Living In The Perception of God : Bishop Tony Samuels
But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. - 1 Samuel 16:7
To walk in true freedom, we have to walk in our true identity, which comes from the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.
We lose our freedom when we focus on people’s perception of us rather than the Lord’s. We begin to feel “less than” what God has created us to be. Many people are held captive by others people’s perceptions of them. Now, even though we can’t change others people’s perceptions of us, it would be a tragedy if we chose to walk in their perception instead of the Lord’s.
Psalms 139:14 says, I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Notice, it says we are wonderfully made by God. We are not mistakes; we are made by His Hand.
The root of perception is value. When someone does not see you the way that God sees you, they devalue you…not realizing that the Blood that redeemed them is the same Blood that redeemed you. The Lord detests when we devalue a person that He values very highly.
One of the ways that wrong perception is manifested is through rejection. One person in the Bible who had to walk through other people’s wrong perception, and rejection, was King David. When the Lord went to his house looking for the next King of Israel, David was not even called to the ceremony. Those who had a wrong perception of David found out very quickly how the Lord perceived him.
The one that no one even considered turned out to be God’s choice, and he was anointed that day to be the King of Israel. What’s more amazing is that even though everyone saw God’s endorsement on his life, people still didn’t see him in that light. No one believed he could take on a Giant named Goliath. He was still rejected by his brothers. But David shows us that you don’t have to be bound by others’ wrong perception of you. You can make a choice to live in God’s perception. David moved into his identity, and slayed the Giant that everyone else was terrified of. David didn’t let what they thought of Him stop him from walking in who God had created him to be!
Sometimes the enemy will use the rejection of others to try to silence you, to try to cap you and stop you from living in the perspective of God. You have to break through all of that. His brothers wanted David to just go home and tend the sheep; that was their plan for him, based out of their wrong perception. But God had other plans for David…bigger plans, and David had to step on to that battle field and walk in his true identity with an audience of naysayers looking on. You see, David knew God; he knew how the Lord saw him, and he operated from that place. He refused to be intimidated by their wrong perception of him. I say this with conviction: Child of God, don’t let anyone ever look down on you! You hold your head up. Yes, you made mistakes in the past, but you are not your mistakes, and you deserve to be at the King’s table!
You see, if we don’t correct this, we will always settle for less. We will let others dictate us from their perception of us and how they think we should be doing things. But if we live by that, we will not become who God has created us to be. So my brothers and sisters, let’s live in God’s perception for our lives, and you will see your life become what He intended it to be.
I leave you with this, Gods perception: 1 Peter 2:9, But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.
You are so valuable and precious in His eyes.
