Receive God’s Truth in Your Heart

 

 

 

 

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, 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 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).

 

We have to do more than just say we believe His truth. 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.

 

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 by faith, 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. 

 

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

 

Hold fast to His truth. Speak His truth into your life. God is faithful to keep His promises, but you have to do more than believe His truth. You have to make His truth your own. You have to receive His truth in your heart until you see without seeing and hear without hearing (Matthew 13:16-17).

What is yours in Christ is yours. Nothing or no one can steal that truth from your heart when you protect it from every lie, opinion, or negative circumstance that tries to steal it from your heart (Matthew 13:18-19).

 

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

 

When you hear and receive the Word in your heart, it will bear fruit. His truth will bear His promises in your life.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/receive-gods-truth-in-your-heart.html

 

 

 

Confidence in His Righteousness

 

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). 

 

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 

—1 John 3:18

 

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 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. 

 

 We are of the truth, and we shall assure our hearts before Him.

—1 John 3:19 

 

We have received the righteousness of God because of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). However, 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 loved 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

 

These two 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 feel or 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 believe it, we empty our hearts of condemnation and have confidence in who we are in Christ (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

 

When our minds are renewed by God’s truth of our right standing with Him in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23)—when we allow His truth to purge our hearts of feelings of condemnation, we then have the capacity to experience confidence toward God. We can draw near to Him in full assurance of our right standing in Christ. We can put on the new person He has made us (Ephesians 4:24).

 

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. 

 

You have confidence in God when you don't live in condemnation. When you trust God, you are unveiled before Him. You walk in the Holy Spirit. And where the Holy Spirit is, you know the freedom of His grace (2 Corinthians 3:17). Assure your heart of who you are in Jesus. Encourage yourself in His truth. There is no condemnation in Him. Have confidence in His righteousness. It is your right standing—your right relationship—your freedom with God.

 

Beloved if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 

—1 John 3:21, Hebrews 10:35, 1 John 3:22

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/confidence-in-his-righteousness

You Are His Masterpiece

 

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 

 

We don’t use God. We don’t use His power. God uses us. God asks us to let Him live through us. When we live for God because we feel an obligation to live for Him, we serve Him out of our own ability instead of His strength. When we allow Him to live through us, we serve Him out of faith in what He has done for us. We know that in our weakness He is strong. Serving Him becomes our privilege, and His power is unhindered. He does abundantly more than we could ask or think through us.

 

Christ has given us an exchanged life. He exchanged our sins for His righteousness. We are new. The old is gone. We have received His righteousness. When we surrender our will, reasoning, and understanding to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide and empower us, Christ, who lives in us, lives through us. We serve Him out of His power at work within us. Serving Him flows out of faith instead of obligation. It becomes a joy because nothing rests on our ability. Everything rests on Hm.

 

Yes, God does abundantly more than we ask or think, but we must never forget the whole verse. He does abundantly more through us when we surrender to His work of righteousness within us. God doesn’t want us burned out from obligation. He wants us fulfilled in His finished work of grace. 

 

Surrendering to God is not your work. It is His work that you choose to allow in you. You must allow Him to work in you. You deny the flesh access, but it is God’s power in you that accomplishes what you have denied. Surrendering is allowing the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to flourish in your life. 

 

Your surrender is not a pick-and-choose surrender. Don’t refuse what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life. Deny any fear. Allow the Holy Spirit to teach and guide and empower you as He never has before. Allow Him to challenge your human reasoning and reveal Himself to you.

 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

 

You are God’s masterpiece. You are His workmanship—reborn as a new creation in the redeeming work of Christ. You are God’s work of art. In your union with Jesus, He has created you for a life of good works. He has already prepared these works for you. He has a perfect plan for your life, but He doesn’t force that plan on you. You have the choice to allow God to use you.

 

“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 2:10).

 

It is not you who works, but Christ in you. God will use you as much as you allow.

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/you-are-his-masterpiece.html

 

Abiding in Jesus

 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor any plague come near your dwelling.

—Psalm 91:1, 9-10

 

I have a tiny new puppy.  He has discovered he has a little igloo that has a small entrance. He feels secure and protected when he crawls into his dwelling. He likes to remain there. I’m sitting here this morning with him pressed up against my leg. He is relaxed and sleeping. He feels safe when he knows I am beside him.

Aren’t we the same way?  Don’t we know we are safe in God when we remain in His presence? Don’t we know we are secure in His promises when we abide in His truth?

If I dwell in the secret place—in the presence—of the Most High, my Lord, He favors me with His protection. This promise is true for those who dwell in the Lord’s presence—not just visit him. You can be clean in Jesus and not “abide” in Him. You can be saved and not have Him as Lord of your life.

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you,” Jesus told His disciples. “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:3-4a).

The promises of God are valid for those who choose to love Jesus above everything and everyone else. To experience the gift of the new life Jesus has given you, you must abide in Him. You spend time with Him. You take in God’s truth until it becomes your truth. You anticipate hearing from the Holy Spirit and you listen with expectancy. 

Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High is the same thing as setting your love upon the Lord. A loving relationship with Jesus opens the door to God’s secret place. When we remain in God’s presence and truth, we have entrance into the protection of our Most High God. The Hebrew word that is translated as “shadow” in Psalm 91:1 is “tsel.”  This same word was translated as a defense in Numbers 14:9 and Ecclesiastes 7:12. Those who unceasingly trust in the Lord will have Him come to their defense.

To abide in God means we have to abide in love (1 John 4:16). It is impossible for those who haven’t heard the Good News of Jesus’ unconditional love and grace to abide in God’s love. 

Have you heard the truth of Jesus’ unconditional love and grace in your heart? Have you made His truth your truth in your life?  Do you believe that He will abide in you if you abide in Him? That He will defend you from all evil? That no plague will come near your dwelling?

We certainly see evil befalling God’s children. We certainly see plagues coming against God’s people. But neither do we see the majority of God’s people fulfilling the requirements of this psalm and making Jesus the Lord of their lives. As impossible as this psalm seems to our human understanding, God promises complete protection from evil and plagues. But notice that evil and plagues don’t come near our “dwelling.” This whole psalm was written to those who abide under the shadow of the Most High God (Psalm 91:1, 9)—who in making Jesus Lord discover that He has become their habitation. Your habitation—your “dwelling” is where you abide in safety in Jesus. It is your “secret place” in God. It is your relationship with Him. That is where He protects you.

“The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore” (Psalm 121:7-8).

Amen.                                       

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/abiding-in-jesus.html

 

 

 

 

No Deceit in Christ

 

 

For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

—Galatians 6:3

 

         In the previous verse, Galatians 6:2, Paul gave instruction that we are to help others carry their burden. He says in today’s verse that if we think we are too important to stoop down and help others with their burdens, then we are deceived about our own importance. 

         Our self-importance—how we value ourselves—profits us nothing. None of us are anything of ourselves. None of us have any good excuse for not helping restore our fellow believers. This was one of the blatant hard-hearted sins of the Pharisees. 

         This verse in the Amplified Bible Classic Edition reads, “If any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”

         Most people are rarely deluded and deceived by someone else’s arrogance and pride. The trouble is the difficulty we have in recognizing our own. We have the power to delude and cheat ourselves or to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s estimation of our worth in Jesus. Our true sense of worth is found in Christ—in the righteousness that He alone has imparted to us. There is no deceit in Christ. So we choose to not be deceived.  We choose not to think that we are above anyone else. 

         We fulfill the Law of Christ—we reveal the true worth of His love in us—when we are not too important or too prideful to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to help others carry their burdens. Jesus had no lofty ambition. He never asked anyone about their sin before he healed them. The sin he addressed was the hard-heartedness of those who judged others harshly by the Old Testament Law instead of by the Law of His love. We are to be one-minded with Jesus. We are to love with His love without condemnation and hypocrisy. 

         “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself (Philippians 2:1-3).

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/no-deceit-in-christ.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Law of Love

 

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

 

Jesus Christ brought together all of the Old Testament Law in His commandment to love God and love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Then He gave us an even greater command. We are to love others as He has loved us (John 15:2).

 

All the law is fulfilled in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. We fulfill this commandment of Christ by loving our neighbors as ourselves (Galatians 5:14) and bearing each other’s burdens.

 

“Give me understanding, Lord, and I shall keep your law. Yes, I shall observe it with my whole heart” (Psalm 119:34). But I can never keep all of the Old Testament Law, Jesus! Only your love, Jesus, fulfills all the Law (Galatians 5:7-14). Give me spiritual understanding. What does this mean for my life?

 

Jesus’ commandment (or the spiritual revelation of it that God had given to man through His Word) was nothing new to God. But it was never clearly seen by man because of the darkness that separated him from God. 

 

However, when a man believes in Jesus, he is delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the love Jesus has purchased for him (Colossians 1:8). In the light of Jesus’ love, this darkness is removed, and the old commandment of love becomes new through the example of Jesus’s life laid down for us. Christ reveals a way to love that the world has never before experienced.

 

The love of Jesus died for us. We love others as Christ has loved us by bearing the burdens of others.  And in doing this, we fulfill His New Covenant commandment that summed up all of the Old Testament Law.

 

The word “burden” in Galatians 6:2 is translated as a “heaviness, weight, trouble” in Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon. This can be such a heavy weight that if the burdened person has no help in carrying it, he will be overwhelmed. This may be either a sin (Galatians 6:1) or a trouble in life. 

 

We fulfill Christ’s law of love when we bear one another’s burdens. Our love must go beyond just seeing others hurt to helping them carry their load. If it is within our power to lessen their pain, we should allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how we can help them overcome their sin or trouble.

 

Our human love achieves nothing. It is only the love of Jesus in us that loves without judgment and condemnation.  We choose to extend Christ’s Law of Love and act upon the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Then the person who is suffering can find Christ’s strength to overcome.

 

Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

—Romans 13:10

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/the-law-of-love.html

 

 

 

Prayer Request

I have written devotionals five days a week for 13 years in August. Even though I have spent time preparing and praying over each devotional, I need to go deeper into the Word. For the next few weeks (or however long the Holy Spirit leads me), I'm meditating on His Word and resting in His grace. There is so much I have not spiritually understood. I'm asking to receive what the Holy Spirit wishes to reveal in His Word to me. 

Thank you for your prayers. 

In His Grace,

Lynn Lacher

Your Gift in Jesus

 

 

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

—Romans 8:9 (NKJV)

 

 

Not knowing who you are in Christ is like having the best gift in the world and not bothering to unwrap it. You believed in Christ by faith (Romans 10:10), and you also have to believe in your identity in Christ by faith. Jesus is God’s gift to you, just waiting to be opened. But if you don’t learn who you are in Christ, you won’t experience the miracle He has given you.

 

When Jesus becomes your Savior, you are born of the Holy Spirit. The redeeming and all-powerful God lives in your spirit, which has been born again by the precious blood of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit. You are no longer identified to God as “flesh.” The Holy Spirit identifies you as God’s own. And He wants to reveal to you the new life that is yours in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, AMP). 

 

The flesh is only physical. It can’t give you a right standing with God. The flesh will wear you out and drain you dry. The physical eventually ends in death, but the Holy Spirit gives everlasting life. What God speaks through His Word is of the Spirit. His Words are Truth, and they are 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 6:64, NKJV).

 

You have received the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. But to know what this means, you must be changed in your mind by the renewing of God’s life-giving Word. Don’t be conformed to man’s opinion that regards what is seen and felt as Truth. Be transformed in your thinking so you believe by faith the unseen Truth God in your heart (Romans 12:2). Until you believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21), you won’t live in freedom from the curse of the law from which Jesus redeemed you (Galatians 3:13). The unseen spiritual realm that lives in you is more real than the physical realm in which you live. 

 

Do we hunger to experience the freedom of our peace with God? We already have His peace within us. The peace of God lives within your spirit just waiting to calm your mind. The promises of God are just waiting to be known and experienced. You must draw from the Truth of what is yours in Christ. The Truth of God’s Word—His promises—is appropriated by faith. His Truth is opened up and taken as your soon. Without applying faith—without choosing to believe in His Truth that you can’t see or hear or feel, you can’t draw from the well of His Truth within you. 

 

God-in-the-flesh humbled himself and came to earth, taking our disgrace and shame, unconditionally giving us His righteousness, and making us one with Him. The Gospel of Grace is not that you serve Jesus and die for Jesus. The Gospel of Grace is that Jesus served you and, taking your sin, died as you. Then He rose from death to life as you, so you can be as He is in this world (I John 4:19).

 

The Gospel of Grace is the power of God for our complete redemption—our wholeness of spirit, soul, and body—where we live in the promise of forgiveness and healing and the provision for every need.

 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

 

Do you hunger to experience the Truth of who you are in Jesus Christ? To believe what your eyes haven’t seen? His Grace destroyed the veil that separated you from God and from His Truth that sets you free from sin and all its destruction (Mark 15:38, John 8:32, Psalm 107:20).

 

You have the Spirit of Christ, and you belong to God. God no longer identifies you as “flesh.” He knows the Truth of who you are in your reborn spirit. Draw from His Truth within you that never runs dry. Feast on the life of the Word the Holy Spirit continually reveals to you.  Learn the new person you are in your spirit and believe it in your heart. Take what is yours in Christ. Walk by faith and not by sight. 

 

Jesus is your gift. Unveil Him. Unwrap your identity in Him, and take Him completely as your own. You are being changed into God’s image by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/your-gift-in-jesus.html

 

 

 

Our Hope Rests in the Lord

Psalm 131

 

 

Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.

Surely, I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

—Psalm 131

 

 

David writes in this psalm about a time in his life when he humbled himself—about a time when he deliberately chose to calm and quieten his soul.

Perhaps, David was writing about the time between being chosen to be king and actually being made king. During that time, he humbled himself and refused to retaliate in response to Saul’s persecution. Perhaps, these verses refer to the time David was fleeing from his son, Absalom. David humbled himself and said that if the Lord was through with him, that was fine.

David possessed an incredibly humble attitude about his life. God chose him to be king because He “was a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). Even when David’s life was at stake, he was determined to do God’s will. David didn’t plead with God to make something happen. He was at peace with whatever the Lord desired. 

Look at the difference between David’s attitude and the attitudes of Saul and Absalom. Saul spent most of his time as king in rebellion against God and tried to promote himself in any way he could. Absalom didn’t care about God’s will or his father. He loved himself more.

Who is the one person out of these three that God chose to be king? He chose the one with the humble heart. If you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6). 

Humbling yourself before the Lord gives you contentment no matter your circumstances. David didn’t like being persecuted but he trusted in the Lord. He knew His promise and waited on God’s timing. Trusting in the Lord and knowing we don’t have to be in control gives us peace no matter what we face in life. 

 

There are things in life that are under our control, but there are things that are under God’s control. It takes wisdom to know the difference (James 4:7).

 

A little child doesn’t care about anyone or anything else. He only wants what he wants. The more he wants something the more he demands it. But the older he grows, the more he learns to control himself. This is what David referred to when he said “he had calmed and quieted his soul.” He didn’t demand his rights like Saul or Absalom demanded theirs. He behaved and quieted himself, which was a sign of maturity. David was clearly able to control his emotions, and so should we. 

Jesus told the disciples in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled.” It is our responsibility to control our hearts, and it is also the power of the Holy Spirit that makes it possible. We can choose to “not let our hearts be troubled”—to not worry—to be content in whatever situation. This verse goes on to say, “Believe in God.” Believing in God is how we conquer our emotions. Placing our faith in Him gives us His power to deny our feelings.

Even in circumstances like they would experience, Jesus told his disciples to not let their hearts be troubled. Jesus’ statement reveals the authority we have over our emotions. Jesus would have never commanded His disciples to do something they were powerless to accomplish. No matter the circumstance of our lives, we can control our emotions.

If we let our feelings control us, it is almost impossible to later reign them in. Controlling our emotions is the very first thing to do in a crisis situation. Most battles are won or lost in the first few moments.

David humbled himself and trusted in the Lord. He placed his hope in His faithfulness. When our hope and confidence are in God, we act differently. We respond peacefully with maturity. We aren’t stressed trying to control things. We don’t take the responsibility for the outcome upon ourselves. We allow God to have responsibility. We place our faith in Him.

Our hope rests in the Lord. 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/06/our-hope-rests-in-the-lord.html

 

What You Hear in Your Heart

 

 

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

 

Hebrews 10:23 says that when we hold on to confessing God’s promise with unswerving hope, God is faithful. We must hold fast to our trust and faith in what Jesus did for us, without wavering (James 1:6-8). The reason we can remain constant in our faith is that our faith is in Jesus and not in ourselves. Jesus never changes. Our feelings always change. Jesus, who is the Word (John 1:14), never changes. He is always the same.

 

When we speak what we feel as truth, we confess what is felt by our senses. But when we speak the truth of the Word—no matter how we feel or what our circumstances—we confess the truth of the supernatural realm of God. We speak the power of God’s unseen over what is seen. 

 

The world says to be afraid. God has not given you a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) The world says you are sick and have no chance of healing. God says that by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). The world says your needs won’t be met. The Word says He supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ (Philippians 4:19). 

 

If you really believed the Word, wouldn’t you confess His truth instead of what the world says or what the enemy says about you? Wouldn’t you believe the Savior who died for you over the one who attempts to steal, kill and destroy your life?  

 

Walking by faith and not by sight is believing in the unseen truth of God over what you see or feel. The Holy Spirit guides you into all of God’s truth—into the unseen of God’s spiritual realm that fills you with every spiritual blessing (John 14:17, 16:13, Ephesians 1:3). Not knowing and spiritually understanding the Word keeps you from receiving what Christ has given you. The truth of your identity in Christ has to be known and believed over what the world or any other person says. You have the mind of Christ to understand His truth (1 Corinthians 2:16). When you allow God’s truth to renew your mind, you begin to conform to its truth (Romans 12:2). Out of the heart, flows the issues your life (Psalm 103:4). When you sow God’s Good News in your heart and protect it and nourish it, you reap its benefits (Galatians 6:7, 2 Corinthians 9:16, Mark 4:15). 

 

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV). 

 

Faith and the Word of God are interchangeable. You can’t have faith without hearing the Word, and the Word can’t be heard without it building your faith. Faith has no power without the Word. An alive faith comes by hearing the Word in your heart and not by having heard the Word in the past. 

 

Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). When you appropriate (take) by faith what Jesus has given His life for you to have, it pleases Him. And God rewards those who diligently seek Him with the revealed truth of His Word. You seek God, and you receive His Word (John 1:1, Matthew 7:8).

 

The work of Jesus is finished. It is perfect. God’s Word is settled in heaven. It is the final authority, and it is perfect (Psalm 119:89). When you take (appropriate) the report of the Lord—His Word—at its unfailing value—when you believe it by faith, you receive its unseen truth. When you confess its unseen truth, that truth arises from the abundance of what you believe in your heart (Matthew 12:34). You receive by faith, and you receive according to what you believe (Matthew 9:29). If you believe and confess what is not God’s truth, then that is what you receive. But if you believe and confess His truth, you profess the finished work of Jesus—the unseen realm—into your life. 

 

When you have so much faith in God that you have no room for doubt, then you believe the unseen promise of God in your life (Mark 11:2-24, James 1:7-8

 

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed (Isaiah 53:1, NKJV)?

 

Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you God’s Word (John 16:13). It is His good report. Be renewed by His truth again and again (Romans 12:2). What you believe is in your heart (Romans 10:10). Hear His truth in your heart. Believe it. Hold fast to it (Hebrews 10:23). Speak life to it (Proverbs 18:21). Today, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart (Hebrews 3:15). When you believe His good report, you have the power of His final Word that sets you free (John 8:32).

 

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

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