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Friday, January 31, 2020

Life-Changing Word



For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
—Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)

Scripture has something to say about itself. Scripture clearly reveals its power. The Word divides between soul and spirit—joint and marrow. From the spiritual to the mental to the physical, the Word changes and defines us. It is alive, breathing ultimate healing into a hungry soul—peace into a breaking heart—truth into a mind upon which the enemy tries to etch lies—life into my dry bones which ache to live. The Word slices through doubt and speaks faith. It exposes the wrong attitudes and desires of my heart. It opens my mind to listen to His instruction and to trust His truth. 

The Word of God inspires me not only to believe what it says but also trust its message. My life changes because of its truth. I can trust God's Word for every moment of my life. Its very nature is timeless! It is unchanging, and just like God, it is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I can believe its direction for all the circumstances I face, and for the decisions I make. 

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,” the Word declares, “and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11, NIV). 

The Word has a purpose, and the Holy Spirit reveals it to me when I open my soul to its life-changing message. I can stand on what it says. I can believe in its promises. As I study and seek His truth, the Holy Spirit breathes revelation understanding into my mind, changing the attitudes and desires of my heart. 

The Word reveals God’s truth about who Jesus Christ is in our lives, and the finished work He alone accomplishes. Jesus is the final message of the Word—the complete and eternal truth of God’s love for us. Each truth revealed in His Word points to the gift of His life for ours.  He came ‑not to condemn us of sin but to save us from it. His love frees us from who we were and gives us new life in Him.

Do you believe His truth?  Do you experience contentment and peace? Do you live a joyful and abundant life? His Word goes out from His mouth and does not return without accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it. You are His purpose. Allow Him to show you.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/life-changing-word.html


Thursday, January 30, 2020

Grace Changes You

 BECAUSE...
GRACE CHANGES YOU!


It is not who you are in life that is important to your kids. It is who you are when you are with them.
—Bill Snow


This quote is a very true statement about your relationship with your children. Think about who you are when you are with others. Your position in life is not important. It is what Jesus has done for you and your understanding of it, that is. Who you believe yourself to be is revealed in your relationships with others. Either you are healed and free in your relationships or bound up with pain you have fought to keep hidden. But when you know who you are in Jesus, you are free to love and forgive.

There are many Christians who have asked Jesus into their hearts but are not living in the freedom He bought them. They try to guard their hearts against their pain, and in their attempt, create more pain.

If you haven’t experienced the healing power of the Grace of Jesus in your life, then the Holy Spirit hasn’t had complete access. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV). When you drop the mask that Jesus died to remove and allow Him access, you receive His healing. His Grace frees you. You live that freedom and healing in your relationships. You don’t act out love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Jesus is each of these virtues in you. They flow from Him through you because you have nothing to hide and nothing to prove. You are free not to fix but just love as He has loved you. 

An abundant, joyful, forgiving, peaceful, unguarded, and healed life is your promise. When you allow the Grace of Jesus to transform you, this is who you are. You are His—and not just in name only but set free from fear and rejection and hurt and pain. When you are free, you pass along that freedom. His Grace is revealed in you and lived out in your relationships. The Holy Spirit is unstoppable in your life when you are free. 

The commandment Jesus gave His disciples the night before He died, reveals His Grace— to love as He has loved them.  Allow Him to love you in those areas that you have hidden. Allow Him to heal them. His Grace changes everything because His Grace changes you.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/grace-changes-you.html

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

No Cost to You


Freely you have received; freely give.
—Matthew 10:8b (NIV)


Freely you are forgiven. Freely you receive. Freely you give it away. This freedom is the marvelous result of the Grace of Jesus Christ working in your life. But perhaps you don't live it. Maybe you don't live in His freedom because you don't “get” in your mind what He has given you.

Forgiveness costs you nothing. But it cost Jesus His life. He paid the whole debt for your complete forgiveness. What does His work of Grace mean in your life? You don’t withhold from others what He has freely given you. No one owes you for your forgiveness. There is nothing they have to do or to act upon for you to forgive them. The perfect work of Grace teaches that by faith, you have received His blameless life for your sinful one. The Grace of Jesus that saved you is now freely yours without any cost—without fear of punishment—without fear of rejection—without debt. There is no one to blame.

Human love has conditions. It says, “I will forgive you if you forgive me.” The love of Jesus is unconditional. It says, “I forgive you without cost. There is nothing you have to do to win my love.” You may have asked Jesus into your heart, but if His Grace has not transformed the way you think and you can’t forgive yourself for the sins that Jesus has forgiven, then how can you forgive someone else? 

If you believe you are unforgivable or unacceptable, then you, in turn, become the same way toward others. If you don't think Jesus forgives you, you pass along that debt to others. They owe you affection and love. They owe you attention. When you have a revelation of what His Grace accomplished for you on Calvary, you can forgive yourself as He has forgiven you. You have no debt to pass along to others. However, if you don’t understand (just like the servant in the parable in Matthew 18), you don’t believe your debt has ended. In your misunderstanding, you pass along a debt that someone else can never pay. To be set free, you need to be molded by the Word of God and seek His spiritual awakening to the Grace He has poured into your life.

You have no debt. Jesus, who had no sin, became your sin so that you might become His very righteousness—so you might receive his blameless life. He came, not to condemn, but that the world, through His Grace, might be saved. There is no more need to blame anyone—not yourself or anyone else. Guilt, shame, and fear of punishment are over. You are free to live an abundant life filled with His Grace. 

Yes, He disciples you, but discipleship is not a burden. It is joyful and rewarding when you know who you are in Jesus—when you realize the cost He paid so you might be free of sin’s condemnation. You don’t have to grovel and plead for God to accept you. Jesus tore down the wall that separated you from His Father. He gave you His Father as your own. You, who have received forgiveness, can forgive yourself and others without cost.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/no-cost-to-you.html

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

I Believe



When the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
John 14:26 (NLT)


Holy Spirit, continually teach me who I am in Jesus. Remind me every day of what He has done for me. Please show me your truth. When I have your revealed knowledge of what His grace has purchased for me, I know who I am in you. I am new. The old is gone. When I know who I am in you, no lie that has taken root in my mind can withstand the power of your truth. No lie can live in me. 

In my mind, I have a growing awareness of the gift of your blameless life. You are my Savior. There is nothing I have to do—no confrontation that I make on my own. Holy Spirit, confront this lie within me—this lie that I have believed.  Speak to it through me. Yes, you give me the authority to rebuke it, but it is your power and your words that I speak that comes against this lie. It is your power that changes the way I think. 

Right now, Lord, I pray for you to change the way I think—uprooting thoughts that have supported the lie that has defeated me. I pray for a revelation of what your grace has accomplished in me—what you have unselfishly poured into my life out of the greatest love. When I experience the transforming depth of your grace, my attitude is changed by you. I can stand on you, my Rock, knowing that the lie has no power to defeat me.

Lord, if you want to know the truth, I haven’t trusted you, but I am going to trust you now. You are revealing to me that I am free and whole in you. You are showing me that nothing has the power to destroy what you have done for me on Calvary. I am going to have a full revelation of who I am in you. There will be no lie that can stand against your truth, because I am the righteousness of God in you, Jesus. I know who I am by the power of your amazing grace. I believe, Jesus. 

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/i-believe.html

Monday, January 27, 2020

That Lie Must Die


Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
—John 12:24 (NKJV)


Jesus speaks in this Scripture, knowing His time is almost upon Him. His life—given in death for the sins of the world—will produce much grain—much fruit in the lives of believers. But that one grain must die; Jesus has to die for this miracle to happen. What is the miracle? Death is the lie. New Resurrected life in Him is the truth. 

How many of us allow a lie to hold us back from what Jesus wishes to produce in our lives? We latch on to the “I can’t” answer because of a lie we have believed. You might believe one of these lies: “You will never amount to anything.” “You will never be good enough.” "Jesus loves someone else more than He loves you." "Jesus doesn't have time for your problem." "You aren't forgiven. You have to work for it." "If you don't feel something, it is not real." And the enemy berates you and continually throws your lie in your face.

The lie you believe—just like a grain of wheat—must die for the Holy Spirit to set you free and live fully in you. When the lie, which has owned your life instead of Jesus, is finally rooted out, then the Holy Spirit—without any hindrance—produces fruit in your life. 

Susie Larson, in her new book, Fully Alive, writes: “What we rehearse we remember, and what we remember we live from. What core belief stands in the way of you flourishing?”

Ask yourself this question. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what lie has held you back from flourishing in Jesus. What have you rehearsed over and over in your mind? Perhaps, something that was hammered into you as a child. Perhaps, something that was done to you years ago that keeps you from understanding His love for you.

What are you battling right now?  Susie also writes that the Holy Spirit spoke to her during her battle, “The storms reveal the lies we believe and the truths we need.”  Allow your storm to reveal your core lie. So His truth can kill it.

Do you realize Jesus sees you healed and whole and flourishing in Him? Until you believe what Jesus says about you, you will continually struggle to know who you are and what you have as a new person in Jesus. When you allow the Word to transform your mind and defeat the core lie that has stolen your freedom in Him, you will know who you are in Jesus.

The knowledge of His truth sets you free.  Allow your storm to reveal your lie and His truth that defeats it. When you know who you are in Jesus, the Holy Spirit freely flows and reaches beyond what you ever thought possible.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/that-lie-must-die.html

Friday, January 24, 2020

His Peace



Do you want to live your life of freedom in Jesus fully? Free from fears of the past, present, and future claiming your mind? If you are tired of the ever-constant cycle of fear and then an elusive peace and then fear again, Jesus promises you that the new life He died to give you brings His peace. And that peace is not one the world might temporarily offer or one that you can conjure up with your mind. The peace He died to give you is enduring and consistent. His peace is strong, unwavering, and unshakeable. Why is that? Because you know without a doubt, in the spirit of your mind, what His grace has purchased for you. You trust the complete and finished work of your Savior. You rest in Him—in His grace—in His freedom without worry and fear.  

“I am leaving you with a gift,” Jesus told His disciples the night before His crucifixion, “peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27, NLT). 

Many Christians don’t live in the freedom of His grace. They remain bound up in fear and just waiting for the next shoe to fall. The Holy Spirit transforms your mind to believe what you have received in Jesus. But you must allow Him to change the way you think through the revelation of the Word. Jesus told His disciples He was leaving them a gift. They did not understand at that moment that this gift of peace would come through the life of Jesus on the Cross. But we can grasp it now because the act of love that gives everlasting peace, has taken place.  

There is no lie of the enemy or any lie you have believed that overcomes His gift of peace. Jesus has the last Word. He has given you peace of mind and heart. But you allow the Holy Spirit to root out the lies. You allow the Holy Spirit to take captive any thoughts of fear. You choose to dwell on the truth of His life for yours. You will be renewed in your mind. The Holy Spirit will train your mind, and faith will grow stronger in His grace.

How sad to be free and not know it! Jesus died for you. Don’t be troubled or afraid. Don’t allow the news of the doctor to throw you. Don’t let the news of the world scare you. Jesus has already had the last Word. You are free.

Choose to live in His peace. Praise Him for His gift of peace! Give Him any thought that rises that is destructive or fearful. He is working wonders in your life! He restores your mind! Open your eyes to see Him move! Participate with Him!  Allow His peace to claim your soul. Dwell on His truth that is good and uplifting and freeing.

What is the one thing the world needs? The grace of Jesus. And you have received His grace. The peace that Jesus gives is not circumstantial—based on what is happening. His peace is based on what has already happened—on the Cross and in His tomb. You have His peace and new life.

Peace is His gift to you. It is real, and it changes your perspective of everything. Peace frees you to believe.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/his-peace.html

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Your Promise


When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
—Psalm 94:19 (NLT)

The comfort of the Lord always gives renewed hope, and that hope brings joy to a tired and over-analyzing mind. Doubt can fill your mind so quickly, but when your thoughts avoid that doubt and are, instead, fixed on the promises of God, perfect peace guards your thoughts. Complete peace, the Word says—not a partial or tentative peace. 

The comfort of the Lord says, “All is well.” Do you believe it, or do you doubt it?  If you don't think that the Lord keeps all things well—no matter what you see or hear or experience—then all is not well in your mind. The result of that is fear fueled by doubt.

“You will keep in perfect peace,” Isaiah promises, “all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock” (Isaiah 26:3-4, NLT).

You don't trust in something that is not real. You trust in the Lord God, the eternal Rock. You believe in Jesus on whom your faith builds. You trust in the Holy Spirit that brings the Lord's comfort to your mind and always renews your hope.

You don’t battle your thoughts alone. The Lord is with you and has already won the war on the Cross. Give your thoughts to Jesus, and His peace will guard your mind. Dwell on things which are good and allow the Holy Spirit to build your faith. Choose to believe Jesus is who He says He is and who you are in the gift of His righteousness. Read and study His Word and allow it to transform your mind from your own to His. Not only will life not be as hard, but His comfort will continually give you renewed hope.

You have the mind of Christ. The human perspective will not keep you in the peace of God. The Lord has placed His eternity in your heart. You have the eternal Rock as your own. You have His promise to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and have His understanding.  

Today is a new day. Today can be your promise.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/your-promise.html



Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Your Key to Peace


            “I know what it is to be in need,” Paul wrote, “and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12, NIV). 

            Peace and contentment come from knowing who you are in Jesus Christ—from understanding that He took all your inability to be perfect to the Cross. He took your sins. He took your failures. Then why do you try so hard on your own strength to perfectly sacrifice yourself, when Jesus, the son of God, is the only Perfect Sacrifice?

            Trying hard to live perfectly—without any fault—is self-defeating. If you dwell on the fear of failing all the time, where is your focus? On your failure. If you dwell on the love of Jesus and the gift He imparted to you at Calvary, where is your focus? On His love and grace. Jesus can only keep you in His perfect peace when your mind and your thoughts are fixed on Him instead of your failures and sins. Do you strive to make your life picture-perfect? Without realizing it, you attempt to please or satisfy an impossible expectation of your own or of someone else. You burn out striving to reach what is never enough and become defeated because you or someone else is never satisfied.

            Paul's contentment came from knowing who He was in Jesus Christ. He didn’t need to be recognized by others for sacrificing himself for the sake of Christ. There was nothing to prove or show. He also trusted God in whatever circumstance he found himself. Of course, he didn't want to be in prison, and he certainly didn't want to be dependent on others to provide for his needs. But, no matter what he faced, he was content. His eyes were not on what was around him but upon His Savior. He knew God’s peace and had a purpose that only God could fulfill in his life. Incarceration could not stop him from trusting God to meet all his needs. His chains could not keep him from his purpose to write of God's grace. He had learned the secret of being content in every circumstance. It was the grace of Jesus.

            Meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus had not only changed his heart but his perspective. He had been blind, but then his eyes opened. He had a life-changing encounter with the Perfect Sacrifice for his sins. Paul did not strive to be good enough in His work for the Gospel. His missionary work was an outpouring of what the Cross had given Him—a new life and peace knowing that in the eyes of His Savior, He was accepted and loved. Paul lived the freedom of God's grace. He burned to share this Good News which had set him free!

            When you live the freedom you have received in Christ, you have certain things in your life that are a result of that freedom. You are open and honest with nothing to hide. You don’t have a point to make or someone to convince. You are not looking to gain anything, and you aren’t concerned about losing anything. Everything belongs to Jesus anyway. You have joy and peace. And you are free to love unconditionally without judgment.

            Just like Paul, you are free to love and free to serve! Living in the freedom of His grace, you know peace no matter what life presents. You look at life’s trials knowing the Savior who gave you His life has brought peace to yours. Paul had contentment and peace no matter what life presented him. When his blind eyes opened, all the power of the gospel poured into his life. The grace of Jesus is Paul’s key to contentment and peace. It is also the only key to yours.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/your-key-to-peace.html

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Changed by His Spirit



May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

Just as God is three‑in-one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so am I. I am spirit, soul (mind), and body. The body is physical. My soul is what some might call my personality. It is my mind where my attitudes are determined. My body and soul are tied together. For example, what I believe is how I feel. If I believe something terrible, I have fear. That fear affects my physical health. Who I believe I am, is who I see when I look in the mirror. Either I believe who He says I am in my born-again spirit or I believe what I feel in my mind. I either have His peace or my fear.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, NJKV). The soul and body make up the flesh. My spirit is separate from my soul and body. In my born-again spirit is where the Holy Spirit lives and speaks. My spirit is also the conduit for the power of God. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26, NKJV). The life-giving part of me is the spirit. The soul (mind) is where I “flesh out” what my spirit has received. When I was born- again, I became new by His Spirit. But without His spirit impacting and renewing my mind, that newness of life makes little difference. I remain unchanged. So without the spirit making a difference whatever work I do for Him has no life.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV). You cannot feel spiritual truth. The only way to understand spiritual truth is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. If you want to understand what Jesus has given you in your born-again spirit, you must go to God's Word. You can't go by feelings. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23, 24, NKJV). The Word of God is like a mirror you look into to see who you are in Jesus. The Word reveals who you are in your born-again spirit. And when your mind has been renewed by the Word, you believe who Jesus reveals you to be. In the mirror of the Word, you see who you are in Him. 

I have never looked directly at my face. I have always looked at my reflection and believed what my mirror told me. The Word of God is a perfect reflection of what spiritual truth is. The Word gives me a perfect representation of my spiritual self, and it is the only way to see who God says I am. I want to be renewed in my mind by my born-again spirit instead of believing what my natural mind says. I want the Holy Spirit to determine my emotions and what I think.

If I choose to draw nearer to God in my born-again spirit, He is closer to me. My soul draws near to who He says I am, and I believe the truth of His Word in my mind—in my soul. I am changed and renewed by His Spirit. Then what has been born by His Spirit within my spirit, changes my mind—my attitudes—my perception—what I believe becomes who He says I am. The Lord, who called me by His Spirit, is faithful to do the work in me. I am sanctified spirit, mind, and body by His power.

I see my reflection for who He says I am. I am new in Him!  The old person I was is gone. I am kept blameless by the gift of His life for mine. I want to be renewed continually by the grace that gave me His new life. 

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT). The veil has been removed. Whose reflection do you see?


© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/changed-by-his-spirit.html







Monday, January 20, 2020

Only in You



So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.  He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
—Ephesians 1:6-8 (NLT)

I'm so glad you know me, Lord, because there are days when I don’t know me. There are days when your purpose in my life is strained—when there is just not enough of me to accomplish what you see in me. 

There is never enough of me and never will be. It is only through you and in you that I accomplish anything of lasting value. I yearn to know more about what you see in my life. I want to be fully alive in you. I don't wish for any lie to keep me from the spiritual richness of your Grace. Help me realize any lie that holds me back and to bury it. I want to know what it means to love without thought of the cost. I want to know what it means to rest in peace no matter the moment or what circumstance raises its head.

I’m tired of self, which keeps me from seeing your infinite Truth and blessings in my life. I believe that you give me your eyes to see and your ears to hear. Please help me get past myself so that I can. I believe you give me the spiritual depth of your understanding. Help me to get past analyzing and reasoning with my own. I believe I have your capacity to love. Help me to get out of the way so you will flow without restraint through me—living in the completeness of your unconditional love. Nothing can stand in its way of your Grace when self is out of the way. 

My mind is limited in what it perceives and recognizes. Your mind is all-knowing and aware and in tune with the rhythms of Grace. Your mind is all I desire. Living your boundless Grace is my longing—my desire. I want to ebb and flow with your Spirit, Jesus—never with my emotions or feelings.

I trust you, Lord. I’m your child. I ask for greater faith. You died so that I can have a new life in you. I believe you, Jesus, and I have your new life. I am healed by your blood, which you shed for me. I am not partially healed. I am completely healed—whole in your marvelous Grace. I choose to live my life from your perspective—from the Truth you know about me. I stand unmasked in your presence with nothing to hide. You have the right to do with me as you wish—to change my perspective continually—to mold me—to transform my mind to the wonder of your Truth. 

I judge no one—not even myself. You have judged me righteous with the gift of your life for mine. I don’t walk in condemnation or shame. Neither do I need to condemn anyone else. My spirit overflows. You heal me. I receive it. I’m not limited by any lie or any fear or any doubt. I believe. I praise you for the marvelous Grace you have poured within me. You are everything within me. I live in you alone. The voice of the enemy is quietened. I no longer hear him. I am FREE.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/only-in-you.html





Friday, January 17, 2020

Renewed in Your Mind


Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
—Romans 12:2, NLT).

“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes,” Paul wrote. “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT). Your nature is new because your spirit has been born-again by His Spirit, but your mind needs to be transformed by the gift of His righteousness you have received. You “put on your new nature.” You choose for your mind to be renewed continuously and molded by the Holy Spirit. Because of His tender mercy, you wish to be changed by the incredible grace which saved your life. 

“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think!” Paul declares in Romans 12:2. This statement is life-changing. To be renewed and changed by the Holy Spirit is a decision you make. In return, the Holy Spirit brings His power to transform and renew your thoughts and desires. It is your choice to “put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT). It is your decision “to make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7, NIV). When you purposely choose these qualities in 2 Peter 1, you put on the new righteous nature that Jesus credited to you on Calvary.

When you decide to grow spiritually into the new person He has made you, God faithfully changes your attitude. Your self-focused mind, which has fought fear and doubt, believes in His promises. You focus instead on others. When you consistently surrender your mind to the power of the Holy Spirit and choose to add these qualities in your life, you will be continually renewed in the “spirit of my mind” (Ephesians 4:23, NKJV). You shall not only be effective in what you do for Him, but you shall never look again at anything with a mind that has closed itself to possibilities. His renewing power will change your whole perspective. You shall know "in the spirit of your mind," the depths of His love, which continually changes you.
 
Don't copy the world or make yourself like anyone else. You are God’s creation to be molded by His Truth and Spirit. When you allow Him to renew you “in the spirit of your mind,” you shall realize His good, pleasing, and perfect will for your life. 
 
© 2020 by Lynn Lacher

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Grasp His Passion




God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
—Romans 5:8 (NIV)

I am His passion. Jesus gave His highest for me. There is nothing more He could have given. His passionate love bought my freedom from sin and gave me the gift of His righteousness. He held nothing back. His passionate grace was costly. It cost Him everything, and even though His grace cost me nothing, that amazing grace calls me to love as He loves me.

Have I loved as passionately as He loves me? Have I burned with the forgiveness of His grace? Have I rendered His unconditional love instead of my own selfishness filled with expectations? Do I just want to “feel good” and never allow the Holy Spirit to refine me? Have I allowed my failures, problems, and even memory of sins that were crucified with Christ to hold me back? When I grasp His passion for me—what His grace has given me, I am overwhelmed with His love. There is nothing I want to deny Him. The passion of the Cross calls for my passion in return. And without hesitation I yearn to give it.

In 1 Kings 19:21, Elisha, having been chosen by Elijah, walks away from all he has had. He destroys what is left in his life that might draw him back from his call. He accepts the cloak and purpose of His Master without hesitation. Jesus calls me to walk away from the past that once defined me. I am no longer in bondage to it. He calls me let go of what has kept me from His calling without hesitation—to believe by faith in the miracle of His life for mine. With that surrender, I am not only guided by His Hand; I am fueled by His passion. He declared that I was His ultimate passion at the Cross, and with my “yes,” I am fulfilled. He is my passion.

Do you realize what His passion has given you? Surrender to His marvelous grace. Abandon who you have believed yourself to be. Believe who He says you are. Just as Elisha, give yourself to your Master. Hold nothing back. Surrendering to Christ is only costly when you do not grasp the cost of what He has given you. When you understand in the spirit of your mind the miracle of the Cross and the gift you have received, you want to hold nothing back. With your surrender comes the greatest fulfillment—the incredible realization that you were created for His very purpose.

Do you know who you are in Him? Do you yearn for Him to produce His best in your life? Do you want to receive all the gifts He has for you and to invest each gift wisely and passionately in the lives of people He brings into your life? 

While you were yet a sinner, He gave His life for you. You are free because He held nothing back for you. You yearn to hold nothing back when you grasp His passion for you. Your passion for Him is fueled by His passion for you. Be obedient to the faith He has poured into you. Give with the passion He has given you. Love as He first loved you. 

©2020 by Lynn Lacher


Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Above All Else


Toil. Work. Get ahead. Make more money. Have more, and want more. The world pushes us on, and we succumb to its call until life becomes a vast void of desire instead of the gift God intended. With that enormous void to be filled, worry puts down deep roots. When worry takes residence in our thoughts, we lose the spiritual understanding that the void can never be filled with the things of this world. It can only be filled with His presence.

In Matthew 6, Jesus explains how much God loves and cares for us. “If God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:30-33, NLT). 

The Lord knows your needs. When you believed that Jesus died for your sins, you received a new nature—His righteousness. It was not a partial gift. It was complete work. In your born-again spirit, you received all the resources of your Father. Understanding this is so hard for the human mind to grasp. But when you are transformed by consistently putting on your new nature, thinking changes. Your perception changes. You see with His eyes. As you draw closer to Him, He becomes more important than any need. You believe that He provides beyond what your natural mind can imagine.

Seek Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your emptiness until the things you think you need are no more. The stock market may plunge or peak. Circumstances may whirl beyond comprehension. The government may play political chess, but you will remain secure in His grace. Have faith that He has already supplied all you need.

The gift of Jesus’ life imparted to you the spiritual riches of His Father’s Kingdom. And those riches are discovered in placing Him above all else. He put you first on the Cross—above all else.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Living by Faith



For we live by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)


         My natural inclination is to have some doubt and be slightly pessimistic. However, when Jesus changed my heart, He imparted new spiritual eyes to see with His Spirit. And with those new eyes, He conveyed the ability to see what my natural mind has trouble recognizing and to believe in what my natural mind thinks is impossible.

         Living by faith and not by what I see with my natural eyes and reason with my logical mind, increases my ability to believe in what I normally never could. Exercising faith is something that I consciously render. When I consistently apply faith to circumstances in my life, I am changed and renewed in my mind. The Holy Spirit reveals what my natural mind could never understand—the miraculous depth and life-changing power of God’s truth and grace.

         My spiritual inclination is the opposite of my natural one. The spiritual mind sees the possibilities and opportunities and promises of God.  I might be hopeless in the natural, but as I choose to walk by faith in His Spirit, the mind of Christ replaces my logical mind. My attitude changes. Seeing a glass half full instead of half empty becomes my new norm.

         Jesus has a new norm for you—where fear no longer controls your life—where peace is consistent—where what you hear or see with your natural mind gives way to His spiritual mind. When you choose to walk by faith and to be transformed by His Spirit, your perception changes. You are changed in the spirit of your mind. You spiritually receive the revelation of His truth and grace. You have a new mind to believe what you once thought impossible. 

       “You live by believing and not by seeing” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NLT). 

© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/living-by-faith.html

Monday, January 13, 2020

Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven


Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
—Matthew 18:2-4 (NLT)


We, adults, make loving Jesus so difficult. A child comes with innocent wonder and readily believes. In these verses, Jesus tells the disciples that unless they turn from sin and become as little children, they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Someone who believes with humble childlike faith—someone without an adult’s need to reason and to analyze and question—shall be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

The disciples did not understand that Calvary waited, where Jesus, the perfect Son of God, would fulfill the requirements of religious law. Calvary waited where His grace would change everything. Sin would no longer have the power to condemn.  In Jesus, sin would be entirely washed away so God’s children could enter His presence. In Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven would come to live on earth in each believer. 

At Calvary, everything did change! "Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God,” penned the writer to the Hebrews. “For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins” (Hebrews 9:14, NLT). Our consciences were purified by His perfect sacrifice for our sins. When we do not dwell on sin that Jesus has forgiven, we live in freedom from shame and guilt. 

Through Jesus, God, who had been unapproachable, becomes completely accessible. When we believe in Jesus and turn from sin, sin is no longer our master. Jesus is. We can run to God as little children with clean consciences. We can come to Him without fear of punishment. We can come to Him without the baggage of guilt and shame. “Sin is no longer your master,” Paul wrote, “for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14, NLT).

At Calvary, the fear the law imposed was erased! “You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves,” Paul wrote. “Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15, NLT). We need no longer remain slaves to fear, worrying about our past or punishment for failure. Jesus has opened the door to God's presence. We are God's adopted children, a coheir with His Son. We can come to Him as little children—fresh with wonder to receive His gems of grace and truth.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field,” Jesus told the disciples. “In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field” (Matthew 13:44, NLT). Do you yearn to discover His treasure?  Will you sell all for that gem? Will you lay down all your baggage Jesus took to the Cross so you can come fresh as a little child? Believe as He believed in you. The old law has no power. The Kingdom of Heaven has come! And it is unshakeable. 


© 2020 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/kingdom-of-heaven.html

Christ My Hope of Glory

  .   And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait? My hope [my confident expectation] is in You. —Psalms 39:7 (AMP)   I wait [patiently] f...