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Matthew 4:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Matthew 4:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Acts 1:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be [a]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
If Jesus told the disciples that they needed to wait to receive this power from on High to do what they were called to do, Isn’t a good idea we wait to? Receive the same power that enabled and equipped Jesus Himself to do what HE did today. Don’t wait, receive one of the most beautiful gifts the Father provided, The Gift of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
Acts 20:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.
We believe the holy Communion is more powerful than any medicine, any medical procedure, any antibiotic, and any chemotherapy used to heal our bodies. Why, we believe the holy Communion is the proverbial “fountain of youth” mankind has been in search of for generations and why we believe every time we partake of it, we are causing our youth to be renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:5).
The earth has been under a divine judgment ever since Adam sinned. Aging, disease, and death are all part of this divine sentence.
The holy Communion is a supernatural channel for His health and wholeness to flow into our bodies. While the world is getting weaker and sicker, I believe we are getting stronger and healthier each time we partake of the Communion by faith!
If people today knew the magnitude of the power contained within the Lord’s Supper, they would be like the early church, partaking of the Lord’s Supper as often as they could and receiving as many of His benefits as they could. We have been robbed, people! It’s time to wake up!
Romans 6:23 New King James Version (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [a]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
COMPLETELY FORGIVEN, ALWAYS ACCEPTED
If you’ve made HIM LORD of your life then you obtained eternal life and HE exchanged HIS life for your life. This means that you died with HIM and rose with HIM. Romans 6:8-10 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Coming to this realization that HE completed you and made you dead to sin brings freedom like never before. The idea that you have to do anything other than rest in what HE did is nothing more than the religion that JESUS rebuked and rejected. Learn to rest in HIS FINISHED WORK and enjoy all the benefits that HE paid for and accomplished on your behalf.
2 Peter 3:9 New King James Version (NKJV)
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward [a]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
CHANGE YOUR MIND
The word “repentance” in the New Testament is the Greek word metanoia, which simply means “a change of mind.” Meta means “change” and noia refers to your mind. The religious spirit and people who operate by it want you to have the idea that repentance means begging and pleading with God to forgive you. It wants you to condemn yourself until you feel you have sufficiently earned God’s forgiveness.
Can you see how man-centered teachings on contrition and repentance can sound so good, but in reality trap people in a permanent cycle of defeat and hypocrisy? The truth is, if you are a new creation in Christ, you already hate the sin and the wrongdoing. It troubles your soul, and you are looking for a way out of your bondage.
Repentance in this situation is not about beating yourself up over those thoughts. I used to do that and it only left me more oppressed and defeated.
No, give them no room to flourish by ignoring them while you continue to be established and secure in your identity in Christ. Fill your mind with His thoughts, His living Word, His peace, His joy, and His love.
Proverbs 23:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.
How Do You See Yourself?
The Bible tells us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. This means that how you see yourself determines everything about you and any circumstance you are facing.
Brother or sister, the truth is that through Jesus’ finished work at the cross, you are completely righteous and completely redeemed from every curse of sickness. You are God’s beloved child for whom Jesus did a complete work to save, heal and deliver.
So don’t see yourself as the sick trying to get healed. You are the healed, righteous and beloved child of God facing some symptoms. Be of good cheer! There is no disease or condition that is greater than the perfect, finished work that Jesus has accomplished for you.
Declare what you’ve been made and paid for in Christ and see your life manifest this truths and inheritance that are completely yours!
Colossians 1:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 in whom we have redemption [d]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Are you forgiven or working to be forgiven?
To earn God’s forgiveness, people will get in the religious trap of trying to keep the laws of the old covenant, only to fail consistently and end up feeling like hypocrites. In comparison, those who have received and believed the truth of their forgiveness along with the other new covenant realities have had their lives graciously transformed by what HE did and not what they do.
That’s the power of the gospel of Christ. It is able to mend broken lives and restore broken relationships! Knowing you are completely forgiven destroys the power of sin in your life. I know how this revelation has transformed my life.
So when you understand how much you have been forgiven, because that is how much God loves you, you can’t help but love Him much. This is a key to loving the Lord, others and enjoying your relationship with Him.
Family, when you fail, come to Jesus with the boldness and confidence that the Bible tells us to do. Come and receive HIS love, grace and goodness while trusting HIS transforming process.
Don’t worry, He won’t put you under more guilt, shame and condemnation. He will remind you of the FINISHED work accomplished at the cross and say, “Your sins are already forgiven. I have already paid the price for your sins at in and with the price of my blood. Rest in My forgiveness and love for you.”
Declare the blood and finished work that HE did and paid for your complete freedom in Christ.
Romans 8:31-32 New King James Version (NKJV)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
If God is for you, than whats NOT possible for you to achieve?
Start receiving the good news of Jesus. When you are faced with difficult circumstances, keep on believing in His love that was demonstrated on the cross for you and He will cause whatever your facing to be turned around for good and for His glory! Situations can present you with what appear as lemons, but God will turn the lemons into lemonade for your enjoyment!
That’s the power of the gospel of Christ. It is able to accomplish in and all that is needed for you to live a victorious life! Knowing that HE is for you and not against you empowers you to walk in complete victory. I know how this revelation has transformed my life.
Don’t profess you don’t have all the answers, but approach the situation knowing that you have the mind of Christ, therefore you know and have all things because HE lives inside you. Begin to meditate on all that you and what HE has done on your behalf. When we have this confidence that God is for us and not against us, we can believe for restoration, breakthroughs, and good things to happen to us.
Now, that’s God! When He restores, His restoration is always greater in quantity or quality. But think about it: if people won’t adjust their erroneously belief that God is punishing them because of their sins, they would never be able to muster the courage and trust God for restoration and fulfillment of all things HE has assured us.
Family, to begin to reign in life as HE promised it’s important you believe with all your heart that God is for you and not against you. His truth, His righteousness, His gospel, His salvation, His Word, and His Spirit declare that you have been 100% forgiven and HE nailed it all to the cross. God is on your side. And if God is for you, who can be against you?
Declare the goodness of the Father, that HE is loved, I am loved by HIM and am one with HIM. I’m complete in Christ.
Isaiah 43:25 New King James Version (NKJV)
25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
YOUR DEBT HAS BEEN FOREVER PAID IN FULL!!!
The Gospel is the too good to be true news. Here is the best news of the day! Although you and I owed God a sin debt that we could never pay, Jesus has already paid our debt in full.
Because of who Jesus is and the value of that one Man, the price that He paid for our sins was an over-payment. All the sinners put together cannot compare with the value of that one Man. He not over-paid, but paid it beyond reproach. Our sins have been paid in full to the point that we shouldn’t have any more conscience of it ever again!
Lets pretend that I lent you $100,000 for something you owed and as time goes by, you find that you cannot possibly ever pay the money back. Then one day, a friend who is a billionaire hears about your debt and gives a $1 million to pay your debt not only in full and but beyond.
Now, what has your friend done? Well, because he loves you, he has over-paid your debt to make sure that you will never feel the debt on your conscience again, and that your creditor has no more reason to require payment from you.
This is what Jesus has accomplished for you and me through His finished work on the cross. His payment has wiped out your entire life’s sins—past, present, and future—once and for all!
Perhaps in the past you were not aware of the fullness of this gospel of grace, but now I have conveyed the good news to you. It’s now up to you to believe the message.
You can respond in disbelief, asking, “Are you sure? I’ve owed this debt for such a long time, and now you’re telling me that it’s all paid up?” Or you can shout, “Hallelujah!” and rejoice over this unmerited free gift that has cleared your debt of sin completely!
Jesus not only completed and paid it for you, but assured you and I in HIS statement It Is Finished. Paid fully, begin to enjoy the benefits of what HE did and rest in it all. No Longer remain in a sin-conscious, insulting the payment of HIS BLOOD. By continuing to live in that state you are saying that it is not enough. You are saying that HIS BLOOD wasn’t enough.
Jesus’ payment more than satisfied and not only satisfied but paid way beyond what what you and I could ever accomplish in and of our own actions. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb from the Father to assure all is well and the handwriting of requirements that were against you and I have been blotted out. How can we say that His sacrifice is not enough?
My friend, Jesus, being the Son of God, has overpaid your entire life’s sins—once and for all! Believe the good news and draw near to your Savior today! The Word of God declares to you that you can have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19).
Today, in the face of whatever you need help with, you can draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having your heart sprinkled from an evil, sin-stained conscience, and receive His tender mercies, grace, and help for all your needs (Heb. 10:22, 4:16).
Colossians 1:27 New King James Version (NKJV)
27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: [a]which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The KING of KING lives in YOU!!!
The Gospel is the too good to be true news and the news gets better and better when we embrace the reality of the gospel. There isn’t any provision HE didn’t address in what HE did on our behalf to enjoy this amazing journey of a life in, with and HIM in us.
Jesus not only paid it all, but took it one step further and assured us that the KING of KINGS would make their home in us. That’s right, they are making their home in you and I therefore everything they have you and I have. How can we be one with them and not have all that they have. Too many see The Father is some far off place while in reality YOU are one with HIM!
If we’d awaken to the reality of what HE did and where HE really is, there isn’t anything that YOU couldn’t accomplish and overcome in this life. That’s right, the FATHER isn’t striving and or working to overcome any situation and we shouldn’t either. No, we should learn to rest in the reality that YOU and I are one with HIM and what HE has, we have.
I promise you that if your perspective would only line up with what HE did and who lives in YOU, then your life would turn into YOUR BEST LIFE NOW. Too many are waiting to get to the sweet bye and bye while in reality it’s not on the Fathers good pleasure to give you the KINGDOM, but give it right NOW. Stop buying the lie that you have to wait and step into the reality that not only does HE live in YOU, but that YOU have whatever HE has NOW.
Start elevating the truth above the lie and bringing it into the captivity and the obedience of Christ and watch whatever your facing change. HIS TRUTH trumps any lie that has been presented and if you’ll answer the lie with the truth you’ll see complete victory. Jesus isn’t struggling, but resting in the truth and finished work HE completed not only for all of humanity, but for you and I.
Today, in the face of whatever lie that has been sown by whomever or whatever, answer it with TRUTH and watch the victory come.
Romans 6:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The Revelation Of Righteousness Delivers
Because of the cross of Jesus Christ, God is free to righteously bless all who simply believe in Him. The cross frees God to be gracious toward us even when we are undeserving, because Jesus bore the punishment for our sins. The more you believe this and meditate on this truth, the more you put yourself under the grace of God.
What happens when you are under God’s grace? The Bible tells us that sin and all its effects will not have dominion in your life when you are under God’s grace.
Suppose your presented with something that is contrary to what was accomplished by HIS unmerited grace and favor. Go to God and say, “Father, I bring this situation to You and I put it under Your grace.” Something happens when you do that. The situation no longer depends on what the specialists have said, or how severe the symptoms are. It doesn’t depend on your ability to do this or that. It now depends on God’s unmerited, unearned favor!
Brother or Sister, bring each area of your life under God’s grace. One by one, bring them all under the spout of His unmerited favor. The enemy may still give you negative thoughts that cause you to worry about a specific area. If he does that, just remind yourself that that area is under God’s abundant grace!
Isaiah 54:9–10 New King James Version (NKJV)
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 10 For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
TRUE INTIMACY WITH JESUS
Unfortunately, many sincere and well-meaning believers fall into the devil’s trap, and they end up with the wrong belief that they have fallen short of God’s expectations and have angered Him. They live in a constant state of trying to appease and please this angry God. Instead of enjoying a sweet, intimate relationship with Jesus, they feel like they are hypocrites or they feel as if they are always treading on eggshells when it comes to their walk with the Lord.
If you have experienced such thoughts about God before, I would like to share this very important principle with you: Fear and love cannot coexist in a healthy relationship. Insecurity and love cannot coexist in the truly intimate relationship that God wants with you and me, His children.
To many have bought the lie from religion which puts you what I call the hamster wheel of religion. Just like the hamster that works so hard it can never get no where. It works and works only to end up in the same place and caged. Don’t be caged by this lie anymore. Answer the lie with the truth. The truth that HE is good and HIS mercy is toward and for YOU.
That’s what it is all about, brothers and sisters. Winning the battle of your mind is all about your freedom and liberty in Christ Jesus, your Lord and Savior. When you start to believe right about His love and grace toward you, permanent, liberating change happens!
So be strong in God’s love for you and don’t let wrong believing rob you of a life of great joy and peace. Remember, God is not mad at you; He is mad about you!
Galatians 3:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Continue to Live in and by HIS grace!
How were you first impacted by Jesus? Was it through the law (demands) or was it His grace toward you that touched your heart? We all began our relationship with the Lord because we were impacted by His love and grace. Let us then continue in that grace.
The apostle Paul asked the church in Galatia point-blank, “…Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [self-effort]?” (Galatians 3:2–3). Paul was saying to them, “You began by believing in His grace, why are you now depending on your works? That is foolishness! You should be continuing in His unmerited favor!” These are strong words by Paul.
Beloved, don’t start with grace and end up with the law. Don’t start with the new covenant, only to turn back to the old covenant! Stay on the path of grace. When you are established in the new covenant of grace, you will experience a tremendous sense of confidence and security in Christ. When your confidence is in His unmerited favor and not your performance, you will know that you have access to His blessings all the time, simply because of His finished work at the cross. Today, think, talk and act knowing that it is not about you or your works, but Jesus and His work, and step out into His blessings for you!
Romans 8:37 New King James Version (NKJV)
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
More Than Conquerors Through Christ’s Love!
The sun shines on every blade of grass in a field. But if you put a magnifying glass over one particular blade of grass, it will center the heat from the sun over that blade, and that blade of grass will burn.
My friend, that is what you must do with God’s love. Put a “magnifying glass” over your life and see God’s love being focused and concentrated on YOU. Hear Him call you His beloved, the one He sent His only Son to die for, the one who has His complete attention, favor and unconditional love.
When you personalize God’s love for you, when you live each day knowing and conscious that God loves you, you will be on fire with a supernatural ability to overcome every challenge in life. Indeed, the Bible tells us that we are “more than conquerors” through Jesus and His love for us!
Brothers and Sisters, YOU are new testament creatures that HE has made all things new. Stay in Christ and live out all that HE intended for you. Stay on the path of the New Covenant, which is what defines you. When we do we stop trying to perform and begin to rest in what HE did and not what we do. Experience HIS tremendous LOVE that HE has for YOU. When your confidence is in His unmerited LOVE and not your performance, you will know that you have access to His ALL HIS blessings, simply because of His finished work at the cross. Today, think, talk and act knowing that YOU are loved because HE is that is good.
Ephesians 2:4-7 New King James Version (NKJV)
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Grace That last a lifetime!
One reason many Christians fret and worry instead of turn to God when they face challenges is that they see His grace as limited. Just as they see their time as limited, their savings as limited and the earth’s natural resources as limited, so they rationalize that God’s grace must also be limited. How unfortunate it is when modern-day believers don’t understand the word “grace” and that JESUS HIMSELF is grace and truth!
Brothers and Sisters, when it comes to the Lord’s grace, you must know that it is UNLIMITED! It’s INFINITE! It’s meant for a LIFETIME!! Who can fathom the depths of His immeasurable grace?
That’s why God doesn’t want you to take just a pinch of His grace once in a while and worry the rest of the time. No, He wants you to take an abundance of it every single day for every single situation! Don’t take just “a limited amount” of grace. Take an abundance of grace and all that the Father provided and intended. That’s how we can live at rest and reign in this life!
Galatians 3:5 New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
Choose the right road!
Brother or Sister, God who performs miracles through and by you, does He do it by the hearing of faith or by the works of the law? It is by the hearing of faith—hearing and believing. The works of the law cannot give you miracles, but the hearing of faith can. The Bible says that by the foolishness of preaching, God sozos you. That is, He saves, heals, blesses and makes you whole (1 Corinthians 1:21).
For example, when Paul was preaching in Lystra, a crippled man who was listening to the apostle had faith to be healed. All Paul had to do was shout to him, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the man leaped and walked (Acts 14:10).
Family, don’t sacrifice hearing for doing. In the Old Testament, the Israelites made the golden calf from gold earrings. Gold in the Bible speaks of divinity and earrings, hearing. Together they speak of divine hearing. The calf is an animal of labor. In other words, by worshipping the golden calf, the Israelites were worshipping the god of labor and sacrificing divine hearing for doing. That is what a lot of Christians are doing today. They focus on doing and sacrifice hearing.
So don’t fall into this trap. Your works or self-efforts cannot save you or bring about the miracle you need. Just keep hearing about and meditating on what Jesus has done for you. Believe the good news and rest in Jesus’ finished work. Faith will come to empower you to stand, walk and leap in victory!
Colossians 2:13–14 New King James Version (NKJV)
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the [a]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
The Father fulfilled the LAW for YOU!!!
When we consider the account of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, interestingly, the Bible is silent on what Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger in response to the Pharisees on the matter (John 8:6). We can only assume, but I believe whatever it was I believe it had to do with HIS GRACE and TRUTH.
The book of John is very clear and Jesus was and is both Grace and Truth. That’s right, Moses gave us the law, but Jesus came to fulfill the law while reveling Grace and Truth.
The first set of the Ten Commandments was destroyed by Moses when he saw the Israelite’s were found worshiping the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai. God then wrote another set on stones and gave it to Moses for it to be placed under the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant.
It’s because Jesus Himself fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf and took upon Himself every curse and stroke of punishment for our sins on His own body at the cross. We are forgiven because He was judged. We are accepted because He was condemned!
Whatever your challenge today, your answer is found in receiving a fresh revelation of how much you are forgiven in Christ.
Hebrews 10:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being [a]sanctified.
God Sees What You Can Become By and Through His Grace!
When God was with Moses on Mount Sinai, the Israelites became impatient and asked Aaron, whom Moses had left in-charge, to make them other gods to worship. And without so much as a word of protest, Aaron crafted a calf from the gold that the people had given him, so that they could worship it. While this abomination was happening, God was telling Moses that Aaron would be His very first high priest: “Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons…Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests” (Exodus 28:1).
Didn’t God know what was happening down below? Of course He knew, but He did not see Aaron as he was then. He saw what Aaron would become by His grace—His undeserved, unmerited favor. God saw Aaron representing the people before Him as high priest of the nation, and entering the Holy Place on the Day of Atonement.
Family, as with Aaron, God knows all about your challenges and weaknesses. If a mistake you’ve made keeps coming back to haunt you, or if you have a weakness that keeps cropping up, don’t focus on it and get frustrated. Look through God’s eyes and see as He sees you by His grace.
To the Father, you are righteous in Christ, perfected and sanctified for all time by His finished work (2 Corinthians 5:21). Once you realize that this is how your Father sees you, you’ll begin to manifest it in your actions. Then, like Aaron, you will be able to rise above what you are now, and be the champion that God already sees you as through His grace!
Romans 13:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW
The power and revelation of HIS grace liberating people from the power of sin! The glorious gospel of grace produces glorious, victorious, and holy lives. If you know people who are living in sin and claiming that they are under grace, you know that they are most definitely not living under grace! How can they be when the Bible states that sin shall not have dominion over those who are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14)? The Ten Commandments cannot produce holiness in people. Grace is the power to go and sin no more (John 8:11)!
There are also people who believe that preaching God’s grace gives people a license to sin. That is not what God’s grace does at all! On the contrary, God’s amazing grace transforms a person’s heart and produces true holiness, which isn’t just outward, but also deep, intimate, beginning at the very core of a person’s heart. Holiness is a fruit of God’s grace.
The word “holiness” in the New Testament is the Greek word hagiasmos, which is sometimes translated also as “sanctification.” The moment you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were justified by faith and made perfectly righteous. You were also made holy or sanctified, which is to be set apart unto the Lord. And as you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, you are progressively transformed into His image from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). Now, you cannot be more righteous because you are already 100 percent righteous by Jesus’ blood. But under grace, you can grow in holiness in the way you live your life.
I am all for holiness and I am against sin. Where I differ from some believers is in my focus on how we stop the power of sin and help God’s people grow in greater holiness. For many believers the answer to sin is found in preaching the Ten Commandments. I believe that the answer is found in preaching Jesus and the gospel of grace.
Now, listen carefully to what I am about to say. Under grace, when you experience the love of our Lord Jesus, you will end up fulfilling the law! Under grace, you will end up being holy. Grace produces true holiness! As the apostle Paul boldly proclaims in today’s scripture, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
When the love of Jesus is in you, you can’t help but fulfill the law. When your heart is overflowing with God’s grace and loving-kindness, you will have no desire to commit sins and will awaken to the fact you’re completely made dead to sin. You will have the power to love your neighbor as yourself. Where does this power come from? From your being firmly rooted and established in the grace of God. You have the power to love, because He first loved you (1 John 4:19 NASB)! This is why the Bible declares that “love is the fulfillment of the law.”
In fact, when God’s people are under grace, not only do they fulfill the letter of the law, but they also exceed it and go the extra mile. For example, the law commands you not to commit adultery, and there are people who can fulfill just the letter of the law and not commit adultery outwardly. However, inwardly, they have no love for people as as a whole. Grace changes all that. Grace doesn’t just deal with the surface; it goes deeper and teaches a man to love people.
Brothers and sisters, Christianity is all about God’s love for you. It is His love for and in you that results in inward heart transformation. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship. Christianity is not about a list of do’s and don’ts; it is about intimacy, love, and a warm, beating heart. First experience and taste the grace of God and His love will surely cause you to live a holy life!
Romans 5:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Accessing God’s Unmerited Favor
How do you access God’s unmerited favor? How do you walk in a greater measure of it?
Romans 5:2 clearly spells out that “we have access by faith into this grace [unmerited favor] in which we stand.” So to gain access to and increase in God’s unmerited favor, the key that we need to have is faith—faith to believe that we are indeed highly favored by God!
Why can we believe that we are highly favored by God?
Ephesians 1:6 tells us that by God’s grace (unmerited favor), God “made us accepted in the Beloved.” In the original Greek text, the word “accepted” is the word charitoo, which means “highly favored.”
So because God has placed you in Christ the Beloved, you are highly favored! Look at yourself in the mirror every morning and boldly declare, “Because I am in Christ, I am highly favored! So I expect good things to come my way.” Brothers and sister, live life conscious of the fact that God highly favors you and you will experience even more of His favor!
Results of Justification
Amplified Bible
5 Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). 2 Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our [a]hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power].
Ephesians 3:20-21 New King James Version (NKJV)
20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE
In Ephesians 3:18–19, we see that when we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God! That is amazing! But notice in today’s scripture that Paul didn’t stop there.
God becomes big in your life when you know His love. He will give you not just exceedingly, not just abundantly, but exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think!
So when you know His love for you, you can ask big and think big, and God will still exceed all that you ask or think! It’s all about His love for you and me. Yet, there are people today who continue to boast in their love for God, believing that He would bless them in tandem with their good works.
In my own life, there were some things that I had been believing God for, but for years, nothing happened, until I realized just how much God loves me. When I realized how much He loves me, it was like all of a sudden, the floodgate of His blessings opened wide, and all kinds of good things started happening to me, in me, and around me.
As I reviewed Genesis 22, where God told Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to Him—a foreshadow of God sacrificing His own Son, Jesus.
As I read the passage, I realized just how much God loved me. He loved me so much that He did not withhold His Son, His only Son, the Son whom He loved, for me.
Let me say this again: when you know His love for you, you can ask big and think big, and God will still exceed all that you ask or think!
When you believe right, the floodgates of blessings open! Nothing is impossible when you believe right in the person of Jesus and in His love and goodness. Praise God!
1 John 4:18 New King James Version (NKJV)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Perfect LOVE (the GOD KIND of LOVE)
Fear is a destructive bondage. Fear paralyzes you and prevents you from fulfilling the amazing destiny that God has for you. Fear makes you feel inadequate and insecure, and comes with unhealthy side effects ranging from panic attacks to sleep disorders. Fear is irrational.
Fear is a spiritual condition, which is why you can’t reason fear away. You can’t simply tell someone who is struggling with fear and gripped by panic attacks to just stop being fearful.
A spiritual condition cannot be remedied naturally. Fear can be eradicated only by a personal encounter with the person of Jesus.
Brother or sister, if what I just described about fear is all too familiar to you, I want you to know that it is not your heavenly Father’s heart for you to live tormented by fear. There is no fear in God’s love. His perfect love drives out all fears.
I don’t know if you have ever experienced God’s love, but my desire is that TODAY you will catch a revelation of His love for you in a deep and personal way. And as His love floods your heart, I pray that every fear that has you bound will forever be cast out of your life.
John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have ever-lasting life.”
Oh, how clearly this verse proclaims that God SO loves you. And if you only knew how much He esteems and treasures His beloved Son, you would catch a glimpse of how much He loves you, because He gave up His Son for you.
That is why I share and write about the gospel of grace. The gospel of grace is all about unveiling God’s perfect love—a love whose length and depth and height were demonstrated at the cross. A love that gave up the Son of God as a sacrifice. A love that bore your sins and mine so that we can receive His everlasting life and live free of any bondage.
Brother or Sister, the more you indulge and anchor your heart on God’s perfect and unconditional love for you, the more fear will lose its hold on your life!
Hebrews 12:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Living The Extraordinary Life
Have you always longed to live a life that’s beyond the ordinary? Well, you can. You can live in the realm of the extraordinary and even the impossible by the power of the Holy Spirit when you keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith!
The disciple Peter was able to walk on water as long as his eyes were on Jesus. Remember that Peter was just an ordinary man like you and me. But as long as he looked to Jesus, the Holy Spirit was able to work and Peter could do the impossible. And he was doing fine until he took his eyes off Jesus and considered the boisterous wind (Matthew 14:30). The devil must have whispered in his ear, “You’re not supposed to be walking on water. Don’t you know that? Look at the huge waves. Feel the strong wind. You are going to drown!” And the moment Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked at his natural circumstances, logic took over and told him that he could not walk on water. That’s when he began to sink.
Brothers or Sisters, realize that the Spirit of God works to the restore life to you, keep your eyes on Jesus. Today, if you’re being rocked by 10-foot waves of sickness, debt or depression, don’t fix your eyes on the storm. Keep your eyes instead on the Lord. As you meditate on His glory and grace, faith will arise. And you will see His Spirit empower you with His wisdom, His strength and His limitless resources to walk in victory over every single storm!
Romans 8:1 New King James Version (NKJV)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Tap into the right root to produce the Jesus Kind of Fruit
People who believe incorrectly that God is hard on them for their failures will inevitably be hard on the people around them, and most of all, they will end up being really hard on themselves. They cannot forgive themselves for the mistakes they’ve made in the past and end up punishing themselves, whether they know it or not.
It’s a vicious cycle of defeat. The more they can’t forgive themselves, the more they hurt themselves with all kinds of behaviors and the more they end up bound by various destructive addictions. This leads to even more guilt, which in turn drives them to punish themselves even more—and the cycle continues.
I believe the root cause of many sinful habits, fears, and addictions can be traced to condemnation. I want to talk to you today about going after condemnation as the root to help you receive God’s forgiveness in those areas so that you can break out of your cycle of defeat and step into a new cycle of victory.
Are you living with some unresolved guilt and condemnation today? I have great news for you. When you realize that God’s heart is not in condemnation but in forgiveness, your entire life can be turned around for His glory! I have personally witnessed so many lives transformed when they just take a small step of faith to believe in His grace and receive His forgiveness in their lives.
Instead of punishing themselves for their mistakes and disqualifying themselves, these people began to correct their beliefs and receive God’s forgiveness by seeing Jesus taking on their punishment. They began to see their Savior qualifying them to receive every blessing from God for their marriages, families, and careers.
Right now I want to encourage you to release the built-up guilt and condemnation for whatever mistakes you’ve made over the years to the Lord. Would you pray this prayer with me?
“Lord Jesus, I don’t want to live under guilt and condemnation anymore. Today, I release all my failings, sins, and mistakes into Your loving hands. And I receive Your forgiveness right now into my heart. Thank You for Your precious blood that washes me whiter than snow. Right now I stand in Your righteousness, favor, joy, and peace. Amen!”
It’s a simple but powerful prayer. I encourage you to pray this prayer every time you fail and experience guilt and condemnation in your heart.
Stop punishing yourself—your answer is found at the cross of Jesus. I promise you that when you turn to Jesus and remind yourself just how forgiven and righteous you are in Christ every time you fall short, you will start living like the forgiven and righteous person Jesus has made you.
Romans 6:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 Likewise you also, [a]reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus has already defeated your worst enemy at the cross
In Romans 6, we read about how “our old man was crucified” through Christ’s finished work (Rom. 6:6). When Christ was at the cross, He not only bore our sins away, He also bore away the part of us that has sinful nature, the part of us in which dwells no good thing, the part of us that causes us to be depressed and dejected. This part of us, our old “self,” has been crucified at the cross. It is a done deal. That is the “old man” that is described in Romans 6.
Today, the old man is no longer in us. But we still have the residual effects of having our old “self,” we still have the temptations and inclinations of the old self, and it is called the flesh. Though we have the flesh in us, we are not in the flesh. God does not identify us in our flesh, but He identifies us in the Spirit, which is in Christ. Our true identity is in Christ!
God tells us to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11). Though we experience the residual feelings of our old self or the “old man” (in the form of sinful tendencies), God tells us to count them as dead. Why? Because Jesus has conquered the old self at the cross and given us a new self. We are a new creation in Him! In our experience, the old self seems alive, but to faith, it is dead. We are to walk by faith and not by our experience.
Two analogies to help you understand the experience of the flesh in your daily life:
- When you get off a boat after a choppy ride, you can still feel the up-and-down motions after you step back on land. In the same way, even after our old self has been crucified, we can still experience its old sinful tendencies (that is the flesh).
- After listening to a loud bell ringing for ten minutes, you can still hear the sound ringing in your ears even after the actual bell has stopped ringing. Likewise, even after our old self is dead, we can still experience its residual inclinations (that is the flesh).
The reality is that the old self is truly dead because of Jesus’ finished work—regardless of our experience. The more we reckon our old self dead, the more we will see victory over the flesh in our daily lives.
John 1:29 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
WHAT ABOUT GOD’S WRATH?
My friend, do you see God as an anger judge or a compassionate and loving Father? Do you see an angry God today, or a God who is smiling and ready to embrace you? Because of Jesus’ finished work, I finally came to see that we are no longer under the covenant of law where God is happy with you sometimes and angry with you at other times. Today, He will never be angry with you, but will always accept, love, and favor you because of Jesus Christ.
I’ve seen so many reject the message of HIS grace, free gift of righteousness and the goodness of the Father. Even God’s love, while so many focus on the Bible being a book of wrath and judgment. The reality is not only is HIS love, but HE placed HIS love in us and told us that we owe no one anything except to love them. While God has wrath, the Bible never defines God as wrath. Instead, according to the Bible’s definition, God is love (1 John 4:8). Stop seeing God as being angry Father, but the Father of Love that the Bible says HE is!”
“When we see God being angry in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation, His anger is toward those who have rejected Him and Jesus. But for you and me, believers in the new covenant, we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is not angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. Jesus became the Lamb of God who took away all our sins. On the cross, He cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Why do you think He cried that? He cried that so we would all know specifically that at that point in time, God’s wrath fell upon Him. He became our sin offering and the fire of God’s wrath punished Him completely. He who knew no sin became our sin, so that you and I who are already believers will never experience God’s wrath.”
We should begin to know HIM for HE really is and not what Religion has made HIM out to be. We should be experiencing HIS peace and assurance that God is not angry with us because Our sins had already been judged completely on the cross at Calvary. Hallelujah!
It’s time to end the confusion about God’s wrath and to start seeing God for who He really is. God is (present tense) love. Believe Jesus, the Lamb of God, has taken away all your sins and that His grace is shining on you. You are His beloved child, in whom He is well pleased!
Matthew 26:28 New King James Version (NKJV)
LEARN TO KILL CONDEMNATION AT THE ROOT
There was a time when I did not know what the main function of Jesus’ blood was or why it provided protection. I just covered everything with the blood of Jesus because I knew His blood protects us from the schemes of the devil. But the main reason His blood was shed was for the forgiveness of all our sins. It’s imperative that you understand this because it will give you the confidence to come before the throne of God boldly and see Him as a loving Father.
Brother or Sister, “the accuser” will come at various times to make you feel guilty. He will prosecute you for every one of your failures and make you feel unworthy to enter God’s presence. He will bring back every piece of dirty laundry, show you evidence after evidence of your failures, and condemn you for being a hypocrite. While you are trying to deal with stress and fear, the devil goes straight for the deepest root by using the law to heap guilt and condemnation on you. He knows that when you are under condemnation, fear, stress, and all kinds of sicknesses will follow, so he goes straight for the jugular.
What should you do then? You should kill condemnation at its very root and eradicate it from your life. No matter what the devil condemns you of, the truth is that the blood of Jesus has been shed for the forgiveness of all your sins. There is not a sin, not one iota of guilt or condemnation that the devil can throw at you today, that Jesus’ blood has not completely removed.
Brothers or Sisters, receiving your freedom and breakthrough does not depend on how littered your past is with painful experiences or the mistakes you have made. Like with many, when you receive Jesus’ grace, love, and life, you can receive the liberty and future you want to see. When you eradicate condemnation from your life, you begin to step into your freedom, healing, and breakthrough.My Friend, for every failure in thought, word, or deed the enemy brings to your mind, receive this afresh today: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Receiving this truth and being conscious of it every day will cause you to reign over any sin, addiction, depression, or challenge that is holding you captive. When Jesus died on the cross, all your failures were already condemned in His body. Today, you are free to live a victorious life not because of your obedience to the law, but because of your obedience of faith in Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
Colossians 1:12–14 New King James Version (NKJV)
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption [b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
YOU ARE QUALIFIED
There’s nothing wrong with God, HIS doesn’t make mistakes and there’s nothing wrong with His Word. When we don’t receive from God, there’s something wrong with us and NOT HIM. This is a conviction and reality that I’ve been inspired to teach for some time now. I want to see people walk in the fullness of what HE paid for. He paid for us to be healed and whole, and I’ve stuck with this truth in-spite of an outcome of an experience.
The reality of these truths, (contrary to popular beliefs) God has already qualified us through the blood of His Son. The Word of God states this so clearly in the verses above.
Today you and I can give thanks to the Father who has qualified us. We are already qualified to partake of every blessing. And not only that, He has already delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. That means the devil no longer has any hold over us. He has no power over us. He has no authority to rob us of our health.
Whatever sin you might have committed, whatever mistakes you might have made, stop disqualifying yourself. Maybe you don’t think you deserve to be healed because of all the junk food you have eaten for years or because you haven’t been exercising. Nothing you can do is so powerful it can wash away the finished work of Christ.
Yes, we should eat healthily and take care of our bodies. But what I am saying is that even if you have made mistakes, you don’t have to disqualify yourself. That’s what grace is about—grace is for the undeserving!
There is nothing wrong with God, nothing wrong with His Word, and definitely nothing wrong with you because Jesus has effectively and perfectly removed all your sins through His blood. He has already qualified you to freely receive His healing. You can boldly declare “Yes” and “Amen” to this promise of God in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Now receive your all that HE paid for on your behalf! It’s been paid in full!!!
Ephesians 3:20-21 New King James Version (NKJV)
20: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21: to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
HE is the Limitless ONE
In Ephesians 3:18–19, we see that when we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God! That is amazing! But notice in today’s scripture that Paul didn’t stop there.
In the next few verses HE begins to address the realities that HE can and will do exceedingly, and abundantly, above all you can ask or think! However there is a condition tied to this statement. It’s according to the power that works in YOU.
The reality is when we begin to realize there are NO limits in the Father (other than YOU) and that limitless Father lives in YOU, then we begin to realize there are NO limitless in US. How can YOU have the limitless power of the Father living in you and you be limited? Exactly, YOU can’t!!!
Begin to give way to HIM in you and realize as you submit to this truth then you step into a whole other realm of possibilities. He didn’t lie, but assured you that HE will exceedingly abundantly above ALL that YOU ask or think. This is a 100% true when we remove the limits.
Let me say this again: when you know His love for you, you can ask big and think big, and God will still exceed all that you ask or think!
When you believe right, the floodgates of blessings open! Nothing is impossible when you believe right in the person of Jesus and in His love and goodness. Praise God!
Exodus 15:26 New King James Version (NKJV)
26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
You are the Healed of the LORD
God said, I am the Lord who heals you (“and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26 NKJV.
If three million people could believe it and find perfect Health and strength under the law, cannot we, who are living under grace, mercy and truth be the healthy body of Christ. He’s the head and we are the body. It’s only common sense.
He bore our sins and sickness, then why are we accepting and trying to carry what HE did?
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”
Psalm 105:37 New King James Version (NKJV)
37 He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
Not ONE was feeble!!
Do you know what happened when the children of Israel ate the Passover lamb on the very first Passover night? That very night, God liberated the Israelites from severe oppression and freed them from the captivity of the Egyptians. But that wasn’t all.
The Bible also says there was none feeble among the six hundred thousand men who left Egypt on the night of the exodus (Ex. 12:37). But when you include the women and children, scholars estimate about two to three million Israelites were freed that night.
Out of these, none—not a single one—came out feeble!
Think about the backbreaking work the Israelites were forced to do and the beatings and whippings they suffered under their slave masters (Ex. 1:13–14 AMP), not to mention malnutrition from the poor diet they probably had to scrape together and the abject living conditions they must have faced. Despite years of harsh and severe labor they had to endure, there was not one who came out sick, not one who stumbled, not one who lacked strength or had mobility problems.
Do you think that in the natural, every single one in this nation of slaves could have been completely strong and healthy? Of course not. And among so many of them, I am sure there would have been elderly slaves as well. So how is it possible the Bible records that “none were feeble”?
I submit to you that something happened to their bodies on the night of the Passover as they ate the roasted lamb. I believe many among them were weak and sickly before the night of the Passover.
But something happened that reversed all the effects of repetitive stress injuries, muscle and ligament strains, incapacitating work injuries, age-related conditions, and infectious diseases that
could have plagued the Israelites because of the conditions they lived under.
Something happened that night that caused them to supernaturally become healthy. The children of Israel were filled with divine strength for the journey ahead that God knew would be long, and I believe their youth was renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:5, Isa. 40:31).
If that could happen for the children of Israel when all they had was a natural lamb (the shadow of the true Lamb of God that you and I have), how much more should we see our bodies healed, our strength rejuvenated, and every weakness reversed when we partake of the holy Communion?
We have the true Lamb of God, the substance and the reality of the shadow the Israelites believed in. How much more should we have none feeble and none sick among us!
Exodus 12:13 New King James Version (NKJV)
13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
The Power of the BLOOD!!
Did you notice that before the Passover, God promised that when He saw the lambs’ blood on the Israelites’ doorposts, they would be saved from destruction? When the angel of death passed through the land, anyone among the children of Israel who was quaking in fear did so needlessly. They were saved not because they were Israelites and not because of their good behavior or anything they did. They were saved just because of one thing—the blood of the lamb.
You might be facing a bad doctors report. Maybe some relatives or friends have fallen prey to a disease and you are entertaining thoughts that it could be you next. Cast off the fear and be assured that you have been saved by the shed blood of the true Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
If you are a believer, you can put your trust and confidence in the precious blood that flows through Immanuel’s veins that is on the doorposts of your life. The cross transcends time, and on that day His blood washed you clean of every sin—past, present, and future. You are completely forgiven not because of your good deeds but because of His blood (Eph. 1:7). Rest in the Lamb who died for you at Calvary!
Stop disqualifying yourself from His healing because of the failures in your life. Stop believing the enemy’s lies that you don’t deserve to be healed because of the mistakes you have made or because you have not been going to church enough. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see you in your failures and frailties. He only sees His Son because you are in Christ.
Because you are in Christ, you are completely accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6), and you are already blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3). This means that even if there are symptoms in your body, God sees you as healed. Each time you partake of the holy Communion, start seeing yourself the way God sees you. See yourself healed, whole, and filled with divine strength and life.
Each time you take up the cup of the new covenant in His blood (1 Cor. 11:25), know that the blood of Jesus “speaks better things” under the new covenant than the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:24). Abel’s blood had cried out for vengeance (Gen. 4:10). Jesus’ blood cries out for your redemption (Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19), your justification (Rom. 5:9), your victory over the enemy (Rev. 12:11), and so much more!
Hebrews 4:16 New King James Version (NKJV)
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Throne Room Of Grace!!
Do you know what Mary saw as she looked into the tomb? She saw the substance of the ark of the covenant.
Just as we saw that there were two cherubim or angels on the mercy seat, there were two angels sitting where Jesus had lain—one at the head and the other at the feet. It was an empty tomb that our Savior was laid in after He had paid the full price for our sins with His own blood.
Today, this tomb remains empty because all our sins are forgiven and our Lord is risen! Our hope, confidence, and assurance of salvation are found in the nail-pierced hands of our resurrected Savior.
The mercy seat is a picture of the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). That is where we want to be—at the throne of grace, under the protective covering of His feathers and His wings.
Truly, there is no safer place in the universe than under the protective shelter of our Savior’s wings. What blessed assurance we can have today, knowing that even if destruction rages around us, there is always refuge and comfort in the Lord, our unfailing peace, protection, and supply.
I completely agree with HIS WORD that there is no safer place in the universe than under His wings, and I rejoice that the Lord’s protection over us as well!
John 19:28-30 New King James Version (NKJV)
28 After this, Jesus, [a]knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Rest in Jesus’ Finished Work!!
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Look at the above passage. It tells us that by God’s unmerited favor, we are seated together with Christ at the Father’s right hand. What does it mean to be seated together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus?
It means that today, we are in a position of rest in Jesus’ finished work. To be seated in Christ is to rest, to trust in Him, and to receive everything our beautiful Savior has accomplished on our behalf.
Family, God wants us to take the position of relying on Jesus for good success in every area of our lives, instead of relying on our good works and human efforts to achieve success. What a blessing it is to be in this position of dependence on our Savior!
But instead of looking at Jesus, believers are misled by the devil into looking at themselves. For thousands of years, the devil’s strategy has not changed. He is a master at accusing you, pointing out all your flaws, weaknesses, mistakes, and blemishes. He will keep on reminding you of your past failures and use condemnation to perpetuate the cycle of defeat in your life.
When the apostle Paul found himself sinking into self-occupation, he became depressed and cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me…?” (Rom. 7:24). In the very next verse, he sees God’s solution and says, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Likewise, family, it’s time for you to step out from being self-conscious and self-occupied, and begin to be Christ-occupied instead.
Today, you should no longer be asking yourself, “Am I accepted before God?” This question puts the focus back on you and this places you under the law. I know that there are people who will encourage you to ask yourself this question, but it is an error to ask yourself if you are accepted before God.
The correct question to ask is, “Is Christ accepted before God?” because as Christ is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17). Don’t ask, “Am I pleasing to God?” Instead, ask, “Is Christ pleasing to God?”
Can you see the difference in emphasis? The old covenant of law is all about you, but the new covenant of grace is all about Jesus! The law places the demand on you to perform and makes you self-conscious, whereas grace places the demand on Jesus and makes you Jesus-conscious.
Can you imagine a young child growing up and always wondering in his heart, “Am I pleasing to Dad? Am I pleasing to Mom? Does Dad and Mom accept me?” This child will grow up emotionally warped if he does not have the security and assurance of his parents’ love and acceptance.
That is why your loving heavenly Father wants you rooted, established, and anchored in His unwavering love for you. He demonstrated His love for you when He sent Jesus to become your sin on the cross so that you can become His righteousness. Our part today is to turn away from ourselves and to look at Jesus!
Mark 2:22 New King James Version (NKJV)
22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
Freedom from – Am I Doing enough for GOD?
Have you ever wondered what Jesus was referring to when He shared on the new wine and old wineskins? He was referring to the mixture of the two covenants.
The new wine represents the new covenant of grace, while the old wineskin represents the old covenant of law. Have you ever seen old wineskins? They are brittle, hard, and inflexible. That’s the law. It is inflexible. And when you pour the new wine of grace into the old wineskin of the law, you will lose both because the wineskin will be ruined and the wine will be spilled. The virtues of both the old and the new covenants will be cancelled out and lost.
I see it all the time those trying to live by the experience of blending the law and grace just like the Galatians. It will never work and is a better representation of the leaven ruining the whole lump.
No more works and or performance motivated by guilt and shame that leaves you exhausted, overwhelmed, and drained. When we can learn to rely on HIS accomplishments our peace and joy will return a hundred-fold, and then we are able to relax and enjoy our relationship with God and family.”
That wasn’t all. Her revelation of God’s grace put a newfound peace and rest in her heart such that when the economic downturn in 2008 wrecked America financially and affected her family, she chose to rest and believe that God would provide for her family.
“Begin to pray for God to give you a new profound life and walk based solely on His grace and not your efforts. As you begin to walk in this new revelation, you’ll begin to experience HIS favor and grace like never before. God’s grace is amazing!”
Family, don’t allow a mixture of law and grace to invade your heart and mind. God hates mixture because it robs you of the freedom, peace, and joy that come from resting in His Son’s finished work. It robs you of the power to reign in life through the abundance of His grace!
You cannot put new wine into old wineskins. You will lose both. But if you just focus and meditate on His grace and goodness toward you and your family, you will see His grace abundantly provide for you.