His Highest Passion

Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

—Romans 5:7-9 (NLT)

Jesus gave his highest for me. Most people would not even die for a good person, but Jesus chose me, an unworthy sinner, to make worthy by His grace. The gift of His righteous life for mine made me worthy of God’s love and acceptance. There is nothing more Jesus could have given me. His passionate grace declared me clean and healed. Jesus held nothing back. He bore my sinful nature to the Cross so I could be saved from it. Up to the moment He died from the horrible physical torture on the Cross, His passion for me cost Him something more—the pain of spiritual separation from His Father. Even though His love cost me nothing, His amazing grace moves me to love as He loves me.

How do I respond to His passion for me? Do I love as passionately as He loves me? Does His forgiveness consume me until it flows without judgment? Does His unconditional love inspire the same in me?  His blood has made me right in the eyes of God, and He saves me from condemnation. There is no condemnation in Him—no guilt—no debt—no penance. I am free in His unselfish love. When I love with His grace, I live His passion for me. I pass His freedom on to others. But when I hold back grace—that unconditional love of Jesus—I hold others in bondage. 

If I hold back His love, it is because I have not allowed His grace to transform me. I have not understood what His life purchased for me. When I hold back, I do not understand that there is no condemnation in Him. When I feel condemned, I pass along that condemnation. But when I KNOW I am free from guilt and sin because of Jesus, I choose His grace. I forgive because He gives me the ability to forgive.  I love because He gives me the ability to love. His passion that yearns for my passion is fulfilled in me. 

What about you?  Have you surrendered to His passion for you? There is nothing more He could have given you. When He looks at you, He sees you through the eyes of grace. Abandon who you are, and see Him unveiled in His love for you. Know that He has given you all of Himself so you can be free and in return free others. Hold nothing back. Surrender costs you but gains all that Jesus has given. He gave His highest for you. Allow Him to live His highest in you.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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Draw Close

Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3, NIV)

What is your hurry?  What draws you away from intimacy with Him? This verse in Jeremiah reveals a great promise. God has something for you. If you rush into your day without being in His presence, you will miss something He wishes to share with you. 

When you draw close to Him, you realize how close He has always been to you. Your Father has much truth to reveal to you. He continually shares His heart, but when you are too busy worrying or fixing, you are too consumed with yourself to hear. Your Father is the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God. He is the creator of the universe. You come to your  God who knows you better than you know yourself. But most of all, you come to your Father, who loves you completely and without hesitation. He gives himself to you because you are precious to Him. You come to your Father, who is everywhere at the same time, and yet He is there for you.

He answers you with great things you do not know—great truths that have the power to change your life. You receive powerfully and completely from His bountiful grace. Some truths will take your breath away. Others you may not understand just yet, but you believe by faith, and you trust by faith. You trust because you know How much He loves you. Because you trust your Father, you have peace in what He shows you. You rest in Him because you believe Him. You never struggle with anything He reveals because you know He only has the best for you. You have inner peace and joy.

Is this your relationship with Him?  When you surrender your worries—your pre-conceived notions—your control—your feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness, you realize just how precious you are to Him. You hear His heart. Everything in you believes that you are His.

Draw close to Him.  He always draws close to you.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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In His Power

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, NLT).

What an encouraging promise! When I wait on the Lord, He renews my strength with His power. Even when I am weary, He raises me to soar like an eagle—to walk in His peace and not faint at whatever is before me.  I get into all kinds of trouble when I try to move my own mountains. Nothing lasting is accomplished in my strength. In fact, I can make a real mess of a situation if I do not wait on Him. His timing is perfect. His thoughts and ways are accurate. Waiting on the Lord is an essential part of spiritual growth. Patience is a quality that builds a stronger faith.

Anytime I strive for something without the Lord’s guidance and power, one of two things can happen. I will fail or succeed. I either create chaos in what I attempt, or I build something that brings glory to myself instead of God. Chaos brings failure and frustration. Building something that brings glory to me is self-righteous. Either way, I move further away from the Lord. He does not walk away from me. I lose intimacy with my Savior, who has never left or forsaken me.

If I rely on Lord for His strength and guidance, I receive anointing to move in His power—or to wait in His power. I stand with every spiritual muscle within me, ready to spring into action when He says, "Now.” I am an instrument to be shaped by the Holy Spirit instead of molding myself on the potter's wheel.

When I spend time with Him—allowing Him to reveal Himself to me—I know His heart, and that knowledge molds me.  No running ahead of Him—no walking behind—He is the power living within me that steers my life. Whether I move forward or wait on Him, it is in His purpose and power. Whatever He asks, I do with all my spirit, mind, and body. Where He leads, I follow. I wait expectantly, or I move without hesitation. I respond as He calls. Running, I do not grow weary. Walking, I do not faint. And I am lifted continually—like on wings of eagles—to bask in the intimacy of His presence. There I am renewed and empowered—again and again.

To know Him as I am known. That is His indescribable gift to me.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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Let Go

Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think

—Romans 12:2a (NLT)

In the book, The Shack, by William Young, Mack stands on the end of a dock with Jesus and stares at the surface of the lake. Jesus asks Mack to take his hand and step off, but Mack can't let go of the safety of the dock. 

“Why do I have so much fear in my life?” Mack asks Jesus.

Jesus' answer cuts to the core of Mack’s issue. “Because you don't believe. You don't know that I love you. The person who lives by his fear will not find freedom in my love.” 

Many Christians live in fear and don’t experience freedom in the love of Jesus. They live in bondage to guilt and shame from which Jesus died to free them. Are you one of these? When you don't believe in the righteousness Jesus purchased for you, you struggle to pay for the guilt that is not yours. Your thinking gets stuck in defeat instead of knowing you are victorious. It is time to understand what the gift of grace has given you—a redeemed life in Jesus. Know who you are in Him! Jesus has given you His righteousness. He sees you clean and without sin. It is time for your belief in your identity to be changed by the power of His Resurrection. 

Only the Holy Spirit can renew you in the spirit of your mind. Only He can transform the way you think and the way you perceive. The new life Jesus gave you when you were saved becomes real in your mind when the Spirit changes it. Your mind is where you believe by faith. You will live who you think you are. If you believe you are still living in debt because of sin, you will live without freedom and in bondage to your old life. You will strive and fail. You will burn out. But when God transforms your mind, the new life you received at Calvary, is joyful and real. There is peace only He gives. There is no guilt. You have nothing to prove. There is contentment because you believe who Jesus says you are. Jesus has given you a new commandment—to love as He has loved you. This commandment encompasses the grace of Jesus, which held nothing back. When His love transforms your mind, you perceive with the mind of Christ, and you believe all things are possible. You also hold nothing back.

Are you tired of the old treadmill of never feeling you will make it? You have already made it in Jesus. He gave you His life to secure it. Are you now ready to step off your dock with Jesus?  He hasn’t given you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. 

 “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think,” Paul wrote. Let go of the fear. Let go of shame. Believe the waters of the Holy Spirit wash away lies that have claimed your mind. Let go. Quit fighting. Step off your dock. Find freedom in His love.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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The Way of Faith

Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

—Galatians 3:23-24 (NLT)

The law of the Old Testament was our guardian before the way of faith was revealed to us. The word “guardian” has some interesting synonyms—warden, custodian, keeper. We were placed under guard by the law. It kept us in line, but it did not make our hearts right with God. The law never changed our character—from the inside out. It protected us by keeping us in obedience. It was our guardian until Christ came. And now Christ has come! The way of faith has been revealed by Jesus. The gift of His righteous life for our sinful one has made our hearts pure. Only Jesus has made us right with God. The law never could. 

We cannot make ourselves perfect by obeying the law, and we cannot add one thing to Christ’s perfectly finished work on the Cross. He perfects us from the inside out. We count His righteousness as ours. We are not kept in line anymore by the law. The way of faith has come. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth and faith convicts us. Faith leads us where the law never could—right into Holy of Holies to worship God in Spirit and Truth.

Jesus Christ—the way of faith—removed the veil that separated us from God. He removed the condemnation of sin. He removed guilt and shame. He purified us with His precious blood. The debt for sin that the law exposed, was paid by Jesus. Grace replaced judgment. Life replaced death. 

“All of us who have had that veil removed,” wrote Paul, “can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT).

The Spirit gives new life to us. The letter of the law never can. The Grace of Jesus sets us free to love as He loves—to forgive as He forgives. The Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more like Him. He changes us from the inside out. The law does not change us. Only Jesus.

If we will take our minds off the “do’s and don’ts” and place them where they belong—on Jesus—we will experience the freedom of His Grace. When we know who we are in Him—what His finished work has done—we know that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

Jesus has no need of the law to approve the gift of His life for ours. His blood already has. Grace makes more of the gift of His righteousness over sin. But Grace never makes light of sin. After all, Jesus paid the price for it. Grace just makes more of Jesus. Does this news seem too good to be true? Well, it is true. It is the Gospel of Jesus—the way of truth—that sets us free to soar.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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For Someone

Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

—Psalm 37:7 (NLT)

Quiet, child. I know your situation before you speak one word to me. I haven’t led you into something that won’t come to pass. Your circumstance may seem like a wasteland right now, but let me assure you it isn’t. This promise is just as real as when I first declared it. Don’t get frustrated by what you don’t see happening. Trust me. I’m working. Just because you don’t see it or feel it doesn’t mean I won’t act when my time is right.

Be still in my presence. Rest in me. Don’t try to move me or take control. Let go. Quit trying to fix what I’m doing. It hinders. Just because you can’t experience what I’m doing right at this moment doesn’t mean it isn’t real. My promise is very real. Each step you can’t see is also very real. Wait patiently for my timing. Don’t run ahead of what I alone accomplish.

Listen to my heart. Not your own. I guide you with my counsel and lead you. Now take delight in my life for yours. I’m giving you your heart’s desire. You will see through my eyes when you let go and believe. Dwell in me. Commit your thoughts to me. Trust me. I remain the strength of your heart. I am yours—forever. And that is your greatest promise.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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Rejoice

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

—Philippians 4:4 (NIV)

Life, although full of God’s promise, is often hard. God is not the author of evil. He is love. We have been given the free gift of choice—to believe or not believe in Him—to accept the gift of His grace or accept the world’s agenda. You are a believer who lives in a world that deals with the result of sin and the havoc of the enemy. But you are God’s child who does not face defeat. Your victory has already been won on the Cross. 

God is still Lord no matter what you face. His promises are real for you as His child, but you cannot realize His promises until the revealed Word grounds your thought life. There will be storms in life, but no matter the storm the Lord already has provision for your promise. That storm does not determine who you are. Jesus tells you who you are. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You have already overcome because He has already overcome. Launch into the fury in faith. He has given you victory in whatever you face. He will handle it with the same amazing grace that saved you.

“Brothers and sisters,” Paul wrote, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (Philippians 4:8, NIV). 

You launch into the storm in faith when you think on God's good things. Dwell on what you know the Lord says is true. Think about what encourages and offers hope. Your storm can teach you something life-changing. It has the power to reveal something incredible. Give power to the positive in Jesus’ grace! Don’t dwell on the negative and give power to the enemy’s intent!

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice,” Paul also wrote, “and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9, NIV).

Put your faith into practice.  When you believed in Jesus by faith, you were reborn with His mind—with His nature. But you must put on this new nature and practice it to be transformed in the way you think. When you allow the Holy Spirit to change your perception to His perception, fear fades. You see possibilities instead of lies of the enemy. You praise Him for His faithfulness. You walk by faith and not by sight. You trust and believe. Peace reigns.

God is in the midst of your storm. He is the fourth man in your fire and the strength that holds you high above the battle. Jesus is your living water that quenches your thirst. He is your victory over the lies of the enemy or desertion by those who do not understand. Live as a victor and not a loser. Never forget that He has overcome the world! You belong to Him.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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Grace Grows

Lord, I am new in your grace. The person I was before I believed in you is gone. The person I am now rose with you to live a new life free from guilt and shame. I'm free of who I was, but sometimes I just don't feel it. I feel burdened with remembrances of my failures—with feelings that I can never be good enough for you. My mind sometimes spins, trying to figure out what one more thing I can do to please you.

Child, there is nothing more for you to do to please me! I loved you enough to give my life for you. You are accepted, and nothing can separate you from my love. The moment you believed in me, your sin washed away. It is gone—forever. You received my innocent life—my righteousness. I have accomplished the work for you to be free of sin’s debt. There is no longer any penalty. I see you through the love I died to give you. There is nothing you can do to fix your life. I fix it.

Since the moment I gave you my guiltless life, each day is a spiritual journey to convince you of the fact that you are free of guilt. That is why I had Peter tell you, "Don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. WITHOUT THESE QUALITIES YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT’S RIGHT BEFORE YOU, OBLIVIOUS THAT YOUR OLD SINFUL LIFE HAS BEEN WIPED OFF THE BOOKS" (2 Peter 1:5-9, MSG).

Child, did you hear what I had Peter say?  Without spiritual growth that results in greater faith, you will be oblivious to the fact that your sinful life is gone. You will still live in debt when you have none. You will keep trying to pay for something you don’t owe. Surrender your struggle. Quit concentrating on you and think about me. Grow in your knowledge of what I accomplished on the Cross for you. Allow me to build understanding in your mind of who you are now. Yield to my Spirit. 

The night before I died, I told my disciples, "When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions” (John 16:21-23, MSG)!

Child, your new life in me wipes out the memory of the pain! I don't condemn you with memories of sin, child! I convince you daily of my righteousness in you. That is spiritual growth in me!  When you understand who you are in me, you walk in the freedom that I imparted to you the moment you believed by faith in me. You have joy NO one can rob from you. Not you or the enemy can steal my joy when you know who you are in my love and grace.

My grace nurtures your understanding! Grow in it! Be changed by the revelation of the Word. Give my Spirit access to your mind to convince you of who you are in me. Allow me to persuade you of your true identity. With these qualities Peter wrote about spiritually coming alive in you, each day will reward you as you mature. You will be more sensitive to my Spirit. You will no longer have questions that create fear and rob you of my peace. You will have my joy that NO ONE can take from you! 

I want you convinced in the spirit of your mind who you are in my love. I yearn for you to have a revelation of what my grace has given you. When you look at my work on Calvary through my eyes, you will see. Come. Allow me to teach you. Believe. Just believe.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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His Creation

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

—James 1:18-19 (NLT)

The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies reveal His craftmanship. But out of all His creation, we are God’s prized possession. He fashioned us in His image and created us to know Him. The Word existed with God, and in Jesus, became flesh like us, but unlike us, He was without sin. God chose to birth His life in us through the gift of His Son’s life for our sins. When we believe by faith in Jesus, His righteousness is gifted to us. Then we are no longer just one of His creations. God claims us as His children. He is our Father. We are prized and loved by Him—heirs to all of His promises.

Have we experienced the glory of Jesus, who came from the Father full of grace and truth? We say we believe, but do we? If we did, wouldn't we live in His freedom unhindered by fear? Wouldn’t we be free in His grace to experience forgiveness without retribution—to receive peace without hesitation—to know joy without a doubt? Perhaps we don’t realize the fullness of the miracle Jesus has given us.

Just as God is three-in-one, so are you. You are spirit, mind (soul), and body (flesh). The righteousness of Jesus now owns your spirit because that is where you were born again. You didn't partially receive Jesus when you were born again. You fully received all of His new life. When you are renewed in your mind by His Spirit, you are transformed by His righteousness. You believe and belief shapes who you are. When you believe in what you have received, your perception changes from yours to God's. You see with His eyes. You behold God in all of His beauty and wonder. You experience the freedom and joy of His love. You experience the fact that God sent His Word in His Son, Jesus, and healed you in spirit, mind (soul), and body (flesh). You believe that you have received the promises of your Father. Your body (flesh) lives out what your mind believes. 

Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and guide them into all truth. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a divine revelation of what Jesus has done for you. He has taken your sins from you and given you His righteousness. You are forgiven. You can go freely to your Father and rest in His presence. The Word became flesh in Jesus, and that Word was fulfilled in Jesus. Every sin was taken to the Cross, and you have risen with Jesus in righteousness. Jesus said on the Cross that His work was finished. There was nothing more to be done. God sent His Word and healed you in spirit, mind, and body. 

Do you struggle with who you are in Jesus? When you don’t understand fully what Jesus has done for you, you will have fear. Peace will come and go. Don't struggle! The love of your Father never changes. He is the same as He was yesterday, and He will be the same in the future. God is not the author of evil. Whatever is good and perfect in our lives is His gift. Jesus came into the world to save it—not to condemn it. There is no condemnation in Him. God is redeeming love full of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

“May God himself,” Paul wrote, “the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NIV).

In Jesus, you are God’s most magnificent creation. Let Him reveal it to you and transform your understanding.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher
Picture by Karen Wilson Photography

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Jesus Gives Fruit

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

 —John 15:5 (NIV).

Jesus opened the door to all the resources of His Father when you believed by faith in Him. You received His power. But for His resources—that power—to be real to you, faith needs to be exercised. When you surrender yourself, you become a conduit of what He has given. You allow the Holy Spirit to have control. No matter how weak or how unaccomplished you feel, when you allow God to work through you, then what you do is powerful. You need to remember this during days when you feel you slide back two steps after climbing one. No day is a failure when you have surrendered it to God. His use of you is real, even when you don't feel it. 

Jesus is the vine, and you are the branch. He remains in you. He can't take away the finished work of His grace. However, you can put Jesus on the back burner and move away from the life-giving flow of His Spirit. And if you don’t remain in Him, your intimacy is shattered. Your ability to draw from His resources is gone.  BUT… if you remain in Him, the vault to His resources is never locked. It is wide open. He promises that you will bear fruit. 

The fruit is NOT yours to produce. It is His fruit produced by His life in your life. You are only the branch that carries the life of the vine to the fruit. You can't bear fruit without the Holy Spirit flowing through you. If you desire His life to empower yours, surrender self, and stay connected to His resources. If you remain in Him, the Holy Spirit won’t fail to flow through your life into the lives of others. You bear fruit only because of Him.

God never leaves you. Self, however, often gets in the way and blocks your awareness of His presence. Do you realize that when you hold onto control, you are holding on to self? That is like telling the Lord that you are the vine instead of the branch. Self—your control—can kill fruit in your life. When you feel the need to prove you are worthy, you try to get rid of feelings of unworthiness by maintaining control. 

Think of Peter telling the Lord he wasn’t worthy to have his feet washed. What appeared as humility in Peter was actually pride caused by feelings of his unworthiness. Peter was trying to hold onto the last vestige of himself by saying he wasn’t worthy, and the Lord was asking for His total surrender. In surrender, you realize that Jesus has made you worthy. You have nothing to prove. You are gracefully broken by the Holy Spirit to receive the life-giving flow of the vine.

Do you hunger to be a vessel of His love and His power?  Surrender your struggle to prove that you are worthy. Surrender self and live in the awareness that Jesus has made you righteous. His grace has made you worthy. Remain in Him as He remains in you. When self is out of the way, the Holy Spirit flows―unhindered by human limitation. If you yield to Him every day, then you remain a vessel of all that He is. The power of the Cross—His grace—flows through you so that others receive what you alone can never give―His love, His peace, His joy. Jesus gives fruit.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

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