the Skeptical, Tim Keller
- Created in GOD's Image, Ligon Duncan
- In The Image of GOD, Tim keller
- Genesis 1:26 Explained, Dr. Myles Munroe
- Who I am?, Derek Prince
- Spiritual Man, Watchman Nee
-- Jacob, marchand d'amour, Ivan Carluer
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