Your New Normal – Part 3: I’m Not Surprised

Length: 8 Minutes

When God speaks to you about who you are in Christ, those realities will become so normal in your mind that when they manifest, it won’t even surprise you. You’ve been seeing that reality for a long time! So much so, by the time your eyes see it on the outside, your mind has already become accustomed to it on the inside.

When we use the truth of the gospel frequently it is said to “train or exercise our senses.” That means the gospel trains your mind to recognize what is true and what is not.

Hebrews 5:13-14 (NKJV) For everyone who partakes only of milk [simple truths] is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age [mature], that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Let’s hone in on those four words, “by reason of use.” The way your mind is exercised to know what is of God and what is not, what is true and what is not, is “by reason of use.” That’s just a term for meditating day and night (Psalms 1:2). Your senses, your mind will become intelligent to what Jesus has provided you. You will be keenly aware of your new realities when you use these truths all the time. That is what we mean when we speak of “normalizing” these things in our mind. It’s training our senses to see ourselves in a new light, in Christ (James 1:23 and 2 Corinthians 3:18).

This is also how we manifest the things inside of us. We acknowledge the good things in us and then they become effectual in our lives (Philemon 1:6). We get to know what Jesus has done and then those things are multiplied (manifested) on the outside (1 Peter 1:2). First, you see it in your mind (believe) and then you’ll see the glory of God on the outside (John 11:40). So, by the time you manifest something, you’ve already been seeing it for a long time in your mind! 

It becomes normal to you before you ever see it. Despite all opposition, you walk around like a person who really has this, and then it will manifest in your life. 

God wants to normalize your new power and privileges in your mind. That is why shock and awe when a miracle happens is not evidence of faith, but rather evidence of unbelief. It shows that these things don’t seem normal to us yet. We may all have room to grow in this, but that’s still the case. 

If you have a temporary condition, but you were really seeing that Jesus gave you the way out, if you were really seeing that medicinal life of God in you (Ezekiel 47:12), if you were already assured that through Jesus you could see this manifested, by the time it actually manifests, why would you be shocked? You were already seeing it.

 Maybe you didn’t know the exact time the condition was going to be healed. Perhaps the timing was unexpected, but you wouldn’t be surprised at the healing. You’ve been seeing this for a long time! You’ve already been staring at that very life of God — praising Him for it, thanking Him for it — for quite a time now. By the time it’s manifested, this is not the first time you’re seeing it. Faith is the recognition of a spiritual reality before it ever becomes visible. So when it’s manifested, it’s like meeting up with an Old Friend that you’ve been meeting with for years. You love Him, you thank Him, but it certainly isn’t shocking. 

Unfortunately, when Christian’s see a miracle, it’s not like meeting up with an Old Friend, but more akin to how the world meets a celebrity. We’re baffled, we’re wondering how this happened, and we even call it a “miracle” because to most people the word miracle means, “some abnormal, uncommon phenomenon by the mysterious hand of God.” That’s exactly what many people believe about miracles. And that shows we’re not use to it. 

Shock and awe are a sign of unbelief, not of faith, because shock and awe shows that these things have not been normalized in our minds yet.

When Jesus walked on the water, His disciples were amazed. They were shocked that Jesus manifested this ability. The Bible says that their shock and awe was because their hearts were hardened, not understanding the power of God that could be multiplied to them.

Mark 6:49-52 (NKJV) And when they saw Him [Jesus] walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out… Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

You may say, “Well, the disciples had never seen a man walk on water, so how can you blame them for being shocked?” But that’s just the thing… they could have! God wants us to see this power in our minds before it’s ever manifested. We can behold and become accustomed to the power of God inside of us, before it’s ever seen on the outside. But the disciples were shocked because they had not understood these things in their mind. Therefore, when they saw it in the flesh, they were amazed.

Particularly, it says that they had not understood about the loaves. This is referring to how Jesus fed a group of 5,000 people, who sat down in the green grass, listening to Jesus. Psalms 23 style (Mark 6:34–44). 

Stay with me on this: The feeding of the 5,000 was not just a miracle. This was what’s called “a sign.” A sign is some work of the Lord that points to something, like a symbol. In John 6:26, Jesus was speaking to people who saw the miracle of the loaves and fishes, but said that they didn’t see the sign. That means they weren’t seeing what it was pointing to, even though they saw the miracle right in front of them.

All of that said, the feeding of the 5,000 was a sign, symbolic of how the grace and peace of God can be multiplied to us (manifested) as we get to know Jesus. Just like 1 Peter 1:2 says. The feeding of the 5,000 was demonstrating that we can actually see the life of God (the bread) and the peace of God (probably the fish) manifested, if we will just learn from Jesus. It doesn’t have to stay inside. It can be multiplied to us if we learn! That’s what Jesus was showing everyone with the feeding of the 5,000.

And so, when the disciples were shocked at a manifestation of the life of God, in Jesus walking on water, the Bible says that their hearts were hardened, they were not perceptive, they did not understand the sign about the loaves being multiplied. If they had understood the truth that the life of God is multiplied to us as we learn, they would not have been surprised when they saw the life of God being multiplied to Jesus. It’s a simple as that.

You can’t say you’re accustomed to a truth, and then when you see it manifested on the outside, you are amazed. 

It is not only possible, but it is our right as believers to receive revelation from God, so that we can be accustomed to who we are, even before we see it manifested. It is our right to understand every good thing that God has put inside of us. And if we will meditate on these things, if we will have our senses trained in the good news, using it all the time, you will see the glory of God demonstrated in your life! That’s a promise. The loaves will be multiplied to you while you restfully learn from Jesus! And because you will be so accustomed to seeing your new, born again characteristics by that time, you won’t need to be surprised at the manifestation. 

This is not miraculous, as they say. This is normal. This is our heritage. These are our rights in Christ, and we’ve been seeing this for a long time coming. 

You’re eternally destined for everything you see in Jesus. Now, get used to it.

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