As You Think You Are

As he thinks within himself, so he is.

—Proverbs 23:7a, NASB

         The way you think determines your feelings. You can have can a positive attitude that gives an optimistic view on life, or you can have a negative one that keeps you buried under a pile of emotional rubble. If you want a life flowing with joyful abundance―one that spills over with spontaneous faith—you decide every day to have a positive attitude. You choose to “take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you” (Ephesians 4:24, MSG).

         Being renewed from the inside out is essential to living a joyful and victorious life. "Brothers and sisters," Paul declared, "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). If you keep your mind focused on God's truth―on whatever is uplifting and joyful, the way you think will change. Allowing the Holy Spirit to develop your character takes time and perseverance.

         Only you decide whether you listen to the encouragement of the Holy Spirit or the negativity of the enemy. “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 10:5b, NIV). It is impossible to stop the fiery darts that the enemy aims at your thought life, but you can choose not to think negative thoughts. The Holy Spirit gives you His power to bring them under control, but you must exercise His power. When you daily focus your mind on Jesus, and not upon every possible scenario, you experience His peace in the most difficult of circumstances.

          There is no way you can control circumstances, but you can learn to control what happens in your mind as a result. When you learn to take your negative thoughts captive, you change the way you think. Not only are you able to say, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, NIV), but you believe without any doubt that you have His strength. Living a life transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, you have a positive and joyful attitude.

         When you allow the Word to reveal the truth of your identity in Jesus, you have His power to act upon that truth and not let your feelings determine your thought process. Your feelings fall into line with His Word, and you rethink who you are. When you consciously practice positive thinking, negative thoughts fall by the wayside. Dr. Timothy Jennings writes, “As we exercise healthy neural circuits, these circuits develop, strengthen, and expand. Conversely, the brain prunes unhealthy circuits when we leave them idle.”  Let those negative thoughts alone. Leave them idle. Your brain prunes away what is unhealthy.

         When you surrender control and allow the Holy Spirit to change your attitude from the inside out, you learn your identity in Christ. You think differently, so you feel differently. You believe. You trust. With faith, you can tell any mountain which has claimed your mind to move. His peace, which is above any human reasoning, will guard your thoughts. You will see your life filled with infinite possibilities. His joy will be your strength, and you will stand firm in the face of lies. You will rest in His Grace, believing that the life He gave for you on Calvary has made you a new person—entirely recreated by His power.

         Jesus is the fulcrum—the pivot point to the greatest exchange of positive instead of negative. You are new in Jesus with the power to choose positive thoughts and to defeat lies that spring up in your mind. Put on your new nature. Believe who Jesus says you are. Be renewed in the way you think from the inside out. Then the person that Jesus knows you are will be the person you know—the person who was worth His life.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/as-you-think-you-are.html

Sanctified by His Spirit

May God himself, 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. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

—1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

Just as God is three-in-one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so am I. I am spirit, soul (mind), and body. My spirit is where I was born again by His Spirit. My soul is what some might call my personality. It is my mind where my attitudes are determined. What I believe affects how I feel. If I believe something fearful, I have fear. If I believe God’s truth, I have His peace. What I think in my mind affects my physical health. Either I believe who He says I am in my born-again spirit, or I believe what I feel in my mind. 

My born-again spirit is where Jesus has completely changed me. His grace saves me. He has given me His righteous nature and taken my sinful one. I have been thoroughly altered and set free from the power of sin. 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, NJKV). Together the soul and body make up the flesh. Those two are separate from my born-again spirit, where the Holy Spirit communicates with me. My born-again spirit needs to impact my mind to bring about change. When I am sanctified—in my mind—by what I have received in my spirit, God's truth changes my mind and the way I think. God, himself, sanctifies me through and through with the reality of who I am in Jesus. I come to believe the change He has wrought in my spirit.

My spirit is the outlet for the power of God. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead " (James 2:26, NKJV). The life-giving part of me is the spirit. The soul (mind) is where I “flesh out” what my spirit has received. When I was born-again, I became new by His Spirit. But without His Spirit impacting and renewing my mind, that newness of life makes little difference. I remain unchanged. So without the spirit making a difference, whatever work I do for Him has no life.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV). I cannot feel spiritual truth. The only way to understand spiritual truth is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. If I want to understand what Jesus has given me in my born-again spirit, I go to God's Word. I can't go by what I feel.

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23, 24, NKJV). The Word of God is like a mirror I look into to see who I am n Jesus. The Word reveals who I am in my born-again spirit. And when the Word has transformed my mind, I believe I am the person Jesus reveals. In the mirror of the Word, I see who I am in Him. And I don’t forget. I am changed.

The Word of God is a perfect reflection of what spiritual truth is. The Word gives me an accurate representation of my spiritual self, and it is the only way to see who God says I am. I want to be renewed in my mind by my born-again spirit instead of believing what my natural mind says. I want the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to determine my emotions and what I think.

When I choose to draw nearer to God, He is closer to me. My soul draws near to whom Jesus says I am. I believe the truth of His Word in my mind—in my soul. I am changed and renewed by His Spirit. Then what has been birthed by His Spirit within my spirit, changes my mind—my attitudes—my perception—what I believe becomes who He says I am. The Lord, who called me by His Spirit, is faithful to do the work in me. I am sanctified through and through by His power.

Whom do I see in me in the mirror of my soul—Jesus in my born-again spirit or the lies of my flesh? Who directs my life? The new life of my spirit or the flesh? Who directs yours?

“So all of us who have had that veil removed 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 veil is gone. The Holy Spirit convinces you (in your mind) of the miraculous change He has made in your spirit. And as you come to believe in His new life more and more, you are sanctified through and through. He, who calls you to new life, is faithful. He does the work in you.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/sanctified-by-his-spirit.html

An Attitude of Grace

My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

—1 Peter 5:12b (NLT)

Peter is writing in this verse to believers who are living as foreigners in lands other than their own. He reassures them that the hardships they experience are genuinely a part of God's grace. They are not to give up, but to stand firm. His purpose in writing is to encourage and assure them that anything they experience is usable for God's good purpose. It is my purpose in writing, too—to encourage you that life will not defeat you if you keep an attitude of grace. God is love. He does not cause bad things in life, but, if you allow, He uses whatever you go through to grow you spiritually. When you believe in His love for you—no matter your experience—His grace changes your attitude from defeat to victory.

Do you feel that you, like the recipients of Peter’s message, are living in a foreign land?  Well, you are. This world is not our permanent home,” the writer to the Hebrews imparts. “We are looking forward to a home yet to come” (Hebrews 13:14, NLT). We anticipate the time one day when we shall live with Him, but for now, we live in a land where others often misunderstand us. "The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it," John writes, "but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of it” (John 5:19a, NLT). 

Yes, we are different than the world, but until we are called home, we live in it. We don’t allow that difference to keep us from loving with the grace of Jesus. The world doesn’t look further than its selfishness, but God does. His grace changes us from a world view of survival of the fittest to God’s unselfish love for humanity. His grace sets us free to share unconditional love.

Filled with the love of Calvary, you don’t strive to reach others. His love flowing in your life reaches them without judgment. You might not accept their actions, but you love despite them. You become less so that Jesus can be more in you. Living a life filled with the love of Jesus means spiritual life to someone else. His grace is the power to not only continually transform you but also to change someone else. Anything you experience—whether a blessing or a trial—is an opportunity for Jesus to love through you with the grace and truth of His Word.

“Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us,” the writer to the Hebrews advises. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a, NLT). 

Never forget that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love and are called by Him.  Don’t give up. Let Jesus strengthen you and love through you with His grace. Keep your eyes on Him, and allow Him to mold your life. Run your race with diligence. God will cheer you on until the end, and you will inspire others to run this life of grace with you.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/an-attitude-of-grace.html

His Joy Your Joy

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

—Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

Do you find joy in knowing Jesus Christ? This verse says to “take delight in the Lord.”  When you take something, you possess it. You own it. Joy is yours in Jesus. The Holy Spirit calls for you to take it—to own the joy Jesus has given you. Jesus didn’t give His life for you to strive in shame and live in fear. He wants you to possess what He has possessed for you. Righteousness in Him. Freedom in Him. Peace in Him. Rest in Him. To own any of these you understand the value Jesus has imparted to them—you grasp the change they bring—you believe by faith beyond any doubt that they are yours. And when you believe, you have joy. 

“Always be full of joy in the Lord,” Paul wrote. “I say it again—rejoice” (Philippians 4:4, NLT). Paul reminds the Philippians that when they choose to rejoice in the joy Jesus has given them, they shall be full of joy in Him. Your attitude determines the value of His gift. If you choose to believe and praise Him for His righteousness—His freedom—His peace—His rest, then they are yours. When you take delight in them, they are real to you. When you believe in your heart—when you take on the new identity He has purchased for you, you own that identity. You possess it. You take delight in the joy of your salvation.

Jesus knows your heart’s desires. He placed His own within you the moment you were born again. He fulfilled them in the spiritual realm the moment you believed in Him. For you to understand what this means for you, the Holy Spirit changes your perception in the spirit of your mind. He renews your thoughts. He transforms your understanding from the natural realm to the spiritual. You no longer believe what the natural says is true. You believe what can’t be seen, heard, or felt. Evidence is the reality of what is not seen. In the spiritual, His truth exists. It becomes real in the natural when you believe in what you have received.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10, NLT)! You own joy from a position of strength. Joy is yours when you know the worth and value He has placed on your life. And when you know your value, you can “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” (Ephesians 6:10, NLT). 

Allow the value of righteousness Jesus placed on your life to change your perception of who you are. Be transformed by that truth. Take joy in the change He has brought. You are His heart’s desire, and He is yours.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/his-joy-your-joy.html

No More Sinai

I was breathing, but not alive—

All my failures I tried to hide;

It was my tomb

'Til I met You.

You called my name;

Then I ran out of that grave—

Out of the darkness

Into Your glorious day.

—Kristian Stanfill

After miraculously calling down the fire on Mt. Carmel and killing the prophets of Baal, Elijah hid from Jezebel. Ahab had informed Jezebel of what had happened, and she angrily sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them” (1 Kings 19:2, NLT). 

On the mountain, Elijah had been powerful in the Lord, but on hearing this threat, he ran away and wandered in the desert toward Mount Sinai, the mountain where God had given the law to Moses. An angel of the Lord gave Elijah enough sustenance to travel forty days and forty nights to Sinai. There he found a cave and hid.  How often have you been strong in the Lord one moment and weak the next because of fear? 

Symbolically, fear is what Mount Sinai reveals. The law had no power to heal the weakness of man—only to expose man's sin. For forty days and nights, Elijah wandered toward this mountain to seek refuge there. And when he got there, did he find safety?  No.

“‘Go out and stand before me on the mountain,’ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave” (1 Kings 19:11-13, NLT).

The Lord was in none of the occurrences on Mount Sinai of wind, earthquake, and fire. He was in the gentle whisper that came. That whisper drew the frightened Elijah. And the Lord asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  

Elijah did not have what Jesus has done on the Cross for you. The Grace of Jesus has changed everything. You don’t need to hide in your own Mt. Sinai cave in fear of anything. You no longer go to Mount Sinai. You go to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. You were once breathing, but not alive. Your failures? You tried to hide. You once hid in fear, but unlike Elijah, you ran out of that cave. You didn’t cover your face at the entrance. You stood unmasked, in God’s presence, fulfilled by the Grace of Jesus. That cave of fear was your tomb until Jesus called your name. And you ran out of the darkness into His glorious day! 

Is this true for you? Are you hiding? The gentle voice of the Holy Spirit asks, “What are you doing here?” He draws you from your hiding place to understand what the Grace of Jesus has given you. When you believe the change Jesus has made in your life, you do not need to fear. Mount Zion has no place for you to hide! You no longer need to hide! Grace has unmasked you. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people. There is no condemnation in Him. 

Do you long to experience the freedom of Mount Zion? Learn what the Grace of Jesus has done for you. Learn your identity in Christ. You don’t need to live in fear of failure and hide in your self-constructed cave. Sin is no longer your master. You no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s Grace. Run out of that grave. Mount Sinai is no more.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/no-more-sinai.html

Thrive with Jesus

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

—Ephesians 2:4-5; Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

I am alive with Jesus because of His great love! Do I get that? I’m ALIVE. And alive with Him, I THRIVE—not just survive! I flourish—not just flounder or struggle!  I’ve been saved by His Grace and not by anything I might accomplish. Jesus never condemns. He sets me free from the law of sin and death. His Spirit gives me life.

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy,” Jesus said. “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10, NLT). The enemy wants to steal your understanding of your identity in Jesus. Satan will lie about your identity until he destroys your belief in God's promise of a rich and fulfilling life. The enemy's purpose is to replace the peace and contentment of your joyful life in Jesus with the frustration of fear, failure, and fatigue.

Jesus states His truth in John 10:10. His purpose—His promise—is to give you a rich and rewarding life. The NIV version says, "life to the full."  Other translations call Jesus' life for you, "abundant." My identity in Jesus frees me from the condemnation of the enemy and reveals a rich and fulfilling life. I'm rich because Jesus died for me and imparted the wealth of my Father's kingdom. I'm fulfilled with His promise. I lack nothing. I’m overflowing in His abundance.

The Holy Spirit wants me to do more than survive. He wants me to thrive in Jesus—to pray and believe from a position of trust instead of fear. When I know my worth in Jesus—that He deemed me worthy of His righteousness, I know who I am. When I realize my identity in Jesus, I know I’m accepted. I have His approval of love on the Cross. Nothing that comes against me has any chance to prosper.

I am rich in His mercy—brought to abundant life by His redeeming Grace. No lie of the enemy will shake my faith in what Jesus says is true. 

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/thrive-with-jesus.html

By His Wounds

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

—1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)

This love is so amazing! Through the love of Jesus, you have received healing. You are whole. Healing is complete. We often think of healing as being only physical, but it is much more than that. His healing begins in your reborn spirit. It transforms you in the spirit of your mind—in the way you think and perceive who you are in Christ. You were healed by the wounds Jesus took for you. That is His truth. You live what you believe. When you believe the truth that you are whole and healed in Jesus, your flesh receives what you believe. Spirit, mind, and body become one in Him. 

Healing can be miraculously instant, or it can be progressive. Most often, it is continuous. Just because you have pain does not mean you are not healed. Just because you have a report from the doctor that is not good, does not mean you are not healed. You received all the Resurrection power of God in your born-again spirit the moment you believed by faith in Jesus. His righteous Spirit entirely became yours. All the resources of your father became yours. By Jesus' wounds, you were healed. His healing manifested in you. But for you to receive that truth in your mind, the way you perceive must be changed. To be healed, you cannot believe what your natural mind perceives. The mind of Christ tells you something quite differently—to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His Spirit. The Holy Spirit changes your perception from what the natural mind perceives to what the Spirit says is truth.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world,” Paul declared, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, NIV).

Don’t conform to the pattern of this world. The pattern of the world is unbelief in Jesus. It doesn’t know Him. But you do. You don’t pattern yourself after the world. You are changed by the truth you received when you believed in Him. You choose to reach beyond the natural and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will know God’s perfect and pleasing will.  It pleases God that you believe and understand what you have received—in what the death of His Son has given you. That is His perfect and pleasing will—that you believe.

Living your faith comes from being changed by what you believe. When you believe who you are in Jesus, fear is defeated by His Grace. His peace and joy are the hallmarks of your life—the first things to spring up when news of the natural world is unsettling. Healing is a state of belief in Jesus that impacts your whole life.  

Believe in what you have received more than what your natural mind perceives. Choose to believe God's truth over the unbelief of the world. Jesus personally carried your sins to the cross so you can be dead to sin and live for what is right. Living for what is right is more than not sinning. It is the belief in His truth, which impacts your life. By His wounds you are healed.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/by-his-wounds.html

Debt-Free Identity

Matthew 18:23-35

Read the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35. The servant in the parable did not understand that his master had entirely canceled his debt, and in his misunderstanding, believed that he still had to collect money from someone who owed him to pay it off. What if that servant had heard his master correctly? What if the knowledge of his new debt-free state had penetrated his soul? Joy would have seized him. Peace would have defeated fear in his mind. The excessive debt to his master was impossible to pay. If only that servant had received the message that the master had wiped his slate clean, how free He would have been! 

Jesus fully paid your debt for sin. He wiped your slate clean. Yet, do you live as if you are still under obligation—forever struggling to win God’s approval? Why do you allow the enemy to debit your life? Is it because you believe you owe something and must make payment as penance? Self-effort never credits your spiritual account with His righteousness. Good works can never save you. So what does your payment achieve? The enemy of your soul blackmails you, saying you must continue to make payment to experience forgiveness. The truth is your payment is never enough. The enemy’s lie is that the debt even exists. In Jesus, you are forgiven and free.

If you could understand the truth of the Gospel that you, like the servant in the parable, are entirely debt-free, you would begin to grasp your identity in Christ. You would see yourself as He sees you—freely and forever forgiven by His Grace. You would comprehend the truth that Jesus became your sin so you could have His righteousness. Almost too good to be true—this truth is life-changing!

Knowing you are debt-free in Jesus is freedom from the performance trap. Work done for Him, trying to atone for a debt you do not owe, achieves you nothing but frustration or pride. Knowing and believing Jesus has paid your debt in full gives you freedom like nothing else. You do not work for Him because you owe Him. Work for Him is born of your faith. It flows from the greatest debt-free joy. You have a revelation of His Grace as never before. His love pours through you—freely received and manifested. At last, you understand what your freedom means!

Jesus accepts and approves of you—not because of who you are but because of who He is and what He has done. Abraham’s faith was credited to Him as righteousness. Faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross is credited to you as righteousness. You do not have to prove who you are in Jesus. He has already shown it on the Cross. Jesus became your sin so that you might know freedom in His righteousness. There is no debt. There is nothing to be debited. You are debt-free.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/debt-free-identity.html

Fresh Wonder

Even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

—Romans 5:17 (NLT)

Are you still filled with the freshness of your salvation or have issues from your old life dulled its newness? If you continually transform in your understanding of who you are in Jesus, you will never lose that fresh wonder. If you have lost that amazement, it is never too late for freedom. Jesus has already won it. You just need to experience that the knowledge of His Truth sets you free.

Think about this Truth. You are a new person who has triumphed over sin through the death of one righteous man, God’s only Son. Jesus has given you His wonderful Grace and His gift of righteousness. God sent Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for your sin so that you could be made right with God. You stand holy and blameless before God! You have nothing to fear and nothing to prove. 

Freedom was real for you the moment you believed Jesus died for you. But you do not experience the Truth of His freedom until you allow the Holy Spirit to change your perception of who you are. You no longer live under the lie of your past. You have a new life in Jesus to understand. 

You begin your journey of Grace by accepting the fact you are free from the punishment the law says is your just due. “The law of Moses,” Paul writes, “was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins (Romans 8:3, NLT).

The law only exposes sin. It can never wash it away. When Jesus died for your sin, God declared an end to sin’s control. You were no longer under the punishment of the law. You were suddenly under the incredible Grace of Jesus. When you allow this Truth to change your perception, you realize you are no longer under punishment. The love of Jesus rescues you. You do not need to perform any penance to be forgiven. Jesus, who had no sin, took yours and gave you His righteousness. That is your state of being. It is absolute Truth that Jesus has earned this gift for you.

Are you sitting there thinking, "oh, this is the same old Gospel message?" This message is never old. It is new and fresh every morning when you allow the Holy Spirit to change your perception. Jesus’ message is LIFE. His life in you forever evolves with the revelation of His Word. When you “get” freedom, you are never the same. The Holy Spirit opens your mind to the clarity of His message. Grace continually changes your perception. You realize that there is nothing you have to do to receive His love. Jesus can do nothing more. His work was finished on the Cross, and you rose with Him in freedom from bondage.

Has the Grace of Jesus revealed to you the absolute Truth that you no longer are under bondage to the debit of sin? If it has, you have given up that heavy burden of punishment you are unable to carry. If His Grace has revealed to you the Truth of His freedom, you consistently experience His peace no matter what you face. You know God has already healed you—He has already won all your battles—He has already fulfilled the work of the Cross. You have peace with God because of Jesus. If you are not experiencing His peace, you have not grown in your knowledge of what Jesus’ gift of Grace means for you.

“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:23-24, NLT). Discover the wonder of your new identity. Allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind with His thoughts and attitudes. Choose to put on the Truth of who Jesus says you are. Put on your new nature in Him. You were created by His gift of Grace to be like Him—without doubt, holy and righteous. 

You are God's child—redeemed by His Grace. You are free of condemnation and no longer need to fear anything. Jesus has provided for all your needs from now until eternity. There is nothing you lack—nothing you need—you are fulfilled by His gift of Grace.

It is my prayer that you continually grow to know who you are in Jesus. When that knowledge molds your understanding, revelation never ends. You forever mature in the realization of His Grace. You experience His precious love where shame is undone, and fresh wonder is yours. You are only aware of Him and His incredible gift of love.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/fresh-wonder.html

Melt in His Peace

This love is so deep; it's more than I can stand.

I melt in Your peace; it's overwhelming.

—Kari Jobe

         “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (I John 4:10, NLT).

         Real love is not about how much I love God. Real love is He loved me enough to send His Son to die for me. 

         “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love” (I John 4:16a, NLT).          

         Because of the overwhelming unconditional love of God, I yearn to know how deep that real love is. I ache to put my trust in Him—to believe by faith in the life-changing freedom His grace on Calvary has won for me.   

         Melting in His peace comes from experiencing a divine revelation of His redeeming love—and how His love changes who I am. When I know my identity in Jesus, I am no longer in bondage to the lies of who I use to be. Instead, I become consumed by His deep love for me. Oh, it is more than I can stand. The depth of God calls me. I melt in His peace. 

         Are you tired of dealing with lies that rise out of a limited understanding of His love for you? Are you exhausted from wrestling with the symptoms of fear and rejection—hurt and unforgiveness—guilt and shame? These are all symptoms of an underlying issue—not knowing who you are in Jesus. If you want to melt in His peace in each moment, learn who you are in Jesus. Recognize and accept the righteousness of character He has given you. Know His truth. Allow His truth to set you free. Quit treating just the symptoms that came with your old life. Be healed by knowledge of your new life in Jesus. Be transformed by the fullness of His grace. 

         Your life—once shattered—is now clean and whole. Your life—once empty—is now full of His peace and joy. It is time to stop struggling with the symptoms that are no longer real. You are devastated by trying. Now is the time to seek to know the new life He has given you. Get to know the real you in Jesus.

         And that knowledge will give you a symptom-free life. You shall melt in His peace.

© 2020 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2020/03/melt-in-his-peace.html