The Truth of God’s Word

 As I pray God’s Word, fear, doubt, and discouragement leave and His peace renews my heart and mind. As I experience His peace, I recognize when I have been held captive by controlling thoughts. As I stand in agreement with God, saying the same thing God says about my specific thoughts, I see the lies I have believed as wallpaper in my mind. 

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I ask God to help me tear down the lies wallpapering my mind and re-wallpaper my mind with the Truth of God’s Word, to starve the flesh and feed the Spirit. I ask God to help me see situations in my life the way He sees them. The more I see the way God sees, I become saturated with the favor of God, seeing His view of me through the blood of Christ, I become favor-minded, re-wallpapering my mind with Truth.

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When you feel rejected, God says: You are ACCEPTED

"According to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:5-6)

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When you feel abandoned, God says: You are ADOPTED

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. (Eph. 1:4-5)

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When you feel betrayed, God says: You are BLESSED

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3) 

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When you feel inadequate, God says: You are CHOSEN

“You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he” (Isa. 43:10). “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him.” (Eph. 1:4)

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When you feel afraid, God says: You are REDEEMED

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1).

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When you feel condemned, God says: You are FORGIVEN

 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” (Eph. 1:7-8)

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When you feel forgotten, God says: You are REMEMBERED

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isa. 49:15-16)

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When you feel insecure, God says: You are SECURE

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders” (Deut. 33:12).

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When you feel worthless, God says: You are CALLED

“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.” (1 Pet. 2:9)

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When you feel unloved, God says: You are PRECIOUS and I LOVE YOU

“You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you” (Isa. 43:4). "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

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When you feel unable or unstable, God says: You are ABLE

“The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” (Hab. 3:19).

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When you feel it’s impossible, God says: ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

"Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27)

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When you feel exhausted, God says: I WILL GIVE YOU REST

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

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When you feel you can’t go on, God says: MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

"But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

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When you feel you don’t know what to do, God says: I WILL DIRECT YOUR STEPS

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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When you feel you can’t go on, God says: YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS

"For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)

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When you feel it’s not worth it, God says: IT WILL BE WORTH IT

"We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28)

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When you feel you can’t forgive yourself, God says: I FORGIVE YOU

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

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When you feel you can’t manage, God says: I WILL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS

"God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:19)

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When you feel worried and frustrated, God says: CAST YOUR CARE ON ME

"Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”(1 Peter 5:7)

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When you don’t know what to do, God says: I WILL GIVE YOU WISDOM

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

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When you feel all alone, God says: I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut.31:6)

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Lord Jesus, Thank You for this encouraging Truth from Your Word, that in Christ, we are who You say we are. Thank You for the free gift of salvation, that we are justified on the basis of Your finished work on the Cross. Thank You that, right now, we are under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ. Because we have placed our trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are redeemed by Your precious blood. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. Knowing that God’s love for us and approval of us will never be determined by our performance is the most encouraging promise to which we cling—what great things You have done! We love You, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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Look Up—meditate on Ephesians 1 …pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

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Look In—as you meditate on Ephesians 1 …pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

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Look Out—as you meditate on Ephesians 1…pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

Insecurity is the enemy of intimacy

 Reflecting on the old hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and the powerful scripture Romans 5:1-11…

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
By Isaac Watts (1707)

 

When I survey the wondrous Cross
    On which the Prince of Glory died,
    My richest Gain I count but Loss,
    And pour Contempt on all my Pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
    Save in the Death of Christ my God:
    All the vain Things that charm me most,
    I sacrifice them to his Blood.

See from his Head, his Hands, his Feet,
    Sorrow and Love flow mingled down!
    Did e'er such Love and Sorrow meet,
    Or Thorns compose so rich a Crown?

His dying Crimson, like a Robe,
    Spreads o'er his Body on the Tree;
    Then I am dead to all the Globe,
    And all the Globe is dead to me.

Were the whole Realm of Nature mine,
    That were a Present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.

 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.—Romans 5:1-11

 

 

Insecurity is the enemy of intimacy. You’re never going to have a real intimate relationship with someone when you don’t know how they feel about you. 

If you’re not confident in how God feels about you, you’re never going to really draw near to Him. Insecurity is the enemy of intimacy. If you have any hopes of having intimacy with God, you have to be absolutely confident in how He feels about you. He has settled it—how He feels about us. He has shown His love for us, in that while we were weak, and ungodly, and we didn’t care about Him, Christ died for us. And through faith in Jesus, we are declared righteous—always welcome, always accepted, always delighted in—because of the finished work of Jesus. 

So if we want to get really secure—so that we can be confident to approach God without the fear of being turned away, or rejected, or lectured to, or met with crossed arms or pointed fingers, or “Where have you been” or “I told you so”—we’ve got to look long and hard at the display of His love for us at the Wondrous Cross.

 

We can’t look to ourselves, we can’t look at our performance, we can’t look at our record: “Well, I read my Bible three days in a row. God must be really accepting of me.”

 

We’ve got to look to Jesus—see Him dying, see Him suffering in our place, see Him restoring, reconciling us back to God. And the Father just saying, “Come, come.”

 

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This Romans 5:1-11 passage reminds us that our reason to rejoice is not only that our future salvation is assured, that we’ve been delivered from eternal punishment, or that Christ died for us while we were still his enemies. Certainly, that would be reason enough! But we also rejoice because in the present, right here on earth in the midst of where we are—today, tomorrow, and all the days we are alive—we can enjoy a wonderful new relationship with our heavenly Father. This is not a distant relationship but a close, intimate one. We are blessed with this intimacy because the finished work of Christ removed every barrier standing between the Lord and us and restored our relationship so that we could be friends of God. We did nothing to accomplish this; we receive it because of what Christ did. Think of it—friends of the Almighty! If nothing else is going well today, we still have great reason to rejoice.

Heavenly Father, I rejoice in my relationship with you—all because of what Jesus Christ has done for me. Having an intimate relationship with Jesus, the friend of sinners, allows me to have an eternal perspective about everything else that happens to me today. I praise you for the joy such a friendship brings. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

Look Up—meditate on Romans 5:1-11. Pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

 

Look In—as you meditate on Romans 5:1-11. Pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

Look Out—as you meditate on Romans 5:1-11. Pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.

Peace is the fruit of Authority

 Word Study inspired by I Thessalonians 5:23-24:

I Thessalonians 5:23-24--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.

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I Corinthians 6:17--But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit..

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I Corinthians 3:16--Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

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II Corinthians 6:16--What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

Colossians 3:15—Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

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Scripture teaches us that humans are made up of three components: spirit, soul, and body. My body may have been hurt and my soul—the seat of emotions—may have been injured, but my spirit—the innermost part of my being, where the Spirit of Christ dwells—cannot be touched. Therefore, what defines me most has never been touched. God taught me that the more I allowed the Spirit of Truth dwelling in me to take authority over my body and soul, the more the wholeness of Christ would overtake every part of me. In other words, God taught me to live from the inside-out. I seek to allow the strongest, most invincible part of me—the spirit—to have dominion over all else, thereby sanctifying them (setting them apart as holy) just as  I Thessalonians 5:23-24 suggests. Now I live most consciously out of my healthiest part—the Spirit. Through the years, the health of my spirit has been gloriously contagious to my soul and even to my body. According to I Corinthians 3:16 and II Corinthians 6:16, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. In some ways, broken temples can be rebuilt. The Spirit of Christ dwelling within me has overtaken my whole being.

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God created us as to be whole creatures made of three different components: body, soul, and spirit. As long as we see God as Lord of our spirits alone, we will continue to live in areas of defeat. God is as surely Lord of our souls and body as He is our spirits. It’s all His turf. In fact, take a refreshing look at I Thessalonians 5:23-24. “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.” 

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First of all, please celebrate the glorious fact that God Himself is the One at work in you and through you. He hasn’t just assigned you a mighty angel. God is thoroughly interested and involved in every single part of you: body, soul, and spirit.

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Second, notice that the verse identifies God specifically as the God of peace. The Word of God is perfectly inspired; therefore, every identification of God, every name He is called, is in perfect context. In this case the inference of the title is that the believer will be awash with God’s peace when every part of the life—body, soul, and spirit—is surrendered to His wise, loving, and liberating authority. I know far too well how distant the peace of God is when we refuse to bow a part of our lives to His rule. 

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Peace is the fruit of authority. God’s authority. As Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule. Christ brings His peace where He is Prince. That’s what the title “Prince of Peace” represents.

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Third, don’t miss what God Himself desires to do. I Thessalonians 5:23-24 proceeds to tell us that this glorious God of peace wants to sanctify us “through and through.” The original Greek word for “sanctify” is hagiazo, meaning “to make clean, render pure…to consecrate, devote, set apart from a common to a sacred use…to regard and venerate as holy, to hallow.” In other words, God deeply desires for us to grant Him total access to set apart every single part of our lives—body, soul, and spirit—to His glorious work. Always keep in mind that anything to God’s glory is also for our good. The two concepts are never at odds. God’s inclusion of the physical body is proof among many others in Scripture that He cares deeply what happens to these tents of flesh in which we dwell. Indeed, our physical bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

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For just a moment, let’s think of ourselves like triangles.Imagine each point of the triangle being labeled as body, soul, or spirit. If the triangle is sitting on its base, only one point is “up.” Imagine that point being the one in present control of us. For instance, when distinguished from the spirit as in I Thessalonians 5:23-24, the soul represents the seat of our emotions and our personality. 

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If the “soul” is in the upward, authoritative position in our lives, then we are ruled by our feelings and our personality types. All of us know what kind of trouble results from being under that kind of authority! Our feelings and personalities are given to us by God, but they are not meant to control us. 

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Now picture that the “body” is in the upward position and momentarily ruling over our triangular selves. We don’t have to be terribly bright to imagine what can happen because we’ve all experienced the upheaval firsthand: our fleshly appetites and physical drives and habits take over. Our “appetites” become our masters. Certainly, our physical bodies are gifts from God “fearfully and wonderfully made,” but when they control us, the result is bondage. Also understand that one area exerts tremendous influence over the others. As you know, our feelings can drive our physical appetites just as our physical appetites can drive our feelings.

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The “point” we need in the upward position to live in victory is the Spirit. All of us were born with a “spirit.” When distinguished from the soul, it represents the part of us created in the image of God to know Him and enjoy His fellowship. It is the primary component in us that sets us apart from all other creatures. Until we are redeemed and inhabited by Christ (Rom. 8:9), our spirits are no better off than our souls and bodies. But, glory to God, when we receive Christ, His Spirit takes residency in ours! 

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First Corinthians 6:17 speaks of this supernatural consolidation: “he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” The key to victory as we occupy this triangular temple is to bow daily, perhaps a half dozen times daily, to the control of the Holy Spirit over our lives. Our bodies and our feelings and personalities are wonderful components sanctified by God when the Spirit is in control. I am convinced that a huge part of wholeness in the life of a believer is when God has been allowed to sanctify (take over and set apart) our whole spirit, soul, and body. 

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The question of authority is one we are challenged to answer every single day. The concept of rededicating our lives to Christ only at infrequent revivals or conferences can prove disappointing and defeating. Joshua 24:15 suggests a far more workable approach: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Christ repeated the concept when He called us to take up our crosses daily and follow Him. 

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Do you want to know something wonderful? A daily recommitment is not to ensure that we’ll never fail, but to help us develop the mentality that every single day is a new day—a new chance to follow Christ. Obedience to God is not some diet we suddenly blow. It is something to which we recommit every single day, no matter how we blew it the day before. 

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Victorious living is not an instant arrival. It is the pursuit of one victorious day at a time until the sun sets on enough to begin forming victorious habits. 

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So, are you just about to give up? Good. Give yourself up to God, to the authority of His Holy Spirit. Both Galatians 5:22 and II Timothy 1:7 tell us that self- discipline is a work and a quality of the fruit of the Spirit. Stop feeling guilty because you don’t have any self-discipline on your own. Neither does that together-looking person next to you. None of us can master ourselves. Some yokes may be more obvious than others, but all of us have had them. God is the only One who can sanctify and make every part of us whole…“and He will do it.” All He wants is our trust, our belief, and a little time…For without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5) and with Him, we can do anything (Phil. 4:13).

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II Timothy 1:7--For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

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Galatians 5:22-23--When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

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Suppose you wanted to start an apple orchard. In early spring you carefully cut dozens of twigs from an apple tree and stick them in the ground twenty feet apart. You water and fertilize and watch and wait. But in the fall, you have no apples to pick. Why? Because those twigs could not mature and bear fruit once they were not rooted in the tree they came from. The same is true with spiritual fruit. It is only when we belong to Christ and stay close to him that his Spirit lives in us and produces the virtues, or “fruit,” listed in Galatians 5:22-23.

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Self-effort won’t produce this fruit. Good intentions won’t produce love, joy, peace, patience, or kindness. Instead, as we yield ourselves to Christ, his Spirit lives and moves freely through us and touches others through our lives. We express his gentleness as we respond to children, his great patience as we encounter difficult people. We demonstrate his faithfulness as we keep commitments, and we share his goodness and kindness as we bless others. 

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Corrie ten Boom writes: “I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Spirit of Christ in us Who is the hand, Who does the job. We have to make room for the Hand so that every finger is filled.”

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LORD, teach me to yield to the authority and control of the Spirit of Christ Who dwells in the innermost part of me. How I realize that none of the virtues reside within my flesh. But this understanding is a gift from You that enables me to humble myself before You and rely wholly on Your Spirit rising up within me. Do so, Lord, and may the fruit You produce draw others to You! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

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Look Up—meditate on I Thessalonians 5:23-24… pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.

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Look In—as you meditate on I Thessalonians 5:23-24… pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."

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Look Out—as you meditate on I Thessalonians 5:23-24 … pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.