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Tuesday, June 29, 2021

My Fullness of Joy



 

You will show me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

—Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)

 

 

Jesus, you have plans for me—plans that give hope! No matter what happens, I rest in the peace of your unfailing love. You have shown me the path of life and lavished me with your abundant grace. I trust in your unconditional love that settles and guards my heart. I trust your goodness. I trust your Word. You are my loving Abba Father, my Redeemer—my Healer—my Protector—and my Deliverer. I believe and declare I am free!

 

Fear, you have been crucified with Christ! Doubt, you have no place in my mind! It is not I who live but Christ who lives in me! And I live my life by faith in the Son of God, who gave His life for me. Each moment, Jesus, is your breath filling me with hope and promise and purpose. Each day is your assurance that greater is your power within me than any evil which tries to come against me.  

 

Lord, your right hand is a place of honor. And there is where you invite me to rest in you. I rest in who I am in you. Your acceptance and mercy encompass me. You pour into my life your riches in glory. And you pour and pour. And I receive and receive. I am whole. I lack nothing. I have everything. What you have given me is a wonderful inheritance!

 

I am no longer my own. You indwell me. You call me redeemed and new. You call me righteous. You call me chosen. You call me your child. I am free to walk by faith and not by sight. I am free to trust the authority you died to give me. I am free to love as I have been loved by you. No longer do I question your love for me! I receive what you gave your life for me to own! You are my fullness of joy—my strength and power and pleasure forevermore!

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/my-fullness-of-joy.html

 

Monday, June 28, 2021

His Fullness in You



 

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

—Colossians 2:8-10 (NKJV)

 

We received the fullness of God when we were born again by faith in the finished work of Jesus. We are complete in Him. That means we lack nothing of God’s power and all of His resources. He, who is over every power and principality, lives within us. 

 

“I also pray,” Paul writes, “that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realm” (Ephesians 1:19-20, NLT).

 

Paul writes to encourage us to believe the truth of what God has already given us—His incredible power that raised Christ from the dead. The fullness of God—His power—is real within us. We can draw from what we have received in Christ. We can stand against any power or principality that comes against us with the authority in Christ that is ours.

 

Paul prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18, NKJV).

 

Allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten your understanding so you may know the fullness of the glorious riches Christ has purchased for your life. He imparts wisdom and reveals to you who you are in Christ. Don’t allow any teaching of man to cheat you or rob you of the knowledge of what you have received in Christ (Colossians 2:8). Don’t be rendered powerless by the traditions of men. 

 

Seek who you are in God’s Word. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and renew your mind. Believe the truths He reveals about your identity in verses like Ephesians 1:1-14. Make these truths your own. You live who you believe you are. If you believe who the world or who religion says you are, you live out of a lie. If you believe who Jesus says you are, you live out of God’s truth. You live the power Christ has given you. 

 

I pray that God “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19, NLT).

 

God’s power that raised Christ from the dead—all the riches of God’s glory—His fullness, are yours. God dwells in you. You have the power to comprehend the love of Christ which surpasses anything you have ever known.

 

Reach beyond what man says. Allow the Holy Spirit to convince you that the fullness of God is within you. Believe, and know God’s power rising from the ashes of who you once were.

 

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/his-fullness-in-you.html 

 

 

Friday, June 25, 2021

He Earned It



Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

—Romans 5:1 (NKJV)

 

Being justified by faith—believing Jesus earned our right-standing with God—is the only way we can have peace with God. It is also the only way we can have the confidence to enter into His presence. If we come to God based on our performance, we will have little confidence to come to Him. When we judge our relationship with God based on how well we follow the rules and serve Him, then we make our performance more important than His Grace in our lives. 

 

Some believers think that God is going to move in their lives in proportion to how good they are. When they were saved, they trusted God alone for their salvation. Then later they began trusting in their own personal holiness. If they prayed enough—fasted enough—studied the Word enough—tithed enough, surely God would give them a good grade and answer their prayers. 

 

God doesn’t respond to us because of what we have done. He responds because of what Jesus has done. It is impossible for anyone to live up to God’s perfect standard. Only the Grace of Christ brings peace and joy and God’s blessings. And these are based on Christ’s righteousness and not on how holy we are. The Law no longer judges our performance. The Grace of Jesus has judged our hearts righteous so we can have peace with God. This is why we are no longer under the Law but now under Grace (Romans 6:14).

 

If you strive to please God by what you do and how good you do it, you will never experience the peace with God that Jesus has given you. You will work yourself into failure and despair. To experience His peace and joy and His blessings, believe who Jesus says you are and the freedom He has earned on your behalf.  

 

There is nothing more for you to earn. Jesus earned it all.

 

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/he-earned-it.html

 

 

Thursday, June 24, 2021

Something New


 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

—Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

 

Life’s circumstances constantly change. One moment life may be going great, and the next moment something painful occurs. Instead of trusting in God who never changes, we often trust in our changing circumstances. We forget that God is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

 

God is good. His thoughts toward you are of peace and never of evil. God inspires hope and promises His best. Trust Him when the seasons of your life change. Know His Word, and believe His promises in whatever circumstance life places you. When you trust His Truth instead of being consumed with things that constantly change, life does not throw you. He will keep you in perfect peace when your thoughts are fixed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). 

 

The Holy Spirit teaches you. Let Him guide you into all of God’s Truth (John 16:13). The Resurrection power of God is within you (Ephesians 1:17-19). Believe it. Exercise His power and consistency and balance in each moment—difficult or good. His healing and peace and joy are yours to experience. His provision is constant and unending. Living by faith in God’s grace makes you aware of the abundant life you have received.

 

“‘I am about to do something new,” the Lord proclaims. “See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed” (Isaiah 43:19, 20b-21a, NLT). 

 

You are God’s chosen child. He is a fountain springing from within you and refreshing your hope. His promises are yours. His resources are yours. He makes pathways through the driest wasteland. His living water continually flows rejuvenating your life. Praise Him no matter what you see or hear around you. Believe in His revelation Truth for your life. Speak life to your promises. The peace of God rises from within. And you know the something new God has promised is yours.

 

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

 

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/something-new.html

 

 

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Do You Believe It



 

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

 

Do you believe it? Are you convinced that nothing that comes against you—no death or life situation—no power of darkness—nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God you have received in Jesus? Nothing can separate you from the power of God's love. When you believe this Truth, you are convinced of God's love. You live the confidence that His love gives you. You persevere and believe in what you are promised.

 

“Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (Romans 5:4, NIV). 

 

Persevere for the promises of God. Develop a strong character that exhibits confident hope. Faith is your response to the finished work of the Cross. You choose to believe that Jesus is more than enough. If God gave His Son, won't He give you all things (Romans 8:32)? Confident hope takes root in your heart and blossoms as God's Truth transforms your spiritual understanding.

 

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36, NLT). 

 

Hold on to God’s Truth, and claim the promises of your new life in Christ. He is the Lord who completely restores—your Healer of sin and sickness and fear and grief and every pain of life. God’s will for you is living life in the fullness of His grace. Persevere and believe by faith. You receive from the bounty of His overwhelming love for you.

 

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NKJV).

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/do-you-believe-it.html

 

 

Monday, June 21, 2021

That is Grace



 

—Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify [set apart] 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

 

I am created in three parts: spirit, soul (mind), and body. I have been set apart in Christ to be His—to be preserved blameless when He comes again. 

 

—By that will we have been sanctified [set apart] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified [set apart].

—Hebrews 10:10,14

 

Christ became the one perfect offering for my sins. He has created me to be set apart—to be flawlessly new and fully reborn (2 Corinthians 5:17). Where did that rebirth take place? John 3:6 says “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” I am born again in my spirit. But for me to believe this is true, my soul (mind) must be transformed by the truth of the new creation Christ has made me. 

 

For my soul (my mind) to understand the new life I have received in my reborn spirit, the way I think and perceive must be changed by God’s Word. The Holy Spirit guides me into all of God’s truth (John 16:13). My mind then begins the transformation to believe who I am in Christ (Romans 12:2). 

 

I don’t progress in my soul/mind to become born-again. When I believed in Christ, I was completely reborn as a new creation by His Spirit. I progress in the spirit of my mind (Ephesians 4:23) so that I can understand the new creation Christ has made me. 

 

My identity and my security are not found in my spiritual growth. That is my effort to understand what Christ has given me in my born-again spirit. It is the work that I do. My identity and security alone are found in God’s acceptance of me—purchased as a gift in Christ Jesus. And that is all His work. 

 

—His love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

—1 John 4:17

 

His love perfects me. I don’t perfect myself. As He is, so I am. It is not what I do in any kind of work. It is what He did. That is Grace.

 

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

—Philippians 1:6

 

 

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/that-is-grace_21.html

 

 

 

Thursday, June 17, 2021

Under Law Or Under Grace



Have you tried to be the perfect person God expects you to be and find you can’t do it? Maybe, you are living under the Law instead of under Grace. If you read the following, it might show you some things.

 

“For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13, NKJV).

 

The Law of the Old Testament was absolutely unable to change us from within. In fact, until the Law came, God did not hold sin against man because there was no standard for accountability. But the Law did come. The God of Grace had given man a chance to realize his sinful condition for himself, but, instead, man had taken it as permission to sin. 

 

“The Law isn’t based on faith. It promises life only to people who obey its commands” (Galatians 3:12, CEV).

 

When we follow the Law, all it can do is make us turn from sin for a time. It does not change our heart. What the Law did do is reveal our need for a Savior. Faith is not necessary to follow the Law. A heart change requires faith. When you live by the Law, you do not live by faith. You follow what is dictated and required. And you are judged and held accountable by it.

 

“Grace and truth atone for iniquity, and people turn from evil through fear of Adonai” (Proverbs 16:6).

 

The Law gives strength to sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). It attempts to change our behavior through the fear of God. Only Grace and Truth can pay the penalty for the sin the Law exposes. And only Grace and Truth can change us from the inside out.  

 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NKJV).

 

Our Savior—full of grace and truth—has come. The penalty for our sin has been paid. When we receive Jesus, we are reborn to new life in Christ. Our hearts are changed by His Grace and not by the requirements of the Law. Trying to keep the Law does not make us right with God. The Law condemns bad behavior. Only Grace makes us right with God. Only His Grace and Truth give life.

 

“But he who is uncertain [about eating a particular thing] is condemned if he eats, because he is not acting from faith. Whatever is not from faith is sin [whatever is done with doubt is sinful]” (Romans 14:23, AMP).

 

It is obvious that you cannot sustain a relationship with God by keeping the Law. That is why Paul writes in Romans 6:14 that we are no longer under the Law but under Grace. Keeping the Law—doing things right for God—is the direct opposite of what Christ has done for you. Christ made things right for you. For the person who believes in Christ—who is made new in Him—keeping the rules does not create the need to live by faith. Keeping the rules only creates the need for more rule-keeping. Keeping the Law is not acting on faith. And whatever is not from faith is sin. 

 

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them’” (Galatians 3:9-12).

 

Paul said that “the law is not of faith.” Trying to be perfect by keeping the law places you under the judgment of the Law instead of under Grace. Romans 14:23 in the NKJV says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” When we accepted Jesus in our hearts that was a work of faith. We did not receive Christ by keeping the requirements of the Law. If we are trying to keep the rules instead of living by faith in the Grace of Jesus, we are missing the whole point of the love of God. We are trying to please God by living under the Law—and that is not of faith but is essentially a sin according to Galatians 3:12 and Romans 14:23.

 

The Mosaic Law is more than the Ten Commandments. There are hundreds of ceremonial rites and ordinances also in it. If you live under the Law, you must live by the whole law. You must keep it all perfectly. And that is impossible and self-defeating. If we live under the Grace of Jesus, we are free to live the righteousness He bought for us with His precious life. The Law is the standard for those who do not know Jesus. It brings them to repentance. We are convicted by the righteousness that Jesus has given us (John 16:8-9).

 

Being under Grace is not a license to sin. It is knowing who you are in Christ and being convicted by Truth in the Holy Spirit. Believers who are trying to keep both the Law and live in the freedom of God’s Grace experience condemnation—they feel what they try to do for God does not always please Him. You cannot live under both Law and Grace. It creates conflict and confusion. The Law gives power to sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). Grace is the freedom to live His righteousness. 

 

Trying to live under the Law and trying to live under Grace at the same time will strangle our faith. It will create doubt in the choices we make. It will make us question our worthiness in Christ. When we are double-minded, we do not receive because we are not living by faith. When we doubt in the new person Christ has made us, we are living under two different Covenants—the first Covenant condemns sin and second Covenant forgives it. Are we trying to live by condemnation or by allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us with righteousness? You know which Covenant Jesus wants for us. He didn’t come into the world to condemn us but to save us (John 3:17).

 

Can you see the struggle? Yes, the Law is needed to convict the world of sin and the need for a Savior. But you are not the world. You are saved. You are under Grace.

 

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14, NKJV).

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/under-law-or-under-grace.html

 

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

He Dwells Within You




—For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

—Colossians 2:9-10 (NKJV)

 

As a born-again believer, you have the fullness of God living completely in you. (Colossians 2:9-10). Your spirit is reborn with the spirit of the living God (John 3:6). The Resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead is real in you (Ephesians 1:18-19). 

 

How often do we feel powerless over circumstances and relationship issues and illness and life? Resurrection power is ours. But many times we don’t exercise it because we don’t feel it. You don’t have to feel something for it to be yours. God wants us to have faith in what we can’t feel and act upon it. To live an overcoming life of faith, we must continually renew our minds to believe the fullness of God that completely lives within us. We have to start believing that the power of God is ours and releasing it by faith.

 

—He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (heart) shall flow rivers of living water.

—John 7:38 (KJV)

 

Can we change our perspective to believe God is within us? We don’t pray God’s power down. We pray and draw from His power living within us. We exercise by faith the truth of His Word. God living outside of us is not as personal as God living within us. God is ours. He is real. He is relationship and life. And out of the God within us—out of the depth of our heart—flows rivers of His living water. Christ is our living water—the Resurrection power that rises from within. By faith, we release who He is in us.

 

In Hebrews 1:3, we read where Jesus is the express image of God. He is a perfect representation of His Father. 1 Timothy 3:16 says that Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” Jesus told Philip in the Upper Room (John 14:9). We are in Christ, and He is within us. As Jesus is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). 

 

Jesus, as the perfect image of God, has perfect faith. Perfect health. Perfect wisdom. Perfect power. And the perfect fullness of God that was manifested in Christ lives within us (Ephesians 1:18, Colossians 2:9-10). Only in Christ and His perfect sacrifice, we have perfect faith. Perfect health. Perfect wisdom. Perfect power. We were not partially redeemed and partially born-again by the blood of Christ. His work on our behalf was perfect and complete. However, in the flesh, we are imperfect in our faith—in our health—in our wisdom—in our own power. But in our spirit where we were born-again, Christ has given us His righteousness and the perfection of His finished work. He lives within us. His Resurrection power is ours. To live our lives fully relying on His power, we have to believe what is ours. Believing who we are in Jesus Christ is essential to understand that what we feel does not determine what we believe. 

 

Paul prays that “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:18-20, NKJV).

 

Paul is not praying for the believers in Ephesus to receive these truths from God. He is praying for their eyes to be opened to what God has already given them. Paul wants them to know that the death-defeating power of God is theirs. He wants them to know the incredible truth of their identity in Christ.

 

God wants us to know that we have the same power that raised Christ from the dead. It is Christ’s authority in us (Colossians 9:10, Mark 16:17-18). Do you believe the power of God is within you? Do you believe that it is enough to heal? To deliver? To break chains of bondage? Jesus told His disciples to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

 

Freely, we have received the fullness of God in our born-again spirit—His Resurrection power that heals and delivers and sets us free. When we believe the Resurrection power of God lives within us, we yearn to freely give as we have received. Out of us will flow rivers of living water.

                            

What changed when you were born again? Did your physical body change when you were saved? Did the way your think immediately change? Of course not. But your spirit was completely reborn in Christ. We are three distinct parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We are a new creation in our born-again spirit. (1 Corinthians 5:21, John 3:6). But for the other two parts (soul/mind and body) to experience the truth of who we are in Christ, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

 

—Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

—Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

 

To believe what we have received in our born-again spirit, we must be renewed in our minds. To release and experience the fullness of the transforming power of God in our minds and physical lives, we must be convinced of who we are in Christ Jesus. God’s perfect will is for us to know who we are in Him. Out of His fullness, we will know our passion and live His purpose.

 

—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

 

You are new in Christ—born again in your spirit. To believe old things have passed away—the blemish of sin—the bitterness of rejection—the illness that comes against you—the feelings of not being worthy of God’s love, allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind with the truth of the Word. His life-changing power lives in you. Choose to believe God’s truth that you are chosen, redeemed, blameless, set apart, blessed, and loved with His everlasting love. Believe He dwells within you (Ephesians 1:1-20).

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/he-dwells-within-you.html

 

Monday, June 14, 2021

Known As He Knows You


 

God desires us to know Him—to be His people of faith—to act upon the truth of His Word—to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). But when we don’t know the change that Christ has made within us, we can’t live the new life He has given us. A lack of knowledge keeps us from our new life of promise (Hosea 4:6).

 

The Word is a powerful message of God’s love for you. In the passage of Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul strongly reveals truths about who you are in Christ. And these truths reveal the fact that when God sees you, He sees Jesus. You are completely new and righteous in your spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). You don’t have to struggle to receive what you have already received by faith. The old in your life is now dead. You live in the power of His new life in you. Knowing who you are in Christ is knowing how God sees you. As Christ is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17).

 

People who know who they are in Christ are people of faith. They don’t ever forget the miracle of the Grace of Jesus that has set them free. Their identity is not based on the opinions of others or on circumstances that are forever changing. Their identity is based on the redeeming and unchanging work of Christ. 

 

People of faith know how God sees them—holy and set apart—blameless and pure—redeemed and forgiven—covered by His Grace—overwhelmingly blessed—chosen to be His before He created the world—called to be His children—lavished by His precious Grace—unconditionally loved and accepted. They know that the Grace of Jesus has given them a wonderful inheritance of every spiritual blessing. They are confident that their lives will work out according to His plan and purpose (Ephesians 1:1-14). They know that these promises are who they are in Christ and that His identity is theirs. 

 

People who know who they are in Christ are not just satisfied with the status quo.  They are hungry to understand all Jesus has given His life for them to have. They know that what God has for them is as great as what they envision. They choose to believe and walk by faith as if that vision is already manifested in their lives.

 

People who know who they are in Christ praise God for His love for them. They know He never leaves or forsakes them (Hebrews 13:15). They don’t live by their emotions. They praise Him for what they can’t see but they know is real. The peace of God holds them steady through the ups and downs of life (Philippians 4:6-7). Joy in the faithfulness of God gives them the power to stand strong no matter what happens. Their love of God abounds because they know God loved them first (1 John 4:19). They receive God’s unconditional love without any hesitation because they believe who they are in Christ. When you appreciate what Jesus has given you, it keeps on appreciating and flourishing in your life. You know the value of what He has done for you.

 

People who know who they are in Christ know that God has given them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17). They know that God wants to reveal Himself to them. They believe that the Holy Spirit guides them into all truth. They know the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak on His own authority. Whatever He hears, He speaks (John 16:13).

 

People who know their identity in Christ know how important it is for them to live by faith. Faith calls for our response (James 2:26). Our response to what Christ has done for us pleases Him. And God rewards those who diligently seek to know who they are in Him (Hebrews 11:6). 

 

When we start understanding who we are in Christ, then we start to understand the Resurrection power of the new life within us. What Christ accomplished on the Cross is already ours. We see that His finished work is done. We know that all has been won. And we walk not as the world defines us, but as who He says we are.

 

You are a person of faith. You are everything the Word says you are. Knowing yourself as He knows you, sets you free.

 

© 2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/known-as-he-knows-you.html

 

 

 

Friday, June 11, 2021

Through Faith You Receive


 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

—Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

 

Your faith is so important to God that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Faith in the finished work of Jesus is the opposite of faith in your own works. It is the work of Jesus that saved and favored you with unconditional love on Calvary. You can’t save yourself or win favor from God. You can’t earn what has already been earned. You are favored by God because of the finished work of the Grace of Jesus. Jesus already took your sins, your sickness, your pain so that they don’t have to define who you are.

 

Faith doesn’t create anything. It can’t create healing or deliverance or provision. Faith takes what God has already provided. Everything good God has for your life is provided in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. When we make ourselves the authors and the finishers of our faith, we aren’t going to like the results. Anytime we make receiving from God about ourselves—when we think we have to do something to earn the favor of God—we become disappointed and disillusioned.

 

“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk’” (Acts 3:11-12, NKJV)?

 

These two Spirit-filled men knew that this miracle was not anything they had done. They knew it was the supernatural power of God that flowed through them that had made a change in this man’s life. From lame to healed, this man was now whole. 

 

“Through faith in the name of Jesus,” Peter said, “this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes” (Acts 3:16).

 

You never receive the promises of God through anyone else’s work or through your own works. You only receive by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16). God is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power (Revelation 4:11). He receives glory whenever someone is forgiven or healed or delivered because Jesus is the one who did all the work. There is no more work to be done. It is finished.

 

Are you tired of having peace one moment and living in fear the next? You will never walk in the peace of God when circumstances or the opinions of others determine your life. These are unfinished and changing and always will be. But the finished work of Jesus on the Cross for you is complete. It is unchanging.

 

Your spirit has been fully reborn and made new by the finished work of Christ (John 3:6). His life in your born-again spirit is completely new (2 Corinthians 5:17). When you choose to believe in your mind what Christ has given you—when you choose to walk by faith in its truth, you take possession of the new life that is yours. When you start to believe in your mind what is yours in your born-again spirit, the way you think changes to believe everything about you is new. Faith that receives is faith that comes from hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). The mind of Christ within you takes hold of the Word, and His Word speaks truth to you as never before (1 Corinthians 2:16).  Your beliefs are changed by God’s truth (Romans 12:2). When you seek God with all your heart, you are rewarded (Hebrews 11:6). You know that He is who He says He is in your life.

 

What you believe in your heart determines the course of your life (Proverbs 23:7). When you believe in your heart that Christ’s work on the Cross for you is finished, then you know that there is nothing you have to do to win God’s favor and love. You know you are favored and love. You live in a new dimension of joy that removes everything you thought necessary to be His. You are free to receive His love. 

 

Faith is resting in the finished work of Jesus. Rest your faith in Jesus. That’s right.  Don’t struggle to put your faith in Him. Rest—be at peace—in His perfect love for you. You can trust and have rest in God when you believe that He has already provided everything good in your life.

 

Through faith in the finished work of Christ—in the name that is above all names—you receive.

 

©2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/through-faith-you-receive.html

 

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Redeeming Love



 

At the time God chose—when the law had proved no one could be made right with Him by trying to keep it—God sent His Son, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law (Galatians 4:4-5). 

 

“Sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power” (1 Corinthians 15:56, NKJV). The Cambridge Dictionary defines “redeem” as “to buy something back.” In saving us from sin, Jesus has literally bought us out of slavery to the law which gives sin its power. He became human as we are human—died as we are human, and then rose again as us so that we might be as He is. We have been redeemed from death to new life in Him.

 

We can struggle forever to live righteously as the law dictates, but only Jesus could fulfill the law as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Only He could set us free from the struggle to perform according to the law. Jesus has purchased us out of works-based religion by His precious blood. We are no longer slaves to the law—struggling for perfection within our own strength. We are sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:7). We are free to go into the presence of our Abba Father because the redeeming love of Jesus has made us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). We have His acceptance and His approval.

 

Long before Jesus entered the world to redeem us from sin, David prophesied of the time to come when man’s sin would not be counted against him. His words reveal how he longed for God’s Grace to be fulfilled.

 

Paul writes, “David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: ‘Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin’” (Romans 4:6-8, NLT).  Verses 7-8 in the NKJV read, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” 

 

This passage of Scripture in Romans reveals two blessings for the man for whom God does not hold his sin against him. The first is that his sins are forgiven. They are covered because Jesus covered them with His blood. The second blessing reveals that our record of sin has been wiped away. Jesus has made it as if we never sinned. God does not count our sins against us because He doesn’t keep a record of them. They are no more. He declares us righteous. Jesus has redeemed us from working to prove that we are righteous as David and others under the law tried to do. 

 

But don’t we still sin? Yes, we do because we are human. This Scripture does not say we are blessed because we do not sin. We are blessed because when we sin God does not count our sins against us. Our sins are not counted against us because they were counted against Jesus. With His precious blood, Jesus has cleared our record of sin. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

 

“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 1:7-8, NLT).

 

With the life of His Son, God has purchased your freedom! He has blessed you with the riches of His redeeming love! He has showered you with kindness! You are forgiven—healed and delivered from all your destructions (Psalm 103:2-3; 107:20). You don’t need to prove you are redeemed. Jesus already proved it for you on the Cross.

 

God loved you first (1 John 4:19)—not with just any love but with His amazing Grace that proclaims His eternal love for you. Hold tightly to its truth. Guard it in your heart. That love is yours. He accepts and approves of you. Believe it over any lie or any opinion or any circumstance. His love is who you are. You don’t have to work to prove it. His love draws you into the paradise of His presence each and every moment. As His love fills and overflows in you, again and again, it pours unrestrainedly out of your life. Freely you receive. Freely you give. 

 

“Love the Lord your God, and love one another,” Francine Rivers writes in her novel, Redeeming Love. “Love one another as He loves. Love with strength and purpose and passion and no matter what comes against you, don’t weaken. Stand against the darkness and love. That’s the way back into Eden. That’s the way back into life.” 

 

Love is the way into life. You are redeemed. 

 

©2021 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2021/06/redeeming-love.html

 

 

 

 

Christ My Hope of Glory

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