Are You Seeing What the Father Sees?

 

If you examine the various accounts of Jesus feeding the multitudes, they all share similar circumstances. Each account describes thousands of hungry people, limited resources, and a lack of faith. Yet, in every account, a few loaves of bread and fish are multiplied to feed thousands, with plenty of food left over.

 

What happened? Think about this: Jesus revealed the power of spiritual vision. The resources of bread and fish took on the nature of the One looking at them. Natural eyes saw the shortage. But spiritual eyes saw more than enough. Jesus’ vision, compassion, and faith caused the bread and fish to take on the nature of the resources He saw in the spiritual. The resources miraculously became what He saw. 

 

“But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

 

This verse indicates that we will be transformed into His image when we “see” Him. In other words, what we “see” is what we become. Proverbs 23:7 affirms this truth: “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” 

 

The things around us take on the nature of how we see them. When we “see” a lack in our hearts, our resources reflect that lack. When we see sickness, we reflect sickness. When we see problems, we reflect problems. The lack of vision defines our lives and futures.

Jesus said: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). 

 

Out of our hearts, we either bring forth what we lack or the power of God’s spiritual resources. What we see becomes what we are. What we envision in our hearts is powerful.

 

Jesus saw more than enough in the loaves and fish, and they responded to what He saw. The nature of the bread and fish had to conform to the nature of the spiritual. Through Jesus’ vision, a meal for just a few people became a meal for thousands. He chose to see His Father’s abundance, and the bread and fish adjusted to His spiritual vision. 

 

Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, likewise the Son does” (John 5:19)

 

Jesus trusted in His relationship with the Father to receive vision. What He “saw” the Father doing became the vision for what He did. This is why Jesus always had the resources and faith to meet the needs of those who came to Him. He had already seen it. The resources responded to the nature of the vision and the faith of Jesus. 

 

Isn’t Jesus’ Father also our Father? Do we not have the same Holy Spirit? Can we not also “see” the vision of the Father? Yes, we can. We were created in His image. We can see with His eyes. God’s vision is revealed in His Word. When we genuinely get His Word in our hearts, we no longer see what we lack. We see what is ours in the spiritual. There is immense power in seeing God’s spiritual resources. 

 

“But blessed are your eyes for they see,” Jesus said (Matthew 13:16). His spiritual vision blesses you. It doesn’t create a lack.

 

Do you trust in your relationship with the Father? How do you view the resources in your life—your health, ministry, work, marriage, family, and friends? They all respond to your perspective every day. Are you seeing what the Father sees?

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/are-you-seeing-what-father-sees-html

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on Healing

 

 

 

Today, I want to share some thoughts on healing. These emerged between April and December of 2000, when healing seemed unattainable. When the Holy Spirit finally brought these thoughts to life in my heart, God’s Word became engrained in me. I could not read the Word or meditate on it enough. His words on healing were my life. Even though I remained physically exhausted and emotionally spent, I began to see myself as Jesus saw me. He kept whispering I was healed. 

 

The Holy Spirit brought a change in my perspective. I realized that without this change in perspective healing would always seem just beyond reach. I began to understand that there was no need in my life that Jesus had left unfinished. The grace of Jesus had already transformed everything in my life over two thousand years ago. Before I was even born, He knew me, understood my needs, and met all of them back then. Everything I ever needed in life was secured the moment He shed His blood for me. When I was born again, I entered into the truth of all His redemption had purchased for me. There was nothing to earn. Nothing I could do would convince Him to heal me. He already had healed me. However, I struggled to grasp this. The Holy Spirit kept pressuring me that I already had my healing and urged me not to listen to the doctors, the reports, my body, or anyone’s opinions. He told me that His report was good. He told me to take my focus off my physical condition and keep it on Him. He wanted me to see myself as He described me in His Word. He told me not to turn away from my reflection in His spiritual mirror, or I would forget He had healed me. I knew He wanted to reveal Himself to me in ways beyond what I had traditionally learned. But was I open to hearing Him? I was tired of struggling, seeking, and never finding. One truth I understood was that God wanted me to be well, and I was ready to listen as I had never listened before. 

 

I learned that healing through Christ’s redemption is just as available to everyone as forgiveness and salvation are. Everything about redemption is available by faith. In my own life, I have grown to understand that faith isn't what I know about redemption. I had gained all the knowledge I could about healing, but it wasn’t working for me. I realized that knowledge isn’t faith because faith isn't mental. This is where I had been confused and discouraged. I knew the Word and “believed” with my mind, but I finally grew to understand that faith is not found in my head. Faith is of the heart. It is spiritual, and the spiritual comes to life in the heart. I needed a revelation of His healing in my heart.

 

When I heard that I would have to live with SIADTH for the rest of my life, I tried to “work up faith” in my mind for my healing. It was exhausting trying to maintain the faith that I would be healed. I was trying so hard and putting all the work on myself. And I kept hearing Jesus saying that He had already done all the work. There was nothing left for me to do. Jesus needed to convince me of healing in my heart. The Holy Spirit told me that what I saw, felt, or heard that didn’t agree with what He had to say about my healing, would keep me from it. Was I ready to give up and just trust Him? 

 

I’ve learned that I don’t need to plead to God to heal me. Healing is a matter of surrendering completely to what already exists in Jesus’s finished work. Healing is my heart made alive by His Word. It is taking all of my heart and giving myself to Jesus’s finished work of grace. I discovered that when the Word brings faith to life in my heart, His healing comes alive in me. Because the enemy comes to steal God’s healing from me, I have discovered that healing, if not maintained in my heart each and every day, will not last. Once, I had asked, "Why doesn't God heal me?" That question only revealed my lack of understanding of Jesus’s redemption or faith. I was blind, but, praise Jesus, the Holy Spirit has removed the scales from my spiritual eyes. God has already provided healing. He is not responsible for giving me what He has already provided by grace. It is my responsibility to appropriate His healing by faith.

 

I have also discovered that there are times when personal faith can heal us and other times when we need the faith of others in the body of Christ. I have learned that when I am weak in my faith, I can ask others who will stir up their faith and agree for my healing. You can see this with the four men who carried their friend on a stretcher and lowered him through the roof (Mark 2:3-12), with the centurion on behalf of his servant (Matthew 8:5-13), and with the Gentile woman on behalf of her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28). Asking people to stand with you in faith isn't about getting people to feel sorry for you in your sickness and sympathize with you in your pain. It is about finding believers who are determined to stand with you in faith for your healing—those who are stirred to see you healed no matter what. 

 

I needed to hear God speak His healing truth in my heart. He wanted me well. Have you heard Him speak in your heart? Faith comes by hearing Him in your heart. Pursue hearing God for yourself, but don’t neglect to have others truly stand with you. And if you are close to someone who is fighting for their health, see yourself as a representative of God’s healing. Let your faith be stirred up for them, and use it on their behalf.

 

There is something to say about the simple faith of a small child. They believe what a father tells them without seeing or hearing. Do you trust your Father? 

 

My friend, God wants you well. Jesus would not have shed His life blood for you if He didn’t want you well, and the Word wouldn’t say, “By His stripes, you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Oh, but it does say that you “were” healed. You were healed at that moment in God’s time when His precious blood was shed for you. Healing begins in your heart and manifests in your life when your spirit, soul, and body come into complete agreement with His Word. 

 

Don’t give up. Listen to Jesus. Don’t listen to the enemy or your symptoms. Don’t listen to all the educated opinions or to your flesh. Keep looking into the mirror of His Word, and never turn away and forget who you are (James 1:23-24). See yourself healed. As a man thinks in his “heart,” so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/thoughts-on-healing.html

 

Which Side

 

Which side of the cross do you live on? One side is death, and the other is life.

 

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1-4: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross is bondage to the law. In 2 Corinthians 3:7, Paul describes it as "the ministry of death." If you attempt to justify yourself by the law, Christ's gift of grace will not benefit you. In reality, you become obligated to keep the entire law. Anyone who stumbles in one part of the law is guilty of all (James 2:10). You will find yourself hopeless and estranged from Christ. Living under the Old Covenant law results in resignation to failure, a lack of faith in God's promises, and a falling away from His grace. 

 

If we are still under the Old Covenant with a mysterious God who gives and takes away, then why did Jesus come? Did anything change when Jesus sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2)? What is the "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17)? What happens when we are born again and freed from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13)? What does it mean to be one Spirit with the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17)?  

 

On the cross, Jesus' love finished what only He could finish. The law brought a curse, and Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). The law justifies no one in the sight of God—those whom Christ has justified live by faith and not by the law (Galatians 3:11). 

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross partially reveals God's love. It hid the fullness of His love until Jesus unveiled it. The New Covenant side of the cross is full of Christ's revelation of God's love.

 

"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" (Matthew 13:16-17).

 

The prophets and righteous men of the past, like Job, did not experience what we see and hear. In Christ, God is revealed to us. We have heard the Gospel that liberates us from the law of sin and death and places us under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). 

 

"To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

 

This verse says God wants to reveal "the riches of the glory of this mystery." Since it is God's will to uncover the hidden mystery, it is no longer a mystery—it is unsealed. God wants to reveal the riches of the hope of His glory in you. This unveiling is more than just a surface understanding. We need to seek the fullness of His revelation.

 

Christ, the hope of glory is in you. Doesn't this truth make the words of Jesus and the revelation of Paul much more critical than the partial revelation of the prophets and righteous men of the past who longed to know what we know? They couldn't see the "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) and being "seated with Him in heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:20). They didn't fully understand the "gift of righteousness" (Romans 5:17) and the "spirit of faith" (2 Corinthians 4:13). They were unaware that all of God's promises are "yes" and "amen" (2 Corinthians 1:20). Their experience with God was limited by sin. Our experience with Him is a gift of His grace.  

 

"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:56-57). The law gives power to sin, but Jesus' finished work of grace gives us victory. 

 

Which side of the cross do you live on? Does the old still dictate your life, or does Christ fulfill the old in you? Is He your new life? Are you His new creation? You are to stand fast in the liberty you have received in Him. He is no longer veiled to you, but you must seek the revelation of the fullness of His grace you have received (John 1:16).

 

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18-19: "Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 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."

 

The Old Covenant side of the cross will never transform you: Only the New Covenant revelation of His unconditional love and grace will.

 

"But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25).

 

Which side of the cross commands your life?

 

The Exceeding Grace of God in You

 

Convincing someone with a religious mindset that God desires them to succeed and walk in peace and joy can be challenging. For some, religion has stolen the life-giving message of the Good News and replaced it with pessimism and fatalism. When discussing God’s grace and abundance, someone will always rise up to defend their hardships and troubles.  

 

I understand persecution for our faith, but I struggle to comprehend those who justify the suffering caused by illness, hopelessness, depression, insufficiency, and persistent failure. This is not Paul’s “full blessing of the gospel" in Romans 15:29.

 

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

 

2 Corinthians 9:8 is about giving, but I want to examine what “grace” means in this verse. “Always having all sufficiency in all things" to have “an abundance for every good work” sounds wonderful. It doesn’t sound like a life of sickness, depression, and insufficiency. God can make “all grace abound toward you.”

 

“For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

 

What should your life look like if you receive the “abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness?” Should you be reigning, overcoming, and victorious in Jesus or resigned to sickness, hopelessness, defeat, and failure?

 

“And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14).  

 

Grace abounds with faith and love. The Greek word “huperpleonazo,” from which “exceeding abundant” is translated, appears only once in the New Testament. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines it as “to be exceedingly abundant, to overflow, and to possess in excess.” The grace of Jesus extended to Paul was overflowing in excess. Therefore, alongside faith and love, Paul received God’s grace abundantly. 

 

God doesn’t just extend mercy to save us from the rightful consequences of our actions; He also offers faith, enabling us to embrace His immense love for us and all the benefits that love brings. 

 

*******

 

Lord, help me to put aside any religious mindset that keeps me from embracing your love and all its benefits. Help me to see your pressed down, shaken together, running over, exceedingly abundantly more than I can ask or think grace. You have given me everything I need to reign in this life. I choose who you say I am, Jesus, and believe in the potential of the new creation I am in you. I receive your overflowing sufficiency—your healing, peace, and joy by faith. Praise you for your abundant grace for me today, tomorrow, and forever! The hardships that rise are nothing in you! Thank you, Jesus! Your favor is for life.

 

In Your wonderful Name,

Amen

 

  

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/the-exceeding-grace-of-god-in-you.html

 

God’s Favor

 

Some synonyms for favor are esteem, kindness, courtesy, indulgence, approval, support, sympathy, and forbearance. God’s favor is His unconditional love and grace He has bestowed on us. His favor is a gift we can never earn but freely receive through faith and obedience. 

 

God’s favor opens doors. His favor provides for, protects, and upholds those who find it. Do you experience God’s favor in your life?  

 

“For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield” (Psalms 5:12).

 

Walking in God’s righteousness protects you. No evil that comes against you shall succeed; you will condemn it. His righteousness is your inheritance in Christ (Isaiah 54:17). Trusting in God’s righteousness as yours in Christ brings assurance and security. When you align and agree with Jesus’s assessment of you, His favor protects and sustains you.

 

“Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:3-4).

 

These verses state that those who demonstrate mercy and uphold truth find favor with God and man. Many believers seek God’s favor yet fail to extend mercy to others or embrace God’s truth. Extending mercy and compassion while walking in truth and righteousness releases God’s favor. 

 

“He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil” (Proverbs 11:27).

 

Those who seek to do good to others will have favor with them. Those who seek to do evil will get what they give to others. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Condemn evil, and sew good. Seeking good finds favor.

 

“Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard” (Proverbs 13:15).

 

The unfaithful think that the way of the righteous is hard, but the truth is that their way is hard. It is more beneficial to us to follow the Lord than to go our own way. Having a good understanding of God’s ways increases His favor.

 

God’s blessing is upon His children, yet many remove themselves from His favor and blessings. They live as they desire and make decisions that forgo His favor. They try to accomplish what only God can do. God’s favor can achieve more in a minute than our human efforts can achieve in years. 

 

God has blessed you with His love. He has given you Jesus and desires you to experience His favor and blessings. What is in your heart? Do you anticipate His favor? Walk in His righteousness, seek goodness, show mercy, uphold truth, and gain understanding. Agree with His Word. Then, speak God’s favor in your life. When you speak from the abundance of His good treasure in your heart, His favor will be revealed in your life (Matthew 6:45).

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/gods-favor.html

 

A Vital Part of Faith

 

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

—Colossians 2:6-7

 

One of the ways we abound in faith is with thanksgiving. With thanksgiving, we “thrive, “flourish," and “prosper” in our faith. If we are not praising God, we are not abounding in faith. That does not mean that faith is not in us. It just means our faith is not growing and thriving. It is not abounding and complete. We are not using the faith that is ours. But when we begin to live our lives in a God-like, biblical faith, praise will become a primary part of our lives. 

 

It is hard to imagine a person with a thriving faith void of thanksgiving. If there is something he believes for, the moment it becomes real, there is some praise. Don’t we express praise when we receive something we are praying and believing for? Some may become very emotional and shout. Others may express their praise in a more restrained way. But there will be some response of praise. It is impossible to imagine faith without some form of praise. If you are praying for someone to be saved—if you are praying for someone to get right with the Lord, when they do, there will always be some expression of praise. 

 

Consider this. Instead of waiting to praise the Lord after we receive what we pray for, we can act on Scriptures like Colossians 2:6-7. By continually praising God, we build up our faith and make it complete. We can abound and thrive in our faith before we receive what we have prayed and believed for. We can increase our faith by praising God the moment we realize our problem or need.

 

Many believers try to believe God for something but do not include praise. Some believers say they are struggling but also say they are believing God and standing in faith. They remain discouraged and pessimistic. They say they believe with everything they have, but they lack praise. And without praise, they cannot be abounding in faith. Praise indicates whether we are living a God-like biblical faith or just hoping and trying to believe.

 

It can be hard to draw a definitive line between believing in faith and not. We can even deceive ourselves into thinking we are standing in faith, but in our hearts, we have fear that is hard for us to acknowledge. However, there is one proof that we are standing in faith. It is praise. Praise will always be there when we walk in God’s kind of faith. If there is no thanksgiving, we are not abounding in faith.

 

Praise will reveal whether we believe God or not. If we do not praise God or our praise is limited, then our faith is limited. When we abound in praise—praising God as if it were already done—we know we are thriving in our faith. It is just a matter of time before we receive our promise.

 

Praise is a vital part of faith.                         

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/a-vital-part-of-faith.html

What Do You See and Hear?

 

 

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

—1 Corinthians 1:9

 

 

What is fellowship?  Some synonyms for fellowship are communion, agreement, oneness, understanding, solidarity, unity, and companionship. All of these terms describe an intimate relationship.

 

We have not been called to religion or rules; instead, we have been called to fellowship with Jesus. He now lives in us and desires an intimate relationship with us.

 

God is faithful. However, many Christians question why God doesn’t act on their behalf, yet they often have little or no fellowship with Him. Not even Jesus could accomplish anything without fellowship with the Father.

 

In John 5:19, Jesus said to those who challenged Him:

 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” 

 

Jesus could see and do only what the Father could. If Jesus’ ministry was confined to what He “saw” from the Father, why do we believe we can do better? Jesus could only act upon what He observed while in fellowship with the Father. 

 

In John 14:10, Jesus said to Philip: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” 

 

Jesus needed to “see” and “hear” the Father to minister with power and healing. Our questions are answered when we agree with the Father. Many question God but fail to realize that their lack of fellowship with Him hinders them from receiving answers. 

 

We dedicate time to what we value. Jesus spent much time in prayer and fellowship with the Father. If we wish to receive His answers and experience His power, shouldn’t we prioritize and pursue His words and vision? 

 

Jesus has revealed the Father, giving Him to you as your own. The Father is faithful to the fellowship you share with Him through Jesus. When you pursue His words and vision, you will find them. You will come into unity with Him. And when you agree with Him, your understanding will transform into His. 

 

“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me,” Jesus told Philip 

in John 14:11. 

 

What do you see and hear from the Father? That is what you will have faith for.

Bless the Lord

 

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 

—Psalm 34:1

 

 

Most Christians don’t know what the word “bless” means when they see it in the Bible. It has evolved into a religious term that gives little thought to its meaning. Many repeat “bless the Lord” until it becomes a habit. They think that by repeating it, they are blessing God. 

 

When Scripture instructs us to bless the Lord, it doesn’t require us to simply recite words. Instead, expressing our love for God and praising and worshiping Him from our hearts truly blesses Him. This idea is radical for many because it doesn’t involve any form of service. We crave acceptance, so we often serve to receive love. However, this is not how it works with God; He desires our hearts. 

 

Humans are so works-oriented that we feel we must do something for God to please Him. We think that if we aren’t doing something for God, we aren’t worth anything to Him. We believe our worth to God becomes proportional to how much we can do for Him. This idea gives the impression that God loves us only for what we can do, and if we aren’t doing anything for Him, He certainly won’t love us.

 

Many people have a deep sense of obligation to earn God’s love. They feel they must “do" things to prove their love for Him. The emphasis is then on what they can do for Him, rather than on building a relationship with Him. Our service does not equate to direct intimacy with God. The purpose of praise is for us to minister to God, and this should be our priority. When we come to God only with our problems, the first thing we often do is stop praising Him. 

 

Don’t we love to hear others express their love for us? God is blessed by the personal expression of our love for Him. Serving God is an outward expression of our love for God, but it is not an inward expression. We don’t need to “serve” God in worship. God didn’t give us His Son just to serve Him. God wishes to communicate with you, His new creation, in spirit and truth. 

 

God doesn’t bless us, so we will bless Him in return. If there is ever an example of unselfish love, it is God. When I bless my children with something, I do it because I love them. I don’t demand their love in return. However, I would love for them to reciprocate that love and show me their appreciation. God feels the same way. That’s how we are made, created in God’s image. Our desire to give love and to receive love reflects the likeness of God’s image. This divine attribute captures the heart of God.

 

If you believe that all the Lord wants from you is your service, He would love for you to continually take the time to “be” with Him and “bless” Him. Spend time with the Lord because that is the desire of His heart. You are the desire of His heart. Let Him be the desire of yours.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/bless-lord.html

 

 

Tired of Skimming the Surface?

 

Have we been just skimming the surface of learning about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit has endless wisdom and knowledge waiting to be disclosed. When Jesus lived on this earth, the Holy Spirit taught and led Him. As a believer, the same power that taught and led Jesus now lives inside you.

 

The night before Jesus was to die, He assured His disciples: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).

 

What could be any better than having Jesus physically present with us? The answer is the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Other words for “indwelling” are ingrained, entrenched, intrinsic, inherent, and deep-rooted. These terms imply a deeply personal connection. The Holy Spirit is ingrained in us, and His primary purpose is to reveal Jesus to us.

 

When Jesus was in His physical body, His followers could only interact with Him in one place at a time. Consequently, He wasn’t entirely available for each one all the time. During His earthly ministry, the disciples constantly missed the truth of who Jesus was because their natural minds dominated them (1 Corinthians 2:14). It was to the disciples’ advantage for Jesus to go to the Father. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus now indwells each of us and will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). 

 

In John 14:26, Jesus reveals one of the fundamental functions of the Holy Spirit.

 

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

 

Now, we can know Jesus more intimately and with greater understanding through the Holy Spirit’s revelation of Him. As believers, we have the mind of Christ that can understand the mind of the Lord (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Holy Spirit brings the Word of God to life and supernaturally helps us understand and grasp truth. The more time we spend entrenched and deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, the more He will remind us of the words God has spoken in Scripture and the things He has placed in our hearts. 

 

The Holy Spirit teaches us “all” things and brings “all” things to our remembrance that Jesus has spoken to us. Everything that Jesus says will be brought back to us. This ability is available to all who have received the Holy Spirit, but it must be taken hold of by faith. There is no reason for a believer to say they can’t remember the Word of God or the truths it teaches.

 

Two of the most significant differences between Old and New Testament believers are the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the quickened understanding the Holy Spirit gives. Four times Jesus mentioned the Holy Spirit as the source of God’s revelation (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-11; and 16:13-15). There is no revelation knowledge apart from the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13-15).

 

What a tremendous promise! The Holy Spirit will guide us into all understanding of God’s truth and reveal things to come. Listening to and receiving this ministry of the Holy Spirit will change our lives. We will avoid unnecessary mistakes and seize opportunities we would otherwise miss.

 

Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17-20:

 

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”

 

You cannot have a revelation of something that doesn’t already exist. The Greek word “apokalupsis,” translated as “revelation” in Ephesians 1:17, means “disclosure,” which means “to take off the cover” (Strong’s Concordance). Paul wasn’t praying for the Lord to give us anything new. He prayed that we receive a revelation of what is already ours in Jesus Christ.

 

The Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance all the Word has said. He will take the cover off of Jesus. Without the revelation of who Jesus is by the Holy Spirit, you lack knowledge of Him who gave life to you. Without the Holy Spirit, you don’t know the hope of His calling or the riches of your inheritance, and you lack understanding of the exceeding greatness of His power toward you when you believe. 

 

Victory in the Christian life comes from walking closely with God. It comes with understanding the truths of who Jesus is in your life. It comes from the Holy Spirit teaching you and bringing you remembrance of everything He has revealed. It comes through revelation knowledge that helps you avoid mistakes and not miss what the Lord wishes for you. Victory comes through dependence on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

 

God sent Jesus, the Word, to you to heal and deliver you from your destruction (Psalms 107:20). Are you tired of “skimming the surface” in your understanding of the Word? Your life is powerless without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to life and empowers the joy of your salvation. Ask Him to reveal Jesus to you, and persistently believe what He shows. You will begin to experience spiritual peace and joy through the generous outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:12).

 

“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).

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/tired-of-skimming-surface.html

 

Eternal Life Now

 

If you have had your sins forgiven but have not entered into an intimate relationship with God, you are overlooking what eternal life is all about. God created us to be eternal. The soul of man never dies. Everyone will live forever in heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46). 

 

In John 5:11-13, John wrote: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 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.”

 

Eternal life is not just about living forever with God in eternity; it is a quality of life in our relationship with God the Father through Jesus, His Son, in the present. God has given us eternal life through His Son; if we know the Son, we have that life. Those who don’t know Jesus are not experiencing the abundant life God intended (John 10:10). Regardless of how brilliant, capable, talented, or wealthy someone may be, without Jesus, life lacks a purpose that gives fulfillment. We don’t have to wait until we go to heaven to experience His abundant life. We have the witness within us that we are the children of God (1 John 5:10). 

 

In John 17:3, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all believers who were to come: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

 

Eternal life is a present reality. The word “know” is the same term used in Genesis 4:1, which states that Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “Know” is a term used in the Old Testament to describe a man and woman coming together in physical intimacy. When Jesus prayed, “This is life eternal, that they might know You,” he expressed that eternal life is an intimate and personal relationship with God. This relationship is what Jesus came to purchase for us. God didn’t come to save us because He was sorry for us. He loved us so much that He died to take away our sins so we could “know” Him and enter into an intimate and personal relationship with Him.

 

Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God in the Garden, but they gave it away to Satan. Jesus restored this perfect relationship to us. When God created this world, it was ideal—heaven on earth. However, Jesus did not restore an ideal world. He returned the authority God had given us in the Garden. We are responsible for our lives and the condition of this world.

 

Your perspective changes when you start to look at eternal life as something you have now. You spiritually see what Jesus has restored. If you look physically at this world, you do not see heaven on earth. But if you look spiritually through the eternal life Jesus has restored to you, you see what God sees. You see what this world can physically be when He is Lord of all. And you are His agent to bring it about. One day, you will go to heaven, leaving behind the results of Adam and Eve’s sin. But for now, you have a personal, intimate relationship with your Savior. You know that even though this world is not your home, heaven will be one day. Jesus has restored what was yours in the beginning. He has given you eternal life to live in this fallen creation Adam and Eve destroyed. 

 

Eternal life now is the abundant life Jesus has given you. It is His restored authority to reign in this life over the enemy. Eternal life is His life in you that dispels the darkness of His once-perfect creation. You are responsible for your life and caring for God’s creation. You are His light in this world. It is God’s will for this earth to be as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Is He illuminating your soul? Are you reigning in life over the defeated deceiver? Are you shining Christ's abundant life, dispelling the darkness of this sinful world?

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2025/02/eternal-life-now.html