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Friday, April 22, 2022

His Word, His Truth, His 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

 

You can’t make yourself new—no matter how much you may try. Only Christ gives new life. You can’t heal yourself from within and destroy the pain in your heart—no matter how much effort you make. Only the finished work of Christ heals you from within and gives you abundant life (2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Peter 1:24, John 10:10). 

 

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 natural understanding—your carnal 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 (1 Corinthians 1:14). 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 (Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:23). When our minds are continually renewed by that Truth, that seed burrows into the soil of our hearts. And when we apply faith, the Truth puts down deep roots and grows in us. We believe in what God says is true over any circumstance—over any feelings that arise. We believe His Truth over the opinions of anyone else. To receive the Truth of the Word, we must believe that Truth in our hearts.

 

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 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 in your understanding but complete in Him. The Word is His life in you that equips and prepares you to be what He desires.

 

You believe the Word by faith. It is near you—in your mouth and in your heart (Romans 8:8). The Holy Spirit speaks life to you, and when you plant God’s Word in your heart and allow Him to teach you, you experience the power of His living Word. And you never get enough of His Truth.  His Word is your life, and you want His Truth to teach you everything that is true for you. You want His Word to breathe His life into you. 

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/his-word-his-truth-his-life.html

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Performance Free



 

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

—Colossians 2:6-7 NKJV

 

We didn’t receive salvation because of our own righteousness or goodness (Titus 3:5). We received salvation by putting our faith in Christ as our Savior (Ephesians 2:8). In the same way, we receive everything else in the Christian life. However, many who were saved by faith in God’s grace try to earn the benefits of their salvation by their works. They believe God blesses them because of what they do. 

 

When we were saved by faith, we came just as we were—knowing we had nothing to offer. We hadn’t been fasting, reading the Word, or praying a lot but we received the greatest gift of all. We received a new life in Christ. But after receiving Christ by faith, many believe that they can only maintain and keep their salvation through works. They believe if they don’t fast enough or pray enough or read enough or give enough that they will fall from grace. That is not true. Paul said that those who attempt to prove themselves righteous fall from grace (Galatians 5:4). 

 

“This only I want to learn from you,” Paul asked the Galatians. “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:2-3, NKJV).

 

We don’t need to be so foolish!  Having begun our Christian life by the grace of Jesus, we should continue our Christian walk in grace. Faith in the grace of Jesus produces works within us that are alive and not about us. Any work that is born of the need to prove to God that we are worthy is about us. It tells God that His grace wasn’t enough. Christ died so we might be made worthy. He paid that price. Not us.

 

Instead of focusing on our inadequacies, we need to put faith in what God has already provided by grace. 

 

“Listen,” Paul declared! “If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace” (Galatians 5:2-4, NLT).

 

If we are counting on what we do to make us right with God, there is no benefit to us. These works are dead. We can’t find favor with God through what we do because He has already favored us in Christ. If we try to make ourselves right with God by keeping the law, we fall away from His grace. We frustrate His grace (Galatians 1:21).

 

“But we who live by the Spirit,” Paul continued, “eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love” (Galatians 5:5-6, NKJV).

 

Let’s live by the Spirit!  Let’s know who we are in Christ so we don’t have the need to prove ourselves to God who already proved Himself to us. When we know the immeasurable worth Christ has placed within us, we know there is no benefit in what we do. Faith in the good grace of God produces fruit within us.

 

When what we do is born of our faith in Christ’s work, we have no need to prove ourselves through our work. We are free of the need to perform. The love of God abounds within and flows through us into the lives of others. 

 

It is not about us. It is about Him living within us.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/performance-free.html

 

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

What God Declares About You

 

 

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:29-31a, NKJV).

 

 

Before the creation of the world, God formed and created a plan for your life. He had already planned the gift of His Son and a desire for you to know Him. God chose you to know His Son and to be like Him. “I want you to know that when I look at you,” God says, “I see my Son.” God wants you to fully understand and believe that you have the identity of His Son living inside of you. 

 

You are new in Christ. God doesn’t see who you were. He doesn’t see you as you often see yourself, identifying with your old life—your sin and failures—your sicknesses and issues. God sees you whole and healed and new. He wants you to see yourself the way He sees you. He proclaims that it is your destiny to know His Son and to be like Him.

 

The NLT version of Romans 8:30 reads, “And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.” 

 

God declares in this verse that He chose you to know Him. He called you to come to Him, and when you did, He gave you right-standing with Himself. And when He gave you right-standing with Himself, He gave you His glory. Christ, the hope, of glory is within you (Colossians 1:27). 

 

This is how God sees you, and He wants you to see these truths in yourself. But we often become frustrated when we try to make changes we have no power to make without allowing God’s gift of righteousness to transform us. You haven’t called yourself. You can’t make yourself right with God. And you can’t earn His righteous glory because it was given to you as the gift of His life. Your new life in Christ is a gift you cannot earn. You have to believe it.

 

“What then shall we say to these things?” (Romans 8:31a, NKJV). 

 

Paul asks a crucial question here. “Do you believe who God says you are—that you are called, justified, and glorified?” The Word can declare these things about you, but until you take ownership of the things God says about you, they have little power in your life. When you believe them, then they make a difference.

 

What is your response to who Jesus says you are? This is where who you are in Christ comes down to your personal relationship with Him. No one else can respond to Romans 8:30 for you. You might say, “God saved me but for me to believe I’m called, justified, glorified, and filled with the power of God? I don’t know about that.” And with this response, you close the door to believing who you are in Christ. 

 

It is the truth for you to say, “I am called by God. I am justified. I am glorified with the Spirit of God within me. I have the shed blood of my Savior living in me. So what do I say to these things that God says about me? I am forgiven. I am whole. I am healed. I am delivered. I see myself as God sees me. This is true for me! Not tomorrow or the next day. It is true now!”

 

“What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31, NKJV).

 

What do you say to these things about yourself? God sees the image of His Son in you. You are new in Christ. All the old is gone. God is for you and not against you. Nothing has any power to stand against who Jesus says you are. 

 

Do you believe it?

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/what-god-declares-about-you.html

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Trust God



 

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

—John 14:1 (NLT)

 

 

Fear overshadows the thoughts of many believers. When life throws them a curve, peace cannot be found. They know the Word says they should have peace but they don’t grasp the fact that their peace doesn't come from their circumstances. They don’t believe in their hearts that Christ has already overcome the problems in their world. Jesus bought perfect peace for us at Calvary. Even though Jesus prayed for life to be on earth as it was in heaven, He didn’t mean that our circumstances would always be perfect on earth. He meant that the peace within us would be perfect. His peace was never meant to be the peace that we find when our circumstances are perfect. No, His peace is real within you when things around you make no sense. His peace rises from the new person you became when you received Him by faith in your heart.

 

The disciples were fearful about Jesus leaving them. He wanted them to know that they would be with Him again and not to be troubled or fearful. “Trust in God and trust in me,” He told them. 

 

That night in the Upper Room Jesus was amazed when he was asked to show them the Father. “Have I been with you all this time and still you do not know me? I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 

 

Insecurity had filled the disciples with fear, and Jesus was telling them to trust in Him instead of what they would experience. If they really knew Him, they would trust Him. 

 

The Holy Spirit tells us the same thing. If we really know Christ, we would trust Him. We don’t have to experience the insecurity of the world around us when we know the security of God within us. When you have a revelation of who you are in Christ—what you own because He paid with His life for you to own it—you have peace no matter what happens around you. When you genuinely believe Him in your heart, you trust Him.

 

Trust is "the acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation” (www.lexico.com). Accepting God’s Word as truth without needing proof changes your perception of life from one of insecurity to trust. You don’t need to see to believe. Trust is also the “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something” (www.lexico.com). When you believe firmly and without a doubt in God's truth and His reliability, you trust Him. 

 

If you have fears that keep you from trusting God, then those fears are more important and relevant to you than the peace Jesus has given you. Trust begins as a decision. You choose to give up the fears where you have placed your trust. When you submit the things that bother and worry you to God, you let go of them (Philippians 4:6). And when you submit to God, you resist the enemy who tries to create fear (James 4:7) Giving God your worries and fears allows the peace of Christ to rise in your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7).

 

Don’t worry about today or tomorrow (Matthew 6:25). When you believe in the truth of the new life Jesus has given you, you are free to trust Him. Jesus has given you His Father as your very own. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in you (John 17:21). He has given you abundant life now (John 10:10). Trust comes from knowing who you are in Christ—from believing that your Father has already taken care of your issues in life. There is no need to fear circumstances or anything in this world. Trust begins as a decision to accept what God promises in His Word as truth for your life, and the Holy Spirit empowers you to believe by faith. If you trusted God for your salvation, you can also trust Him for everything else. He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). That is His truth you can believe and trust.

 

God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). So don’t let your heart be troubled. Trust in God. Trust in Jesus. Trust the Holy Spirit within you. When you know who you are in Christ, fear has no power in your life. 

 

Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed (John 20:29).

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/trust-god.html

 

Monday, April 18, 2022

New Life is Yours



 

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 for the sins of the world—will produce much grain and much fruit in the lives of believers. Just as that one grain must die to produce grain, Jesus also must die for the miracle of new life to happen. Death is the lie. Newly resurrected life in Him is the miracle, and it is what is true.

 

How many of us allow a lie to hold us back from the newness of life Jesus wishes to reveal to us? 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. Jesus doesn't forgive you. You will always be a failure. You will never have anything. You will be sick forever. If you don't feel something, it is not real.”

 

And the enemy berates you and continually throws your lie in your face.

 

That lie is not God’s truth. When you believe it, it rules your life. Instead of trusting God, you put all your energy into trusting a lie. And without realizing it, that lie becomes an idol. The lie you believe—just like a grain of wheat—must die for you to live in the fullness of new life Jesus has given you. When the lie you have believed is finally rooted out and God’s truth is planted in its place, then the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to move in your life. 

 

What you go over and over again in your mind is what directs and consumes your life. If it is a lie, then you are in bondage to that lie instead of living in the freedom of God’s truth. When your mind is fixed on God’s truth, you live in the freedom of His peace (Isaiah 26:3).

 

What have you rehearsed over and over in your mind? Perhaps, a condemnation that was hammered into you as a child or something that happened years ago, or a sin that keeps you from understanding God’s love for you. When you don’t believe God’s truth, you have no weapon to destroy the lies the enemy uses.

 

If you want to get to the lie that holds you back, look at what you are going through. The struggles in your life and how you handle them reveal the lies you believe and the truths you need to defeat them. You choose to allow the Holy Spirit to teach you God’s truth (John 14:26, John 16:13).

 

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 Christ. When you allow the Word to transform your mind and defeat the lies that have stolen your freedom, you will know the new person Christ resurrected in you (Romans 12:2).

 

The knowledge of His Truth sets you free (John 8:32). Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the lies you have believed. Allow God to be on the throne of your life and not any lie. You are new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). How can you be new and still struggle? Because you are still flesh and deal with your feelings. You have to believe who God says you are. You can’t live by your feelings. Many believers think because they struggle they have lost their right standing in Christ. Just because you have accepted Christ in your heart and still struggle doesn’t mean you have lost who you are in Christ. You are sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). You will live in condemnation and defeat until you believe this. When you believe the truth of the new person you are in Christ, you begin to conform to the righteousness that is yours in Christ (Romans 12:2). When you are renewed to believe the truths of your new life in Christ and allow those truths to define your life, the Holy Spirit produces holiness and righteousness in you (Ephesians 4:23-24). You live in the freedom and power of God more than you ever believed possible.

 

“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

 

Know the truths about your new life in Christ. Believe in your heart the righteousness He has secured for you. Confess who He says you are—not the lies that have defined you. Plant the incorruptible seed of the Word in your heart (1 Peter 1:23). Believe the abundant life that is yours in Christ (John 10:10). You have the power of God to defeat the lies (Isaiah 54:17). Exercise your faith. 

 

Christ in you is not a mystery to you (Colossians 1:27). He has made himself known to you. Know Him. The enemy cannot steal who Christ is in you. 

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/new-life-is-yours.html

 

 

 

Friday, April 15, 2022

The Key



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

—1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)

 

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). We fight the good fight of faith with the knowledge of the Word of God and by believing and declaring the truth of who we are in Christ.

 

“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God” (1 Corinthians 15:34a, NKJV).

 

The enemy battles us from within our minds with lies—with deception—and even twists Scripture to deceive us. We have to know the Word and what Christ has given us. We must wake up to the knowledge of His righteousness which is ours. 

 

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7, NKJV). Don’t submit your thoughts to the lies of the enemy. Don’t give him any power. Submit your thoughts to God. Resist the enemy, and he will flee.

 

In our sins and failures, we submit to God because Christ has made us righteous. We are convicted by righteousness—not by the unworthiness of shame and guilt. When you understand how you fight sin from a position of righteousness, then you can understand how to fight the battle for your promise from a position of victory in Christ.

 

Many believers don’t have knowledge of God in regards to the righteousness Jesus purchased for them. When you know the power of the righteousness Christ has given you, you are filled with spiritual wisdom in your knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17). Awake to the righteousness He has given you. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Word to you. Jesus has won the total victory over hell and sin and sickness and death! It is a finished work! 

 

You fight the good fight of faith from a position of victory. You never fight with an attitude of defeat. Take hold of the promises that are yours in your assurance of the new life Christ has given you. Have you confessed and declared your hope to others? Well, keep confessing the Truth of God’s promises. And hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for God who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23). 

 

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:23-24, NKJV).

 

How do you fight the good fight of faith and hang on to your promise when you are battle-weary? Lay hold of the eternal life God has given you. Stand and trust God. Take up the shield of faith with which you extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). Know the Word. You can’t stand and trust God if you don’t know His Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God in your heart (Romans 10:17). 

 

It may be a while before you experience your promise. Most often, time passes before the mountain you told to be gone is removed. You appropriate by faith the Truth of God’s Word. You believe and take His promises as your own.

 

Believing doesn’t happen when you have received the answer to your prayer. You have to believe when you pray that you have already received your answer. When you speak to your mountain—when you pray believing—your promise will come to pass.  

 

The key to receiving from God is to believe His promise is true and that when you pray nothing will keep you from receiving. When you believe this truth, you are able to stand and fight the good fight of faith—declaring what you believe in God’s realm is true for you. 

 

You will receive your promise—if you will not give up.

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/the-key.html

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Free in His Love


 

 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

—Romans 12:2a (NKJV)

 

 

In the book, The Shack, by William Young, Mack stands on the end of a dock with Jesus and stares at the surface of the lake. Jesus asks Mack to take his hand and step off, but Mack can't let go of the safety of the dock. 

 

“Why do I have so much fear in my life?” Mack asks Jesus.

 

Jesus' answer cuts to the core of Mack’s issue. “Because you don't believe. You don't know that I love you. The person who lives by his fear will not find freedom in my love.” 

 

Many Christians live in fear and don’t experience freedom because they don’t understand the depth of God’s love for them. They live in bondage to guilt and shame from which Jesus freed them. Are you one of these? When you don't believe in the righteousness Jesus purchased for you, you struggle to pay for the guilt that is no longer yours. You live in defeat instead of knowing you are victorious. It is time to understand what the gift of grace has given you—a redeemed life in Jesus. Learn who you are in Him! Jesus has given you His righteousness. He sees you clean and without sin. It is time for your belief in your identity to be changed by the power of His Resurrection. 

 

Only the Holy Spirit can renew you in the spirit of your mind. Only God’s Word can transform the way you think and the way you perceive. The new life Jesus gave you when you were saved becomes real in your mind when the Spirit changes your understanding. Your mind is where you believe by faith. You will live who you think you are. If you believe you are still living in debt because of sin, you will live without freedom and in bondage to your old life. You will strive and fail. You will burn out. But when God transforms your mind, you experience the new life you received at Calvary. There is peace only He gives. There is no guilt. You have nothing to prove. There is contentment because you believe who Jesus says you are. Jesus has given you a new commandment—to love as He has loved you. This commandment expresses the love of Jesus, which held nothing back. When His love transforms your mind, you perceive with the mind of Christ, and you believe all things are possible. You also hold nothing back.

 

Are you tired of the old treadmill of never feeling you will make it? You have already made it in Jesus. He gave you His life to secure it. Are you now ready to step off the dock with Jesus?  He hasn’t given you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. 

 

Let the Holy Spirit transform you into a new person by teaching you who you are and changing the way you think. Believe who you are in Christ. Claim His identity as your own. Let go of the fear. Let go of the shame. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to defeat the lies that have claimed your mind. Just quit fighting the battles that have already been won. Step off your dock. Find freedom in His love.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/free-in-his-love.html

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Already Won



Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

—Hebrews 2:14

 

Are you in a battle?  Your battle not only belongs to the Lord, but He has already won it. 

 

When David spoke to Goliath, he addressed the oppression of evil coming against Israel.

 

“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin,” David told Goliath, “but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45)!

 

The enemy might come against you with lies of failure, loss, sickness, and circumstances, but you come against him with the power of the name above all names—Jesus! God has put everything under Christ’s authority (Ephesians 1:21-22). In your human weakness, Jesus is strong. The power of the Cross and Resurrection have spoken life. The Grace of Jesus has already conquered your sin, and sickness, and blessed you (Ephesians 1:3). God declares that His complete work of redemption is finished (John 19:30, 1 Peter 2:24). His Word affirms that this is true. The Son became flesh because only as a human being could He give His life for our sins and sicknesses and every destruction of the enemy that comes against us. In dying for us, Jesus broke the power of the enemy, the author of death. God, the author of life, sent Himself—His Word (John 1:1) and healed us from all our destructions (Psalm 107:20).

 

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand,” David told Goliath. “Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:46a, 47).

 

Yes, your battle is God’s. You don’t own it. Time is nothing to God. He doesn’t see past, present, or future failures, sicknesses, and circumstances. He sees the timeless and finished healing work of His Son in you. God sees you whole and healed and forgiven and made new by the Resurrection power of His Son’s perfect and complete sacrifice.

 

Do you see your battle already finished—over with—done?  In your born-again spirit, you have received the final victory. It’s time to be renewed by the Word and transformed by its Truth (Romans 12:2). God wants you to receive the of revelation who He is in your life (Ephesians 1:17).

 

And who is He is you? He is God in you. “The glory which You gave Me I have given them,” Jesus prayed to the Father, “that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:22-23a). As Christ is in this world, so are you (1 John 4:17).

 

David only had the promise of a battle that he believed would be won. But David believed that the battle belonged to the Lord. We have the promise that all our battles are already won! Sin and sickness and death are overcome! But like David, do we believe it?  

 

When you believe in your heart that the battles of your life are already won, you live by faith in God’s finished work of Grace. Your promises are real even when you can’t physically see them. You walk by faith and not by sight.

 

When you spiritually grasp the revelation from the Holy Spirit that Grace has already won your war over sin and sickness and all the power of the enemy, you believe it in your heart. And when you believe in your heart that you are victorious, you receive out of the blessings Jesus purchased with His life. 

 

The glory that God gave Jesus now lives in us. He is in us, and we are in Him. He perfects us as one. The power of the Holy Spirit rises from within your heart when you believe. All things are possible to the one who believes. Your battles are won because He is in you, and you are in Him. 

 

“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).

 

 

You are new in Christ! There is nothing you must do to win God’s favor! You already have it. Jesus won it for you. Continue to believe the Truth of His Word. As you grow in the knowledge of His Grace, His Truth will set you free from the lies of the old person you once were. You will know your new identity—who you are in Christ! Forgiven! Healed! Whole! You are an overcomer in Him!

 

“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).

 

As He is in this world so are you (I john 4:17). You have beheld His glory, full of grace and truth. Allow the Word to transform your perspective!  Believe in His life that is within you. And according to your faith, you shall receive (Matthew 9:29).

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/already-won.html

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

As He First Loved Me

 

 

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—Romans 5:8 (NIV)

 

 

We are God’s passion. Jesus gave His highest for us. There is nothing more He could have given. His passionate love bought us freedom the power from sin, sickness, and death, and conveyed to us the gift of His righteousness (Colossians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 5:21). He held nothing back from us. His fervent Grace was costly. It cost Him everything, and even though His Grace cost us nothing, it calls us to love as He first loved us (1 John 4:19). But it is difficult to love the way He first loved us when we don’t understand the love we have received from Him—when we don’t know the new person Christ has made us.

 

Have I allowed His Grace to change my understanding from the old person I once was? Or have I allowed my failures, problems, and even memories of the old person I was before Christ to hold me back?  When I believe in my heart the passion of His love for me—when I believe the complete change He has made in my life—when I see myself as He sees me, I am overwhelmed with His love. I am convinced the old me is gone. I freely receive, and I am free to love as He first loved me (Matthew 10:8). There is nothing I would ever deny Him. His passionate love flows without hesitation. 

 

In 1 Kings 19:21, Elisha, having been chosen by Elijah, walks away from all he has. 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 let go of the bondage of the past that once defined me. He calls me to let go of what has kept me from understanding the righteousness He has given me—to believe by faith in the miracle of His life for mine. With that surrender, I receive the revelation of who He is within me. I am fueled by His passionate Grace. On the Cross, He declared that I was His ultimate passion. When I believe who He is in me, I declare that He is my ultimate passion. I walk away from all I have believed myself to be. I accept who Jesus says I am.

 

Do you believe what His passion has given you? Abandon who you have believed yourself to be. Leave behind the lies of your old life. Be transformed by the truth of God’s Word, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you the new person you are in Christ (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23, John 16:13). Read the Apostle Paul’s explanation of what Grace has given you throughout his letters in the New Testament. Believe who Christ says you are. Just as Elisha accepted Elijah’s cloak, accept Christ’s identity as your own. Hold nothing back. Surrendering is only costly when you do not believe the cost of what He has given you. When you believe the Truth that you are new and complete in His love, you flow in His Grace. You hold nothing back. With your surrender comes the greatest fulfillment—the belief that your loving Father lives and breathes within you. 

 

While you were yet a sinner, Christ gave His life for you. The work of your redemption is finished. You are now new and complete in Him. You hold nothing back when you believe the depth of His passion for you. Your whole perspective changes. Your love for Him flows out of you like rivers of living water (John 7:38).  It can never be contained. He fuels your passion to love as He first loved you. 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/as-he-first-loved-me.html


Monday, April 11, 2022

One Glad Moment



 

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

—Colossians 2:13-14


 

Life is life. I may have bad, mad, or sad moments. But I can’t go by what I experience in this world or the emotions I feel. Those moments and the feelings they bring are not the truth about my life. I choose to not live by what I feel. I choose to live by what God reveals is true in His Word. I choose to believe the unworthy sinful nature of my life has been nailed to the cross and that Christ has given me His new life—His righteousness. This truth is not just for a moment. It is a state of being. I choose to believe the truth of who He says I am. I have no reason to live by what I feel. I am new in Christ. All the old in life that condemned me is forever gone. Jesus has presented me without fault to the Father. That is not just a feeling. That is not just a moment. That is the truth. And that one moment which took place over two-thousand years ago changed everything for me. I have nailed living by my feelings to the cross. I choose to live by His faith. 

 

I was lost, but Christ found me. I was dead, but now I live. I was in sin and broken, but now I am forgiven and whole. I have no reason to live in shame. I have no reason to fear. I have no reason to worry. He is my living hope. I am safe. I am victorious in His love for me. It is who I am. Christ within me—His Word within me—is life and peace. 

 

I have one glad moment that cost Him everything. And that one glad moment is true for eternity.

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/one-glad-moment.html

 

Friday, April 8, 2022

Cast Your Cares


 

You may be enduring a battle you thought you would never face. Perhaps, you are ill and fighting to regain your health. You may have suffered emotional grief that rips your heart to shreds. Wherever you are right now, you are not alone. God has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). God is with you. He loves you. 

                                           

God is love (1 John 4:8). He is good and did not cause your problem or torment. The enemy is the one who kills, steals, and destroys. Fear is tormenting, and the enemy is the one who torments. Christ came so you could have abundant life (John 10:10). When you believe in your heart that God loves you, fear will not overwhelm you. His perfect love for you has the power to cast out all fear (1 John 4:18). 

 

Bring each anxious thought that the enemy uses to destroy you under the power of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). The enemy can’t have you. You belong to Jesus. Nothing can separate you from the love God has for you in Christ (Romans 8:39). Nothing.

 

Now let God have this. Choose to trust Him. Refuse the anxious thoughts and worry. He fights your battle. He regains your health. He heals your heart. God never fails you. He will keep you in His peace when you think about Him and not your issue.

 

Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Just believe Him in your heart. Trust Him.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/04/cast-your-cares.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...