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Friday, September 30, 2022

Died Once for All



 

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:10-11).

 

 

Jesus Christ died once for all sins one time. His perfect work was finished. The person you once were—the sinful nature you once had—died the moment you believed and declared Jesus to be your Savior. You were reborn in your spirit as a new person with a new nature by His perfect work of grace (2 Corinthians 5:17, John 3:6). It was not just the act of sin that was crucified with Jesus. The greatest exchange took place the moment you asked Jesus into your heart. Jesus, who had no sin nature, took your sin nature so you might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

Why do many believers struggle to live the life they have received in Christ? If we have been reborn as a new person in Christ, why do the residual effects of our sinful nature keep trying to claim us? Why does the temptation to sin always raise its ugly head? If Satan is defeated, why don’t we walk in the victory we have received in Christ?  

 

The battle is within our minds. We must believe that Christ is victorious over sin once and for all. We must be convinced that in Him we are dead to sin. We must believe in the new life He has given us. When we continually focus on the righteousness that is ours in Christ—when we focus on what our new born-again nature has given us—when we focus 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 4:8),” we conform to these truths by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We believe the righteousness that Christ has given us is greater than any temptation which tries to claim us. We come to believe that Christ “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV).

 

However, when we focus more on our sins and failures—when we focus more on the “old person” that rises to come against us instead of focusing on the new life that is ours in Christ, we give power to the lies of the enemy. The residual effect of the “old person” strengthens. The way to get rid of the residual effect of the “old person” is not to focus on our sins but on our Resurrected new life in Christ. According to Romans 6:11, we are to count on the fact that our “old man” is dead—that we are “indeed” or “undeniably” dead to sin. We are to “reckon” that our new man is alive in Christ and wants only those things that please God. 

 

When we renew our minds with the truths of the new person we are in Christ, our flesh will fall into line more easily with the “new person” He has made us. We will reflect the “new person” that the Holy Spirit has birthed within us.

 

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

Christ took our sins. Our sinful nature was crucified with Christ, and we were reborn by His Spirit into new life. Christ has judged us holy and presented us without fault to the Father (Ephesians 1:4). We live what we believe. If we believe that Christ has made us righteous, then His righteousness will prevail in our lives. But if we believe that there is something more that we need to do to earn His righteousness, then we will live our lives always struggling to meet requirements that only Christ could meet. And we will focus on the “old person” who can never live good enough.

 

With faith, we please God. When we believe that His righteousness is ours and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), we live by faith in the new life Christ has given us. Our flesh may fail at times, but in Christ, we are forgiven. We live by faith in His grace. We know that falling from grace is trying to earn the righteousness that only the perfect work of Jesus could earn (Galatians 5:4).

 

Our flesh has no power to defeat sin. Only Christ defeated sin. Only the righteousness He has given you, defeated your sin. And now you live that truth by faith. When you live by faith in the Son of God who died for you, you live by the righteousness Christ has given you. You live by the power of His righteousness, knowing and believing in Christ, you are forgiven. 

 

 

Believe that Christ has crucified your “old person”—your sinful nature—and given you His new life. Believe all your old is gone, and you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Live by faith in who are you in Him. By the truth of His righteousness, you will stand in His power and more easily stand against the temptation of the flesh. Walking in His righteousness alone brings victory.

 

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

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/died-once-for-all.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, September 29, 2022

The Love of God for You


 

 

 

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

—Romans 8:33-34 (NKJV).

 

 

Even before you knew Him, God chose to love you (1 John 4:19). You responded to His gift of love on Calvary, and He delivered you from the power of darkness and moved you into the Kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13-14). God is your Father. You are no orphan. You belong to Him (Romans 8:15). 

 

Christ has destroyed the works of the enemy (Hebrews 2:14). The enemy has no power over you (Luke 10:19). No one has any authority to condemn you—not satan or the opinions of men. God is the one who validates and justifies you (Romans 8:33).

 

Not only is your sin crucified and buried with Christ. Everything about you is delivered from the power of darkness. You are reborn and raised with Him in new life (Romans 6:1-4). You are whole and new in His Grace. Your spirit has been reborn with the Spirit of the living God (John 3:6). You are a new person with a new lineage (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

 

The enemy will try to tell you that you are the same—that you will never receive the promises of God, but the love of God says differently. God is the author of life (John 14:6), and the enemy is the author of death (John 10:10). You are delivered from the enemy’s clutches. You are saved, forgiven, healed, delivered, and complete in God.

 

Jesus Christ, who was dead and then raised to life, now sits at the right hand of God interceding for you (John 17:20). Jesus doesn’t beg for His blood to be enough for you. Jesus knows what the gift of His life accomplished—that it was enough. He pleads His own blood for you. He presents you clean to the Father and reminds Him that the work of the Cross is finished—that His blood was enough.

 

Jesus doesn’t intercede for you out of weakness. He intercedes with God with the power of Resurrection Life. Neither do you need to beg God out of your weakness, because in your weakness, Jesus is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). Jesus has given you authority over anything or any lie that comes against the Resurrection life He gave His life for you to have (Luke 9:1, 10:19). 

 

Your prayers remind God that Jesus has made you clean and whole with the gift of His blood for you. When you believe in God's love for you, you praise Him for the forgiveness of sins, healing, and the abundant life His Son bought. You don’t need to beg God for His love and provision when He has already given His life for you to be made new and complete in Him. Praise God for all He has done (Hebrews 13:15). You have victory because Jesus was victorious. 

 

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else” (Romans 8:32, NKJV)?

 

It is so important to understand that God’s true nature is love (1 John 4:8). You are loved. God loves you so much that He did not even spare the life of His Son. And if He let His Son die for you, what else would He keep from you? He already gave you the most exorbitant gift. Nothing else can surpass it. God would never give you the life of His Son, and then hold back the gifts Jesus died for you to have. Why would He hold back what you need to live? He feeds and takes care of the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26) and clothes the lilies of the field (Matthew 6:28-29). Are not you more important than these? Why would God hold back your forgiveness, your deliverance, your provision, or healing?

 

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35,37, NKJV).

 

Nothing separates you from the love of God. You fight the power of darkness with the overcoming power of God's Resurrection love. You fight sin. You fight sickness. You fight fear. You fight hardship and persecution. When you know how much God loves you, you fight every lie that comes against you with the Truth of God’s Grace. In all these lies, you are more than a conqueror. Every sin, symptom, sickness, emotion, feeling, and attack of the enemy is defeated. You more than conquer the enemy with a revelation of God’s love. Your salvation is thorough, and it is enough. You are forgiven of sin and healed through and through with His miraculous Grace.

 

“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).

 

Are you persuaded—are you convinced—that nothing that comes against you—no circumstance—no power of darkness—no lie—nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God you have received in Jesus Christ? Nothing can separate you from the power of God's love. When you believe this Truth—that you are secure in Christ’s finished work of grace—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.

 

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 the pains of life. God’s will for you is living life in the fullness of His love and grace. Persevere and believe by faith. God supplies all that you need according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). God lacks nothing. 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).

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/the-love-of-god-for-you.html

 

 

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Humbled and Exalted by Grace


 

 

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

—1 Peter 5:6-7 NKJV

 

 

The grace of God grace is received in humility, and the greatest revelation of His grace is received in humility. When we are humble, we are teachable. And when we are teachable, we are open to God’s revealed truth in the Word by the Holy Spirit. We grow to understand that the things we battle in our minds are overcome in Christ. It is His power within us that overcomes. 

 

Pride exalts us instead of exalting God. When we try to prove ourselves and win our battles without allowing God to guide and empower us, we end up being humiliated. But when we humble ourselves and exalt God—when we surrender to His grace in our lives and allow Him to guide us, He exalts us.

 

Selfishness is more easily defeated as God’s truth becomes more abundant in your life. Pride’s power to control your emotions and feelings becomes less. When you surrender to Him, His power within you fights your battle. When your life is yielded to His truth, what you spiritually see, hear, and understand is not naturally discerned. You have His spiritual understanding of your battle and how He overcomes it. When your life is His, you enter into the revelation of His grace. You know He has won what you can’t. You know there is nothing more for you to gain that He hasn’t already gained. You rest in His peace. He is enough. There is nothing to prove and nothing to declare that God hasn’t already called into existence. 

 

When you cast your cares upon Him, you lay everything down. He takes care of all the questions. He takes care of all the concerns and problems. When you humble yourself under His hand, what others think of you becomes less because He is more. Under His mighty Hand, you become an instrument to use as He wills. 

 

His power is greatest when revealed in humbleness of heart. Humble yourself before Him with nothing to prove and nothing but to live who He is. Let the truth of the Word teach you who He is in you. Receive spiritual understanding in the wisdom and knowledge of Him. Experience His Spirit—alive in you—setting you free from all that your natural mind has declared as true. Discover that your greatest purpose is His to direct and His to own. You are ready for His overflowing abundance when you lay down all that has claimed your allegiance—all you believe He has imparted—all your natural mind has perceived as truth—and allow Jesus to wash your feet and teach you.

 

Stripped of all that stands in the way of His Hand upon you, you are unhindered by need or perception or anything at all. He, who became less for you, now has become everything in you. You are His, and you realize that He has brought you to a place of victory that you had never imagined. At His feet, you learn what it means to be crowned with victory because He was willing to humble himself for you. You are exalted in His grace. You know His joy that no word can express. 

 



 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/humbled-and-exalted-by-grace.html

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

His Victory is Your Victory


 

What you have received from God in Christ overcomes what you receive from life. Greater is Christ living in you. 

 

What has life thrown at you? Perhaps, you’re struggling to regain your health. Maybe, circumstances have overwhelmed you. Wherever you are right now—whatever circumstances you face, you are never alone. God is with you. And He never leaves you or forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5). He is the constant in your life when nothing or no one else is. God loves you, and Jesus has overcome the issues of your life. 

 

"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5, NKJV).

 

Any person who believes Jesus is the Son of God is born of God (1 John 5:1), and those who are born of God overcome the world (1 John 5:4). Those who believe Jesus is the Son of God have His overcoming victory in their lives. But not all those who believe in Jesus walk in the victory He died to give them. That’s not because it isn’t there, but because they haven’t acknowledged what they have received (Philemon 1:6) and haven’t accessed by faith the victory that is theirs.

 

You believed in Christ by faith, and you take God’s truth as your own by faith. You access what God says is true by faith, and you act on it. The believer who lives in peace above the circumstances of His life takes ownership of Christ’s victory and walks in it. He believes Christ has already won his battle and has already overcome his circumstances. He lives with an attitude of overcoming victory. 

 

You are born of God in Christ. By faith, you believed in Christ and were born again. You are God’s own child. Your battle—your sin—your illness—your circumstances were defeated by Jesus on the cross. He is your victory, and you take His victory as your own. 

 

Keep casting all your cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Don’t hold onto the emotional baggage of your circumstances or loss or pain. Don’t let whatever you face in this world define who you are. The victory of Christ defines who you are. His power is yours. Trust in God’s truth over your feelings, your circumstances, and anything the enemy throws at you. 

 

Nothing—NO NOTHING—can separate you from the love God has for you in Christ (Romans 8:39). Christ’s victory is your victory. Walk by faith, and receive it as your own.

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/his-victory-is-your-victory.html

 

 

Monday, September 26, 2022

How Do You See Yourself?


 

 

Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith [and confident trust in My power] has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road.

—Mark 10:52 (AMP)

 

 

The Holy Spirit calls us to step out in faith. He provokes us to let go of what feels comfortable and safe. You may not like your circumstances but sometimes you just get settled in them. Jesus stretches us to reach beyond where we have settled. He asks how badly do you want what I have given you?

 

When Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, heard that Jesus was the reason for the large crowd, he began crying out loudly for the Lord to have mercy on him. Bartimaeus hoped this was his chance for healing. He hoped that the Lord would heal him, too. 

 

Several in the crowd told Bartimaeus to be quiet, but Bartimaeus cried out even louder. It didn’t matter that the others were upset. 

 

Jesus heard Bartimaeus. He stood still and called him to come to him. Jesus wasn’t cruel in calling Bartimaeus to come to him. He was asking him to reach beyond his blindness and reach for what he desired. Just as He asked the man by the pool of Bethesda, the Lord was really asking Bartimaeus, “do you want to be well?” 

 

When some in the crowd heard Jesus calling him, they said to Bartimaeus, “Take courage. He is calling you.” They encouraged him, unlike the others who had told him to be quiet. And what was Bartimaeus’ response? Bartimaeus jumped up and found his way to Jesus. He overcame obstacles to get to Jesus. Jesus asked him the obvious but he wanted Bartimaeus to say it. Bartimaeus declared he wanted to see. And Jesus told him that his faith had made him well.

 

This blind beggar stretched his faith to believe Jesus would heal him. He took responsibility for what he needed in his life. It didn’t matter about the crowd's taunts or what they thought of him. When Bartimaeus moved forward toward Jesus, he stepped away from his identity as a blind man. He stepped away from where the circumstances of life had forced him to settle. And he received what Jesus had for him—a new identity as a man who could see.

 

Often, we identify with an illness we experience—or a problem we have—or a failure we encounter, instead of identifying with Jesus. We see ourselves less than Jesus sees us.

 

The Holy Spirit asks us to move forward in faith, believing all things are possible in Christ. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or says. If Bartimaeus had waited for the perfect opportunity, he would have missed his healing. Jesus made it clear to Bartimaeus why he received his sight. 

 

"Your faith [and confident trust in My power]," Jesus said, "has made you well" (Mark 10:52, AMP). 

 

When we push our way through the obstacles to believing the truth of who we are in Christ, we move away from the emotional and physical things we experience toward the spiritual truth of healing freedom in Him. Feelings become less important. We start to see ourselves through the truth of God’s Word. Our perception changes and we identify with Jesus. He becomes our identity. 

 

After Jesus told Bartimaeus that his faith had made him well, Bartimaeus immediately began following Jesus down the road. He went with the person who had changed his life. Yes, Bartimaeus could see with his physical eyes, but he could see so much more. He no longer saw himself as the man who sat by the road's side, begging in his need. Bartimaeus identified with Jesus, who told him that his faith had made him well. 

 

Bartimaeus believed, and just like the woman with the issue of blood, he was told that his faith had healed him. Jesus died for your sins and sickness and broken life over two-thousand years ago. His work on the Cross was perfect for your sins and sickness and brokenness. His Resurrection power is in you. The Holy Spirit provokes you to exercise your faith and believe the truth of what you have received in Jesus.

 

Do you identify with Jesus? Or do you identify with an illness, a failure, or your past?  How is the Holy Spirit provoking you to believe you are a new creation in Christ? That old things have become new? How does He draw you to reach beyond your circumstances and believe Him?

  

See yourself as Christ sees you—not as others in the crowd see you. Respond when the Spirit provokes you to reach beyond where you have settled. Overcome the obstacles. Speak what you desire to Jesus. Don’t identify with your past or your failures or your illnesses and brokenness. Learn the truth in the Word of who you are in Christ—the new person that the Spirit has made you. Take hold of your new identity, and clothe yourself in it.

Leave the baggage of your old self behind. Have confident faith in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for your life.

 

When you identify with Jesus, all things are possible. You will know His truth, and it will set you free. Just like Bartimaeus and the woman with the issue of blood and so many others, reach beyond the obstacles. Fight the good fight of faith. Believe and receive the promises of your new identity in Christ.

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/how-do-you-see-yourself.html

 

 

 

 

Friday, September 23, 2022

Step Out



 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

—Psalms 34:8 (NKJV)

 

 

God is good all the time. You don’t have to take someone else’s word for it. You can experience God’s goodness for yourself. He doesn’t bestow more goodness on someone else. His goodness is always before you. You step out in faith to receive.

 

“I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search” (Psalms 77:6, NKJV). 

 

Remember the good things God has done in your life. Never forget them (Psalm 103:2). Meditate on them in your heart. Don’t dwell on the enemy’s lies. Focus on the Lord
(Isaiah 26:3). Diligently search His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind (Romans 12:2) and sanctify you with His truth (John 17:17). Conform to what He says is true. Believe He is good. When you believe God has only good for you, you can be still and rest in His love (Psalms 46:10, Mark 10:18).

 

You have been given the same measure of faith as everyone else who believes in Christ (Romans 12:3). It is your choice to believe God’s truth and exercise your faith. Exercising your faith makes it easier to believe in God’s promises. But exercising your faith means being stretched and challenged and stepping out of your perceived security into the truth of His security. You have to let go of what your natural mind declares is real and step into what God says is true. Stepping out in faith is trusting God. And blessed is the man who trusts in Him. He will learn and know and believe who He is in Christ.

 

Experiencing God’s goodness comes from knowing who you are in Christ and believing all that He has done for you and in you. Exercise the measure of faith that is yours. The fruit on the tree doesn’t grow on the trunk. It is out on the limb. Step out! Taste and see that the Lord is good!

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/step-out.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Spiritual Wisdom and Knowledge




But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

—1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)

 

The things of the Spirit of God are spiritually understood. They are not mentally understood. You can have a mental understanding of God but not understand Him spiritually. 

 

Your spirit is where God quickens you to receive His truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit (Romans 8:16)—not your mind. Faith is not a mental exercise born of emotions and feelings and reasoning. Faith does not come from the logic of your mind. It comes from the Word which has been planted in your heart. 

 

“Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears” (Ezekiel 3:10, NKJV). 

 

Faith comes by hearing the Word spiritually with your heart (Romans 10:17).  Faith believes with the heart (Romans 10:10). The words that God speaks to your heart are spiritual life (John 4:24, John 6:63). When His Words bear witness with your spirit, you believe they are true and they are life.

 

Paul prayed for believers to spiritually hear and receive the revealed knowledge of God. He prayed “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, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

 

Having spiritual knowledge of the Word is not something that automatically happens in your life. It comes from seeking and pursuing God. We are not meant to be spiritually blind and have no spiritual understanding. God wants to pour spiritual wisdom and revelation of Himself into our hearts. He wants us to believe His truth and be enlightened by it. He wants us to know the hope of His calling in our lives and the great power He has given us. Spiritually discerning God’s truth in our hearts comes from allowing the Word to renew our minds until we believe it (Romans 12:2). If we fail to renew our minds, we will live our lives without experiencing the abundant life Jesus has given us (John 10:10).

 

Look at Ephesians 1:17-19. What is the hope of His calling and His power in us who believe?  It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. But if we don’t have spiritual understanding in our hearts about His power within us, we will not believe His power is ours. When we don’t believe, we don’t trust God. But when the eyes of our spiritual understanding are open to receive, we have His wisdom—His eyes to see, His ears to hear, and His understanding to see what the natural mind cannot grasp (Matthew13:16-17). And our hearts believe.

 

You take ownership of God’s truth when you spiritually receive it in your heart. Look again at Ephesians 1:17-19. When you believe these verses in your heart, they are true for you—not just for someone else. They are yours. God will freely give you His wisdom and impart to you the revealed knowledge of the Holy Spirit. You will believe that you possess God’s power—the same power that raised Christ from the dead. And you will hear and receive God’s truth—not with your natural mind but with your spiritual understanding. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in you, but if you don’t have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear, and a spiritual understanding to believe this truth in your heart, you will live a defeated and powerless life.

 

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV). 

 

God is able to do exceedingly more than we ask or think. But the true power of Ephesians 3:20 is revealed in the phrase that ends the verse. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we ask or think according to His power working in us. When we allow Him to work in us—when we allow Him to spiritually reveal Himself to us—we spiritually believe who He is within us. And we receive according to what we believe (Matthew 9:29).

 

The natural mind cannot receive this truth, but the spiritual mind that Jesus has given you can (1 Corinthians 2:14, 16). Believing God’s truth is His power at work in you. Seek and pursue God. Ask and receive His wisdom. He gives it generously (James 1:5). Believe and receive in your heart the spiritual wisdom and knowledge God has for you. 

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/spiritual-wisdom-and-knowledge.html

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Peace in Christ




 That urge you feel to do something about a problem might not be the Holy Spirit. Are you anxious and needing a resolution?  Peace comes from knowing who you are in Christ and not from your circumstances. When you know God’s peace in your life, it outweighs anything that creates uncertainty and fear. If you have an urge to do something because it makes you feel better, then what you want to do is probably about you and not about God.

 

The whole point of our faith is that it is not about us. It is about Him and the new life He has given us. We put our faith in His truth and His promises instead of what we experience in this life. Jesus gave His life for us. When we focus on what is happening in our lives instead of what His finished work of grace has accomplished in us, we miss the power of the new life Christ has given us. We miss the peace that is ours. For His peace to outweigh our circumstances, we have to know who we are in Christ. We must believe the unwavering security of our relationship with God. When we know we are secure in God’s love, we trust Him.

 

When you trust in the Lord with your whole heart, you don’t doubt Him. You believe Him. You don’t trust your own understanding. You trust His. You don’t rush to “do” something to feel good about yourself when you know your value to God. You have received the complete and full redeeming value of your salvation. Jesus has presented you without fault to the Father. He has saved you from all your sins and diseases. You are at peace in your relationship with God. When you believe your full value in Christ, you never work to prove your value. You have God’s peace. And when you trust God, His peace controls you instead of your fear and your need to “do” something.

 

When you acknowledge God, you acknowledge the difference His grace has made in your life. You know who He is in you. You know if the Holy Spirit is leading you to do something. When you “do” something the Holy Spirit leads you to do, what you “do” is born of faith in the security of your relationship with God and not born of your need to feel secure. Any work born of your need to feel secure has no life. Any work born of faith in Christ is alive and powerful. When the Holy Spirit directs your paths, He empowers what He calls you to do. He is faithful to do the work.

 

When the Holy Spirit inspires what you do, and not you, you are at peace. And the only way you will surrender and allow Him to do the work is when you trust Him. And you only trust Him when you know how much He loves you. Until you believe the truth of His love for you, you won’t receive the benefit of His peace.

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

Will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

—Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:7 NKJV

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/peace-in-christ.html

 


 

 


Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Pray in the Holy Spirit



But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

—Jude 1:20-21 (NKJV)

 

When you pray in the Holy Spirit, you build up your faith to believe in who you are in Christ and to believe in the promises God has given you. You are immersed in the spiritual understanding of God’s will that goes beyond your human understanding. And when you pray in the Spirit, you build the measure of faith you have been given by God to believe what is impossible with the natural mind.

 

Praying in the Spirit is not you praying what your mind thinks or reasons. It is the Holy Spirit within you praying the petitions He knows. When you pray for someone with your human understanding, it is difficult to keep personal judgments and human emotions and opinions and thoughts and feelings out of your prayers. The Holy Spirit knows what the will of God is. When you surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to pray, you pray in agreement with the will of God.

 

“Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27, NKJV).

 

“He who searches the hearts” is a reference to God, and He knows perfectly well what the Holy Spirit is saying. The Holy Spirit is always leading us and interceding with us for God’s perfect will to be accomplished in our lives. He is never at a loss to express our needs to the Father. We don’t always pray perfectly, but when we intercede, the Holy Spirit translates the cries of our hearts to our Abba Father. Such a unity exists between the Father and the Holy Spirit that even the groanings of the Holy Spirit are flawlessly understood.

 

When you pray in the Spirit, God knows what the Spirit is praying for. And when the Holy Spirit within you prays God’s will, you are encouraged in your most holy faith.

 

“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests,” Paul wrote. “With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18, NIV).

 

Praying in the Spirit gives close intimacy with God. Through you, the Holy Spirit reaches the Father for those for whom you intercede. When you allow the Spirit to pray for them, God knows what the Holy Spirit is praying for, and He answers because what the Spirit asks is according to His will.

  

When you surrender and allow the Holy Spirit to pray, you are strengthened in your inner man. Your confidence and compassion grow. You believe without a doubt that God hears whatever the Spirit has asked, and you know that the petitions you have asked of Him have already been answered (1 John 5:14-15).

 

Praying in the Holy Spirit builds your faith to trust God for His promises. You receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Your understanding is enlightened, and you know the hope of His calling and the riches of your inheritance in Him (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

 

Do you long for your faith to be stronger and live in the fullness of the grace Jesus has given you?  Do you wish to believe the Word without any doubt—trusting in God’s promises for others and for yourself? Do you want to stand strong in your spiritual armor and your identity in Christ? 

 

Pray in the Holy Spirit—encouraging yourself to believe the grace of Jesus keeps you safely in the love of God and the eternal life He has given you.

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/pray-in-the-holy-spirit.html

 

Monday, September 19, 2022

Free Intimacy with God



 

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

—Romans 8:31-32, NKJV

 

God never withholds His love from you. God didn’t withhold the life of His Son as payment for your sin. Why would He ever withhold anything good from you when He gave His Son so you could have a new and abundant life (John 10:10)?  

 

It is hard to draw near to a Father when you aren’t certain if He loves you. If you believe God takes away or harms you for an unknown purpose or for a greater good, you doubt the right-standing Jesus died to give you. You doubt how God thinks of you, and you don’t have freedom in your relationship with Him. Trust is very difficult, and fear springs up destroying any intimacy you might have.

 

God is love (1 John 4:8) He does not harm you. He never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). God does nothing to make you question His love. That is the enemy trying to steal, kill, and destroy the freedom God has for you (John 10:10). If the enemy can convince you that God will harm you for a greater good, then you will believe a lie that will keep you in perpetual bondage. Any peace you have will only be found when circumstances improve instead of being found in the intimacy of your relationship with God.

 

The true nature of God is unconditional love and Grace. If He did not spare His own Son out of love for you, why would He use harm to win your love?  Why wouldn’t He give you what you need to encourage you and build your trust?

 

We wonder why people are afraid of God. Religion has falsely told them that they can never be good enough to please Him. They have been told they must work to earn His approval. To have an intimate relationship with your Heavenly Father, you need to believe in your heart that Jesus’ love for you on the cross was enough and that there is nothing more you have to do to be accepted by God (Ephesians 1:6). To live in intimacy with God, we continually, “draw near (to Him) with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22, NKJV).

 

When you believe in your heart that you have been washed clean in the blood of His sacrifice, you are delivered from a conscience that condemns you. You can have peace in His love for you.

 

God sees His Son when He sees you. He loves you because He loves His Son. He is pleased with you because He is pleased with His Son. What you have with God is not a religion. It is not a list of works to perform to win His love. You have a relationship with God, and He wants you to know Him as He knows you. 

 

Learn in His Word how God sees you. Realize what it means that you are blameless and holy in His eyes because of Christ’s sacrifice. When you know who you are in Christ, you believe in your heart His forgiveness is enough. Your sins have been completely punished in the body of Christ on the cross (1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 3:13). Your sinful nature has been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). You are free of condemnation. You can draw near to God with full assurance of faith. 

 

“Who condemns you?” Christ asked the woman condemned by her sin and her accusers. 

 

Knowing her accusers were gone, she answered, “No one.”

 

“Neither do I,” Jesus told her. “Go and sin no more.”

 (John 8:10-11)

 

When you really believe in your heart that you are completely forgiven by God—washed clean by the precious blood of Christ and have no debt to pay, sin no longer has power. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ Jesus has given you the power to choose a righteous and holy life. When you are free of an evil conscience that condemns you, you live in the fullness of His Grace. You believe His Grace was sufficient for your sins, your sickness, and your need (2 Corinthians 12:9). Christ has won God’s love for you. There is nothing more to be done. You are free of condemnation, guilt, and shame. 

 

The enemy is your accuser. Jesus says you have no accuser. The enemy has no power over the righteousness of Christ in you. Be continually renewed in your mind by His truth and love for you. Continually put on the new nature Christ has given you—the righteous one He gave you with His life (Ephesians 4:23-24). 

 

Walk by faith and live in free intimacy with God. Jesus has already paid the price for you to have it. 

 

 

© 2022 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2022/09/free-intimacy.html

 

 

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