Reflection on Rejected

 

In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus stood in the temple and read from Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 61. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

 

When Jesus was finished, he sat down and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  

 

I like the way Dallas Jenkins challenges us in his video series, The Chosen. I also like the way he and his wife challenge us in their devotionals.

 

“Jesus was being gracious enough—odd but gracious, so ‘they spoke well of him (v.22),’” the Jenkinses write in their devotion, “Rejected”, from the first devotional book of The Chosen. “But then Jesus didn’t return the favor. Knowing their hearts, he responded with ‘No prophet is accepted in his hometown (v.23NIV).’ It was a dig. He followed up with a reminder that Elisha and Elijah weren’t sent to heal their own people, because it would’ve been a waste of time…”

 

“Jesus effectively told His hometown crowd they had the same issue as their Old Testament relatives,” the Jenkinses continue, “and they came unglued. So much so, they wanted Him dead. With scant provocation from the guy they’d known for thirty years, the Nazarenes became so insanely offended and incensed that they drove Jesus out of town and up a hill so they could throw Him off a cliff…

 

“These people knew Jesus,” the Jenkinses emphasize. “They should’ve been all the more in awe of God’s power and authority clearly on display in Him. What the heck could it be? He was the carpenter who grew up with them, and now He was preaching and healing all over the place.”

 

How did the citizens of Nazareth handle the change in Jesus? They wanted to push Him off a cliff. How do we handle a change in those we know who stretch us with a different perspective on the Word? 

 

“We tend to reject anything or anyone that represents a big change in understanding or perspective,” the Jenkinses write, “even if it comes from someone familiar—especially from someone familiar. The notion that what they thought they knew could be wrong was as incomprehensible as the notion of changing your mind in a Facebook argument. So they hardened their hearts, hated Him, and tried to push Him off a cliff.”

 

Of course, no person is Jesus! But how does God speak to us? Through the revelation of His Word by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals His Word to us and also through others. What? Through others? That often means being stretched uncomfortably. The Holy Spirit works through believers with shortcomings because all of us are imperfect. 

 

Don’t judge someone by their past or what others say about them or the mistakes they have made or even still make. We are all flawed. The Holy Spirits uses flawed humans to stretch us through the revelation knowledge of His Word. If someone shares something from their understanding of the Word that doesn’t conform to what you’ve been taught or believed, don’t rush to throw what challenges you off a cliff.

 

Pray and ask openly for the Spirit to reveal His truth to you. Don’t test what challenges you against man’s theological arguments. Don’t test it against what someone in ministry declares or even what a friend you trust thinks. Test what challenges you in Scripture alone. Seek earnestly to be open to the Holy Spirit. Don’t decide based on what tradition or religious opinion determines but only on what the Holy Spirit reveals. And sometimes realizing a different perspective takes a very long time. 

 

Dallas and Amanda Jenkins write, “When was the last time you changed your perspective or realized you were wrong about something significant? (Note: if it’s hard to remember, that might be something to work on.)”

 

I pray to always be open to what the Holy Spirit wishes to reveal to me and through others. We are flawed in our flesh but, in Jesus, we have understanding. When we surrender and seek Him, the Holy Spirit guides us into God’s truth. “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NKJV).

~~~~~~~

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual…

—1 Corinthians 2:10-13, NKJV)

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/reflection-on-rejected.html

 

 

 

Live by Faith

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

—Galatians 3:1-5, (ESV)

 

 

In these verses, Paul addresses problems caused by Judaizers (those who follow Jewish religious practices and live by the Jewish law). The Judaizers came into the picture after the Galatians had accepted the Gospel of Christ that Paul preached. They claimed that Paul’s Gospel message was not enough for the Galatians to receive salvation. Before someone could become a true follower of Christ, the Judaizers claimed that a person had to first become a Jew and then submit to the Old Testament law the same way as any devout Jew. 

 

The Judaizers were redefining salvation. How does Paul respond to reemphasize his message of salvation by faith? Paul reminds the Galatians that he preached Christ crucified to them and that those advocating that the Galatians must follow Jewish law before being saved were actually misinterpreting the Old Testament law. Pushing the requirement of Jewish law and tradition revealed that the Judaizers believed someone received salvation by being obedient to the law rather than being obedient to God who gave the law. Instead of being obedient because of a heart change, they tried to be obedient by their works and their deeds. 

 

What about us? Are we like the Galatians that Paul addresses? Do we try to receive salvation through works or by faith in the finished work of Jesus?  Christ being crucified was His achievement—not our earned reward. Our heart change comes through belief in Christ—not from what we try to do.

 

God’s covenant with Abraham had circumcision as a sign. Four hundred years later circumcision became a personal sign that someone participated in the covenant of law given to Moses, and observing the Sabbath became a public sign. What sign accompanied the New Covenant Grace of Jesus that Paul preached? What sign did the Galatians receive that proved they had received salvation? Their proof was that they had received the Holy Spirit.

 

Because of the false teaching of the Judaizers, the Galatians questioned their salvation. Paul wants them to be sure they know that proof of their salvation was not in what they do in obedience to Jewish law. They received the Holy Spirit as evidence of their salvation. After having received Christ, do you believe that proof of your salvation is in what you do? Do you believe that if you don’t work hard enough you will lose what you have received by faith?

 

— In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

— Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)

 

Proof of your salvation is not in anything you do. Your proof comes from what you have believed and received by faith. When you heard the Words of truth and believed them, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. And not only that, He guarantees what you have received. After receiving Christ “by hearing with faith,” it doesn’t make any sense that you would need to do anything to be saved. It makes no sense that you would need additional work like the Judaizers were telling the Galatians. 

 

“Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Paul asks (Galatians 1:5, ESV). Not only was the Holy Spirit evidence of their salvation, but miracles happened among them. Where the Word is preached is, there will be miracles (Mark 16:15-18). Miracles are never by works of the flesh or the additional requirements of men—They come with hearing the Word and the Holy Spirit.

                                   

There are Christians who know intellectually that salvation is a gift of Grace, but

they struggle daily in their own strength to prove right standing with God. They do not understand that God’s truth they have heard and received has already proved their salvation. 

 

Paul personally argues that salvation is by Grace through faith and separate from the works of the law. How does this argument play out in your own life?  When you were saved, did you believe you had to do something to earn it? And do you realize that the salvation you received by faith needs to daily continue in faith?

 

Believe in the miracle of Grace that is yours. Don’t allow anyone to add requirements as proof of your salvation. Just as Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness, you believe in Christ and His righteousness is credited to you (Ephesians 3:8). Nothing you did gave you Christ’s righteousness, and you cannot rely on what you do to prove to yourself and to God that you belong to Him (Galatians 3:10). You belong to Him just because you have believed. Those who have the righteousness of Christ have been made right with God by faith in Christ. 

 

Do we live by faith in the Grace we have received? Believe in what is yours. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide and teach you. Live in His promise by faith.

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/live-by-faith.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is Here

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

—Titus 2:11 (NKJV)

 

         The ultimate promise of salvation is knowing that when we die we will be in heaven with our Savior. But salvation means more than we are going to heaven one day. Salvation affects us here on earth. Not only does Christ’s atonement make us right with God but also gives us the power to resist temptation and pursue a life that pleases God. Salvation gives you the power to resist the attacks of the enemy and to receive the promises of God’s Word.

         

         “Sozo” is the Greek word used for salvation in Titus 2:11 and throughout the Word. According to Strong's Concordance, “sozo” means “to save, i.e., deliver or protect (literally or figuratively); heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.” This definition reveals that there is more to salvation than just the forgiveness of sins. There is healing and wholeness. There is provision, protection, and deliverance. Jesus Christ heals and makes us whole in every way. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 8:16-17, Hebrews 2:14, Philippians 4:19, Colossians 1:12-14).

 

         When we read Titus 2:11 in view of Strong’s Concordance, we see that salvation is more than just the means to get to heaven. The grace of God that brings forgiveness, healing, provision, protection, and deliverance has appeared to all men. His grace is the wholeness of life given for all humankind, and it becomes real for us when we accept Christ as our Savior. Salvation in all its depth is ours.

 

         “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17, NKJV). 

 

         The law, given through Moses, included curses when the law was broken—such as sicknesses and lack of protection as punishment (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Jesus became the curse for us when He carried our sins to the Cross, and He annulled those curses with His grace (Galatians 3:13).  Grace and truth came to us through the love of Jesus. His grace forgives our sins, heals our diseases, provides for us, and delivers us from the attacks of the enemy. The truth came through Jesus Christ. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32, NKJV). When you receive His grace and know His truth, you are set free from sin, sickness, and every lie of the enemy. You are new and whole in Christ—in every way.

 

         If this is true, why do we live beneath what Jesus purchased for us with His life? Why don't we believe that the Cross provides wholeness of life here on earth just as we believe in the forgiveness of sins? The Word says that "by His stripes, we were healed (1 Peter 2:24)." And why are we intimidated by an enemy that Jesus defeated on Calvary? When we don’t understand the power of grace and truth in our lives, we don’t believe what Jesus gave His very life to be ours.

 

        The Word is the incorruptible seed of God's truth and grace. And faith comes by spiritually hearing His truth in our hearts and receiving what the Holy Spirit reveals it to be (Romans 10:17). What you hear with your heart releases faith in God’s grace. And His grace, which brings forgiveness, healing, provision, and deliverance, has appeared to you. Grace has come to you through Jesus Christ. Forgiveness—healing—provision, and the power to stand against a defeated enemy are all real. Titus 2:11 says they have come to all men. Anyone can receive when they believe in Christ.

 

         The Word of God is the seed that carries His grace to you.  And knowledge of the Word will set you free to receive the promises of Calvary. Faith will grow by hearing the Word in your heart. The moment your faith starts to grow, you step into the power of His grace and truth.

 

         There was grace for the woman with the issue of blood. There was grace for the ruler in the synagogue whose daughter died and then lived. There was grace for everyone Jesus healed, and He healed all who came to Him. And there is grace for you to experience the healing of sin and sickness—to conquer the works of the enemy. There is grace to be made whole. Whom the Son sets free, is indeed free. 

 

         He is here for you now. Jesus is your forgiveness—your healer—your provider—your deliverer. You enter into the provision of His precious grace when you believe in God’s goodness and the depth of His love for you. And how profound is His love? His love gave everything so you can be free to know His wholeness and fullness of life. 

Healing in You

         If you believe that God wants to prosper you with health just as your soul prospers (3 John 1:2), then you believe in healing in your life and others for whom you pray. But in this imperfect world, not everyone receives healing. Many wait years before receiving it. Others pass before they receive healing on earth.

 

         All those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior will receive a healed body in heaven. And when we include heaven, everyone is healed. But if God provides healing as part of the atonement (1 Peter 2:24), why doesn’t everyone receive it here on earth?

 

         Some people answer by saying God doesn’t want them to be healed and that sometimes He even wants them to be ill. If this was the case, why would you even pray for healing? If God wants you sick, then why would you go against God by praying to be healed? 

 

         Our Abba Father is love. He is light, and there is no darkness in him at all (1 John 1:5). He doesn’t play games. His motives are pure. What He says in His Word is true. But some blame God when they aren’t healed. 

 

         There is not a definite reason to explain why one person receives healing and another doesn’t. Each person is different. You just can’t stereotype everyone and put them into one mold. However, looking at some things might keep us from attributing sickness to the God who loves us.

 

         It is wonderful to know our God is love. Yes, He forgives us when we repent. And He doesn’t punish us with illness. When we abuse ourselves, we receive the result of how we have lived. The natural law of cause and effect is in operation. For example, someone who drowns himself in alcohol and drinks uncontrollably can have liver damage. Someone who is addicted to drugs can damage his body. Someone who is sexually promiscuous can get sexually transmitted diseases. Things like bitterness, rebellion, unforgiveness, and pride are things that can harm us and have consequences in our minds and bodies. Does God want us to overcome the results of what sin has caused? Of course, He does. And the Holy Spirit can address the deep wounds sin has left behind that hinder us. But each person is different. There is no cookie-cutter answer. The good news is that God cares and loves us. He will never forsake us or leave us. 

 

         The natural world we live in is fallen. Not only do our bodies decay as we get older, but every living thing in this world experiences decay. Things happen in life. Accidents occur. Diseases are inherited. These happen not because of any personal sin, but because of the evil that came into the world when Adam and Eve sinned. That original sin gave the enemy license to come against us. He lies in our minds and accuses us. He makes us feel that we are not worthy of God’s forgiveness and love. He wants us to believe that God could never love and forgive us. He certainly wants us to believe that God wants us sick and that He makes us sick. Sickness and death are from the enemy (Hebrews 2:14). But when we don’t know the Word, the enemy takes advantage of our lack of knowledge and plants wrong thinking in our minds. He wars against the truth of God’s Word trying to take root in your heart. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy all that God loves (John 10:10). 

 

         The Good News is that Jesus, who came to destroy the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8), suffered death and was resurrected from the grave so we might be raised with Him in newness of life (Romans 6:1-4). Sin and sickness are the works of the enemy. You can be sure that if the enemy wants you to be sick and die, God wants you to be well and live. While we don’t understand the reasons some don’t receive healing, we know and believe that healing comes through faith in the gift of Jesus’ life for us. “By His stripes, you were healed,” tells us that healing was given at the greatest cost. We have to trust what God says in His Word and hold on to it. 

 

         Just because everyone isn’t healed doesn’t mean that healing isn’t God’s will. Jesus wants us to have a relationship with Him—one where the Holy Spirit speaks to us through His Word and where we hear His Truth. Not everyone gets to the place where they personally hear God speaking to them, but He desires for His children to have the revelation from His Word of who He is and what Jesus gave His life for them to have. 

 

         Your relationship with Jesus opens the door for you to hear from God. Your answer from God is the one for you. It is one of a kind—not someone else’s answer. No one has your answer but God. And your answer is revealed through the Truth of the Word. When you desire above everything to believe the Word, the Holy Spirit will teach you (John 16:13).

 

         Are you ready to explore His Word for answers to whatever healing you need—whether spiritual, emotional, or physical?  God desires for you to allow His Truth to penetrate your heart for it brings life and healing to everyone who finds it (Proverbs 4:20-22.)

 

         “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV).

 

         You are three parts—spirit, soul, and body. And every part of you was redeemed by the precious blood of your Savior.

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/healing-in-you.html

His Word in You

The disciples had just returned from Sychar with food. Earlier Jesus had told the Sarmatian woman at the well that He had living water for her where she would never thirst again. And when she had heard and believed that he was the Messiah, she joyfully ran back to tell others, who came to streaming to see him. 

 

Knowing how hungry Jesus must be, the disciples asked Jesus to eat something. 

 

“I have a kind of food you know nothing about,” Jesus told them (John 4:32).

 

Does Jesus have food for you that you know nothing about?  His Word is your bread of life. Do you believe the Truth of the Word in your heart?

 

The disciples asked each other if someone else had brought food to Jesus. They only saw the natural—not the spiritual of which Jesus spoke. How often do we only realize the natural around us and not the spiritual God wishes to reveal?

 

Then Jesus explained, “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing His Work” (John 4:34).

 

Jesus received nourishment from following God’s will and from finishing the work He was sent to do. And what was the work He was sent to finish?

 

“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried,” Isaiah prophesied. “It was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6, NLT).

 

We were lost in our sins, following our own desires. Yet, God laid upon Jesus the sins of us all. His purpose was you, and it was me. And Jesus accomplished that purpose on Calvary. Jesus, who knew no sin, because sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). And that was the work that Jesus finished. When He said on the Cross “it is finished,” He declared that He had accomplished the will of His Father. Everything He did in earthly ministry was God’s perfect will and carried Jesus toward His purpose. Doing the will of His Father nourished Jesus, and the finished work of the Cross was God’s promise of new life. When He was crushed for our sins, we were made right with God. When He was beaten, we were made whole. When He was wounded, we were healed. The work that Jesus accomplished was a thorough and complete work. It was not a partial work that lacked anything. It accomplished all the Word says it accomplished. It brought all the promise of Resurrection life to us.

 

If we don’t believe what Jesus has done for us and who we are in Him, how can we understand His purpose? Do we know what the Word says? Do we believe it when the hardships of life come? Do we trust in it when nothing in this natural world makes sense? 

 

What about your life in Christ? Do you believe that the person you used to be is now righteous in Christ and that you are resurrected in new life in Him? Do you really believe you are a new creation and the old nature has been crucified with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)? When you know His Truth, it sets you free. Have you any idea all that Jesus paid for with His precious blood for you to have?  Do you stay in His Word to grasp His love for you? If you believe the Truth of His finished work in your life, it changes you from within, and you are free indeed. 

 

Your life in Christ is your greatest purpose. When you are open to the Holy Spirit, you are always being changed by the power of the Word. Jesus was the finished work, and we, being renewed in our minds, are His finished work in progress. When we believe in His finished work of grace within us, the promises of His Truth that we trust for with confidence, are real to us.

 

“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23, NKJV). 

 

Are you good ground? Does Jesus have food for you that you don’t understand? The Holy Spirit is your teacher. He guides you into all of God’s Truth (John 16:13). Are you thirsty enough for the living water He has for you?  God produces in and through your life out of His Truth that you believe.

 

“The hour is coming,” Jesus told the woman at the well, “and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24, NKJV).

 

The hour is now. True worshipers worship God in spirit and in truth. 

 

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? Who believes the good report of the Lord? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:14, 16-17, NKJV). “And 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).

 

To worship God in spirit and in truth, we believe and act upon the truth the Holy Spirit reveals in the Word. Faith without action has no life (James 2:17).

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/his-word-in-you.html

 

The Word is Life

Trust what the Holy Spirit teaches in God’s Word. No person has the power to heal you. Only God. No person has all the answers. Only God. No person can speak life to you. Only God. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life,” Jesus said (John 6:63).

 

Jesus is the Word, and He is life. The Word speaks life, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives life to the Word. It is the Holy Spirit that reveals the Truth of God’s Word. Your carnal—fleshly mind—profits you nothing. It can’t discern the Truth of God’s Word. To try to understand the Word with your natural mind does not give life. But to understand it with your spiritual mind convinces you of the new life that you received when you were born again. To be carnally-minded is death and to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6). 

 

When we allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds with the Truth of God’s Word, we plant the incorruptible seed of His Truth in our hearts. When our minds are continually renewed by that Truth, that seed burrows into the fertile soil of the heart. And when we apply faith, the Truth grows, and we believe in what God says is true over any circumstance. We believe His Truth over the opinions of anyone else. We believe God loved us first (1 John 4:19). To receive the Truth of the Word, we have to believe that Truth in our hearts.

 

If we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved (Roman 10:9). What did we receive when we were saved? We received the perfect and finished work of grace. It is the finished work of Jesus and the power of the living Word of God that forgives, heals, and delivers. The Word is what changes us. The Word is what heals us. The Word is what delivers us. The Word provides all we need according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). When the Word is heard in the spirit of our minds, and we believe by faith the new nature that Christ has purchased for us, we are renewed and changed (Romans 10:17, Ephesians 4:23).

 

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come,” Jesus told His disciples, “He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13, NKJV).

 

The carnal mind is hostile to God’s Truth (Romans 8:7). But the Holy Spirit guides you into the Truth of God’s Word that cannot be understood by the natural carnal mind. The Truth of God’s Word is understood in the heart when the mind has been transformed.

 

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV).

 

All Scripture is breathed by God. And what God says in His Word is Truth. It beneficially teaches and guides you—it corrects and instructs you in the righteousness you have received in Christ so that you may not be lacking but complete in Him. The Word is His life in you that equips and prepares you to be what He desires.

 

The Word of faith is near you—in your mouth and in your heart (Romans 8:8) When you experience the life-giving power of God’s living Truth, you never get enough of the His Word. You want more and more of Him.

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/the-word-is-life.html

Put on Your New Nature

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)

 

 

When you were born again and became new in Christ, what changed?  Did your mind and the way you think suddenly change?  Did your body change? No!  But your spirit changed completely. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, NKJV). You are spirit, soul (mind), and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Your spirit was completely reborn by God, but for your mind and body to experience the benefits of your new nature in Jesus, your mind must be renewed.

 

 

“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 for you to believe it, your mind needs to be transformed by the gift of His righteousness. You “put on your new nature.” You choose for your mind to be renewed continuously and molded by the Holy Spirit. The Truth of God’s Word is what changes your mind, and it is the Spirit is who guides you into its Truth (John 16:13).

 

 

“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 you received when your spirit was born again.

 

 

When you choose over and over again to grow spiritually into the new person He has made you, God faithfully changes your attitude and the way you think. 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 way you think. 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 the depths of His Grace, which continually changes you.

 

 

Don't copy the world or make yourself like anyone else. You are God’s unique creation to be molded by His Truth and Spirit. When you allow Him to renew your mind, you come to believe in your heart the new nature you received in your spirit when you were born again. Your spirit, mind, and body receive the benefits of your redemption. And you shall know His good, pleasing, and perfect will for your life. 

 

 

© 2021 by Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/01/put-on-your-new-nature.html.

 

 

You Are as You Think

 

 

The way you think of yourself is who you believe you are (Proverbs 23:7). If you want to have a positive attitude, then you need to have positive thoughts. God is not going to make you have good thoughts miraculously. You choose to think on “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report” (Philippians 4:8a, NKJV). 

 

“Whatever we focus our attention on is what will dominate our thoughts. If our thoughts are dominated by the things of this world, then we are going to get worldly results in our lives. We need to focus on God to get godly results” (Andrew Wommack). 

 

God will keep you in perfect peace when your thoughts are focused on Him (Isaiah 26:3). Instead of allowing the enemy to control your thoughts and steal your peace, focus on God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to continually renew your mind with the revelation of His Truth. 

 

Where your mind goes determines if your attitude will change or not. Changing the way you think does not happen quickly. To have a positive attitude takes time. You must “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NKJV).

 

“If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8b, NKJV). You must meditate long and hard to change your thought processes permanently. This happens through the revelation power of the Word of God. The Word that God speaks is Spirit and life. And it is the Spirit who gives life to the Word (John 6:63).

 

Meditating on the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to change the way you process Truth is the answer for changing the way your think. These also teach you to effectively manage any negative feeling that arises. Over time, the renewing of your mind by the Word will change what you believe in your heart (Romans 12:2). To be renewed, you allow the Truth of God’s Word to reveal to you what you believe instead of what the world or anyone else tells you to believe.

 

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21, NKJV). You have the power to speak either death or life. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, NKJV). And you will speak what you believe in your heart—either what is negative and harmful or what is positive and life-changing.

 

Do you want to believe the goodness of God’s love for you? Do you wish to believe by faith for His promise that you haven’t seen or experienced in the flesh?  God’s Truth first transforms your mind and then becomes the abundance of your heart. You speak what you believe in your heart. 

 

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23, NKJV). When you continually confess God’s hope and life, you are renewed in the spirit of your man. Your heart grows to trust what the Holy Spirit reveals in the Word.

 

Allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind with God’s Truth, and learn your identity in Christ. You will think differently, so you will feel differently. You will believe. You will trust. With faith, you can tell any mountain which tries to come against you to move. His peace, which is above any human reasoning, will guard your thoughts. You will see your life filled with infinite possibilities. His joy will be your strength, and you will stand firmly in His Truth in the face of lies. You will rest in His Grace believing that the life He gave for you on Calvary has made you a completely new person—entirely recreated by His power.

 

And one day from being renewed in your mind, you realize the way you think has changed. You experience the certainty of God’s Truth.  Doubt cannot claim you. You believe no matter what the world says or anyone else says. You believe God is faithful to keep His promise and that His goodness will always be manifested in your life.

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/you-are-as-you-think.html

 

If It Be Your Will

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 you have this confidence in Christ?  Do you believe if you ask anything according to God’s will, that He hears you, and whatever you ask, you will receive what you have asked of Him?  When you know what God says about something in His Word, you can pray what He says with confidence that He will do it. 

 

Consider what the Word says about healing.

 

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

 

“My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22, NKJV).

 

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3, NKJV).

 

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

 

“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).

 

These are just a few of the verses in the Word that make it clear what God’s will is about healing. It is evident that God wants us to prosper in health. If this is the case, why do some people—when they pray for those who are sick—ask “if it be your will?” God desires for us to pray His Word. When the Word says that “by His stripes, we were healed” and we ask God to heal if it is His will, doubt hinders us. Believing and confidently praying the Word is powerful. When you pray with confidence believing God’s will, the Word promises that you will have what you ask of Him. 

 

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8, NKJV). James tells us that we are to ask in faith without doubting. When you know what God says about something in His Word, and you pray “if it be your will,” you are expressing doubt in God’s will. He who doubts cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord, James says. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

 

There are times we pray when there is not a clear indication in the Word about God’s will—such as some decisions for our lives. These are the times to pray asking for God’s will. But when the will of God is clear in His Word, praying “if it be your will,” shows doubt that we believe what God’s will is. We can’t be in a place of doubt about God’s will and receive. We have to believe what the Word says. The person who doubts has trouble believing in healing and other truths as well. They judge the issues they pray for based on their reasoning or emotions or experiences rather than allowing the Word of God to be their Truth.

 

In Mark 9:14-29, the father of a demon-oppressed boy asks Jesus that if he can do anything to help his son to please help him!

 

“If you can believe,” Jesus tells the father, “all things are possible to him who believes.”

 

“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” the father cries out to Jesus! He has heard the words of Jesus that all things are possible to the one who believes. His faith is stirred, and he desires above all else to believe!  And the boy is delivered.

 

The Lord knows your desire to believe His Truth beyond what you see and feel. “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” is an honest prayer. “Lord, I know what your Word says about my issue, but many around me say that nothing can change—that what I believe your Word says is impossible. Lord, I believe, but help me to believe and not doubt. When I know what your Word says, I will pray with faith believing and knowing that all things are possible in you.”

 

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When you hear the Word, again and again, your faith is stirred to believe its Truth. When you choose to believe what the Word says is true, unbelief weakens. Each day you grow stronger to believe and not doubt. You can ask God with confidence for what He says is His will, and, believing, you shall receive.

When Jesus prayed in the garden, “not my will, but yours be done,” Jesus knew what God’s will was for Him—that his flesh must take on our sins. It was the man within Him submitting to the will of the Father within Him. The words He prayed came from his flesh realizing the horrible pain of sin and death that was coming. But His surrender to God’s will revealed His belief that what He was prepared to do would bring the Resurrection promise. He did not doubt God’s will. He knew the result of God’s Truth. He did not doubt the benefit of His obedience. Do we honestly pray with such belief and conviction when we pray “if it be your will?”

 

The Word is all-powerful, but if someone does not believe its Truth, the Word has no power in that person’s life. It will not benefit someone who does not believe it. But when you apply faith to what the Word of God says is true, it profits you. You experience the result of its Truth in your life.

 

“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!”

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/05/if-it-be-your-will.html