Ask Him

 

Are there times you question God’s willingness to take care of you and meet your needs?  Do you feel unworthy of His blessings? Your Father doesn’t regard you as unworthy. He doesn’t withhold His blessings from you. He loved you enough to die for you. Through Jesus, you have received all of God’s blessings (Hebrews 6:13-18). It pleases God to bless you (Luke 12:32). In blessing you, God glorifies Himself (John 14:13), and it is His goodness that draws you to Him (Romans 2:4). 

 

When we doubt God, we are complacent and “contented” with living beneath the abundant life Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). Instead of believing God meets our needs, we become resigned to our insufficiency. We settle for less than God has for us. We might not say it out loud because we don’t want others to think we don’t trust God, but we think of our Father as limited. Just like we are.

 

The Word says, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). All is all. His riches in glory are greater than anything we can imagine. He is our infinite and limitless Father. 

 

Take the time to meditate on the following verses. Not just read them, but listen to them. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into His truth. For the Word to become alive in you, you can’t just be in the Word. The Word has to be in you. 

 

What is your need? Ask yourself if God means what He says. Better than asking yourself, ask Him.

 

***

 

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11).

 

Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19).

 

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (Matthew 21:22).

 

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:24).

 

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13).

 

If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:14).

 

Whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you (John 15:6-7).

 

And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:23-24).

 

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

 

Yet you do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2).

 

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

 

Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

 

***

When you meditate on the Father’s Words, you cannot help but hear His love for you. You are His child. He deeply cares about your needs and the concerns of your heart. He wants to bless your life. If you abide in Him, His Word will abide in you. His Word will be alive in you. Ask according to the Word you believe in your heart, and it will be done for you (Matthew 9:29, John 15:6-7).

 

Never doubt your Father’s love for you. Jesus is always praying for you. Keep sowing His Word in your heart. Nourish it with meditation and prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal its truth to you. Believe His revelation. Receive out of the riches of His glory.

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/ask-him.html

 

 

 

Walk in Him

 

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Colossians 2:6).

 

 

If we followed what this verse says, it would end a lot of error in how we live. Paul says that the way we received Jesus as our Savior is the same way we should live our lives.

 

We received Jesus Christ by completely placing our faith in His grace. We had no holiness to offer Him. We had yet to fast or pray or read the Word. We came just as we were. We were sinners needing His forgiveness and grace.

 

But some Christians, after receiving Christ by faith, believe after they are saved God responds to them according to what they do for Him. They believe they receive from God based on their ability to live for Him. Instead of walking by faith in the assurance of their right standing with God, their need to feel God’s approval drives them to prove to God they are worthy of His love. What they do for God is driven by the flesh’s need for acceptance and recognition. Instead of trusting that they are loved by God, they strive to prove to themselves that God loves them enough to never leave or forsake them. They doubt God and are unsure of their relationship with Him. Their focus—their drive—their lives become all about what they do for Him instead of what He has done for them.

 

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

Jesus became our sin so we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We have no need to prove our right standing to God. Because of Jesus, we are worthy to God. Attempting to prove to God our righteousness is trying to earn His approval. That is nothing but pride, self-righteousness, and placing trust in ourselves instead of God. It is not walking in the righteousness Christ has given us. As we received Christ, we are to continue in the same way. If we began our lives in Christ by faith in His perfect work on the cross for us, we should continue to live our lives in Christ by faith in His perfect work. This is the exact point Paul made to the Galatians when they began to fall away from the grace they had found in Christ:

 

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: 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?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

 

We can never make ourselves perfect through what we do. No one can ever prove themselves righteous by keeping the law. We did not receive Christ through our works. We received Him through faith. Having begun by faith in Jesus, why do some believe the works they do perfect them? You cannot perfect yourself or make yourself any better or more appealing to God through any work that you do. He receives you in Jesus just as you are. 

 

Jesus—the perfect Lamb of God who became our sin—is the One who proves us worthy to God. When we truly believe we are the righteousness of God in Jesus, we walk by faith in what Jesus has done for us. We “do” because of what Christ has done for us, not to make ourselves feel good about what we accomplish. Our works are of faith in Him and not of faith in ourselves. We walk by faith in His gift of righteousness. We know we don’t have to prove to God how much we love Him. We know Jesus has proved us worthy to God. What is important to us is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). Spiritual understanding of our righteousness in Him drives us. His grace fuels our lives. We love Him and others—we serve Him and others—not to prove anything but because we know He first loved us (1 John 4:10-11). 

 

If we came to Christ for salvation by faith, why do we sometimes hesitate to come to Him for other things we need in our lives? Perhaps, because we don’t feel worthy of His love? Perhaps, we believe if we pray enough, fast enough, give enough, and do enough God will respond to us? God’s response to us is never based on our "worthiness" or what we do. We receive from God based on Christ’s worthiness and His perfect work. 

 

God has already responded to all our needs in Jesus Christ. Jesus earned the salvation we were unable to earn. He has earned the healing we were unable to earn. He has earned the deliverance and provision we were unable to earn. We cannot earn what Christ has earned for us. We are not “inherent heirs” waiting for our inheritance. Christ's work is finished. We are “coheirs” with Him. We receive from God by faith in what Christ has already accomplished. 

 

Believe in Him by faith. Receive from Him by faith. Walk in Him by faith. Not according to anything you have done or anything you do. You don’t need to turn the grace you received by faith into something you must do to get God to respond to you. Grow in your knowledge of Jesus’ love on the cross for you and the truths His grace has earned for you. His truth establishes your life. Beware of anyone—anything—any custom—any voice that deceives you. You cannot walk in Him in empty deceit. As you received Jesus, walk in Him. You will abound in joy in His love that loved you despite all your inadequacy.

 

“As you received Jesus Christ your Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:6-8).

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/walk-in-him.html

 

 

 

 

The Kingdom of God in You

Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 

—Mark 4:30 NKJV

 

A kingdom is a sovereignty—a dominion—a realm ruled over by a king. Since God rules over everything, all of creation is God’s kingdom (Psalm 103:19). However, God’s kingdom applies to His rule in and through those who are surrendered to Him. The “Kingdom of God” specifically refers to Jesus Christ living and ruling in our hearts. When we pray “thy kingdom come,'” we are praying for the growth and impact of God's rule in the hearts of all men and for His physical Kingdom—the Second Coming— to come on earth (Revelation 11:15; 20:4).

 

During Jesus' ministry on earth, the Jews kept looking for Him to launch a physical kingdom and deliver them from Roman domination. Even though one day the physical Kingdom of God will rule the world, Jesus came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to be received in the hearts of men (Mark 1:15, Matthew 9:35).

 

“The kingdom of God does not come with observation,” Jesus told the Pharisees. “For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20b,21b).

 

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness,” Paul wrote, “and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). 

 

As believers, God has saved us from the power of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of His Son, Jesus. The Kingdom of His Son is not seen in our hearts. It is invisible. It is where He resides. We have His invisible Kingdom in us. 

 

Our new birth in Jesus brings us into the Kingdom of God which is infinitely greater and more wonderful than our finite minds can comprehend. To the degree we start to understand how God's Kingdom works and apply it to our lives, we can experience the power of His Kingdom working in us. 

 

“The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade” (Mark 4:31-32).

 

A mustard seed is tiny. In these verses, Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God starts out very small in our lives. Just like the seed of a tree cannot be seen when it is sown, you cannot see the seed’s growth under the ground. However, sprouting occurs and roots grow down into the earth. Few are willing to take the time alone with the Lord so His Word can put down deep roots. They rely on what they sense and experience. They must see the visible to believe what the Word promises. They must see or hear they are healed physically to believe they are healed. They must physically see their lives filled with abundance to believe their lives are abundant. The growth the Word brings cannot be sustained without our roots going deeply into God’s truth. But when the truth of His Kingdom is deeply rooted in our hearts, the truth of God’s Word is abundantly produced in us, and we reap the life of its promise. 

 

Earth is just earth until a seed is sown. But when a seed is sown in the earth, it activates the soil, causing the seed to germinate and begin to grow. The incorruptible seed of God’s Word has the power to transform your life, but it has no opportunity until it is sown in your heart. Once sown, the powerful seed of God’s truth activates the soil of your heart, causing that seed of truth to germinate and begin to grow.

 

“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come (Mark 4:26-29).

 

You have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed, through the word of God which lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23). When you keep putting the incorruptible seed of God’s Word in your heart, the miraculous power of the Word that lives forever—that discerns and separates truth from untruth—starts coming to life in you. When you protect the Word from the world and the enemy, the truth of the Word will ultimately be reaped in your life. 

 

Time passes with seed, time, and harvest. You sow the seed of His truth. First comes the blade—the beginning of the spiritual understanding of the truth you have sown, and then comes the head—the increasing of spiritual understanding of the truth by the Spirit. Then the full grain in the head will come—the revelation of the Holy Spirit that comes forth from that little seed of faith sown in your heart. There is a harvest of God’s truth in your life. When that Word ripens, you take that sickle of faith. You receive the harvest. You reap the fruit of the seed you have sown. 

 

His Word cannot be corrupted by anything—by any lie of the enemy—or any word anyone speaks over you. The imperishable and undying seed of God’s truth will produce the fruit His Word promises. But just like a seed takes time to grow, your promise can take time to become your reality. 

 

Jesus is the King who rules and reigns in the kingdom of your heart. You submit to the power of His truth. He came to give you abundant life. You submit to His truth for abundant life by sowing the Word in your heart, protecting it, and nourishing it with prayer and with the renewing of your mind. 

 

Jesus’ perfect work on your behalf is finished. There is nothing more for Him to do. Don’t doubt His Word just because you don’t experience it physically working in your life. Believe in God’s truth above anything you see, hear, or feel. When you are submitted to the truth of the spiritual Kingdom of God, the physical realm will be exceedingly and abundantly impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through you (Ephesians 3:20).

 

“Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35).

 

When the gospel of grace is heard in your heart, the measure of faith God has given you is motivated (Romans 12:3, Romans 10:17). What truth has His gospel stirred in you? Plant His seed of truth in your heart, and guard your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23). His truth will flourish and give life. The blind will see, and the lame will walk. The deaf will hear, and the dead will live again (Matthew 11:5). 

 

You receive from God through faith in what Jesus has already provided by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 9:29, Mark 11:22-24). Sow the Word of Jesus’ healing grace, and reap its fruit. Sow the Word of your promise, and reap what has had no life, receiving His resurrection life.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/the-kingdom-of-god-in-you.html

 

 

Hold Fast to the Word

 

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).

—Hebrews 10:23 (KJV)

 

When we are born again, we profess Jesus as our Savior. That means our faith should be in what Jesus did for us and not what we do for Him. The writer to the Hebrews is saying we should keep that same attitude at all times (Colossians 2:6). We shouldn’t think that we aren’t worthy to approach God. By ourselves, we aren’t worthy. But we have become new creatures through our faith in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are worthy through Him.

 

To receive from God, we must hold fast to our profession of faith in what Jesus did for us without wavering (James 1:6-8). We have to trust Him. He is the reason we can stand steadily in our faith. We trust in Him and not in ourselves. Jesus is always the same (Hebrews 13:8). He promised, and He is faithful. So we can come confidently before God (Hebrews 4:16) because our faith is in Jesus.

 

Do you profess the hope Jesus has given you? Do you speak life about yourself?  What words come out of your mouth?  “This is never going to be any better,” or “I know things are going to be better.” “I will always suffer this way,” or “I know God has a good plan for my life.” “This fear is killing me,” or “God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.”

 

Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and you will eat of what you speak (Proverbs 18:21). As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). When you speak, you speak what you really believe in your heart (Matthew 12:34). You speak life or death and whether you believe God has made you worthy to receive His truth or not. The fullness of Jesus’ salvation is within you (Colossians 2:9-10). The Word of God is near you in your mouth and heart (Romans 10:9). 

 

When you speak God’s Word, you prepare yourself to receive the harvest of God’s truth. God’s truth is appropriated through faith in Him. You can’t look at yourself—how you feel or what you are going through—and judge if His Word is true for you or not. He judges the validity of His Word, and He declares that it shall accomplish the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). You have to look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). His work is perfectly finished on your behalf. You place your trust in His evaluation instead of what you experience in life. 

 

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV).

 

“By His stripes, you were healed.” His Word is always present—just waiting to be sown in your heart—just waiting to be nurtured and protected—just waiting to come to harvest in you. Has the Holy Spirit convinced you to believe His Word? Do you believe healing is the truth of Jesus’ salvation? That it is His will for your life? 

 

The paralytic lowered down through the ceiling, was told by Jesus his sins were forgiven and to rise up and walk. The combined faith of His four friends was potent and powerful. The paralytic responded in faith to the healing presence of God. He rose up and walked, and He received. 

 

God is present, and His healing is present just like it was for the paralytic. Pray for His eyes to see. Pray for His Word to be quickened in your heart. Pray for His mind to believe beyond your circumstances. Persevere in believing in God no matter what your conscience says, the enemy says, or the world says.

 

Listen to Jesus. Believe Him. Confess Him. Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life (John 14:6). You receive Him and His truth by faith. Ask, and He gives. Seek, and you find His truth. Knock, and He opens the door to His harvest (Matthew 7:7). Your soul prospers (3 John 1:2). Never give up. Take and eat of His Word. It is yours, the joy and rejoicing of your heart (Jeremiah 15:16). The Lord, who gave His life for you, is faithful.

 

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2).

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/hold-fast-to-word.html

 

 

The Exaltation of Grace

 

And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

—Matthew 32:12, 1 Peter 5:6-7  

 

 

Humility is something we do willingly and gladly. When we are humbled by others, we end up in humiliation. The only way “up” in God’s kingdom is “down.”  Before honor is humility (Proverbs 15:33, 8:12). When we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. It takes humility to accept God exalting us. There is also an appropriate time for God to exalt us. We need to patiently wait for His timing (Galatians 6:9, James 1:4).

 

More of God’s grace is received in humility (James 4:6), and the spiritual understanding of His grace in our lives is received in humility. When we are humble, we are teachable. And when we are teachable, we are open to the Holy Spirit’s revelation of the Word. As we grow in spiritual understanding, we realize the things God promises are already provided in His spiritual realm. We don’t have to achieve them. We stop trying to prove we are worthy of them. The battles are already won in Christ. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of patience, and we wait patiently for His “due” time. 

 

Pride exalts us instead of exalting God. When we try to prove ourselves without allowing Him to guide and empower us, we are grudgingly forced to be humble. Instead of willingly humbling ourselves, we end up in disgrace and shame. But when we gladly humble ourselves and exalt God—when we surrender to His grace in our lives and allow Him to lead us, He exalts us in His time.

 

Selfishness is more easily defeated as God’s truth becomes more abundant in your life. Pride’s power to control your emotions and feelings becomes less. As you surrender to Him, you receive more grace. When your life is yielded to His truth, what you spiritually see, hear, and understand isn't naturally discerned. You have His spiritual understanding of things in your life that make no sense to your emotions. When you believe who He is in you, you enter into the revelation of His grace. You know He has won what you can’t. You know there is nothing more for you to gain that He hasn’t already gained. You rest in His peace. He is enough. There is nothing but God and what He has declared is true.

 

When you cast your cares upon Him, you lay everything down. He takes care of all the questions. He takes care of all the concerns and problems. When you humble yourself under His hand, what others think of you becomes less because He is more. Under His mighty Hand, you become an instrument to use as He wills. 

 

His power is greatest when revealed in humbleness of heart. Humble yourself before Him with nothing to prove and nothing but to live who He is. Let the truth of the Word teach who He is in you. Receive spiritual understanding in the wisdom and knowledge of Him. Experience His Spirit—alive in you—setting you free from all that your natural mind has declared as true. Discover that your greatest purpose is His to direct and His to own. You are ready for His overflowing abundance when you lay down all that has claimed your allegiance—all you believe He has imparted—all your natural mind has perceived as truth—and allow Jesus to wash your feet.

 

Stripped of all that stands in the way of His Life in you, you are unhindered by need, perception, or anything. As He was humbled for you, you humble yourself in Him. He, who became less for you, now has become everything in you. He is in you, and you are in Him. He is your exaltation. He is your victory. You are exalted in His presence. You receive more grace than ever imagined. 

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/the-exaltation-of-grace.html

 

 

What Do You Hear in Your Heart

 

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

—Galatians 3:5 (KJV)

 

 

The miraculous power of “the hearing of faith” is the focus in Galatians 3:5—not the person ministering and working miracles by the Spirit. None of us deserve God to use us. It is God’s grace that He uses anybody. God accomplishes the truth of His Word in us by “the hearing of faith”—not by anything we try to work up in ourselves to do or believe. We receive the miracles of God by hearing God’s Word in our hearts.

 

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”  (Romans 8:16-17a, NKJV)

 

“Bear witness” is to “serve as evidence or proof that something exists” (Oxford Languages). The Holy Spirit “bears witness” with your spirit. He gives evidence that something exists. The Holy Spirit “quickens” the truth of God's Word in your heart. He motivates and arouses your faith to believe. 

 

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV).

 

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God in your heart. The Holy Spirit renews your mind with God’s Word. However, it is when you believe God’s Word in your heart that His Word comes alive in you and has the power to produce fruit in your life. You believe, and the truth you believe becomes who you are.

 

When the Holy Spirit brings life to God’s Word in your heart, you believe what His Word promises beyond a shadow of a doubt. You know it exists and is already yours in God’s spiritual realm. You believe without seeing. No man can shake what you believe—not the opinions of others—not the enemy—not anyone. 

 

“Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them” (Luke 5:17, NKJV).

 

On that day the healing presence of the Lord was with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, but they did not receive healing. Healing was available but their hearts were hardened, their ears dull, and their eyes shut to His presence. In them the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled:

 

“Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15, NKJV).

 

Who received healing in the next few minutes? The paralytic who was lowered through the ceiling by his four friends received healing. Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven and to rise up and walk. The presence of the Lord to heal was available to everyone, but the faith to believe was alive in the four friends of the paralytic. It was also alive in the paralytic, who believed in his heart. He got up and took that first step.

 

“So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:22-24, NKJV).

 

Hearing the Word in your heart motivates you to believe it. When you mix faith with the Word, it profits you (Hebrews 4:2). What you receive from God, you receive according to what you believe (Matthew 9:29). Jesus says that when you speak and don’t doubt in your heart, you will receive what you have spoken. “Therefore”, Jesus then says, and “therefore” means the next point is crucial.“Whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

 

When the Holy Spirit quickens a specific Word in your heart, it comes to life in you. You believe. You know God is faithful, and you let nothing pull you from what God has shown you. You believe without physically seeing any proof. You don’t need to see the evidence. The Word is your evidence. You renew your mind continually with the evidence of His Word (Romans 12:2). You sow His truth in your heart. You guard your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23) and keep God’s truth from being choked out by the cares of life or stolen by the enemy (Matthew 13:18-23). You know that just like the fig tree Jesus cursed didn’t die right away, God’s truth may not happen in your life right away (Mark 11:20). You know it will take the measure of faith God has given you (Romans 12:3) to persevere and hang on to His truth no matter what you see, hear, or feel. You choose to keep His Word alive in your heart.

 

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is the word of faith that we preach); that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, NKJV).

 

 

His Word is near you in your heart—waiting to be confessed and believed. Has the Holy Spirit persuaded you to believe His Word? That healing is also the truth of your salvation? The paralytic was told by Jesus his sins were forgiven and to rise up and walk. Has the Word convinced your heart?

 

“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV).

 

“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:20, NKJV).

 

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11, NKJV)

 

What do you hear in your heart and believe?

 

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29, NKJV).

 

https://www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/what-do-you-hear-in-your-heart.html 

 

 

Receive God’s Love

To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.

—Timothy Keller

 

Believing God loves us is absolutely necessary to stand against any difficulty life throws at us. We fully trust God when we know we can’t trust ourselves. Knowing we are loved by God liberates us from pretense. We have nothing to prove. We can be honest because we trust His opinion of us. His opinion is the one that matters. Knowing we are loved by God humbles us. There is no hindrance in receiving from Him. We receive more and more grace (James 4:6).

 

God fully knows and loves us. He created us. He could have done nothing more to prove His love than to send His Son to die for us. I hear Christians say they are not sure God loves them. They deal with the fear that God could never accept and approve of them. They compare God’s unconditional love to human love because their earthly relationships are conditional on their performance. Believing what we do in any way earns us righteousness only proves our self-righteousness.

 

God quits judging your performance when you believe in Jesus as your Savior. God sees the righteousness of His Son in you. And He judges Jesus’ redemption for you as perfect. Complete. Finished. God sees you justified by the blood of His Son. He is love (1 John 4:8). He doesn’t love you because you are lovely. He loves you because love is who He is. 

 

Many believers have a hard time accepting the truth that God loves them. Since we have been taught to look for our imperfections and fix them, we believe God also looks for our flaws. Just what do we do each time we look in a mirror?  We look to see what doesn’t look right. We never look for what is good. God doesn’t do that. He doesn’t search for our imperfections. He covers them with His love (1 Peter 4:8). He wants us to look into the mirror of His Word to know how He sees us, and He wants us to always remember it (James 1:23-24).

 

The world says you have to prove you are worthy of its love. It says, “I love you if” or “I love you when.” God says, “I love you completely. There is nothing to do or nothing you have to add to my love.” Paul emphasized that this love of God is the foundation of our relationship with Him.

 

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV).

 

God wants you to grasp how abundant and fulfilling His love is for you. He wants to stir up your childlike faith and give you hope for the future. When your past is stained by hurt and disillusionment, you easily put up barriers to God’s love. Never keep the One who gave His life for you at a distance. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). God is the only One who can heal your hurts and disappointments.

 

If you have trouble trusting God or believing His promises—if you are struggling with fear, you don’t have a faith issue. You have yet to know how much God loves you. You haven’t grasped in your heart how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of Jesus for you. When you have a revelation of His unconditional love for you, the barriers you have erected come down. You don’t have to struggle anymore to put your measure of faith in God. You trust Him because you know how much He loves you. 

 

“There is no fear in love,” Paul writes, “but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

 

The perfect love of God revealed in Jesus Christ is the truth that casts out your fear. His perfect love conquers fear. It releases God’s power in our lives. Instead of running from our problems, His love gives us the strength to stand and overcome them.

 

The Greek word for “no” in 1 John 4:18 signifies a complete and absolute negative (Strong’s Concordance). This means there is “zero” fear in God’s love. If we are dealing with fear, we are not experiencing God’s love perfectly in our lives. His perfect agape love casts out fear.

 

Fear torments us. Christians who serve God out of fear serve God out of torment. Many believers turn away from God—not because they don’t believe He is there—but because they have been taught to serve Him out of fear. They just don’t measure up, and they know it. So, to escape torment, they turn away from God. If they just knew that despite their sins, God still loves them. If they just realized the perfect love God has for them, His goodness would draw them in repentance back to Him (Romans 2:4).

 

When life gets hard, the enemy attacks making us question God’s love. That is why it is so important to know the Word and to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus came to prove the Father’s love and invite us into a covenant relationship with Him—a relationship based on His love for us and not based on our performance.

 

If we still fear the Lord’s punishment or fear He will not help us, our love isn’t perfect. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to search the height, depth, length, and breadth of God’s love for us (Ephesians 3:14-19).

 

God didn’t send His love because He pitied us. He sent Jesus because He loved us. Jesus stepped right into our struggles. He experienced our pains and disappointments. He was tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15). He was wounded for us so we might be healed in Him.

 

Open your heart to the amazing love of your wounded, yet victorious healer. Know that He has a good plan for your life. His thoughts toward you are of peace (Jeremiah 29:11). He rejoices over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Don’t fall into the enemy’s trap of trying to earn God’s love. Never turn the limitations of human love into your expectations of God’s love. Receive His love that surpasses everything. Let His love inspire you to respond in faith.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/receive-gods-love.html

 

 

 

Your Conscience

 

Adam and Eve lived in innocence in the Garden of Eden. It was heaven on earth. It was God’s perfect creation. But once they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, their perfect life abruptly ended. The temptation the serpent offered them was to get them to focus on themselves instead of on their relationship with their Creator. He told them if they ate of the tree, they wouldn’t die. They would be like God knowing good and evil. After they ate the forbidden fruit, they suddenly became aware of their nakedness. Their consciences condemned them.

 

A conscience is “the part of you that judges how moral your own actions are and makes you feel guilty about bad things that you have done or things you feel responsible for” (Cambridge Dictionary). 

 

Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, their consciences brought them shame and the fear of God’s punishment. God never created us to live in sin, shame, and the fear of His punishment. God never created us to be rejected by Him. He created us for fellowship with Him. Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no need for a conscience, but with their sin, it became a necessity. 

 

The conscience is the part of us that excuses or accuses us (Romans 2:15). A conscience is necessary for someone who is lost to become aware of their sin and need for forgiveness. Maybe this is why the Lord had the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. He wanted to give us a free choice to love and serve Him. Otherwise, we would only love and serve Him because we had to and not because we wanted to. God wants us to choose to have a relationship with Him. 

 

God always knew we would rebel against Him.

 

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

 

God had a plan for us from the beginning. He knew we would sin and Jesus would become the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before God even created us, He had designed the perfect payment for our sins to restore us to a relationship with Him. When God’s perfect time had come, God sent His Son to redeem us (Galatians 4:4). And Jesus willingly fulfilled God’s plan for our redemption. 

 

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14)?

 

The blood of Jesus cleanses our consciences from dead works—those acts of sin that produce death. This verse might also be applied to our own efforts to do good so God will accept us. If we put our trust in our good works to make us right with God then those works can be dead works. 

 

Notice that it is our consciences that have to be cleansed from these dead works. The conscience either makes excuses for us or accuses us. This speaks of the guilt our consciences produce when we’ve done wrong or the self-righteousness our consciences produce when we’ve done right. We need to be cleansed and purged from both of these purposes of the conscience (Hebrews 10:22). Our total trust has to be in what Jesus has done for us and not what we have done for Him. 

 

We are new creatures in Christ in our born-again spirits. Our sins are crucified with Christ. They are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. But when our minds and hearts aren’t renewed by the truths of our new identity in Christ, we don’t know the truths He has purchased for us with His precious blood. We aren’t transformed by the knowledge of the new person He has made us (Romans 12:2). When we don’t have knowledge of the new life the Holy Spirit has birthed in us, we have difficulty yielding to our teacher, the Holy Spirit. We have trouble walking in the Spirit and we end up fulfilling the lust of our flesh (Galatians 15:16).

 

Having a mind that is not renewed by the truths of our salvation hinders us from having an intimate relationship with God. Our conscience will try to condemn us. Conviction is of the Holy Spirit and can lead to repentance and life. Condemnation is from our conscience or the enemy and leads to death. We have to be renewed by God’s truth of our righteousness in Christ to rid our consciences of dead works so we can serve the living God. Then we can draw near in full assurance of our faith in Jesus, “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

 

The blood of Jesus cleanses you thoroughly and restores you completely.  When you don’t believe the truths of your right standing with God Jesus has given you, your conscience and the enemy will condemn you. You will be tempted like Adam and Eve to focus on yourself instead of your relationship with God. 

 

God had told Adam and Eve if they ate of the tree they would surely die. When they did eat it, they purchased eternal death for us. But when Jesus fulfilled God’s plan of redemption, He restored us to our relationship with God and purchased eternal life for us.

 

The relationship with God that sin destroyed in the Garden was restored in Jesus’ perfect love.

 

Believe in the truths of your salvation. You are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. You are new in Christ. The old has passed away. Learn the new person you are in your born-again spirit. The Holy Spirit will renew your mind (Ephesians 4:23). God is greater than your heart and knows all things. If your heart doesn’t condemn you, you have confidence in God (1 John 3: 20-21).

 

You have a relationship with your Creator. Assure your heart of your right standing with Him (1 John 3:19). You are made new in the image of your Creator. Put on your new man created in true righteousness and holiness. Continually be renewed in the knowledge of who you are in Christ (Ephesians 4:23-24, Colossians 3:10), and draw near to Him in full assurance of faith. 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/04/your-conscience.html