As God Has Loved Us

 

 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

—I John 4:7-11

 

 

God so loved the world that He acted out of His love. He sent His Son to die for the world so whoever believed in Him could be saved (John 3:16). If we believe in the atonement of Jesus for our sins, we have received the compassionate love of God. When we love others in deed and in truth, we know that we have received God’s agape love (1 John 3:18-19). Our actions toward others will match the agape love God has for us.

 

There are many characteristics of God, but the real nature of God is love. God is “agape” love. Agape means “wide open, especially with surprise or wonder” (www.languages.oup.com). God’s love is wide open for us. It surprises us because we know we don’t deserve it. It amazes us because there is no work we must do in order to receive it. We only have to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. The Gospel sounds almost too good to be true. But it is true. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8).

 

Love isn’t only a feeling. It’s an action. And love isn’t just an action. Love is a person. God expressed His love toward us by giving His Beloved Son as complete payment for our sins so we could partake in His life. When we receive the agape love of God, it calls for our response. God’s kind of love is expressed in our actions toward others. 

 

Loving others is conditional on us knowing God. If we have a poor relationship with someone else, it indicates that our relationship with the Lord is also poor. And when our relationship with the Lord is poor, we love others out of our selfishness. Our human love isn’t the agape love of God. God’s kind of love seeks the welfare of others even if there is no feeling of love toward them. Everyone who acts in God’s love must be born of God and know Him because God’s love only comes from Him. Every other kind of love is just a cut-rate imitation. 

 

Our love for God isn’t the greatest example of love because we don’t have a reason not to love God. He has been incredibly unselfish in His love toward us. God’s love for us is the greatest example of love. We haven’t done anything to deserve it. On the contrary, we have done many things that deserve God’s judgment. 

 

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

 

God in His love for us revealed His true nature.

 

^“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:11).

 

When you receive Christ as your Savior, you are part of God’s Beloved (Ephesians 1:4-6). You have received the love of God. If God loved you when you didn’t deserve it, then you should love others who don’t deserve your love.

 

You have received the forgiveness and unconditional love of God you didn’t deserve. So “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

 

 

 

Again I Say Rejoice!

“These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said, “that in Me you may have peace. In the world you, will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33   The world experiences joy and peace in direct proportion to its circumstances. Bad circumstances create depression and sadness, while good circumstances create joy and peace. Being dependent on our circumstances to give us joy and peace is being in bondage to our emotions. As Christians, we don’t have to let our circumstances and feelings determine our joy. We can determine to be of good cheer! Christ has overcome the world. Our joy is not dependent on what is happening in our lives, but rather on Jesus Christ. He is our peace and joy.    The way to receive the benefit of our peace and joy in Christ is to have our minds and hearts focused on things above and not on things of this world. The unseen things of God are eternal while our visible problems on earth are only momentary. The problems in our lives fade in comparison to the glory that is ours through Jesus.   “Rejoice in the Lord always,” Paul wrote. “Again I will say, rejoice (Philippians 4:4)!”   We can choose to rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoicing is an action that comes out of our trust in God. It is not a reaction to our problems. Joy is a gift that was given to us at salvation. God’s joy is constant and doesn’t fade away. We are the ones who aren’t constant and fade away when circumstances are hard. The Lord has put His joy in us. We are commanded to “rejoice in the Lord.” When we choose to obey this command in Scripture—to rejoice in the Lord—we draw out the joy that is ours in Christ.   Many Christians don’t experience real joy because their joy is determined by their circumstances. They are waiting to rejoice when things in their lives are going well. But it is very seldom that everything goes well. “Rejoicing in the Lord always” means we are to rejoice continually in who the Lord is and what He has done for us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes (Hebrews 13:8), and His mercy and compassion for us are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).   Joy comes from knowing who we are in the Lord. His joy is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Happiness is a state of well-being that is dependent on how our circumstances make us feel. We may not always be happy, but we can always rejoice. We can rejoice regardless of what’s happening to us. The reason many Christians don’t rejoice always is because they don’t realize that they already have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We have joy, but we must choose to rejoice.   Rejoicing in the Lord is not a suggestion or a request from Paul. It is a command from the Holy Spirit. Those who don’t follow this command are breaking the Word of God just as much as those who don’t follow God’s moral law. It is our choice to do as we are instructed. And it is all for our benefit! It is the best choice for is! Rejoicing in the Lord gets our minds off our circumstances and on God’s faithful love for us.    Paul’s command to “rejoice in the Lord always” makes it clear that we have to take authority over our emotions.  If we were unable to control our emotional reactions to our circumstances, the Lord would never give us a command that is impossible to keep. The Lord would be unfair and unjust to give us an impossible command and then hold us accountable for it (Deuteronomy 28:47-48).  But our God is not unjust, and He only commands us to choose what He knows we are capable of doing. To rejoice in Him always encourages our faith.   Praise God, we have the power to control our emotions! Our circumstances don’t have to control our feelings. We can rejoice in the Lord!  Again and again! Jesus has given us peace and joy. He has overcome all of our circumstances. We are at peace with God in the righteousness that is ours in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).   The Word instructs you to rejoice in the Lord always! And then it reminds you that “rejoicing always” is critical. “Again, I say rejoice!”    Your circumstances will never give you lasting peace and joy. You have the joy of the Lord that the Holy Spirit reveals in the Word. Isn’t it time to know in your heart who you are in Christ and what He has given you?   “Your words were found, Lord, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).       © 2023 Lynn Lacher www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/again-i-say-rejoice.html

The Purpose of Parables

Matthew 10:13-17

 

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

 

Jesus spoke in parables because those who didn’t know Him could not understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus told the disciples they were blessed to understand what those who had human knowledge could not see, hear, or understand. Those who didn’t know Him had spiritual eyes that were closed and spiritual ears that were hard of hearing. If they would see with their spiritual eyes and hear with their spiritual ears, they would understand with their hearts so He could heal them.

 

Jesus is speaking to us. If we know Him, we can understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven hidden from the world (1 Corinthians 2:3-8, Ephesians 1:8-9, Ephesians 3:3-5). But it is impossible to rationalize what the Holy Spirit reveals to us with our human understanding. It is foolishness to the natural mind. We can only understand the truth of God’s Word with the spiritual mind that is ours in Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).

 

What we believe in our hearts is who we are (Proverbs 23:7). If we believe anything that comes against the spiritual truth that the Holy Spirit reveals in God’s Word, then what we believe is a lie on which we have based our lives. 

 

Is the Holy Spirit showing you something you have not thought about? Does it challenge what you believe?  Will you pray about what is challenging you and test it in context and with other Scripture? If what you believe is a lie, you don’t want it to define your life. If what you believe is God’s truth, then it will strengthen your faith. You want the spiritual understanding of God’s truth to be the basis of your life. But you can’t judge God’s truth with your natural mind. You can only understand God’s truth spiritually in your heart (Romans 10:10).

 

It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s truth to us that we can judge if what we believe is based on a lie or on His truth. If we believe in God’s truth, it will reinforce and strengthen us. The truth of His Word will be seen in our lives. If what we believe is not based on His truth, the lies of the enemy will control us. 

 

When God’s truth uproots a lie we believe, we need to realize that any change doesn’t happen quickly. It is a process to renew our minds with God's truth until what we believe in our hearts conforms us to His image (Ephesians 4:23, Romans 12:2).

 

God’s truth is the final authority in our lives. But it makes no difference if we don’t spiritually understand it. His truth only becomes our truth when we choose to believe it by faith—when we take possession of it and nourish it in our hearts.

 

No matter how much head knowledge you have, it is not the spiritual truth of God’s Word that takes root in your heart. Never be hard of hearing or not open to seeing. Never have a dull heart.

 

“For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance.” The Holy Spirit has an abundance of spiritual understanding for you to receive in your heart. 

 

Your identity in Christ is not hidden from you. It is hidden from the world for you (1 Corinthians 2:3-8). But you must ask and seek to find. Ask to spiritually receive God’s truth in your heart. Seek in the Word who you are in Christ. Hearing, you will hear. Seeing you will perceive. And He will one day heal what you have doubted in your heart. 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/the-purpose-of-parables.html

 

 

 

 

 

The Plans in Your Heart

 

 

The preparations of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the spirits.

Commit your works to the Lord,

And your thoughts will be established.

—Proverbs 16:1-3

 

 

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

 

We are not competent to direct our own lives. The Lord created us so that we would need Him to guide us in the best direction. He gave us the freedom to choose the way to go in life (Deuteronomy 30:19). But when left to our own reasoning, we will think everything is alright. We will think nothing is wrong with our sin. However, when what is wrong is exposed by the truth of God’s Word, our foolishness becomes obvious. It is crucial that we constantly renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word for our thoughts and our plans to be established (Romans 12:2).

 

Proverbs 16:3 speaks of our thoughts being “established.” Proverbs 16:1 speaks of our hearts being “prepared.” We prepare our hearts to receive God’s truth when we are renewed in our thoughts by the Word. We conform to His Word when His truth is established in our hearts. 

 

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2).

 

Only the Lord can correctly evaluate and weigh our lives. We can’t correctly assess our plans. This is why we must have God’s input. This is why we need the Word of God to teach us the way to go. 

 

Strong’s Concordance says that “works” in Hebrew means “an action [good or bad]; generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity; by implication, a product [specifically, a poem] or [generally] property.” 

 

When we turn our lives and our “works” over to the Lord, what we do for Him becomes His property—not ours. When we surrender ourselves to Him, our thoughts will be established, and His good plans will be confirmed. 

 

Solomon’s wisdom reveals what will happen when we subject all our “works”—all of our actions, plans, and activities to the evaluation of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will weed out what is wrong. He will reveal what needs to be removed. And what is left will be established. 

 

God looks on the heart. He sees what we can never see. Have the plans in your heart been examined by the Holy Spirit? Have you chosen to let go of those things that are your “works” instead of His? 

 

Never rush to prove your plans. With a humble heart, submit them to God. Seek His heart. The Holy Spirit will examine your heart and reveal the motives behind your plans. He will convict you as to what is His and what is yours. When His plans are your plans, your works are His works. You have committed them to Him. They will succeed (Proverbs 16:3). You will “prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV).

 

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/the-plans-in-your-heart.html

 

 

  

 

You Can Expect Persecution

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. — John 15:19

We should not think it is strange to be persecuted. We can expect it when we live for Jesus.   “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12.)   We can rejoice in any persecution we receive when we live for Jesus (Colossians 1:24). The Lord will be with us. When we stand before Him one day, He will reward us.   Persecution is an indication that those persecuting you are under conviction. When they realize they are not living what your words or actions are advocating, they become defensive. They believe that you are the source of their conviction. If you understand this, their anger becomes much easier to handle. They are not just mad at you. They are under conviction. When the Gospel is shared in the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be either revival or rebellion, but not indifference.   When we are persecuted, Satan will try to convince us that the strife is all our fault. He will try to convince us that we are wasting our time, that the rejection is too much, and that we will lose those we love. If the enemy succeeds and we give up, the pressure is off those who desperately need the love of Jesus. Jesus suffered continual rejection and persecution. Yet, we know that the problem was not with Him. The problem was with those who rejected Him. Jesus said to forgive them. They didn’t know what they were doing.   Jesus makes it clear that persecution is an inevitable part of living a godly life. If our Savior, who had no sin, was rejected, then certainly we will be rejected, too. We don’t need to over-analyze any rejection. Don’t feel guilty or condemned when persecution comes. The Word of God strips people of the masks that they have hidden behind. It exposes sin in the heart that only the grace of Jesus cleanses. The Word will either stir faith in hearts to believe in the saving grace of Jesus, or it will stir anger because you had the boldness to share the truth of God’s love.   How will they know Jesus if they haven’t heard? You have the truth of His Word to share, and you have His life that is your testimony to His faithfulness. You can expect persecution for His sake, but it will not crush you. You have the grace of Jesus to love them. Rejection will not stop you. Persecution will not stop you. Jesus is the answer.   Jesus loved us so much that He gave Himself so we should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us with the undeserved gift of His life (John 3:16-17).    Your life is a message of His love! Don’t let persecution discourage you! Live and share the love of His grace!     www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/you-can-expect-persecution.html

 

 

The Vision of Your Hope

 

 

 

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13, NKJV).

 

 

Hope is having a positive mindset. It is envisioning what God has promised you in His Word. Hope engages your senses and captures your thoughts to believe God’s promise (2 Corinthians 10:5). Hope brings to life in your mind a picture of the vision God has given you. 

 

God is the God of vision. Without God’s vision, we perish (Proverbs 29:18). The Holy Spirit wants to fill you with all joy, peace, and faith in believing His promise. Exercising your faith produces a vision—a mental picture—of His promise. This verse says that it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this. You cannot do this on your own human effort (John 6:63). Those who have little hope limit the Holy Spirit’s ability to renew them in the spirit of their mind with the truth of God’s promises.

 

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life”

(Proverbs 13:12).

 

Since this proverb is true, we need to be sure our hopes are from God and are realistic. If they aren’t, we are setting ourselves up to have a “sick heart.” We are setting ourselves up for disappointment and questioning if God loves us. We need to be sure the hopes we have are godly. When godly hopes are realized, they become a tree of life. We need hope and the life it brings when we realize those hopes. But we need to guard against the sickness that comes to our hearts by false hopes that are never realized.

 

Romans 15:13 speaks specifically of acting out of your faith. Faith is a noun. Believe is a verb. Believing is faith in action. When you envision and believe in the godly hope that is yours in Christ, your faith is alive. Your faith is operating in the way God designed it. Remember James clearly said that faith without works is dead (James 2:20). For your faith to be put into practice, joy and peace are present in your life. A person without joy and peace can have faith, but if they don’t believe, their faith lies dormant. 

 

Faith is the substance of the things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). Romans 15:13 says you are to abound in hope. Hope is a distinct trait of those who believe in God. If you believe what God promises you in His Word, hope, joy, and peace have precedence in your life. Doubt may come against you, but the Holy Spirit has given you the power to hope and envision God’s promise. You are not like people without God who are vain in what they imagine and envision (Romans 1:21). You have hope to imagine and envision the promise God has shown in His Word. Your hope abounds when you exercise your faith to believe your promise. When you believe what God says in His Word, you are filled with His joy and peace. 

 

Faith is your evidence of God’s promise (Hebrews 11:1). You can trust the faith Christ has given you. You can live by it (Galatians 2:20, KJV). 

 

What has God promised you? What do you hope for? If it is for your health, God promises you will prosper in health just as your soul prospers and is renewed by the Word (3 John 2, Romans 12:2). When your mind is continually renewed by the Word, your mind dwells on God’s promise of health. You have hope. And when you plant His Word by faith in your heart, you believe. When you believe in God’s promise of health, you have joy and peace concerning your future. Your old life has been crucified with Christ, and putting on your new life, you believe.

 

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, KJV).

 

Have hope. Exercise the measure of faith you received from God (Romans 12:3). Envision the promise God has given you. His Word is Spirit, and it is Life (John 6:63). Live by the faith Christ has given you. The promises of God are yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/the-vision-of-your-hope.html

 

 

 

 

Faith and Good Works

 

Why did Jesus tell the rich young ruler that the way to have eternal life was to keep the commandments? There are many Scriptures that make it clear that no one can be justified in the sight of God by keeping the commandments (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 3:20, 10:3-13, 11:6, Galatians 2:16, 3:1-3, 7:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7). Jesus knew this man could not justify himself by keeping the commandments. However, this young ruler didn’t know that he couldn’t. He thought there was some good thing he could do to purchase eternal life for himself (Matthew 19:16).

 

God’s commandments (the Law) were never given for the purpose of being able to save us. Their purpose was to reveal to mankind his sinfulness and his inability to save himself (Romans 3:20 and 7:13). The Law was perfectly good and man was not. Man would give up at some point in despair attempting to justify himself and finally trust in a Savior (Galatians 3:21-25). I think that this was what Jesus used the commandments for in speaking with this man. Jesus knew His death on the cross was the only thing that would accomplish eternal life for this man. This rich young ruler either needed to keep the Law perfectly or he needed a Savior.  Perhaps, Jesus was trying to reveal to this rich young ruler the futility of trusting in His own ability to keep the Law.

 

Just as faith in the finished work of Christ gives us eternal life, works complete the Christian life. Faith without works is dead. Consequently, works without faith are dead. There are two kinds of works. One work is born of our faith in Christ, and the other work is born of a need to win God’s love and approval. One way is with the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit, and the other is with our own strength. The first surrenders to the righteousness of Christ. The second works to prove its own righteousness. 

 

We can only come to God on Christ’s work for us. Our works are not the way to God. Jesus is the only way and the truth and the life. If we feel unsure of God’s love for us, we will try to work to win it. When we believe God loves and accepts us as His own, we will work out of the joy of our salvation. We will not strive to win God’s love.

 

Some people work for God striving for His acceptance, hoping if they please Him that He will forgive or heal or bless them. They strive to feel His love because they believe they have to win it. “If I do this for God,’” they say, “He will love me more.” 

 

Jesus gave the greatest love that loved us more. There was no more love He could have given. Knowing that God loved us first is crucial to receiving His love. It is God’s love revealed in Jesus that saved us. It is God’s love revealed in Jesus that purchased our right to have a loving relationship with God. If you believe God loved you first before you ever loved Him, you are free to receive His love. You know His love and acceptance. You know your worth to God is not based on anything you do but on the righteousness of His Son.

 

Only the love of Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law (Romans 13:8-9). His love is summed up in one commandment. Jesus commands us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40.). When we believe in our hearts that God loved us first before we ever loved Him, we can love with Jesus’ love. We can love those who don’t love us. We can love with His love because we are assured of our standing in Christ. The love of God calls for our response. When we allow Him to love through us, His love cannot be contained. What we do for others is born of the Holy Spirit in us. 

 

The Law that Jesus told the young ruler he must keep to receive eternal life was fulfilled in Jesus' perfect love on the cross. God’s Law is not waiting to be fulfilled in Christ’s love. It was fulfilled in Christ. We can be saved in Jesus and not know His love fulfilled in us. As we learn who we are in Christ, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind. When we choose to put on the new man created by Jesus in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24), good works are born out of our faith and trust in God instead of ourselves.

 

There are many Scriptures that say faith in what Jesus did for us is what saves us. But James also says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:14-26). Good works are the evidence that we have been justified by faith. The faith that saved us will result in good works through the power of the Holy Spirit. But we have to say yes. Stewardship is our response to the love of God. If there are no corresponding works to our faith, then it is not the saving faith God has given us in Christ. 

 

Jesus knew that this rich young ruler could never attain righteousness by keeping the Law. Jesus knew eternal life would only come through His finished work on the cross. 

 

 “I do not set aside the grace of God,” Paul said, “for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21). 

 

If righteousness comes through what I do for Jesus, then His death was in vain. And His death was not in vain.

 

Lord Jesus, I want the love you have for me to be realized in my life. Continually fill me and teach me who I am in your perfect work of grace. Let nothing be about me. Let my work for you never rest on me. I surrender to you. Let it be you alive in me.

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/faith-and-good-works.html

 

 

  

His Promises

 

 

 

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)

 

 

A promise is a vow that someone will do what they say. In 2 Corinthians 1:20, Paul makes a clear statement that God does what He says. The promises of God are assured because the Word says God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18). If God were to break His Word, this world would self-destruct. This world is only held together by the power of God’s Word (Hebrews 1:3).

 

God’s Word is absolutely trustworthy. His promises are true and faithful (Hebrews 10:23). He doesn’t say something in His Word and then means something different. When God makes a promise in His Word, He is faithful to do it. 

 

David wrote in the Psalms that God magnifies His Word above His own name.

 

“I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name” (Psalms 138:2, NKJV).

 

The name of the Lord is all-powerful. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). If God’s name is the name above all names and His Word is magnified above His name, this gives us great assurance that the Word of God is absolutely true and the promises He has made are guaranteed (Psalms 19:7-13). 

 

We believe in God’s Word. We should never judge God’s integrity and the validity of His Word.

 

In 2 Corinthians 1:20, Paul spoke about the faithfulness of God’s promises because he had told the Corinthians he was coming back to see them and he hadn’t yet returned. Paul didn’t want them to believe he didn’t keep his word. If the validity of Paul’s personal word was questionable, then what he had shared with them about Christ would also be questionable. Paul told the Corinthians that his word was as good as the Gospel he had preached to them. He didn’t want them to judge the validity of the Gospel he shared.

 

We honor God when we believe His Word. We honor God when we believe in the truth of His Word and allow its integrity and validity to transform us. Then we can live the truth of His Word, and the faith God has given us makes a difference in our actions and reactions (Romans 12:2-3).

 

The faith God has given us is the substance of what He has promised. It is evidence of what we haven’t seen (Hebrews 11:1). Without faith, we cannot please God (Hebrews 1:6). With faith, we please God and envision His promises fulfilled. We believe He is trustworthy so we believe what He promises is trustworthy. 

 

Praise you, Lord, for your Word and for your promises! They are yes and amen, and they are ours. Open our spiritual eyes and ears and understanding. Holy Spirit, teach us to believe and take ownership of who we are in your grace. We trust in your promises. We trust in your Word.  

 

It is through the knowledge of your Word, that we learn everything that pertains to life and godliness.  It is through the knowledge of you, Lord, that we believe your exceedingly great and precious promises. Through these promises, we may be partakers in your righteousness—having escaped the corruption for which this world lusts (2 Peter 1:2-4).

 

Your promises in God are “yes and amen.”   

 

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2023/10/his-promises.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Priceless Perfect Peace of God

 

 

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

—Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

 

Nothing is constant in life. You may feel peace when life is good and experience fear when life is uncertain and hard. But you don’t have to live by what you feel. Fear doesn’t have to control you. 

 

Jesus gave you peace with God through His blood which was shed for you (Colossians 1:19-20). As a born-again believer, you have become God’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). His peace is yours (John 14:27). You are at peace with God in Jesus. Your standing with God is perfect peace. His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). He has overcome fear’s power to control you (John 16:33). He has overcome your roller-coaster ride of feelings. 

 

For you to know God’s peace, you have to believe that God’s peace is yours. You have to trust God above anything else. To trust Him, you must believe in the infinite value of His love for you and the costly value you are to Him. He paid His life for you. He will hold you safely in His perfect peace when your mind is on Him. He will keep you in His perfect peace when your mind has been renewed by His Word. You will be transformed to believe the peace He has given you (Romans 12:2).

 

The only constant that will keep you in God’s perfect peace is to know the truths of His love for you. God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). You have the power to believe that the One who died for you certainly takes care of you and your concerns. You have the mind of Christ that lives by faith and not by feelings (1 Corinthians 2:16). But if you don’t believe the truths that the Word reveals, you will not experience His peace. When you are at peace in your relationship with God, you believe in the infinite value He has placed on your life. When life is difficult, you have no reason to doubt Him. 

 

 

Never trust your feelings. They will betray you. They always change. Trust God and the unchanging truth of His Word. His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). God asks you to look beyond what you feel—what your natural mind says is true—and believe what He says is true.

 

You receive faith by hearing the Word of God and being renewed in the spirit of your mind (Romans 10:17, Ephesians 4:23). Faith requires you to trust in the truth of God's Word beyond what you experience or feel. When you allow the Word to teach you what is true instead of letting your feelings tell you what is true, you are renewed by God’s truth. The Word transforms the way you think (Romans 12:2), and you begin to trust God’s Word rather than how you feel.  When you continually focus your mind on the truth of what God says instead of what you feel, you experience the power of His faith over your feelings. Your feelings will eventually be controlled by His truth. 

 

“Finally, brethren, 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, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8-9, NKJV). 

 

God guards your mind and keeps you in perfect peace when your thoughts are on Him instead of what is happening or what might happen in your life. Don’t dwell on personal problems you have or might have. Your natural mind will run havoc with feelings of fear. Dwell on things that are true and just and pure and noble and of good report. Being spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).

 

Do you believe in your value to God? He didn’t pay for you with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.  It was the precious blood of His Son, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18-19). His blood never loses the value of its power.

 

You were costly to Him. You are priceless to Him. And He has given you His priceless peace. You choose to make His peace your own. You choose to exercise your faith and trust in the priceless and precious blood of Jesus. And when He is your truth, your way, and your life, you trust Him. Your mind stays upon His truth and you believe it in your heart.

 

Your world is always changing. You will never find peace in this world, and you will always have feelings come up that try to steal your peace in Christ.  You may go through things that are beyond your control, but when you know that Jesus has overcome the world, His peace guards your heart and mind.

 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

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