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Monday, March 18, 2024

Christ My Hope of Glory

 


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And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait? My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.

—Psalms 39:7 (AMP)

 

I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits, and in His word do I hope.

—Psalms 130:5 (AMP)

 

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. 

—Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)

 

Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word].

—Hebrews 10:23 (AMP)

 

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 hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power].

—Romans 5:2 (AMP)

 

Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

—Romans 5:5 (AMP)

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

—Romans 15:13 (AMP)

 

 

 

You are my hope, Lord Jesus, and my hope in you never disappoints. Your love is abundantly poured out within my heart. Your promises are yes and amen. I put all my hope in your Word and wait patiently and expectantly for it to yield its promise. 

 

I take your Word and make it mine. I believe your truth even when I cannot see your promise with my eyes. I sow your promise in my heart. I guard it from all the voices and cares in my life that come against it. I guard it from the enemy who seeks to destroy it. I confess my hope in your promise without wavering. I know you are trustworthy and faithful to your Word.

 

You are in me, and I am in you, Lord Jesus. You are the Word yearning to live in me. You came to save and heal me. You are life in me, my hope of glory. You give me complete peace and joy. I lack nothing. You are for me. I abound in hope and overflow with confidence in your promise. I need nothing else. I desire only you.

 

I rest in your Word and your promise. I don’t struggle to believe. My effort has no power. This is your work in me and through me. I praise you for doing exceedingly and abundantly more than I ask or think!

 

Praise you, Lord Jesus, for your grace on which I firmly and securely put my faith! I praise you for the hope you have given me! I praise you for the confidant assurance that I will experience the power of your Word that you have quickened in my heart! Your Word shall be manifested! Your incorruptible seed will bring its abundant harvest!

 

You are my assurance. You are my evidence. I believe by faith what I can’t understand with my senses. I stand on your Word. I won’t be shaken. I will see your glory in the land of the living. Praise your Holy Name!

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/03/christ-my-hope-of-glory.html

Friday, March 15, 2024

Jesus Christ Crucified

 

 

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

—1 Corinthians 2:2

  

Paul was unwaveringly in his determination to know only Jesus Christ and what He had accomplished in his life. He knew what would happen when you take your eyes off Jesus and the cross. Turning away from “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” will only lead us back to ourselves. You will be deceived about who you are in Him. 

 


That is what happened to the Galatians when they began struggling to prove their righteousness by trying to meet the requirements of the Law. Religious leaders who endorsed the Law were infiltrating their church gatherings and causing the Galatian believers to doubt the freedom they had received in Christ.  

 


What if Paul had been wrong? What if they were really not righteous through grace? Should they go back to the Law to relate to God? Were the rules more important than having a relationship with Him?

 


The Galatians were easy prey for those who promoted the Law. In response to their deception, Paul gives His strongest rebuke in the Scriptures. 

 


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” (Galatians 3:1)?

 


Paul was shocked the Galatians had rejected the grace of Jesus for legalism. They were no longer persuaded to believe the truth of the Gospel! Paul declares that their actions defied logic. Christ’s death on the cross had been clearly presented to them. The Law could not save them. They had believed in the perfect work of Jesus on the cross for them. But now they acted like an evil spell had been cast over them. 

 


Paul asks them some questions to make them think about the foolishness of what they were doing.

 


“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 3:2-3).

 


Paul was asking them, “Did you receive the Spirit by keeping the Ten Commandments?  Did the Spirit come to live inside of you because of your performance or because you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you add anything to Jesus’ finished work of grace? Can you add to the righteousness you have received by your own self-effort?

 


It was just foolishness for them to try to make themselves right with God! Only the Spirit gives life. Self-effort would profit them nothing (John 6:63)!

 


Paul continues:

 

“Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 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” (Galatians 3:4-5)?

 

After having suffered persecution for believing the gospel of grace, the Galatians were yielding to the pressure from false religious leaders. They had even experienced many miracles because of God’s grace—not just randomly, but consistently. In fact, the verb phrases “supplies the spirit” and “works miracles” are active verb particles. There was a constant supply of the Spirit and a continuous working of God’s power for miracles. Why would they ever go back to the Law after experiencing the outpouring of the Spirit?  

 

Having begun by faith in Jesus, why would we try to live for Jesus by our own self-effort? Why would we attempt to justify ourselves to God? The fear of what others think about us and the temptation of self-righteousness are powerful things when we take our eyes off Jesus and the cross. 

 

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” Paul declared, “and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

 

The Galatians had returned to a weakened mixture of faith and works, law and grace. Are some of us doing the same? 

 

When we work to prove our righteousness to God, we are only proving our own foolishness. We are entangled with a yoke of bondage to the dos and don’ts, rules, and regulations instead of living in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. 

 

We are not changed by what we do. We are changed from the inside out. Outward holiness without inward heart holiness is a yoke of bondage. You are always reaching and always trying, but never making yourself holy. Holiness and righteousness are works of grace that you receive and put on by faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:24).

 

Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Jesus carried your heavy condemnation of not being good enough to the cross. He was crucified for you, and you are crucified with Him.

 

“I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul writes. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

 

Keep your eyes on Jesus and Him crucified, and you will keep your eyes off the glaring debt of your unworthiness. Instead, you will see yourself made righteous in Jesus’ perfect work of grace. Your need to prove your worth to God will be crucified with Christ. It will be Jesus who lives in you, and you will live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/jesus-christ-crucified.html

  

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Be Strong in His Grace

 




 

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

— 2 Timothy 2:1

 

By the time Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy, things weren’t going well in the church in Ephesus. Nero was persecuting Christians. Church members were turning away from the Lord to not be put to death. Leaders in the church were fighting over doctrine. Some church members didn’t appreciate a young man as their overseer, and they rebelled against his leadership.

Timothy certainly must have felt like he was a failure as the leader of the church.

Have you ever felt like you were a failure at an undertaking given to you? Did you feel helpless when an important task was assigned to you after it already seemed doomed to failure? Perhaps, you felt helpless to change the damage that came as a result. Maybe, you felt responsible even though the catastrophe could have happened on someone else’s watch.

Timothy probably felt helpless as he dealt with declining attendance, divisive issues, and Nero’s persecution. He needed God’s strength to stay in Ephesus and take care of the church Paul had entrusted to him.

You therefore, my son,” Paul wrote to Timothy, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”(2 Timothy 2:1). 

The word “strong” is the Greek word “endunamao,” meaning to be endowed with power or made strong. This word is a compound of the words “en” and “dunamis”. The word “en” means something is enclosed around something else. The word “dunamis” means explosive strength and power. This compound word paints the picture of an explosive power being placed into some type of container. Paul was saying in this verse: “Timothy, you were designed as a receptacle of God’s supernatural strength. It is time to receive His power.”

Timothy most likely didn’t feel worthy enough to receive a supernatural touch from God. Perhaps, you feel unworthy to also receive from God. This is why Paul told Timothy and also tells you to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

God’s power in your life doesn’t come because you deserve it. God makes His supernatural power available to you by grace. His power is a free gift you receive in Christ. The phrase “be strong in the grace that is yours in Christ Jesus” is essential for you to understand the only way to be strong is "by means of" the grace of Jesus.

Out of God’s fullness, you have received grace and more grace (1 John 1:16)! God’s grace never runs out! His power is available to any Christian who exercises the faith to receive it. And because His power is freely given by grace, there is no requirement to feel worthy to receive it. 

Jesus gave His life without cost to you. As long as there is grace, there is always the unrestricted inner supernatural power of God available to you. The only way you can freely receive a new touch of God’s power is through His grace. But you must reach out and take it. You must give up your effort for His. The enemy will always be around to tell you that you aren’t good enough, not worthy enough, and not faithful enough to deserve anything from God. But God tells you that you are deserving of what He gives you. Because Jesus died for you and washed you with His precious blood, you are a receptacle for the abundance of everything God owns.

Quit beating yourself up. Stop repeatedly telling yourself how unworthy you are and how horribly you have failed. If you have messed up, just repent. Turn from your failure without guilt and shame. Ask the Lord to give you a new touch of His supernatural power so you can get up and start moving again. If the enemy reminds you again and again of your failure (and he will), remind him that you have an unending flow of God’s grace. 

You have been made worthy by the blood of Jesus to receive every good thing God has planned and prepared for you. Don’t place limits on God because you don’t feel worthy enough. God wants to bless and use you despite your failure. He is faithful to do all the wonderful things He promises in your life. Choose right now to receive His powerful strength you desperately need. God made His power available to you because of Jesus—not because of you. Jesus paid for it in full. His power is freely available at no cost.

Just as you were saved by faith in Jesus, you continually receive His power by faith in Jesus. Be strong in His grace. Jesus has made you worthy to receive grace and more grace. Draw from His well within that never, ever, runs dry.

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/be-strong-in-his-grace.html

 

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Don't Limit God


 

 

How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy.

—Psalm 78:40-42

 

 

How often do we frustrate the grace of God by not trusting Him? How often do we grieve the Holy Spirit by limiting Him?  If we are all honest, we have all limited God at times in our lives. We have limited His ability to work in our lives by not believing Him. We have forgotten His resurrection power that redeemed us from the enemy. 

 

Remembering the goodness of the Lord will keep us from placing limits on God. No matter what our experiences in life dictate—no matter what our circumstances insist are true, we need to remember what Jesus has given us. We need to remember what we have received in the gift of His grace. 

 

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16, NKJV).

 

The Amplified Bible’s translation of this verse says, “For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.”

 

This does not sound like a God who limits us. This sounds like a God who is for us. God is not limited. We are the ones who limit God by thinking far beneath His fullness we have received—the abundance He has supplied—the spiritual blessing He has given—the favor He has bestowed—and the gifts that are ours in Christ. We receive unceasing grace. When we think beneath the abundant grace of our loving Father, then what we receive is far beneath Him. His grace is hindered in us. His plans in us are obstructed. His calling is thwarted.

 

The way you think of yourself is who you believe are you (Proverbs 23:7). If you believe God’s love for you rests on your “goodness,” then you end up doubting His love for you. You limit Him because you believe you aren’t worthy enough to receive His love. If you believe God loves you based on Jesus’ righteous worth, then you know He desires His best for you. When you judge God’s love for you out of what you experience instead of out of His love revealed to you in Jesus, you end up living by what you feel instead of living by the faith He has given you. 

 

Doubt is the default belief system of many Christians. They read the Word but never truly believe it. Logical arguments and their own experiences seem more important than the affirmations of God. Never limit the power of God’s Word by questioning if it applies to you. It is His truth—His will—for you. Pray and believe it by faith. When you doubt God, you weaken His truth through unbelief. And a double-minded man should not expect to receive anything from God (James 1:7). 

 

What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in the Word? Has a specific Word from God suddenly come to life in your heart?  Do you believe it? Has it become the truth in you?  Have faith in Jesus—the One whose power fully redeemed you from the enemy. Put your faith in the abundance of God’s grace you have received in Christ. 

 

Faith sees God’s fullness alive and well in you. It sees His abundance—His spiritual blessings, favor, and gifts. By the world’s account, you don’t deserve God’s grace. By Jesus’ account, your new life has received it. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world’s account of you, and the one who believes in Jesus is the one who overcomes (1 John 5:4-5).

 

“If you can believe,” Jesus said, “all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). 

 

Jesus’ account is paid in full. You aren’t limited in Jesus. Believe. Don’t limit God.

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/dont-limit-god.html

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

 


 

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

—1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)

 

The Greek word that was translated as “fight” here is “agonizomai.”  It means “to struggle and to compete for a prize, to contend with an adversary, or to accomplish something (Strong’s Concordance). It comes from the same root word from which “agony” and “agonize” are derived. 

 

There is a struggle in the Christian life. The struggle isn’t with God. We have peace with God in Jesus Christ. The struggle is with ourselves and with the enemy’s lies. There is no exemption from this fight. Those who refuse to fight, lose.

 

Some people think there is no such thing as a good fight. They are only interested in the things that come effortlessly. The Christian fight is good because it has already been won by Jesus. When we fight the good fight of faith we are enforcing the victory Jesus has won. And this is a good fight.

 

This phrase, “lay hold on,” is speaking of seizing the opportunity. Just as those who have been thrown a rope for their rescue have to “lay hold” of that rope to be pulled to safety, so we have to “lay hold on eternal life” to reap its benefits. God gives us eternal life by His grace, but we have to put forth effort to “lay hold” of it.

 

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

 

In this prayer, Jesus prayed for us to know that eternal life is more than living forever. Eternal life is knowing God now in every aspect of our lives. Eternal life is intimacy with God, our Father, and with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. 

 

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

 

We are “called” into fellowship with Jesus Christ. We must seize the opportunity we have now. We don’t just sit and wait for His promise of tomorrow. 

 

God calls and equips us by grace. It is not according to our ability (2 Timothy 1:9). We were created with a specific purpose, and our God-given gifts and talents are uniquely fitted to accomplish that purpose. 

 

Even though God’s calling is by grace, Paul said that he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles and that kept God’s calling from being in vain (1 Corinthians 15:10). We either take advantage of God’s grace, or we frustrate the grace of God.

 

Fight the good fight of faith. This fight has already been won in Jesus’ perfect work of Grace. Jesus has given you His authority to overcome your flesh and the enemy. You cannot be much closer to Him than Jesus living inside you. Know Him and agree with His victory overcoming the flesh’s and the enemy’s attempts to destroy you. Lay hold of what is yours in Christ. Seize the opportunity to know God intimately as He knows you.

 

When you know God intimately, you believe you have already won your battles over the flesh and the lies of the enemy. You fight the good fight of faith from a position of victory. Your calling to fulfill God’s purpose in your life is not in vain. Your works are alive because He is living abundantly in you. You have seized knowing Him now. You don’t see defeat and death. You only see victory and life. Eternal life is won. 

 

You cannot fight the good fight of faith from a position of defeat. That is not a good fight. That is a fight you have already determined in your heart you have lost. Jesus has done His part to secure your victory.  Victory is victory. There is nothing more to be done. Take hold of the eternal life Christ has given you. Seize it now. Fight the good fight of faith. Confess your hope without wavering to yourself and to others  God, who called you, is faithful (Hebrews 10:23, 1 Corinthians 1:9).  

 

“Your kingdom come,” Jesus prayed to His Father. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

 

What is God’s will on earth? Is it the same as it is in heaven? Fight the good fight of faith. God who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/fight-good-fight-of-faith.html



 

 

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Truth of His Righteousness


 

 

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

—John 3:17

 

 

Some of the enemy’s most powerful weapons are emotional. Fear, doubt, anger, resentment, worry, and guilt are parts of his scheme. Long-lasting guilt and shame are debilitating. They can torment you even after receiving Jesus' forgiveness and accepting His merciful grace.

 

Many Christians attribute the condemnation they experience to the Holy Spirit convicting them. There is no condemnation in Jesus. He didn’t come to condemn us. He came to save us. But when we focus on our failures instead of on Jesus' work of righteousness in us, we become consumed with ourselves. We have no power within ourselves. We find ourselves defeated by one of the most lethal weapons in Satan’s arsenal. It is low self-esteem. 

 

Believers who have low self-esteem, deal with a heart that condemns them, reminding them over and over again of their failures (1 John 3:20). They live out of the gut-wrenching feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, and low self-worth. The enemy’s most deadly weapon of low self-esteem imprisons many believers despite knowing God’s Word. They live in bondage to a deep sense of unworthiness instead of living in Christ’s freedom from it. Without believing in their hearts the righteous worth Jesus has credited to them, they have no defense against the lies of unworthiness with which the enemy bombards them. 

 

Consider two ways this deadly weapon brings defeat and failure into your life. 

 

1.    Low self-esteem destroys your potential.

 

Through many years, I have witnessed the devastating impact of feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, and low self-esteem in believers. These are Christians who live in paralyzing fear just waiting for God’s wrath and punishment—Christians who compulsively strive to prove to God they are worthy of His love and approval—Christians who without the Word of faith in their heart live in condemnation from which Jesus has saved them. It is heartbreaking to witness the loss of their potential, to witness their bondage to the lies of the enemy and self-condemnation, and to see the wasted gifts of God’s power and opportunity in their lives.

 

God is heartbroken when you don’t believe the gift of righteousness that has been given to you in the precious blood of His Son. The loss of your potential through the enemy’s lie of low self-worth can keep you in fear of failure, the fear of man, and the fear of rejection. God has a plan for your life. When you don’t believe God can use you because you aren’t good enough to be used, the cost to you and to His purpose in your life is devastating.

 

All Christians have to deal with feelings of unworthiness. Some overcome these more successfully than others. The ones who overcome know who they are in the love of God in Christ. They don’t have to prove their value to God. They know Jesus proved it to Him. They know God doesn’t count their sins against them. He counted their sins against Jesus. They don’t beat themselves up trying to win God’s acceptance. Jesus has given them peace in their relationship with God. No condemnation stands in the way. They freely receive God’s acceptance and love.

 

Jesus told a parable about the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The man with one talent was rendered powerless from fear and feelings of inadequacy. Because he was so afraid of failure, he didn’t invest his talent. He buried it. He was frozen by the fear of rejection from his master, immobilized by the fear of failure, restrained by the fear of taking a risk, and defeated by the fear of comparison to the two other men. He did what most people with low self-esteem do. He did nothing. That is what Satan wants for you. He wants you frozen and paralyzed and doing nothing. He wants you to live far beneath your potential. 

 

2.    Low self-esteem destroys your dreams.

 

We can’t live in our dreams, but we do live by our dreams. Joel prophesied that when the Spirit was poured out, the young would see visions and the old would dream dreams. This prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit helps us to dream and see courageous visions of what God wants to do in and through us. But without a good vision of yourself, the wrong kind of self-defeating vision plays repeatedly in your heart.

 

Romans 1:21 says you can become “vain” in what you imagine. Something you envision that is “vain” is useless. If you believe you are useless, you are in bondage to the curse of condemnation.  The Holy Spirit is always trying to give you a powerful vision of the potential God sees in you, but until you know your worth in Jesus Christ, you will not see it.

 

Jesus redeemed you from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for you (Galatians 3:13). The Law condemned you because you couldn't keep it perfectly. But Jesus perfectly paid the full price for your unworthiness. He redeemed you. You have no reason to feel inadequate. You have no reason to think you aren’t good enough to invest your talents and gifts. Jesus has made you worthy. You have to believe and live it by faith. Don’t nurse your feeling of inadequacy. Don’t nurse the guilt and shame that condemns you. Jesus didn’t come to condemn you. He died for your condemnation. And you have new life in Him. 

 

The righteousness that is yours in Jesus is one of the most powerful truths in God's arsenal. His righteousness presents you without fault to the Father. His righteousness has overcome condemnation. When you believe you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you aren't immobilized by the fear of rejection. You see yourself with God's vision instead of the unworthiness you have seen in yourself. You invest your talents and gifts with confidence because you don’t fear failure. You know God accepts and loves you no matter your failure. 

 

You are of great worth to Jesus. You have the greatest potential.  Seek to know the promises of His righteousness working in your life. Don’t allow yourself or anyone else to condemn your faith in Jesus. A Christian with a spiritually healthy self-image honors God’s righteousness above his own ability and his own sense of worth. True humility doesn’t debase you, and it doesn’t exalt you. True humility esteems God above everything else. 

 

Not believing Jesus has made you worthy will keep you from expecting and attempting great things for God. Nothing can shake your confidence when you believe Jesus’ precious blood paid the full price for you to come freely into God's presence. Don’t just hear and read what others declare the Word says. You have to take possession of it in your own heart. Take the Word in, and meditate on it. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of His righteousness at work in you.

 

Jesus has forgiven you. Forgive the inadequacy you see in yourself. He knows who you are because of His Son. He wants you to know it, too. You are accepted. You are more than adequate for His purposes. When you stand before God set free in the love of Jesus, out of you flows His worth—His holiness—His power—His living water. 

 

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding 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” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/the-truth-of-his-righteousness.html

 

 

Friday, March 8, 2024

Both Sides of the Coin




 

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

 

We can never remind ourselves of this verse too much. It is only out of our right standing in Christ that we have a relationship with God, our Father. It is only because God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sins, that we have no sin that stands between us and God. This is the identity Christ has given His blood for us to receive. Without understanding the righteousness that is ours in Christ, we are hindered in our relationship with our Father. When we are more focused on our sinful failures than on His merciful Grace, intimacy is impossible. We don’t feel worthy or righteous enough to come to Him. But isn’t the point of Grace to give us a restored relationship with God? For us to be able to come to Him unencumbered by sin and shame?

 

Jesus didn’t just symbolically take our sins. He, in fact, became our sin. Then He suffered the wrath of God for our sins. When we say that we accept and receive His payment for our sins but then do not accept and receive the righteousness He offers is like saying you will take one side of a coin and not the other. 

 

A coin has two sides. You cannot possess one side of a coin without possessing the other side. Some Christians have accepted the first part of 2 Corinthians 5:21, but have trouble accepting the other half. They believe Jesus bore their sins, but have trouble believing He gave His righteousness to them. They believe that His righteousness is something that they can only earn when they go to heaven. Righteousness cannot be earned. It is the gift we receive when we believe in Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for our sins. In this verse, Paul made the forgiveness of our sins and our receiving the righteousness of God in Christ part of the same finished work. If one part is true, then the other part is true. Just like that coin. You possess both sides of it.

 

The righteousness of God credited to us was predicted in the Old Testament (Genesis 15:6, Psalm 32:1-2) and referred to by Paul in (Romans 4:23-25). It was revealed in the New Testament through the Gospel (Romans 1:17). This righteousness in Scripture is revealed as the righteousness of faith (Romans 4:13, 9:30, 10:6), the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), the righteousness of God without the Law (Romans 3:21), Jesus being made righteousness for us (1 Corinthians 1:30), and Christ as righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). He is our everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24). He is the Lord, our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6), and He is the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17).

 

As believers, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus has been credited to us. We receive it by faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is righteousness apart from anything we do. It is His gift to everyone who believes. We are created and established in His righteousness. We clothe ourselves in the righteousness He has given us (Ephesians 4:24). He is our new identity, and we live by faith in the righteousness He has given us. 

 

To believe we are redeemed from sin and not believe we have received the gift of righteousness is referred to by Paul as being ignorant of God’s righteousness. Paul also refers to not believing in the righteousness Jesus has given us as trying to establish our own righteousness and not submitting to God’s righteousness (Romans 10:3). We can never receive righteousness by what we do. Self-effort is self-righteousness. It places faith in our ability to live holy instead of placing our faith in God’s righteousness. We only receive the righteousness of God by faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9). 

 

God convicts us with the righteousness He has given us. He convinces us of our new birth and our new identity by the renewing of our minds with His truth (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 12:2). When we allow the Holy Spirit to convince us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ, we believe we are free to come boldly into God’s presence because sin does not stand in our way (Hebrews 4:16).

 

Why did God make Jesus who had no sin become our sin?  So we might have His righteousness. This is our freedom—knowing what it means to be made righteous because of Christ. God is no longer the God who waits for our next sin. He is the Father who no longer remembers our sins. He is the Father who raises us up. Jesus gave His life on one side of the cross so we might receive His righteousness on the other side. We don’t have to prove what we have received in Jesus. He proved it all. 

 

If you had been able to make yourself righteous by the Law’s self-effort, then you wouldn’t have needed Jesus to become your sin and die to give you the righteousness of God. You wouldn’t have needed Grace.

 

But you desperately need the Grace of Jesus! You need more and more of His Grace to not live a self-defeating and self-defacing life. Without knowing in your heart that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you live under the condemnation of the enemy and your own heart. Knowing who you are in Christ is your unrestricted access to the Father. You can come freely to Him and lay down any weight of sin. It is His righteousness—His goodness that draws you. The Holy Spirit never leaves you or forsakes you. The Holy Spirit in you hurts when you sin. His righteousness is offended when there is sin. You know in your heart when you are out of the Father’s will. The Spirit convicts you with the righteousness of God that you have received. There is no room for sin in you whom Jesus has made holy. But when His righteousness is alive in you, you choose to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). When you believe you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you do not desire to invite what is unholy into you—the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

 

Seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. If you could have received righteousness through the Law, there would be no need for Jesus’ Grace (Galatians 2:21). Never frustrate the work of His Grace in your life.  Your self-effort will never make you righteous. That was attempted under the Law, and Jesus declared self-effort worthless. His Grace declares your true worth—your righteousness. You have both sides of the coin. He who had no sin became your sin, and you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 


Believe who Jesus says you are.

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/both-sides-of-the-coin.html

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

The Person of Peace


 

 

 

And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

—Matthew 8:24-26

 

Two days ago, we looked at this event in the book of Mark. This time we look at it in another light in the book of Matthew.

 

What was the disciples’ reaction to the storm that suddenly came against them on the Sea of Galilee? They felt the wind and the waves. They saw the boat was in danger of sinking. And there was Jesus! He was sleeping when everything looked like death. They were consumed with fear. Shouting their fears above the tumult, they woke Jesus up. Jesus’ response to the storm was to rebuke the winds and the waves. There came a great calm and in that calm was peace.

 

Just as the disciples experienced, the uncertainties of something unfamiliar or unexpected can cause us to only consider what we see. We may even focus on all the bad potential outcomes. Our doubts soon become an obsession that permeates our emotions, and our fear overflows into the words we speak. 

 

The words we speak are powerful. The disciples spoke fear. But Jesus spoke peace. We must choose to speak life into our circumstances because the words we speak are life or death (Proverbs 18:21). 

 

If we think the worst, we prepare ourselves to receive the worst. When we declare our fears, doubts, and uncertainties, we speak exactly what the enemy wants to hear. When we don’t feel peace, the enemy immediately plays it to his advantage. He acts quickly to make sure we continue to believe our issues are bigger than God. 

 

Look at the disciples. They were fixated on the storm, and they were convinced they would die. They were in total panic while Jesus was peacefully sleeping.

 

Peace is not an emotion. It is not something you feel. Peace is a person you know in your heart. His name is Jesus. You don’t have to feel peace (and often you don’t) before you speak the victory that is yours in Jesus. Instead, you must remain confident in who God is and His promises about your circumstances, 

 

The wind and the waves appeared to be death. But Jesus was the answer. When our circumstances appear to speak death, we look inside at Jesus, the Person of Peace, who lives in our hearts. We make less of our problems by telling them how big our God is. We continually ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of God’s truth and His promises.

 

God never turns away from us. He never turns a blind eye to what we are going through and expects us to figure things out on our own. God declares that we are mighty men and women of valor for a reason. He is in us. He is with us, and He is for us. And if He is for us, what dares to be against us (Romans 8:31)?

 

The Lord has made His home in you. You have no reason to fear. You have a relationship with Jesus, the Person of Peace. But you must invite Him into all your circumstances and expect His transformation. Let Him be in control of your emotions. Choose God’s truth over what you see or feel or what others speak.

 

Jesus speaks death to your storm and life to you. The storm that rages hears Him. Do you?


www.lynnlacher.com/2024/03/the-person-of-peace.html 

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