Peculiar

1 Peter 2 : 9 – 10, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: KJV

What comes to your mind when you think about something being peculiar? I think of peculiar as strange, odd, or different than the norm. The word peculiar in this portion of scripture means: one’s own property, possession, and preservation- as preserving the soul for salvation. Peter tells us by the Holy Spirit that we are a chosen generation, (God’s own property) that He has purchased so that we might declare His praises to this world.

If you’re truly born again, then I can tell you on the authority of God’s word that you’re not going to fit into this world’s system or its ways. Why? It is because you don’t have the same nature dwelling in your heart as those who are in the world. Therefore, you aren’t typical in the way that the world would define “being normal.”

Jesus tells us in John that we are not of this world because He has chosen us and has separated us from it so that we might become one with Him. Not being normal doesn’t mean that we have to be “weird or spooky." As Christians, who are not of this world, God has called us to be extraordinary. We are to become like our Savior and Lord. Jesus was anything but normal. Nevertheless, He was very level-headed and humble… He was extraordinary in every way.

The Bible teaches us that the JUST shall live by faith. Once we learn how to live by faith as God’s children, we will no longer be normal. People who live by faith also do extraordinary things for their God. Through faith, Christians go against the system and defy the odds. We don’t accept whatever life throws at us as being the final word. Faith in God gives us “an out” or an option that the world isn’t privy to because they’re unbelievers.

So what are you facing today that appears to be a dead end or is hopeless to you in the natural realm? As a “faith-walker,” you have a powerful God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what you are able to ask or imagine. Therefore, turn this problem over to Him. After you give God your cares, thus allowing Him to move on your behalf, He will give you direction and a way out so that you can obtain victory over the enemy who is opposing you. Let me leave you with an example from the Word that will help you to grab hold of this principle of faith.

Romans 4: 17 – 22, (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed -- God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." NKJV

As you read about Abraham’s faith-filled reaction to God’s plan to bless them with a son in their old age, you will notice that Abraham didn’t respond in a weird or strange way. Nevertheless, he did respond in an extraordinary way. After God made the promise to Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son, Abraham no longer considered the enormous negative odds they were facing in their own bodies.

ALL of Abraham’s confidence and hope was in God’s ability and not his own. Because Abraham took God at His Word and believed it fully, from that moment on, God empowered him to see with eyes of faith. Eyes of faith refuse to consider the opposition or any mountains that may stand in the way of receiving the promise. The key to Abraham’s victory was solidified when he believed God’s promise; consequently, faith strengthened him.

What mountain or impossible situation are you up against today? Stand in prayer and on God’s promises and allow God to strengthen any weaknesses you may have so that you can inherit the promise by faith. With God, all things are possible.

Give Me Strength Lord,
Pastor Asa Dockery