9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority
This series (50 Days of Promises) is inspired by a page of 50 biblical “I AM” affirmations that I ran across from Ted Roberts Pure Desire-7 Pillars of Freedom, p. 294
I am finding that so many childhood abuse victims, regardless of the form of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) there is a common deep rooted shame and worthlessness at the core of our struggles.
In that, one of the hardest things I battle with is a deep understanding and belief that I am already made complete as today’s passage in Colossians speaks to.
This verse does not mix words, or thinly veil it’s content; it is a bold statement that IN HIM we HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE (past tense).
What that leads me to this morning is a whispers breath of understanding that the journey ahead is not about becoming sinless, it is actually just going to take a lifetime of realizing more deeply each day that I already have everything I need IN CHRIST to live sinless and free and exhibiting a bold trust in His power, strength and protection by surrendering to His will more completely each new day.
The journey of sanctification is not a striving to be something I’m not, it is a striving to believe who I really am in Christ and then the righteousness of Christ is able to flow freely within and without.
The past does not have the power to enslave us, it is our mind which has been infected with the lies of Satan that seeks to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” as my sponsors tells me I’m so good at.
It’s a self-induced prison because I still don’t fully understand the incredible implications of being IN Christ.
I have come to realize I have relied on the victim card my whole life, feeling “entitled” to the behaviors and selfish pursuits to make me “feel” better. And it’s all a lie.
Sex, drugs, alcohol, materialism, angry outbursts, control-issues, codependency; these are all forms of selfish, self-destructive, relationship-killing, emotional survival behaviors that God calls idolatry and which lead only to a deeper death; pursuits and behaviors that seek to medicate and placate one’s self lead only to emptiness and isolation.
As I travel this journey of redemption, of sanctification, I am continually pressed in on all sides with the Truth of Christ which tells me I am whole, complete, forgiven, set free, alive in Him, justified by faith.
Those are amazing promises of who we all are IN Christ Jesus.
For the recovering addict like myself, again the focus is becoming clearer to me that white-knuckling recovery is not the answer, to “try harder” is to be focused on the problem instead of the solution.
It is letting the Truths of Christ heal the lies of the past, both what was inflicted upon us and what we inflicted upon others, and it speaks to what is to come as well; it can all be left at the foot of the Cross.
A MUST SEE THIS VIDEO – one that captures what boldness in spite of fear can accomplish.
Father God I thank You yet again for Your Word which tells me I am already made complete, that Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross was made complete in me when I came to believe. Help me this day Lord to more fully recognize the incredible gift that truly is already mine, to believe that it is not my flesh that holds me back, but my unbelief that says I am only a little bit free, forgiven for a few things but not everything, can do some things in Christ but not all things. You tell us a mustard seed of faith is all we need and I am beginning to recognize that a mustard seed of doubt, mistrust or fear separates me from the incredible freedom that You already paid the ransom for. The captive has been set free, help me to believe that even more deeply this day, that the worries of the world, regrets of the past, and worries of the future all fade away into background noise as You take center stage in my awareness. Help us all Lord to watch for You, recognize You at work in our lives and then stand in awe of Your incredible majesty upon the throne of our lives. May we all more completely surrender our will and our lives to You this day. Thank you Jesus for making a way to the Father, that we can live together in harmony in love for Your glory alone. In Your precious name I pray…
he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will
I struggle with the balance between conviction and grace. Lately it feels like God wants me to be painfully aware of how short I come from being holy and pleasing in his sight.
For those who can relate, all I can offer is as the angst of awareness of how deep our sinful nature goes washes over us, we are offered grace through His word that tells us it is because of His promise of sonship that we are experiencing this call to holiness. Our Father in His great love chose us in this time and place to be hearers and doers of His word, to thirst for more of Him, and to desire to work out our salvation with fear and trembling so that we may carry out the good works He planned for us before creation.
If you find yourself on your own journey of redemption, a journey to press towards being someone of greater purpose, value, strength, and honor; to be filled with a compassion and love never before experienced, then we can rest in the knowledge that it is God who began the works in us and it is He who will complete it.
I used to think it was my mother who loved me more because she let me do just about anything and my father was a tyrant because he punished so severely. His methods may have been abusive in nature (leaving welts with a belt across the body of a small child is abusive), but the mere fact that he desired better for me and attempted to admonish my evil ways (I was a rebellious and head strong kid) does reflect that he wanted better for me.
My whole life I rebelled against correction, but today I am learning to take great joy in being admonished by our Heavenly Father in healthy, grace-filled loving ways, for much as a coach pushes his players really hard, the goal is not for their suffering but for the players individual growth which then favors the whole team toward victory.
Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
I am so grateful for His word which reveals the darkness inside that I have effortlessly followed for all of my life, that He loves me enough to place the mirror in front of me and let me not look away.
No, the journey of redemption, this path of sanctification is not easy, but it is necessary in the building up of His children in the ways of His Son, that we may live out as co-heirs.
We should rejoice for the convictions that draw us to a deeper holiness, for the world is dying with each passing day, but we who are given an understanding of the magnitude of Christ’s virgin birth, sinless life, His sacrifice on Calvary, and life-giving resurrection for all who believe, we are the ones He predestined to point the world toward His plan and purpose for all mankind.
To be convicted of our sin and to desire and strive to live differently is proof we are being saved.
Those who are still blind and pursuing death without conviction have cause for worry. Even as a self proclaimed Christian who attended church occasionally, in hindsight I now realize I was in denial, thinking I was a good person and having no conviction of the life I was living.
Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Ephesians 1:5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will
Father God, I come to you with an incredible joy this morning, one filled with the knowledge that this painful journey of true self awareness is not for nothing, that it was pre-planned for your glory. I know that you did not choose the suffering I experienced as a child, but I know that you have an incredible plan of redemption, that a broken life can be resurrected in the flesh and be filled with purpose and power that transcends man’s possibility to accomplish on his own will. I am coming to love the fact that we can not surrender to You what we do not acknowledge exists, and it is in Your incredibly love and mercy that You give me the willingness to continue to press deeper into my broken soul, to wade through the lies of decades that have encased my heart in stone so that I can find You at the center, where you have been all along pointing my ways toward pure love. Help me this day Lord live in your grace and not feel condemned by what you reveal, but instead rejoice that Your sacrifice on the Cross covers my sin and that my only call is to rejoice in what You have done, are doing, and promise will be done for Your glory. Please fill my heart with an overwhelming desire to be holy and pleasing in your sight so that I may live in peace and purpose through all situations, people and problems that may arise this day. I will strive to keep my eyes focused on You and let you work out the world around me. Thank you Lord Jesus for my life, in Your precious name I pray…
27 God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
God created the heavens and the earth, He walked as man and died to free us from the punishment of sin, and rose so that we may be free in Him.
His promise is that we are being sanctified, redeemed, our lives written completely new by Him.
We simply need a deep and enduring faith and His majesty will wash in and through us by way of the Holy Spirit who indwells those who call on Christ as Lord and Savior.
We believe, He Sanctifies
Father God I thank you this morning for this missile to the heart that reminds me that there is nothing I do that Sanctifies, it is You who is at work in me leading me into deeper awareness of my shortcomings so that I may recognize all the more how great your sacrifice and how much more the miracle of new life it is that You give us. Thank You for my new life that struggles to live in the spirit more and be dead in the flesh completely. I choose to set my eyes upon you this day Father, that you may teach me more completely the ways You would have me walk. In Jesus name I pray…
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
It is one thing to hear the gospel of Christ. Few people in the civilized world have not heard of Jesus, Christianity, the Bible. I myself was introduced to church at a young age and went a few times in 40 years, owned a bible, told others I was a Christian if I was asked by one of “them”, even prayed in the very darkest moments of my life.
But in reality, I did not understand them, associate with them, act like them, believe like them. God was a concept, a far away hypothesis that I just couldn’t wrap my head around. But it was easier to just go along with others around me who believed than claim my difficulty in believing.
For me this morning, the striking emphasis in this passage is that it is truly called out as a promise, a promise of the Holy Spirit to remain with us until the day of our salvation, but only for those who believe in the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
Jesus is our advocate with God, and the Holy Spirit is our advocate with Christ. When the veil was torn, it was done. No longer did man have to go through a high priest to reach God. The New Covenant is a promise of salvation based on the works of Christ for all who believe.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 3:15-16 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
In hindsight I have no doubts at all that it was that morning by a stream in the woods from a completely broken and surrendered state that I crossed over the line into deep and authentic belief in Christ. When I cried out for His salvation in my life, everything changed.
From that exact moment in time nearly 3 years ago I have not even had a desire for a drink, or a toke, or a pill.
And although He is graciously allowing me to wrestle for purity of thoughts and actions, truly the Holy Spirit within has filled me with a deep hunger to know the word of God, to learn from the life of Christ, to rely on the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of my trespasses and the hope of the future.
At times I almost consider it a mistake that I prayed for months for a heart that breaks for what His heart breaks for because I believe He granted me that.
I do not feel shame any longer over my wretched self-preservational desires that manifest itself in the form of lust, money hording, pride, ego, control and other self-destructive behaviors which I believe show God through my actions in that moment that I don’t trust Him to provide long term. I do however ache over my sin, it truly grieves me for my God is worth so much more than what I give Him.
I do believe God through His word, and the power of the Holy Spirit is drawing me toward salvation and sanctification more each day, but it is a work that will never be done until His return, and it is one that constantly reminds me how merciful He is to love me where I am, and to continually offer me the free will to choose better next time.
He knows my heart even better than I, and yet His promise of the Holy Spirit is not conditional on my perfect adherence to the law. He knows knows the flesh is weak, that is why He gives us the Holy Spirit, to be our advocate in conscience behaviors and the gateway to Christ in Spirit.
This promise is dependent solely upon one joyously and boldly proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. He died on the cross so that my old life could die with Him. And He rose again and gives us the Holy Spirit so that we may live in the light and life of Christ who is risen, and in that lead others to their own relationship with the true and living Christ.
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Father God I need You. No other can reach the depths of my soul as You can. No other knows the depths of my soul as You do. I need Your living waters to flow over me, to lighten my heart, to lift my eyes to You and in that find rest. In my times of unrest I act so untrusting of You. I believe You have already won the battle and I’m only fighting ghosts of a broken past. Help me to remain forwarding looking to Your glory, help me to never loose sight of the magnificent journey of redemption You have graciously placed me on, help me to not play the victim but instead live in victory. Thank you for the suffering that comes from knowing how short I fall, but please also fill me with a stronger joy that never looses sight of how high You soar. Help me to not feel like I’m in chains when I know in my head that I am born again free. Help me to believe in Your power that already claims victory forevermore, and grant me the peace and purpose to live as your new disciple, not as Satan’s old pawn. All things are possible in You and today I claim the power of Your promises which reminds me I have an advocate within, and His presence is evident through the desires of my heart to be obedient to Your word and will so that I can have no question of how much I love you. Let my life this day not just be words, but filled with actions that manifest in love for all you place in my path. In Jesus name I pray…
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
I’ve got to be honest, I was trying something new with this 50 Days of Promises season in my blogging. I had noticed (and been told) that my general focus was becoming heavy, convicting, kind of hard to read at times because it was becoming less feel good and more about how short I fall and the hurts of the past that fight with me in the present.
So I set off on this journey to just be a Good News blogger, God is amazing and there are no more worries.
I do have an underlying peace that that statement is very true, but I cannot escape the FACT that so many of the promises of God come with a caveat that this is a partnership and there is a “my side of the bargain” that I must hold up.
There are many evangelicals that just don’t want to hear that, they refuse to acknowledge that how we live our life matters. God is the Justifier, Sanctifier, and Savior. They would proudly and boldly proclaim “we are all co-heir with Christ” and let that statement stand on it’s own.
But this verse, like so many, comes with an IF statement: “Provided we suffer with Him”.
I love Joel Osteen, his message of hope, encouragement, life, salvation is all great stuff and draws thousands of disillusioned to God’s promises like a moth to flame. But I don’t know that I have EVER heard him preach that the promises of God comes with a sacrificial price.
Jesus did not promise a prosperous life of riches and increase in the flesh, it was a fullness of Spirit, and love, joy and serenity that comes from knowing our reward is in eternity.
Jesus many times warned people that following Him was not easy.
I have conscious behaviors in my life that I am wrestling with God over. When I try and remain in the “feel good” gospel 24×7 I seem to soften on the convictions that keep me from surrendering my will and that draw me to the foot of the cross.
Complacency to sin comes easier when I am solely focused on free grace. That doesn’t mean that grace isn’t the free gift of God, but that does not give me license to live my life as I chose. Quite the opposite, that begs for me to live my life differently in response to His mercy.
Yes God forgives me, and yes He is the one who is sanctifying me and making me that co-heir, but the witness that bears that change is a transformed heart, mind and body.
If I am not laying my head down on the pillow at the end of the day and thanking God for the things I did differently which I can only pray glorified His name, and asking for forgiveness and truly hating the things I did which I will do my best to not do tomorrow, then I am ignoring the Holy Spirit within who hates the sin in my life and offers me a new way through those convictions.
Our whole purpose as Christians is to learn to walk as Christ more each day, growth; to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, which to me means live differently!
No we will never attain that pure and perfect walk this side of glory, but does that mean then I am to ignore the calling to love others unconditionally, to love and forgive myself, to always recognize how short I fall and in that fully come to realize just how powerfully life-changing the Cross of Christ truly is and what an amazing gift grace is when it tells me I am free from condemnation?
Exodus 16:28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
Exodus 20:6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Leviticus 22:31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord.
Deuteronomy 5:10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!
1 Kings 3:14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
1 Kings 6:12 “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
1 Kings 9:6 But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
1 Kings 11:38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
2 Kings 17:13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
1 Chronicles 28:7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’
1 Chronicles 29:19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
Nehemiah 1:9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
Psalm 89:31 if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
Psalm 119:115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
Proverbs 3:1 [ Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart ] My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,
Proverbs 4:4 he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.
Proverbs 7:1 [ Warning Against the Adulteress ] My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
Proverbs 7:2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
John 14:15 [ Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit ] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
Like yesterday, this is not meant to be a dark and heavy post, it is just that I ache to look God in the face and say I love you Lord and have confidence I did my best to live out that statement.
And when I ask God to search my heart and reveal to me if I did in fact love Him this day I hear the response:
John 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
My sin does not make Him love me less, the same way that my obedience does not make Him love me more. But the blessing of knowing that I am in a mutually loving relationship, not just Him loving me but us loving each other I believe is what allows me to feel the most free, alive, and empowered to love myself and others as He loved me first.
I used to beg God to take my addictions, my hurts, my fears away and if He did then I would be free. But I’m starting to realize that in His great love He does not take them away, The Holy Spirit within convicts me of my sin and my freedom comes from now choosing life over death.
When I was dead in my inequities I didn’t have a choice, I was not convicted by my sin. I lived as I wanted feeding the flesh at will, my will. But now in Christ in me is that pang of anxiety that says I don’t have to yell in this moment, I don’t have to run to old behaviors, I don’t have to isolate or medicate.
It is that voice that says I am forgiven and loved and reminds me there is a new way to live and today I am given a choice, righteousness or sin. Having a choice is the very freedom He died for.
God gives us understanding of His word, and the laws of His love so that we are set free by the law. It is the law that reveals the true condition of our heart and the behaviors that point to whom we are following. I want my life to point to Christ.
God has clearly said to me, “I love you my child, and this thing that you are begging me to take away I will not, for it is yours to give me”. In that struggle to surrender my idols, my will, my flesh, my fears I grow stronger. He is my gym leader training me up in His ways.
It is through this wrestling with my will over His will that is making me a new man. It is keeping me humbled, continually drawing my eyes upward for strength and drawing me deeper in love each time I drive stakes deeper in His hand in my weakness and He simply responds “I love you, get up, press on, there is much work to do”.
Much like Jesus didn’t flinch when Peter fulfilled Jesus’ prophesy of denying Him 3 times. Peter held on to shame and Jesus rebuked that with 3 questions.
Do you love me Peter, do you love me, do you love me; then feed my sheep.
I do not believe God wants my groveling at the foot of the cross, acknowledge my sin and move on. But to not acknowledge is to become a hypocrite denying that it is Christ who lives in me and not my self perceived goodness that is at work.
What I speak of here is not condemnation but quite the opposite. It is the power plant of conviction that says “today I will rely on Christ more deeply in my walk”. I will praise Him when I am successful and acknowledge His grace, mercy and forgiveness when by owning up to my shortfalls and seek to make amends to those I have hurt and do my best to learn from the hurts my weaknesses causes me, others and God so that I may live in just a little bit more glory tomorrow.
Father God, I thank you for the Holy Spirit who points the way deep in my heart, who dwells in my conscience and says there is a different way to live that glorifies You and will bring me great joy and peace through fulfilling the calling You placed in my path before time. As I seek to know more of You and surrender more of me give me the heart and eyes to not miss those divine appointments which You place in all of our paths each day. Our ministry Lord I believe is to love others right where they are, just as you love me. To offer understanding and compassion, help for the walking wounded. Let this message you placed on my heart not be condemning Lord, for Satan has been doing that long enough in the hearts of those in recovery from past abuse, let instead it be a joyous journey of redemption that is filled with the core understanding that You set us on this path of healing so that we may feed Your sheep, and you will never give up on us until the time of Your return when glory is complete. You have ransomed us with a mighty price, help me to honor that cost by surrendering more of me this day. In Jesus’ precious name I pray…
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“In all these things”…
Those 4 words sum up the totality of the human experience. Filled with disappointments, hurts, trials, and struggles, life is hard and filled with pain.
As an innocent child we think life is all fun and play, and it is supposed to be that way. As I was looking at my son on his 15th birthday yesterday I was already recognizing so much of the innocence lost in him.
He has parents who are dysfunctional in our own hurts. That’s not to say we don’t love him, I truly believe we both would lay our life down for him; but he has had to deal with arguments, disappointments, confusion, over-the-top angry outbursts and unprotected passivity and one that breaks my heart the most and which I personally take the most responsibility for, growing up in a mostly godless home.
As we grow up (age is probably a more accurate term) we are faced with the realities that life is not fair. Bad people doing bad things can gain greater rewards than good people doing the right things. Patience can sometimes means something never comes. Perseverance can just mean it took longer before we cut our losses and were forced to give up. Endurance can simply mean we didn’t die in the process.
Without an eternal hope in Christ Jesus there really is little to live for in this world. Material gains, power, accolades, pleasures of the flesh? These are all fleeting, falling from our grasp as fast as they were acquired leaving one to wonder “what am I doing and why”.
This may seem like a dark and depressing post, but it really isn’t.
For the unmistakable promise of God is that there is NOTHING in this world or beyond that can separate us from the Love of Christ.
That is GREAT NEWS!
God will always love me, good or bad, strong or weak, young or old, healthy or sick, free or persecuted, through easy sailing or rough seas.
Without the gift of grace, compassion, mercy and progressive healing that only comes from getting to know our Righteous Savior Jesus, there is little hope of things getting better. Especially with the darkness that is overtaking the world (so it seems).
But we have the hope of things to come, of being able to not only persevere, endure and conquer, but even more than that, a promise of life throughout eternity in Paradise, with no more suffering, pain or tears and in the presence of our Lord and Savior.
We each as disciples of Christ are charged with bringing a piece of that heaven to earth; to love others as he loves us.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
Love is the foundation that makes it all work out. If we offer grace as we were shown grace, if we offer compassion as we were shown compassion, if we can offer encouragement as we are encouraged, be helpful as we are helped, offer hope as we are given hope.
To be a light-bearer for Christ is to say to the world, there is a Healer, a Savior who if sought can change your heart but we must model that heart change or our words will have no substance.
Rules without relationship equals rebellion.
Just as my journey with Christ has been one of having to get to know how much He loves me first so that I will choose to be obedient to His call and will for my life, we too must show others how much we love them first before they will care about our proclamation that God is love.
Father God, I don’t know why my heart is heavy this morning when looking at the Good News that you will always love us just as we are, broken and frail. You know us, you know the goodness we are capable of and witness the destruction caused by our weaknesses. Lord I want only to live a life that sings Your praise through my actions, how I love others matters but only after I realize just how deeply you love me first. I sense this 3 year journey has been about just that, me trying to prove myself to others, myself and even You so You would be proud and You constantly reminding me that what I do doesn’t matter, it is who You are and what You’ve done that everything hinges on. Help me Lord God this day see only Your face and not my own, help me to not think less of myself, but think of myself less. In all things, Your will not mine be done. In Jesus name I pray…
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Every time I tried to extract just a single verse out of Romans 6 or 1 Peter 2, or even a small passage I couldn’t, the entire writings comes to life in their fullness.
So then I though I’ll just add my ponderings to the beginning or end of the scriptures as I usually do.
But in the end it became very clear that I could not add to or in anyway enhance the power of God’s word with my ramblings so I posted the entire chapters in hopes that just one person might read them in their entirety and be moved as I am to grow deeper in the Lord and embrace obedience for the many splendid promises that are ours when we choose to believe who we are in Christ and willingly and passionately follow Him wherever He leads.
So much of what Paul speaks of is the freedom that comes from “knowing” we are free.
When we are baptized by the Spirit we are instantly and completely set 100% free. The problem for so many like me in recovery is we don’t believe it.
After nearly 3 years on this journey of redemption I am just now beginning to hear the almost endless chatter emanating from deep within my subconscious that is telling me I’m not good, not worthy, haven’t changed at all, will never change, nobody cares, my opinions don’t matter, my values are weak…
It is that voice that keeps me in a self-imposed prison of timidity and fear, and that voice is nearly constant, trying to tear me down at every turn.
For many like me, Satan spoke lies into the heart of a precious innocent and defenseless child so many year ago and then moved on knowing that those lies were so deeply ingrained that few find freedom from them in the end.
The battle is not so much with external forces trying to keep me oppressed but the mis-beliefs that I am still a prisoner to the chains of my past.
Intellectually I know beyond a doubt that none of that is true, but emotionally I still walk in fear, timidity, disobedience, weakness. The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38).
This is not true in all areas of my life, but I think in the areas that matter most, mainly at home.
It is easy for me to be bold, assertive, creative, and committed at the office. My whole life has been about my career. Earning awards, working 60+hr weeks, tackling huge projects and coming out on top; it all fills me with a sense of worth, a self-fulfilling hunger for approval and worth found through the eyes of another.
But at home, there are hurts, unspoken words, elephants in the room that go unacknowledged that feed those lies of my childhood.
God wants to restore, redeem, remake our relationships and only until I can fully let the voice of Truth tell me that I am a child of God and that it is He who will soften the heart of the angry, loosen the grip of the controlling, quiet the voice of anger, encourage the hopeless, give purpose to the wandering, give life to the dead.
These verses in Romans and Peter speak volumes in contrast to the liar, the accuser who seeks only to fool us into thinking that the chains of bondage that once ruled over our lost and wounded hearts are still present.
The great promise of God is that we have the free will to live as we choose, to believe as we choose, to love as we choose.
It is having the choice that makes us free.
We have always been free to live as we have always dreamed; connected, purposeful, filled with hope and peace, joy, and serenity.
Without Christ I believe those attributes of God are unreachable, only a whisper of freedom can be experienced, but when our hope comes from eternal things, promises of reunion with God our Father, a time when there are no more tears, no more pain and only love abounds, we can have a supernatural peace and joy that transcends the lies of this world.
We have a choice, believe we are free in Christ or believe we are still dead in our inequities. One leads to life, the other to death.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Father God, you are the Creator of the heaven and earth, of the grass fields and the majestic mountains.; and you made me in Your image. Help me Lord to see me as You see me, not as a convicted criminal who is stuck paying the price for the sins of the past but born again alive and free by the blood of Jesus Christ, and set on a glorious journey of redemption that You chose for me before time. Help to me see others as You see them Lord, chosen by You no different than me to be here in this time and place, with a purpose that is allowed by You, regardless of where they are. Help us all Lord to recognize that Your grace extends to all and that only through love can any heart be changed. Lord I cannot give away what I don’t know I already have, I thank You for continuing to speak against the lies of the accuser that I might recognize how incredibly free I already am. Help those who call you Abba Father to fully know and appreciate that it is You who brings light unto darkness and that we are the instrument You use. I surrender myself completely this day Lord, open my eyes to the desires of Your heart that I mught fully trust and embrace everything You place in my path this day. Thank you for your Word, Spirit and Son who truly set us free. In Jesus name I pray…
2 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and
“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
I get up at 5am in the morning before writing as a clean slate, open to where the Lord leads and with no agenda on my heart. I pray, open God’s word, and start writing.
My first thoughts this morning as I found myself led into this well known passage was two things, how unbelievably appropriate that I was reading about the Armor of God on Veterans Day and “I’m gonna be late for work” ha ha.
There is so much meat for the hungry Christian to feast on in this passage!
Right off the bat I am hit with the flood of examples throughout biblical history where the greatest battles were won not by great men leading overpowering forces, but instead by faithful men trusting in God’s direction, protection, strength, tactics, and timing.
In really thinking about what this passage is telling me, I have an emerging realization that my striving to “do the right thing” in the past so often times failed because I was trying to be successful in my my own power, for my own glory, following my own agendas.
In every situation, God first says “look to me for your next step, then follow my directions and I will succeed on your behalf”.
Our purpose and power must come from looking to God, not trying to figure out what I am going to do next and how I am going to do it.
Spiritual warfare is not something to take likely or think “it’s just a metaphor”. It is terrifyingly real, especially as you get to recognize the forces at work and realize that without the power of God through the workings of the Holy Spirit within that we are all pawns working for Satan in our blindness.
Jealousy, resentment, pride, ego, selfishness, lusts of flesh and power, these are the forces that Satan feeds through the passions of the world, external forces thriving on broken internal beliefs.
But as powerful as Satan is over the blind of this world, just how much more powerful is the Trinity of God. Christ has already won the battle and Satan knows that his time is growing shorter.
As believers in Christ, followers of Christ, disciples of Christ we are called to listen for, trust in and respond to the call of God.
We can trust in the promise that the Whole Armor of God is available to all who seek to put it on and wear it boldly and proudly.
Our nation was founded on biblical principals.
Some are trying to rewrite history and take God out of our great country but on this special day of remembrance and honor of those veterans who are fighting for Americas freedom and (prayerfully) for spiritual values and to those who have sacrificed so much, and those who gave their very life and loved ones so that we could live free; we should take a moment to thank God for those soldiers who have fought hundreds of years to uphold those very freedoms to love God, serve God and honor God and pray deeply that our country returns to the great biblical values that made her so great to begin with.
Father God I feel almost speechless this morning as I think about America’s men and women who have fought so bravely, and many who have died honorably in maintaining the Godly freedoms you gave us as Your creation. I pray Lord that our great nation not continue on the path she is on, embracing political correctness at the expense of pushing out biblical truths. We need a revival Lord, a new awakening that our leaders who may be at the helpless hands of the ruler of the flesh become overwhelmed with You in the forefront of every thought and begin to seek you in prayer. Be with our nation Lord God, live in our hearts and minds, give us the courage and desires to wear Your entire Armor so that as Christians we can love the world as You do, so that You may be the one to go before us and after us and not rely on the strength of our might but instead by the mighty sovereignty of Your loving design over all things. Help us this day Lord return to You in our simple lives, that each may come to know You in a whole new way. Bless our troops and their families Lord, may they be fighting for Your righteousness against the evils and principalities of this world Lord and not in service to man’s principals, designs and desires. Your will always above ours be done Father God. In Jesus name I pray…
One Man's Journey of Redemption 