No Longer a Slave

 

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

—Hebrews 2:14-15

 

 

The fear of death dominates mankind. Men are intimidated by fear and live in the most disgraceful situations rather than face death. They give up personal freedoms in hopes of prolonging their lives. Only Christians, who truly understand that the sting of death has been removed, are free from the torment that the fear of death brings. A person who no longer fears cannot be intimidated.

 

God needed to become a man so He could destroy the devil. The devil still exists, but his power and authority have been destroyed. The only way he has any influence is because of people's ignorance of God’s truth. His only weapon is the deception he employs in the attempt to steal our peace, kill our hopes, and destroy the promises God has given us. The fear of death is the underlying trigger of other fears. Knowing God's truth in our hearts opens our eyes to the devil's trickery. It releases us from fear that intimates us and holds us in bondage (John 8:32).

 

Much of our lives have been defined by fear. The fears of death, disease, disaster, disappointments, and rejection strongly control our thoughts and steal our dreams. There is an infinite list of fears that can shape our lives. Fears of possible illnesses, dealing with people, of heights or the dark, or not having enough money can dominate and rule us. Most likely, we don’t even realize how much we have allowed fear to define and limit us.

 

Fear was the primary response of Adam and Eve to the guilt they felt after their sin in the Garden. Fear is the primary response of the fallen, human spirit. This world successfully sells fear. The news manipulates us with fear. The entertainment industry heightens our human fear with movies and television. Many of our decisions in life take into consideration the fears that have been sown into our lives. The torment of fear keeps us from experiencing the truth of the abundant life Jesus came to give us. 

 

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

 

When we take the time to consider the tormenting and destructive power of fear, we start to understand why we often miss out on God’s best for us. The answer to fear is knowing the perfect love of God that Christ has given us in His finished work of grace. 

 

Is it possible to live free from fear? Can we really experience Jesus’ abundant life, joy, and peace in this fallen world? I believe the answer is "yes" because the Word says it's true. The problem is never with the Word. The problem is with if we will allow it to be produced in our lives or not. The perfect love of God is the answer. His love casts out fear and has been shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). The potential to live free from fear is within us. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

 

Receiving a true revelation of God’s perfect love is the only thing that can release the grip of fear manipulating us. Continually meditating on God’s Word until our minds and hearts conform to the truths of our identity in Christ, builds our faith to believe in His perfect love. The more we know His love, the more we will recognize all of the fears that have bound us, and the more we will understand the authority He has given us to defeat them.

 

“Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatian 4:7).

 

You are no longer a slave but a child of God through Jesus Christ. You have received God’s full and powerful inheritance. All Jesus has is yours. You don’t need to be intimidated. You don’t need to be a slave to fear. You just need a revelation of what is already yours in the love of Christ. Only in truly understanding His perfect love will you discover freedom from the bondage of fear. You can stand up for God’s truth without fear and intimidation. You can stand up for His truth in your life without the devil’s intimidation. The devil, who had the power of death, is defeated through the perfect work of Jesus Christ. The devil is under your feet.

 

Do you wish to have a revelation of His perfect love in your heart?

 

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me,” the psalmist wrote, “and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/no-longer-slave.html

 

 

The Negatives Can Become Positives

 

 

 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

 

There is a godly type of sorrow and a worldly type of sorrow. The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

 

We live in a world that tells us that negative emotions are detrimental to our well-being. God gave us the capacity for these negative emotions, and there is an appropriate use of them. 

 

“Sorrow is better than laughter,” Ecclesiastes 7:3 reads, “for by a sad countenance the heart is made better.”

 

Sin ought to make us feel bad. We ought to experience sorrow over our failures. However, this sorrow should lead to repentance. When forgiveness is received, we should cast our sorrow upon the Lord because “He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).

 

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that without question one of them would deny him. “And they were exceedingly sorrowful,” Mark 26:22 reads. “Lord, is it I?” each one of them asked. If their “exceeding” sorrow had led them to repentance, perhaps they wouldn’t have denied the Lord. Peter’s sorrow after his denial of Jesus changed him. He certainly never regretted the tears he cried.

 

Those who experience sorrow and don’t turn to God grieve over their situations. They carry an unbearable load. And Jesus is there just waiting for them to turn to Him and let Him carry their griefs and sorrows.

 

Those who have been reborn spiritually in Jesus Christ may have the desire to live sinless but don’t consistently walk in the Spirit and deny the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Christians should have godly sorrow, but once they repent they don’t need to carry the negative feelings of guilt and shame. They should appropriate the forgiveness that is already theirs in Jesus.

 

Repentance means to literally have another mind. It is simply a change of mind that leads to a corresponding action. Godly sorrow that produces repentance leaves us with no regrets. The positive change that godly sorrow brings changes our attitude toward the things in our lives that led us to sorrow. 

 

The negatives in your life can become positives through Jesus Christ.

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/the-negatives-can-become-positives.html

 

 

Acknowledge Your Seed

 

 

Are you aware that you already have enough to live an abundant life?  If you have Jesus, you have enough. His finished work for you is complete and perfect. You lack nothing in it. Perhaps, all you see is what you lack instead of what you already have.

 

When you understand how God’s Kingdom works, you realize that there is more than enough for every need in your life.  The problem you have is your focus. The enemy wants you to focus on what you lack instead of knowing the resources Jesus Christ has given you to live an abundant life (John 10:10). 

 

Quit focusing on your needs and begin to acknowledge the “seeds” God has given you to sow. It isn’t your need that deserves your focus and time. God’s truth is the incorruptible seed that deserves your undivided attention.

 

When faced with a negative situation, an illness, or a need, most of us immediately focus on that need. Instead of taking every thought captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), we take every thought captive to that need. We think about it all the time. We talk and compare ourselves to others. We get on the internet and research symptoms and look for answers. Our days are consumed with that need. We only see what we lack.

 

In Matthew 14:16-18, we see that the disciples were focused on the need. When Jesus saw that the crowd following Him had no food, He told His disciples, “You give them something to eat.” And how did the disciples answer Him? “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” Jesus’ response was, “Bring them here to Me.”

 

The disciples responded like most of us do by only focusing on the need. Hadn’t they witnessed healing and miracles? But now they only saw what was lacking instead of seeing what was available in Jesus. 

 

What we see will determine how we live. If we only see our needs, pains, hurts, and failures, they will be the focus of our lives. Negative expectations promise us a future of all we lack instead of what we have received in Jesus. When we meet every trial in life with “I have only,” our hope will clearly reflect those limitations.

 

If we focus on God’s truth living within us, our lives align with His truth. When we acknowledge every good thing we have received in Christ, we experience the true value and fruit of our faith (Philemon 1:6).

 

God’s truth is our greatest supply. It changes our destiny. His truth is not changed by our circumstances, illnesses, or what happens in this world. The resources of God’s truth are spiritual and supersede all things. In Christ, all of God’s resources are ours to overcome affliction. The Lord delivers us from them all (Psalm 34:19).

 

What are the seeds of God’s grace in our lives?  His Word. His Name. His Covenant. His Blood. His Spirit. His Gifts. His Promises. His Armor. His Authority. His Faith. His Joy.  His Peace. We lack nothing in Jesus Christ. However, we may feel so overwhelmed by our needs that we have trouble believing these resources are ours in our new lives. But they are. These resources must be sown as seeds in our lives to abundantly produce fruit.

 

If we could only open our spiritual eyes to the wealth of God’s seeds within us, we would be on the road to overcoming the cares of the world and the lies of the enemy. 

 

Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed on the ground. Every day we are sowing seeds in our lives. The seeds we sow are either the seeds of God’s truth or the seeds of what is contrary to His truth. Whatever we sow will produce in our lives of itself. 

 

You are born again “not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23).

What seeds are you sowing? What are you focusing on?  Sow seeds of God’s truth into your need. Sow seeds of healing and provision. Quit concentrating on your needs and what you lack. Start acknowledging your seed. 

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/acknowledge-your-seed.html

 

 

 

 

The Desire and Design of His Heart

 

 

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

—Matthew 16:25 (NLT)

 

 

What is the most important thing in your life? Is there something or someone that you are afraid you are going to lose? Do you hold on too tightly to something or someone because you are afraid you will lose them? Who or what owns you?

 

If you try to hang on to your life, Jesus said, you will lose it. When a relationship you have with someone or what you possess is more important than your relationship with God, you lose intimacy with Him. Your spiritual understanding of who you are to God suffers. You lose your life to what you desire instead of having an intimate and open relationship with your Father.

 

“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be,” Jesus also said. 

 

What do you treasure? Whatever it is becomes the desire of your heart. If it is something you want, then the yearning for ownership outweighs anything else. If it is a person, then your desires about that relationship are always foremost in your mind. When you treasure the things of this world and human relationships over what you have received in Christ, you hang on to what will keep you from the very best God has given you. When the yearning for God’s ownership of your life outweighs everything else, you treasure the Lord as He treasures you. You freely receive and freely receive. 

 

Your relationship with God can turn into a religion. When you treasure what you have always believed without being challenged by the Word if it is true or not, you will not grow spiritually. If what you believe is God’s Word, then the treasure of His Word produces His truth in your life. If what you believe comes out of tradition instead of the Holy Spirit bringing God’s Word to life in your heart, you end up in dead works. What you believe in your heart is who you are. When you believe the Word, the treasure of the Father is also your treasure. When the Holy Spirit reveals God’s truth to you, His Word treasures you, and you treasure Him.

 

Your desire for acceptance and recognition from your peers—either in the world or in the church—your desire to prove to yourself you are worthy of God’s love and acceptance—can also keep you from receiving the fullness of your relationship with the Father. When God becomes just a tradition instead of your Father who loves you and desires His best for you, you shut the door to His working in and through you.

 

When you give up your life for His sake—when you surrender your desires, your beliefs, and your understanding to His, you choose Him as the first priority in your life. Nothing hinders you from receiving from the Holy Spirit. You are open to receiving the revelation truth of His love and grace. 

 

Over two thousand years ago, Jesus put you first when He died on the cross for your forgiveness—your healing—your provision—and your total restoration to fellowship with God. You were His number-one priority. He loved you first. You are and always will be first for Him. He is seated at the right hand of the Father praying for you right now. One day He is returning to get you. Is He your first priority, or do other relationships, wants, things, or traditions get in the way? If you hang on to them—if you make them more important than your relationship with Him, you lose intimacy with Him. You forget the blessings He has given you.

 

If you give up all those things that pull you away from Him, you find His life. Letting go and allowing God to be first in your life, results in a closeness, an understanding, a confidence in Him, a tenderness with Him, an openness to Him that sets you free from the bondage of false security. Putting Him first will deliver you from the ultimate bitterness of a self-focused life.

 

Peace and joy are tangible when you have a revelation from the Holy Spirit of the height, depth, length, and width of how much your Father treasures and loves you. Your desire to cherish Him springs from your understanding of who He is in your life. Open yourself to the revelation of His Word. 

You are God's ultimate desire. His design for your life is far greater than what you desire. Let Him be your ultimate desire. Let Him have ownership of all of you—spirit, soul, and body. You are the desire and design of His heart.

 

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

 

 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/the-desire-and-design-of-his-heart.html

 

 

 

 

My Deliverer

 

This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.

—Psalm 119:50 (NKJV)

 

 

The words of God comforted the psalmist. They encouraged him in whatever he faced. The psalmist said God’s words had given him life. What was life to him? Life to the psalmist was pleasing God so that he could receive God’s love. This was His comfort.

 

What is comfort to you in your affliction? Is it the same as the psalmist? There is a difference for you as a believer in Christ. You have received the grace of Jesus the psalmist did not have. The days of the law—when keeping God’s commandments was the only way to find some comfort— have passed away. Jesus is the Word that gives us life. Life to you is not living to earn God’s comfort and love. Life to you is receiving the comfort and love of God that Jesus Christ has purchased for you.

 

“Now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6, NLT). 

 

If we try to please God by “obeying the letter of the law,” we end up defeated by our own attempts at goodness. We end up serving God with our actions and not with our hearts. There is no lasting comfort to be found in our own efforts. Jesus was the One who pleased God on our behalf. We come to God on the merit of Jesus’ perfect work to give us the right standing with God. We have no goodness without Jesus. We serve God living by faith in the Holy Spirit. God is working in us to give us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13).

 

What is your real comfort in your affliction—whether it is sickness, painful circumstances, or financial issues?  Your real comfort is the truth of God’s Word that you receive by faith in your heart. For the psalmist, his comfort in his affliction was found in pleasing God. For you as a believer, your comfort is found in the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

 

Jesus, who had no sin, became our sin so we might receive the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus has born our suffering. He has carried our sorrows. He was afflicted by God for us. Our sins became His. Our illnesses became His. Our pain became His. He was wounded and bruised for our healing. He gave Himself. His precious blood has made us whole (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Jesus did not partially bear your suffering and sorrow. He did not partially bear your sin and sickness. He carried the full weight of your debt. He took the punishment for you to have peace with God. Your comfort—your peace is found in His perfect work for your sins, your suffering, your sorrow, your sickness, and all the things that resulted from Adam’s sin. Your comfort in Jesus is freedom from sin and all its destruction. You lack nothing in His perfect and finished work of grace. 

 

Your true comfort in your affliction is His life over death, blessing over curse, and healing over sickness. The Gospel of Grace speaks wholeness of life to you. The God of peace sanctifies you completely in spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 

 

You may not have yet experienced freedom from your affliction. But just because you have not yet experienced it, does not mean it is untrue. There is not only comfort in what you face. There is life and freedom in Christ from what you face.

 

You receive God’s Word in your heart and live its truth by faith. His words are life to all who find them. They are healing to all our flesh (Proverbs 4:22)! Jesus is our comfort and deliverer! The power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56). In Christ, you have died to the law and are no longer held captive by its power (Romans 7:6). Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God in us that overcomes the power of sin and all its destruction. 

 

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19, NKJV).

We have nothing to give but everything to receive. 

© 2024 Lynn Lacher

 www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/my-deliverer.html

 

 

 

The Profession of Your Faith

  

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;).
— Hebrews 10:23 

Profession is the act of openly declaring a belief. A person who professes a belief does not simply repeat what someone else says. This is a person who has captured God’s Word in his heart. It has aged in him putting down deep roots until he has come into agreement with what God says. This person sees a problem like God sees it. His heart and God’s heart are so joined on an issue that their hearts beat in rhythm. When a believer opens his mouth to “profess” or “confess” God’s Word, his confession is no longer a powerless statement. What is spoken comes from a very deep place of conviction inside his heart.

Genuine professions of faith come from God’s words that have been sown in your heart. After a time of meditating and renewing your mind with His words, you begin to see what He is saying. You begin to see the way He sees. You grow to deeply believe what God believes, and out of heartfelt conviction, you begin to speak and declare your faith.

When a believer gets God’s Word so deep into his heart that he comes into agreement with it, he no longer speaks empty words or copies something he has heard. He speaks boldly from a legitimate place of faith.

Many people go through life repeating what they have heard someone else say without ever developing any depth of understanding and faith behind their words. They may say the right things, but since these words come out of their mouths and not out of their hearts, their confession does not produce results. 

Your faith and what you say have to connect. A mindless profession does not come from the heart. It cannot produce any fruit. Your profession of God’s truth must come from your heart before it comes out of your mouth.

How can you avoid making mindless confessions?

Choose to believe what God says. Commit your mind, heart, and all your strength to believing the Word of God—no matter if it does not make sense to your natural mind. 

Ask the Holy Spirit to make God’s Word so real to you that if anyone implies that it is not true, you will not doubt or waver in your belief. A man who doubts the truth of the Word in his heart will not receive (James 1:6-8).

Open your Bible and do some serious study and meditation. Sow His Word in your heart until you and God are in total agreement on your problem.  

Out of the abundance of your heart, you speak (Matthew 12:34). When God’s Word is deeply sown in your heart, you believe you have His abundant life. When what you believe aligns with what God says, begin to speak His truth by faith over your issue. Consistently, speak your deep-seated belief of His truth into your life. One day every part of you—spirit, soul, and body—will align with His Word (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

A confession of faith can only be a mountain-moving confession when it comes from the heart before it comes out of the mouth. If you have planted God’s Word in your heart so that it is now your word as well, you can speak the truth of His Word over every concern of your life.

Take God’s Word into your heart and mind. Meditate on it until what you believe agrees with it. Once that Word becomes so real inside you that it becomes your heartfelt belief, speak it. Speak His truth into your life. Life is the power of your tongue (Proverbs 18:21). 

When what you believe in your heart is spoken, the mountain will be removed (Mark 11:23-24). Don’t give up because you don’t see immediate results. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, its roots immediately died from the power in His words, but the withered results were not visually seen until later (Mark 11:12,20-24). When you speak God’s Word out of a convicted heart, His truth is released in your life. However, you may not see its visual truth until time has passed. 

Every part of your life is meant to come into alignment with God’s Word. This is His will for you, and He is faithful to His Word. Your part is to take God’s Word into your heart until it becomes who you are—until you take ownership of His truth and believe what God says without a doubt. You receive by faith when you agree with God’s truth about your problem, your illness, or your need. Never stop speaking His truth over your life and praising Him for its results. The Lord who promises you is faithful. If you will hold fast to God’s truth and profess it without wavering, you will see your life changed by His everlasting and unchanging Word.

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/the-profession-of-your-faith.html

 

 

 

 

Soar in Me

 

Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
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 40:28-31

 

 

Have you heard in your heart that the everlasting God, who created the earth and created you, never faints or grows weary? The all-powerful Creator, who created you and has always known you, became as you are so you can have a relationship with Him and know Him intimately. His understanding was unsearchable. But now, Jesus has torn the veil that separated us from Him, and we can know God, the Creator of all that is good, as our Abba Father. 

 

Before you received the love of Jesus by faith, your spiritual eyes and ears were closed to the things of God (Ephesians 2:8, Matthew 13:15). Your knowledge of Him was veiled. But when you believed in Jesus as your Savior, the mystery of God hidden from you was no longer hidden (Colossians 1:26). Your Father wants to give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. He wants to enlighten your understanding so that you may know the hope of the new life He has given you, the riches of your inheritance, and the greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:17-19).

 

The revelation of the knowledge of God is now just waiting for you to ask and receive; to seek and find. If you knock the door of understanding will open to you (Matthew 7:7).

 

Are you seeking the understanding of God with all your heart? The enemy is terrified you will spiritually see with God’s eyes and hear with His ears, understand with your heart, and be healed (Matthew 13:15). As you grow to understand the love of God revealed to you in Christ, the enemy’s attempts to destroy you are more easily defeated. You grow to understand the strength the Lord gives to the weak and your authority to exercise His power over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). You receive a revelation of the resurrection power you have received in Christ. 

 

Even though those young in the faith may grow weary—even though the spiritually immature may utterly fail, you will not grow weary or fail when you have the spiritual maturity to know His authority in your life. You will prosper just as your soul prospers (3 John 2:1). God fully stands behind the power of His Word with the authority He has given you. He is the Word (John 1:1). When you speak the Word you have believed in your heart, you speak His power into your life. You receive blessings instead of curses, health instead of sickness, peace instead of fear, joy instead of mourning, and His beauty for the ashes of your once despairing life.

 

The word “wait” in Isaiah 40:31 does not speak about someone waiting as though they are sitting idle just looking for the Lord to do something. Rather, the “waiting” here is talking about “waiting” like a waiter who constantly seeks to meet the needs of his customers. Those who wait and look to the Lord for their strength will never faint. They will draw on His limitless strength.

The Hebrew word, QAVAH, in Isaiah 40:31, is translated as “wait.” It means “to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect” (Strong’s Concordance). 

 

As we grow in our understanding of who we are in Jesus, we “bind” ourselves more closely to Him. He replaces the limitations of our human strength with His limitless strength. Because we know and trust Him, we "expect" Him to meet our needs and guide us in life.

 

An eagle soars on currents of air without using its wings. It glides on the power of the wind and not on its own strength. It can ride those currents for hours with little or no effort. Those who wait on the Lord are like the eagle, moving on the flow of the Holy Spirit and not their own effort. They can outlast others who are stronger or more talented and who do what they do in their own strength or ability.

Do you soar in life? Are the things that attempt to steal your joy, kill your faith, and destroy your life beneath your feet? You must “know” intimately the One who has given you His life. He hides nothing from you. He renews your strength with His strength. He lifts you in His power. You do not grow weary or faint.

What is your doubt—that one question? Have you not seen or heard? Your Father does not grow weary. He is in you—sustaining, empowering, guiding, and overcoming.

“You are Mine,” Jesus says. “Find Me. Soar in Me.”

 

 

www.lynnlacher.com/2024/05/soar-in-me.html

 

 

His Plans

 

 

We are just not competent to direct our own lives. 

 

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

 

The Lord created us so that we would need Him to guide us in the best direction. He gave us the freedom to choose the way to go in life (Deuteronomy 30:19). However, left to our own reasoning, we will think everything is alright. We will think nothing is wrong with our sins. But when what is wrong is uncovered by the truth of God’s Word, our foolishness becomes obvious. We must constantly renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word for our thoughts and our plans to be established (Romans 12:2).

 

“The preparations of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1).

 

Proverbs 16:1 speaks of our hearts being “prepared.” Psalm 10:17 says that the Lord will prepare the hearts of those who are humble. If you connect Proverbs 16:1 with Proverbs 15:33 (the verse preceding it), it is proof of how crucial humility is in preparing our hearts. Therefore, humbling ourselves before the Lord is the single most important thing we can do for the Lord to begin to prepare our hearts. 

 

“Commit your works to the Lord,

And your thoughts will be established” (Provers 16:3).

 

Proverbs 16:3 speaks of our thoughts being “established.” We prepare our hearts to receive God’s truth when we humble ourselves and are renewed in our hearts by the Word. We conform to His Word when His truth is established in our hearts (Romans 12:2). 

 

Strong’s Concordance says the Hebrew for “works” in Proverbs 16:3 means “an action [good or bad]; generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity; by implication, a product [specifically, a poem] or [generally] property.” 

 

When we throw all concern about our “works” (our actions and activities) over to the Lord, then our thoughts—our plans—will be established. In other words, when we believe and trust that the Lord will establish our plans, He will. We will have His perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

 

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

 

Only the Lord can correctly evaluate and direct our lives. We can’t correctly evaluate and direct ourselves. Realizing this truth humbles us and makes us realize the importance of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in our lives. This is why we need the Word of God to teach us the way to go. It is only in our union with God that we can ever fulfill our God-given potential. So we should not lean on our own understanding but acknowledge Him in all of our ways, and He shall direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

Solomon’s wisdom reveals what will happen when you subject your “works”—all of your actions, plans, and activities to the evaluation of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will weed out all that is wrong. 

 

What is left will be established. It will be His will. His plans will be your plans, and they will succeed.

 

Humility is honoring God above anything else (Proverbs 15:33). Take a step back from what you think and subject your thoughts to the Lord’s evaluation. Surrender your accomplishments, failures, ideas, and questions to God in prayer every day. Your heart will be guided in the way you should go (Proverbs 23:19). Ultimately, your heart will follow your prevailing thoughts. If you keep your mind on the Lord, your heart will follow. And Jesus said that is where your treasure will be (Matthew 6:21).

 

 

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His Sheep Hear His Voice

When you have a need where is the first place you go? The first reaction to a need for many believers is to reach out to someone who they feel might be able to help them. Even though they have been taught that the Lord is the best response to their need, it isn’t going to happen if they haven’t developed their relationship with Him. 

 

Is this you? If you haven’t learned to trust God and hear from Him, you aren’t going to go to Him first.

 

People are real. They can touch and hear you. They can relate to you because they also struggle. God is real. You can hear Him, and He understands you 100% because He created you. He breathed His life into you. He is the One who has the perfect answer in your time of need. But for so many, God is just an “idea” or a “concept” instead of the loving and powerful God who cares for them. Having fellowship with Him is the only way He becomes real and tangible to you as the loving and powerful Father who is concerned with your every need.

 

Wise counsel might be helpful. But counsel is always subject to the heart and the degree of the spiritual understanding of the person giving counsel. God has given us the Holy Spirit to be our best counsel.

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16).

 

We have been given the Holy Spirit so we can intimately know our Father. He abides with us forever—never leaving or forsaking us. We have fellowship with the Father through Him. We can hear His Word quickened in our hearts knowing it will come to life in us. We can come to Him in time of need. We can touch the heart of the One who created us. The Holy Spirit guides us in each need throughout our day. However, many believers haven’t grasped His role in their daily lives.

 

Talking to God should be the very first thing we do. He should be “alive” in us—in our minds and hearts from the moment we wake up in the morning. We should speak His Word into our needs and praise Him for meeting them before they are met. The more time we spend time with God, the easier it is to hear His counsel and to be directed by Him. It is easier to trust Him in the storm that suddenly arises. 

 

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12).

 

We have the Holy Spirit to know what has been freely given to us in Christ. The wisdom we need to navigate this life, the peace we need to empower us, the joy we need to fulfill us, the love we need to encourage us, and the words we need that speak life to us, are all available by the Holy Spirt through fellowship with God. Prayer is our honest discussion with the One who loves us and has all our answers.

 

“I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place” (Psalm 118:5).

 

God is so faithful. A lot of our distress is self-inflicted. Yet, the Lord graciously ministers to us in our distress and grants us deliverance. When He delivers us, it is accomplished in more than just a little way. Praise the Lord! He puts us in a large place.

 

Your Father is the first place to go when life is difficult. He will answer you and guide you in anything you should do or if you should be still and allow Him to take care of your concerns. Develop your personal fellowship with Him. Vocally talk to Him about everything. He is concerned with the least little thing that concerns you. Expect to “hear” Him. Expect to receive His wisdom, guidance, understanding, peace, and faith. 

 

You are His, and His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27).

 

 

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