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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Do You See Like Bartimaeus


 

 

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 goads and 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. 

 

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 as 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 and was the full payment for your sins and sickness and brokenness. His Resurrection power is in you. Don’t fight against the pricks. 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? Those old things are now gone? 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. Tell Jesus your desire. He is just waiting for you to speak it. 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.

When you identify with Jesus, all things are possible. Like Bartimaeus and the woman with the issue of blood, reach beyond the obstacles. Fight the good fight of faith. You are a new creation in Christ. The Good News that is almost too good to be true really is true. Believe the truth of your new identity. Have confident faith in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for you.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/do-you-see-like-bartimaeus.html

 

 

Monday, February 27, 2023

For My Friend



 

It is so hard when you are hanging on by a thread. It is such a relief to finally let go and trust God’s truth. His Word is His will for you. Don’t dilute it with “if” because you don’t see any physical evidence of His truth. Faith is the substance of what you hope for. It is the evidence of what you can’t see. 

 

God’s Word is true but it is not true for you unless you make it your own. Don’t allow what you question is God’s truth for your life to get in the way of what the Word says is true. That isn’t faith. That is doubt that keeps you from receiving the truth of God’s Word. His Word is truth. It is His life yearning to live in you. 

 

If you want the truth of God’s Word to be true in your life, you have to place everything you believe in it. You quiet the other voices. You quiet the doubt. You choose to trust that God, who is the Word, is faithful to perform its truth in your life. Let go of that thread. Allow His truth to become who you are.

 

Friday, February 24, 2023

Have Confidence in Your Right Standing in Christ


 

 

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

—1 John 3:18-21, NKJV

 

 

God is love (1 John 4:8). He doesn’t withhold His love based on how we think or act. If He did, none of us would have ever received the love He gave us in Christ. God loved us so much, He sent His Son as full payment for our sins (John 3:16). His love is never withdrawn. It is constant. He never leaves us (Hebrews 13:5). We are the ones who allow the feelings of condemnation we experience from our sins to keep us from running to Him. There is no condemnation in the love of Christ (John 3:17). It is the goodness of God which brings us to repentance. (Romans 2:4). 

 

God’s love in our lives should express itself not only in what we say but in how we treat others. A person who says he loves someone, but then acts out of unforgiveness toward that person, only cares for himself. That is not God’s love expressed in his life. We are called to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. There is no condemnation in Christ’s love (Romans 8:1). When you experience the unconditional love and forgiveness of Christ with a humble heart, it changes the way you love. You unconditionally put the concerns and needs of others before your own. God’s kind of love expresses itself in kindness toward others. Truly loving others is evidence of the work of God’s grace in our hearts. 

 

1 John 3:19 says that “we are of the truth, and we shall assure our hearts before Him.” 

 

We have received the righteousness of God because of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can know the truth of God’s love and still emotionally feel the need to be assured of our right standing with Him. When we don’t love others as Christ loves us, then we don’t feel the assurance of God’s love. The enemy comes against us to make us doubt that we have received Christ’s righteousness (John 10:10). He comes to steal that truth out of our hearts (Matthew 13:19). But as believers, we have right standing with God. That truth is the foundation of our salvation. It gives us the ability to stand against the enemy and assure ourselves of God’s love. 

 

Many believe that if everything is right between them and the Lord, they will always feel good. That’s just not the case. Our hearts always need reassurance. If David could encourage himself, then we who know Christ certainly have the ability to assure ourselves of the righteousness we have received in Jesus. 

 

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God” (1 John 3:20-21, NKJV).

 

These verses say our hearts can condemn us. Have you ever believed that your feelings of unworthiness are from God? Not all reservations we have are from God. Some are lies of the enemy. We have to know and believe God’s truth over our feelings to know the difference. 

 

Even when our hearts feel unsure, God is greater than what we think. He knows the truth of our right standing with Him. Jesus took all the condemnation for our sins (John 3:16-17). And now we have no condemnation in Him (Romans 8:1). When we agree with God’s truth and rid our hearts of condemnation, confidence in who we are in Christ yields fruit in our lives (1 John 3:21). 

 

“Let us draw near 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 our minds are renewed by God’s truth (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23)—when we allow His truth to purge us of feelings of condemnation, we can then experience confidence toward God. We can draw near to Him in full assurance of our right standing in Christ.

 

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward” (Hebrews 10:35).

 

There is a great reward when we have confidence in God.  

 

When we, who are justified by faith in Christ, live by His faith which has justified us, we don’t shrink back (Hebrews 10:38). We assure our hearts and trust His truth over our feelings. 

 

Have confidence in your right standing in Christ. Assure your heart of who you are in His grace. Encourage yourself in His truth. There is no condemnation in Him. 

You have confidence in God when you don't live in condemnation. When you trust God, you are unveiled before Him. You live in the Holy Spirit. And where the Holy Spirit is, you know the freedom of His grace (2 Corinthians 3:17).

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/have-confidence-in-your-right-standing-in-christ.html

 

 

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Your Right Standing with God



“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2). 

 

Being justified with God—having a right standing with God—is peace. We can only stand in the true Grace of God—in His peace—when we believe in our hearts that Jesus gave us the right standing with God. We can only live His righteousness when we believe we have received His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). When we truly know we are at peace with God, then we have peace. 

 

We choose to stand strong in our peace with God. We choose to deny fear because we know that perfect peace with God casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Jesus has for us the righteousness—the right standing with God—we can never earn. We take hold of the shield of faith that is ours in Christ. We walk in the peace His righteousness has given us. We exercise the authority Christ has given us (Luke 10:19). And having done all, we stand in the truth and the power that is ours in Christ (Ephesians 6:10-13). 

 

Right-standing with God—peace with God—only comes through faith in what Christ did for us. It only comes by putting our faith in Christ’s finished work of Grace. When we put out faith in Christ, our lives are not perfect. We deal with the issues of life every day. We choose to put our faith in what we can’t see. We choose to live by faith and not by sight. 

 

True Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously (Titus 2:12). But true Grace also teaches us that it is only by His righteousness we live and have our being (Acts 17:28). When we know our righteous standing with God through the Grace of Christ and live out of that truth, we live in God’s peace.

 

Faith in God comes out of who we believe we are in Christ. It comes out of believing that nothing can separate us from God —and that we have peace with God because of our relationship with Jesus. Having peace with God is the only way we can walk in faith. Otherwise, we are going to try to do something—to prove something to God trying to get Him to do something for us. God does not do something for us because we do something for Him. There is nothing left to be done. Christ’s work is complete and finished. When we believe Christ’s work has already accomplished our right standing with God—that He has already accomplished our forgiveness and healing (1 Peter 2:24), we can receive by faith God’s forgiveness and healing. We rest and have peace when we believe there is nothing we have to earn. Christ has earned what it is impossible for us to earn. When we live out of the righteousness He has given us, our faith produces good works that are filled with God instead of ourselves.

 

Know who you are in the finished work of Christ—believe what Christ has given you—and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). When you exercise faith, you trust God. When you trust God, you experience peace. Where you experience peace in your life is where you have faith.

 

You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Trust your right standing with God. Exercise your faith to experience His peace. Stand in faith and confidently believe in your heart that God who loves you is faithful to keep you safe and secure all the days of your life (1 Corinthians 1:8-9, Philippians 1:6, Ephesians 1:13).

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/your-right-standing-with-god.html

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Christ's Healing Grace



 

Sickness was a curse for sin under the Old Covenant Law (Deuteronomy 28:58-61).

 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Old Covenant Law when He became a curse for our sins by hanging on a tree (Galatians 3:13).

 

Many Christians believe God makes them sick because He is punishing them for their sins. 

 

Jesus set us free from the curse of the Law by taking the punishment for our sins. He not only removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He also removed sickness—the curse of sin. (1 Peter 2:24).

 

Sin and sickness shall not be your master. You are no longer under the Law. You are under the New Covenant Grace of Jesus—redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus (Romans 6:14).

 

The enemy is the one who comes against you with sin and sickness trying to steal, kill, and destroy your faith. Jesus came to give you abundant life (John 10:10). The enemy is the author of everything that gives death. God is the author of everything that gives His life. If you have the Son, you have His life (1 John 5:12).

 

Never forget the benefits of God's truth. He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:2-3).

 

You receive healing the same way you receive forgiveness. By faith in Jesus’ perfect and finished work of righteousness (Hebrews 10:38). Jesus received for you what you can never receive for yourself.

 

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

 

Jesus is the Word. He came to heal you (John 1:1, Psalm 107:20).

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/christs-healing-grace.html


 

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The Delight of His Heart


 


He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

—Psalm 18:19

 

 

         It is incredible that God delights in us! Not because of anything we have done or do but because of who He is. It is the love of God that takes joy in us. Jesus Christ was His Father’s greatest delight. He died to deliver us from sin, sickness, and death because His Father delighted in us. And now His Father has become our Father. Jesus has delivered us to the Father forgiven, healed, and without blemish. He is our greatest delight!

 

         Don’t despair in your situation. Don’t despair in your illness. Don’t allow the enemy to keep you in bondage. Jesus has set you free from the lies of the enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy your faith (John 10:10). The enemy comes against the Word of God in your heart (Matthew 13:19). God’s Word in your heart is true, and it is life (John 6:63). Greater is His Word in you than the enemy’s deceit (1 John 4:4). God sent His Word to you. It will not return to Him without accomplishing His truth in your life (Isaiah 55:11).

 

         Jesus has delivered you from the enemy’s lies into a “broad place.” A place that is “broad” represents a place that is safe as opposed to a narrow place that is dangerous. Jesus has delivered you from your sin—your struggle—your sickness—your need. He has set you solidly upon a wide place of safety (Psalm 31:8). He has rescued you from the horrible pit—pulled you out of the miry clay, and set your feet upon the truth of His Word. He has established your steps (Psalm 40:2).

 

            Jesus is your truth and your life. His truth has been accomplished. Do you want it accomplished in your life? Choose to believe His truth. Choose to believe His life is yours. Choose to believe His finished and complete payment for your sin and sickness and need has delivered you from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His love (Colossians 1:13). 

 

            You want to rest in Jesus—your “broad place?” Don’t give up. Fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). Your Father rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). 

 

            Jesus delivered you because you are the delight of His heart.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/the-delight-of-his-heart.html

 

 

 

 

Monday, February 20, 2023

Almost Believing


 

 

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

—1 John 5:12-13 (NKJV)

 


You have to do more than believe God's truth. You have to receive it. 


Many people hear the message of the Gospel but never receive its truth in their hearts. They “almost believe” in Jesus for salvation. Those who do believe His Word in their hearts receive Jesus as their Savior. They have received His life. 

 

When you believe in the name of the Son of God, you have the assurance that you have received eternal life. You also have the assurance you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. John is saying that believing in the name of Jesus will not be ineffective for you. Believing is putting your faith in the name of Jesus. Jesus told two blind men seeking healing that they would receive according to what they believed (Matthew 9:29).

 

Why do some Christians, having put faith in Jesus for salvation, find it hard to put faith in the Word for what God promises? They “almost believe” His Word.

 

When they first received Christ as their Savior, they believed in Jesus by faith and confessed their belief in Him. Why then is it hard for them to believe by faith in some truths in the Word? They say they believe these truths, but then reduce the power of these truths in their lives by asking God if it is His will. Adding “if it is God’s will” to what the Word says is true for you, hinders the power of God to work out that truth in your life. “Almost believing” does not receive (James 1:7). 

 

God’s truth is not real for us until we take possession of it. We have to make His truth our truth.

 

Our relationship with Jesus is one that can only be lived by putting faith in God’s truth. The truth of His Word will only be realized when we put faith in it. We live by faith not by sight. We trust that His truth works out what we do not currently see or experience in our lives. 

 

When you doubt because of not seeing or experiencing God’s truth, you doubt God’s will. You doubt His promises. A person who doubts God’s promises doubts his right standing with God. He may not realize this but he doubts He is worthy enough to receive from the Lord. God deemed you worthy when you believed in His Son’s love for you. 

 

If something is in the Word, it is God’s truth. Just because you might not experience His truth as your reality at this moment does not mean that it is not true for you. When you know what the Word says about something, you can pray for a specific outcome knowing that it is God’s will. You can have confidence that when you pray according to God’s will, you have what you have requested of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

 

What about God’s truth “by His stripes, you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24)?  Do we say we believe it but question it in our hearts? God heals others but maybe you question if it is His will for you personally to receive healing. The Word says healing is something that Jesus accomplished for us in His finished work of grace. Healing has been accomplished for us in Christ’s payment for our sins. It is a complete and done payment. We have to do more than just say we believe it. That truth has to be sown in our hearts. It has to be protected from the lies of the enemy. That truth has to renew us in the spirit of our minds until it becomes our identity. It has to become God’s truth in the abundance of our hearts. We receive the truth of our new life in Jesus—we receive the truths that God declares are ours—by putting our new life on (Ephesians 4:23-24). We take God’s truth as ours. We make it our own.

 

Don’t be more concerned about the opinions of men than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).  Don’t allow the things you experience in life—like illness—to keep you from confessing God’s truth as “your” truth. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and you will receive the fruit of what you confess (Proverbs 18:21). His truth is life to you. Don’t doubt His truth in your heart. Anything you believe that is not God’s truth speaks death to your faith.

 

When you received Jesus, you received His truth. That truth is yours because God gave it to you. If you have the Son, you have His life. Just as you received Jesus by faith, you also have to receive His truth by faith. 

 

Believe His truth. Speak His truth into your life. Confess it. Take possession of it. 

 

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

 

You have to do more than believe His truth. You have to receive it.

 

“By His stripes, you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). 

 

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/almost-believing.html

 

 

Friday, February 17, 2023

Life to You


 


Jesus asked Saul on the road to Damascus why he persecuted Him (Acts 9:4).

 

You don’t have to be an unbeliever like Saul was for Jesus to ask you this question. 

 

Jesus also told Saul not to kick against the pricks in Acts 9:5 in the KJV and NKJV. This statement by Jesus to Saul is not in most other translations. 

 

The Holy Spirit knows our human nature. Our human nature tempts us to kick against the pricks of the Holy Spirit guiding us toward what is best for our lives. Our human mind kicks against His revelation of truth because it mind can’t understand it. 

 

The truth of God’s Word comes against what is not true. It reveals any untruth that is real within us. What we believe becomes who we are. If we believe anything that comes against the truth the Holy Spirit wishes to reveal to us, then the thing we believe is a lie on which we have based our lives. We can’t rationalize God’s truth with our natural minds. The only way we can understand God’s truth is with the spiritual mind that is ours in Christ.

 

Is the Holy Spirit pricking you about something you believe? Is He trying to reveal something new to you through God’s Word? Does this something challenge what you believe?  Will you pray about it? Will you test it with other Scripture? Will you be open to the Holy Spirit and give Him time? Will you not rush Him by needing an immediate answer? If what you believe is a lie, you want it out of your life. You can’t judge it with your natural mind. You can only understand it spiritually. 

 

It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us God’s truth that we can know if what we believe is based on tradition or on His truth. If what we have always believed is God’s truth, it will withstand the test. If what we have believed is not based on His truth, we need to realize that any change doesn’t happen quickly. It is a process that renews our minds with God's truth until what we believe in our hearts conforms us to His image.

 

God can handle your questioning. Perhaps, the Holy Spirit is pricking what you believe. Maybe, He isn’t. God's truth will always prevail. But it will only prevail in your life when you allow it to challenge any belief you hold on to that is not His truth. 

 

God’s truth is the final authority in your life. But it makes no difference to you if you don’t understand it. His truth only becomes your truth when choose to believe it by faith—when you take possession of it and make it your truth.

 

No matter how much head knowledge you have, it is not the revealed truth of God’s Word that takes root in your heart. Dare to go where, perhaps, you have not gone before. Dare to challenge what you have always believed. Dare to be open to God’s revelation in His Word. His Word is final, finished, and unchanging. Yet, it is a living Word breathed into you by the Holy Spirit. Don’t persecute His truth. Allow His truth to prick and challenge you. Allow blindness to be gone. His Word is life to you.

 



© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/life-to-you.html

 

 

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Free to Live for Christ


 

 

But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

—Galatians 3:22-25

 

 

All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We, who are new creations in Christ, were confined by sin but Jesus Christ has paid the full debt for our sins. We became debt-free when we believed in Jesus. Sin no longer is our master. We are no longer kept in line by the Law but now are under Grace. The Law is no longer our tutor. 

 

Until Jesus paid the debt for our sins, we were” confined.” We were “kept” in check by the Law. We were waiting for Jesus to come and set us free from sin’s bondage. We were imprisoned under guilt and condemnation with the Law as our jailer. 

 

Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to set us free from the unforgiving imprisonment of guilt and condemnation the Law gives (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). As humans, we have a consciousness of sin and are always looking inward at ourselves. The Law revealed sin. But the Law’s standards were so high we could never attain them. It prevented us from ever obtaining salvation through our own efforts. The Law tried to make us behave. It pushed us to live holiness. In the process, it revealed to us the futility of our own efforts. We couldn’t save ourselves. The Law prepared us for the gift of Christ’s redeeming work of Grace. 

 

Only Christ could keep the Law perfectly. It is an incredible relief to us! We know so well we cannot perfectly keep the Law. We cannot make sense of our own lives. How could we ever justify our lives to God? Only faith alone in Jesus justifies us.

 

The Law is still in force. If you live under the Law, it still has to be met. But it has been met in Christ’s work of Grace. If we believe in Jesus’ finished work of redemption, we now are under Grace. The Law has been met for us by Jesus. If the Law is no longer our tutor and we no longer have a need for a tutor, then how do we lead a holy life? We live a holy life by putting our faith in Jesus’s perfect payment for our inability to live a perfect life. 

 

Just as we chose to place our faith in Jesus for salvation, it is also our choice to place our faith in Jesus to live a holy life. The Holy Spirit is now our teacher, and He leads us to live His righteousness. We can choose to listen to the Holy Spirit or not to listen to Him. God gave us the free choice to choose Jesus as our Savior. He gives us a free choice to live a holy life. If you are born again by faith in Jesus, you have the power to live a holy life. And why wouldn’t you want to live a holy life?  Trying to keep the Law to gain righteousness is frustrating and futile. It is exactly what the Pharisees did. But living a holy life by faith in Jesus keeps you in an intimate relationship with Jesus. When you toy with the idea of sin, you are risking your intimacy with God. Why would you ever want sin to destroy your intimacy with God?  But when you know that Jesus has crucified your sin nature and you allow that truth to define your life, you fight sin with the power of the Holy Spirit—not with the letter of the Law. 

 

Paul writes in Romans 6:14 that sin is no longer our master—that we are no longer under the Law. We are under Grace. The Law couldn’t save us so it is no longer our master. Only Jesus could save us. The life we live in this human flesh, we don’t live by the letter of the Law. We live by the faith of the Son of God who gave His life for us. We can’t “crucify” ourselves enough or “sacrifice” ourselves enough. Trying to justify ourselves by keeping the Law is in vain. We have been crucified with Christ, and it is Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20-21).

 

God’s standard of righteousness is His alone, and Jesus alone could meet it. In contrast to the works of the Law, is the work of faith. Works of the Law attempt to earn a relationship with God. The work of faith is the fruit of our relationship with God. We live by faith in Jesus. We don’t live by a standard only Jesus could meet. We need to honestly look at ourselves and ask if the Law is our master. Paul wrote that whatever in our lives is not from faith, is sin (Romans 14:23).

 

Holiness is not found in our actions. The Law looks at the outer man and his actions. Holiness is found in the human heart that has been saved by faith in Jesus Christ. And that heart is set free from sin to live a holy life. We choose to live a holy life because true Grace teaches us to live a holy life (Titus 2:11-12).

 

It is impossible to live a holy life by keeping the Law. But it is not impossible to live a holy life by faith in Jesus. We live for God by faith and not by the sight of our human inadequacyWe believe by faith that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21).


Paul tells us how: 

 

“Through the Law I died,” he wrote, “so that I might live for God” (Galatians 2:19).

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/free-to-live-for-christ.html

 

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

His Word is Life



  

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

—Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

 

It is easy to let our feelings direct our lives instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us. Feeling good about something He leads us to do is not always the case. Feeling comfortable and accepted is not always the case. The enemy doesn’t like it when you are following God’s plan for your life. He attacks with uncertainty and doubt. He tries to stir up fear and tells you that you are out of God’s will. The enemy uses anything—from other people to circumstances—to make you lose heart and give up in defeat. Where the Holy Spirit leads you, He is with you. He empowers you through times when even those closest to you may not understand.

 

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

—Hebrews 10:35-36 (NKJV)

 

Without confidence, it is hard to endure. To have confidence, you trust that God who has called you is faithful to do the work. When you doubt, you have made the work yours. It is not your work. It is His work. It is not your responsibility. It is His responsibility. Your responsibility is to allow Him to work through you. Your confidence is where the enemy attacks. You stand and fight the good fight of faith. Don’t lose your confidence. Persevere, and don’t give up. When you persevere in following God’s heart, you receive His promise.

 

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing," Jesus said. "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.

—John 6:63 (NKJV)

 

Your doubt, worry, and fear profit you nothing. They keep you from believing God's promises. They speak death instead of life. The words God speaks to you are His words. His words are spirit, and they are life. 

 

It is His Word that gives life.  It is His Word and His power at work in you that does exceedingly more than you ask or think. 


 

Your words were found, and I ate them,

And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;

For I am called by Your name,

O Lord God of hosts.

—Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV)

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/his-word-is-life.html

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

My Blessing


 

 

Be still, and know that I am God.

—Psalm 46:10 NKJV

 

 

Be still, child. I know your situation before you speak one word to me. I haven’t led you into something that won’t come to pass. Your circumstance may seem like a wasteland right now, but let me assure you. It isn’t. Your promise is just as real as when I revealed it to you. Don’t get frustrated by what you don’t see happening. Just because you don’t see or feel your promise doesn’t mean that I’ve not worked it out. My work is in you. I have much to teach you. I want you convinced that my Word is truth and life. But you have to allow me to teach and convince you. 

 

You will find strength in quietness. You will find strength when you place confidence in me. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Let go. Quit trying to fix my work. Your work frustrates my grace. It hinders. Just because you can’t see or feel what I’m doing right at this moment doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I reveal myself all the time. Often, you allow other things to pull you away from resting in me and to keep you from hearing me. Be still. Listen to me with all your heart. Be expectant. I want to reveal to you the work I’m doing in you. Don’t make my promise to you a work that you try to achieve. Don’t run ahead of what I alone accomplish in you. In seeking—in rest—in everything, acknowledge me. I counsel you and reveal myself in you. 

 

You have received my greatest gift, my child. New life in me! Always rejoice in the gift of my life for yours! Praise me! I declared at the moment I gave my life for you that your life was worth my righteousness. I have given you your promise. You will see this with my understanding when you let go and believe me. Dwell in me. Rest in me. Trust me. I remain always the strength of your heart. I am in you, and you are in me. Nothing that comes against you will prosper.  I am your righteous victory over everything. You have inherited my blessing. All my blessings are yours. Open the gift of my life. My promises are yes to you, and they are amen. 

 

Let me do the work in you. And you will believe me. You will receive what only my love could earn.

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/02/my-blessing.html

 

 

A Root of Bitterness

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