Christ IN Me Binds The Wounds Of My Broken Heart!

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 NKJ

On the Cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”(Luke 23:34) I used to read this and pray, “Of course He could do this because He was Jesus, but what about me Lord? I can’t do this! It is impossible to forgive the people who have wounded me. The pain was so great and the memories are so vivid; I can’t get over them!”

Then one day as I prayed the Holy Spirit prompted me to read the Book of Acts. When I read Acts 7: 59-60 I stopped and began to cry. It says, ““And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” How could Stephen do this? I can’t even imagine what went through his mind during the stoning process and the pain he suffered before he died; and yet his dying words were, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”

Would these be your dying words if that was you? I know that before I had the revelation I am going to share today those would not have been my words. But now I can honestly say that my words would be similar to Stephens because I have learned how to allow Christ IN me to heal my broken heart and bind up the wounds of past memories associated with trauma inflicted on me by others. This was a process that took time but the benefits (fruit of the Spirit) have far outweighed the time it took to do it. Today I live at peace with the memories of my past and I do not hold unforgiveness for any of the people who have hurt me over the years.

Suffering from a broken heart due to any wound can be very traumatizing and captivating if we do not allow Christ IN us to heal us and bind up the wound. By captivating I mean that if we are not careful we can allow the memories of our past wounds to captivate our minds into a state of mental bondage. On the Cross Jesus died for the wounds we would one day suffer and when He rose again He made provision for us to be completely set free from the stronghold of the memories of those wounds, with the promise that He binds them up. To bind means: to tie or secure, to fasten or wrap by encircling. Only the love of God IN Christ Jesus can do the work in us to bind up the wounds of our mind associated with past trauma.

I love what David said in Psalm 32:7 because it gives a beautiful picture of what being bound up IN Christ means. He says, “You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” In order to grasp this understanding, let me share the image I got when I read this Scripture during my time of meditation when I studied today’s Bible passages. Think about the wrapping of a Christmas present for a moment. The wrapping paper hides the present from view. Colossians 3:1-3 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Jesus truly is our hiding place and only Jesus can deliver us from the pain that comes when we remember past trauma. If we are willing to fix our minds on Him in times when our minds remember past trauma; we can be assured that He is binding (wrap by encircling) our wounds and He is singing songs of deliverance over us. And the beauty that comes when we allow Him to do this IN us, is that His present of deliverance is unwrapped IN us! We then are able to cry out to Him to forgive the very people who have wounded us. It doesn’t mean we reconcile with those people because those people may not be safe and may stone us again with their words or actions.

But what it does mean is that we are no longer bound to unforgiveness which frees us to open ourselves up to love with an untainted heart. Forgiveness is the key that makes this happen. Scientific research has proven that unforgiveness is one of the leading causes of physical ailment. The American Medical Association reports that over 85 % of people in hospitals are there because of psychosomatic reasons due to pent up emotional trauma. This is not research done in the church. This is scientific research and this is only one study, among dozens, that has been done where they have linked unforgiveness to illness.

If we are willing to do what Jesus did and what Stephen did, in forgiving the very people who have wounded us; we will experience deliverance from the trauma associated with memories of past wounds. This will open our minds up to receiving the love of Christ IN us which enables Him to perfect His healing work IN us, so we are able to love and trust people once again. Forgiveness frees the one who has been wounded from the ties that bind them to the person who has wounded them. It sets them free to live in wholeness so they can freely give the love that was given to them IN Christ, when He died for them on the Cross and rose again.

I leave you today with John 10:10 which says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Do not let the thief steal your peace, kill your hope, or destroy your dreams for love and fulfillment! Let Christ bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart so you can experience the healing power of the Cross as it works to deliver you from the ties that bind you to the memories of past wounds! This is my prayer for you today. Amen

IN Christ I Can Humble Myself Under God’s Mighty Hand!

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5-7 NKJ

Humility was never a strong character trait of mine and in fact it was almost nonexistent for a long time. I have a very strong personality and I have always been quite stubborn and strong willed. During a recent season of transition I found myself having to face the reality of where my stubbornness had taken me. It was a dead end alley of pride and I found myself alone and without the support of others. It wasn’t that people didn’t want to be there for me, it is just that I had never given them permission to be there.

In the stillness of that night season of my life, as I sat in quiet reflection of where my pride had taken me, Jesus came to me. He reminded me that He loved me and reassured me that if I would humble myself under His mighty hand; He would exalt me in due time. At that moment He clothed me with a garment of humility. As I allowed Him to clothe me with the garment of humility He removed my garment of pride. It was during this encounter with my Savior where I made the decision to cast all of my cares on Him and to put my trust in Him alone!

This act of free will was one of the hardest things I have ever done because it meant I had to humble myself and release every pain, anxiety, fear, concern, mindset, and hurt. I knew that in doing this I would open myself up to being vulnerable and that is something I had worked for years to avoid. Being vulnerable had always been a scary thought because being vulnerable meant I wasn’t in complete control. But I acted in faith, trusted in God, and gave it all over to Him! In His great and mighty love for me He was faithful and continues to be each day as I walk out of this dead end cul-de-sac of pride. With each step I take I am meeting people who God had placed in my path along the way. They are people I have known for a long time but who I had never allowed to know me.

One of them is my husband whom I love with all my heart. He is a gentle giant who has a heart after God and wants to serve Him as a shepherd to His sheep. Upon meeting him once again on the path to humility I am learning to be vulnerable in letting him be the leader of our household. This is a huge act of faith because I have always been a strong woman who wanted to lead. Not anymore! I am learning how to submit to God in allowing my husband to take his rightful position in our family. Like Joyce Meyer I am letting go of my control. It is a journey of faith and trust but God assures me that in due season He will exalt me in the position He has placed me in if I will do it.

Other people I am meeting on my journey out of the cul-de-sac of pride are friends who have loved me and supported me even when they knew I was full of pride and unwilling to listen to wise counsel. I am learning how to be vulnerable with them as well. As I have submitted to God and submitted to the loving counsel of wise friends, I have learned it is safe to trust the people God brings into my life. Though they are human and could falter in our relationship, I have to allow God to do His work through them and not resist them; just because I am afraid they may hurt me at some point. I have to remind myself that I was not given a spirit of fear and if fear is operating in me; it is due to my lack of faith.

In making the decision to humble myself, my trusted friends and my husband have felt safe to share wisdom with me and I am learning how to apply it to my life. It isn’t always what I want to hear because it contradicts my flesh at times; but I am learning how to allow Christ IN me to remind me that my flesh was crucified on the Cross! And at His resurrection I was made alive IN Him and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives IN me. The fullness of God that now dwells on the inside of me, IN Christ, is the only One who can perfect the work of humility and keep me humble so I can receive and apply wise counsel from trusted friends and loved ones.

This is not something we can do in our own strength because our flesh is weak. Only the Spirit of God is strong enough to break the stronghold of pride and keep us humble. When we allow Him to work in us we experience His grace as it moves to deliver us from the spirit of pride. Walking out of the dead end cul-de-sac of pride and onto the path of humility is one of the greatest trials we will ever face in life and it requires much patience because it is a journey of faith; not a sprint of self works. On the journey we have to remind ourselves of the words spoken by James in James 1:2-4. He says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Prayer: Spend time praying that God will grant you wisdom and discernment in this area and praise Him for being faithful! Begin to cast your cares on Him because He cares for you. I want to encourage you today if you have struggled with pride in your life and assure you that when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will be faithful! As you submit to Him and allow Him to clothe you in humility He will exalt you in due time. Rejoice in this truth and be patient with yourself; knowing that the perfect work of Christ IN you is producing a harvest of wisdom and strength as you allow Him to do His perfect work.

IN Christ I Can Choose Healthy Friendships!

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17 NKJ

“Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.” Proverbs 27:9 NKJ

One of the greatest joys in life is in knowing I have friends who encourage me, build me up, and strengthen me in my times of weakness. They also rejoice with me in times of achievement and they cry with me in times of sorrow. It has taken me several years to build a network of healthy friendships and the process of choosing healthy friendships has been challenging at times. Some friendships I enjoyed I had to release because they were not healthy and I knew if I kept them I would suffer unnecessary wounds as a result. But over time I came to realize that releasing them was the right decision.


I used to choose friendships based on similar interests, common circumstances, and personality. I no longer do that because I have learned that these traits are not the best measuring stick for choosing quality friends. I decided to study Jesus’ life and see how He treated His friends and the people around Him. This became my new measuring stick for choosing quality friendships.

Jesus treated people with compassion, understanding, love, acceptance, respect, and kindness. He built them up and strengthened them to live life on purpose. He didn’t shame them or make them feel guilty when they made bad decisions or when they struggled in their faith. He didn’t belittle people or put them down. He didn’t criticize them or manipulate them. And he never judged them. He loved them, encouraged them and built them up in their faith. His words and actions empowered them!

When I looked at the people in my life who I called friends; there were many people who did just the opposite of what Jesus did. These are the kinds of people I released and these are the kinds of people I avoid when choosing friendships today. But how did I do this and what enables me to continue doing this? The answer is that I began this process with myself before I ever did it with anyone else. I made the decision to become my own best friend! I knew that I couldn’t give away what I didn’t own and I couldn’t expect from others what I didn’t require of myself.

I chose to sit with Jesus during quiet times of reflection and I allowed Him to speak His words of love to me. At first this was very difficult because His words contradicted my feelings about myself in many areas of my life. But over time as I allowed His Spirit to speak to me I became more comfortable receiving His love and encouragement. I learned to own the truth about who I am IN Christ and who Christ is IN me which enabled me to encourage others to do the same.

I understand that we all have flaws due to our own wounds, but the people who allow Christ to heal them won’t inflict the very pain they have suffered, onto other people. When we release our pain and allow Christ to heal us we don’t repeat that pain in our own lives or in the lives of others. This is one of the main things I teach people how to do because it is the key to becoming a true friend and becoming a person who chooses friends wisely. My dad used to say, “Treat people how you want to be treated because you can’t have a friend until you learn how to be a friend.” He was right!

After you have spent time learning how to receive Christ’s love and acceptance of you, you are ready to begin the process of choosing healthy friends. Here is a list of qualities to look for in a healthy friend. They build you up and encourage you with their words and actions. They speak the truth about who God says you are and they help you identify the character traits of Christ in you. If they see you in a time of weakness they do not belittle you or criticize you. They approach you in love and encourage you in the faith. They do not gossip. They are compassionate and loving even when they have to speak correction. They do not manipulate you or others. Their words and actions reflect the love of Christ and they do not make you question your identity IN Him.

My mom taught me a great way to measure these qualities. She said when you walk away from a conversation with a friend and you love God more, yourself more, your life, more, and you feel strengthened, you know you have just left a conversation with a true friend. She was right! I have tested this and found it to be true. I want to encourage you today to spend time evaluating your friendships. Identify the ones that build you up and strengthen you. Take time to thank them this week. Also take the time to identify the ones that make you question your worth and value and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom so you know if these are friendships you need to release. He is faithful and He will speak to you.

Prayer: Set aside time to spend with the Lord so you can hear His voice speak to you in regards to friendships. If you have not received His Words of love for you, take time each day to sit with Him in quiet reflection of who He says you are IN Him. Pray for wisdom and discernment so you know how to choose healthy friendships or how to release the ones you identify as unhealthy.

IN Christ I Am A Slave To Righteousness!

“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18 NKJ

How did it feel waking up in the truth that you have been liberated and made free IN Christ? I know when I came to this revelation a weight was lifted from my shoulders and I felt like dancing around my house and I felt like singing praises to God for making me free! I concentrated on learning more about what my liberation IN Christ meant so I would know how to stay in a Christ centered mindset. But shortly after my revelation I listened to a sermon that knocked me off kilter in my understanding. That sermon talked about being made a slave to righteousness and focused on Romans 6. At first I was a bit confused because becoming a slave of righteousness seemed contrary to the truth I had just learned about being liberated and made free IN Christ.

Instead of staying in a state of confusion I decided to investigate this passage of Scripture for myself so I could gain wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit. Let me share what I discovered so you too can grow in wisdom and understanding through the power of revelation from the Holy Spirit. In Romans 6:1-4 Paul says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

In order to better understand this let’s go back to what I talked about yesterday in regards to the person who comes to the United States in order to escape the hostile environment of their country of origin. Some of these people come to the United States and embrace their new freedom as a gift and they treat it with respect. They willingly and joyfully walk in the newness of life they have just been given. Others come to the United States and see their freedom as a license to do whatever they want, when they want, and they have no respect for the gift that has just been given to them. They take their gift for granted and misuse it.

This same scenario happens in the body of Christ and it was obviously happening with the Roman church or Paul would have never addressed this. Paul is sending a message to the Romans so they can gain a deeper understanding of the liberation that comes in salvation by grace through faith. When a person comes to fully accept the gift of righteousness, they were been given when they were saved through faith IN Christ; they will have a desire to treat that gift with respect which leads them to reign in life as a new creation IN Christ. Their minds are fixed on Christ and what He did for them on the Cross and they have a desire to honor Him as a result. They renew their minds through the Word and they begin to adopt a righteousness consciousness that leads them to walk in obedience out of great love for the One who set them free!

Others never fully embrace the gift that has been given them because they have never renewed their minds in order to cleanse it with the Word. Even though they have been liberated and made free they still live in an enslaved consciousness to the sinful nature that existed in them when they were slaves to sin. They view the Cross as a necessary act for man’s salvation, but they never fully comprehend its meaning. Because of this they never move past the Cross to fully embrace the meaning of Christ’s resurrection and what it means to them as believers!

When the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom into the deeper meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection and we realize that we have been made alive IN Him; we will fix our mind on being the righteousness of God IN Christ Jesus! This revelation opens up our understanding so we can embrace that being a slave to righteousness is actually the most freeing part of being liberated IN Christ! We no longer view slavery from a humanistic mindset, but instead, we view it with spiritual understanding. We begin to embrace our new life as an incredible gift and that leads us to honor that gift with the respect it deserves. This is truly what leads us to being obedient in our thoughts, words, and actions, because they are motivated by our love for the One who saved us from death!

We no longer have a desire to sin because we respect the gift that has been given us. And if we do sin we are quick to renew our minds in the truth of who we are as new creations in Christ, instead of taking on condemnation. These two actions of faith empower us to reign in life because we understand that Christ IN us is the hope of the glory! This is when we are able to reach others with the Gospel message in boldness because we know that we are leading people from the bondage of slavery to sin, to the liberation of slavery to righteousness! It is in coming to understand that we are held captive by the love of God IN Christ Jesus where we fully embrace the liberation that accompanies the resurrected life of Christ IN us!

Prayer: May the eyes of my understanding be opened so that I can fully embrace my liberation IN You! Help me to understand that being made free IN You and being taken captive by Your love and made a slave to righteousness is the most incredible gift I have ever or will ever receive in life! I praise You for the gift of righteousness and by faith I will renew my mind to the truth of who I am as a new creation IN You. By faith I will allow Your Word to cleanse me from a sin consciousness and I believe by faith that as my mind changes, my desires will change too. Amen

IN Christ I Am Liberated And Made Free!

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 NKJ

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 NKJ

Every day people risk their lives to move to the United States from countries where they have lived for years in bondage! They are willing to do whatever it takes to escape, even if it means possibly losing their lives in the process. If you ask them why they are willing to do this; they would tell you that facing possible death in order to have the opportunity to be free, is better than living out a death sentence under the yoke of bondage in their country of origin. The ones who have succeeded in escaping would never willingly put themselves back under the yoke of bondage and in fact; they spend their entire lives fighting to escape deportation!

If you ask a soldier who fights in the American Armed Forces why they are willing to risk their lives for their country; they would tell you that facing possible death in order to ensure we continue to be a liberated country, is worth the risk of possibly losing their lives on the battlefield! They would tell you that the last thing they would ever do is throw up the white flag of surrender and be taken captive by enemy forces! They will do anything to ensure our freedom!

The reason both of these groups of people are willing to do what they do is because they know just how incredible it is to live a life of freedom! Any person who has tasted the freedom of a liberated life knows that living a liberated life is far better than living a life of bondage under hostile rule. IN Christ we have been made free and liberated from the life of bondage we were enslaved to before we said yes to Him! Even though this is true many Christians still live as if they are under the rule of a sadistic dictator. They have not grasped the enormity of what Christ did for them on the Cross and as a result they let the enemy deceive them into believing they are still enslaved to him and under his rule!

On the Cross Jesus died for our freedom! He laid down His life so that we could be liberated from the bondage of the ruler of this world! IN Christ we have been liberated and made alive in the freedom of His resurrected life! Jesus’ sacrifice was no small task but many people treat it that way! They do not embrace the extent of what that act of love did for us who believe! Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

To embrace this truth it is important to understand that the Greek word Christ means anointing. Merriam – Webster’s dictionary defines anoint as: “to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration, to choose by or as if by divine election; also: to designate as if by a ritual anointment.” In Isaiah 10:27b it says what the anointing oil does.” Isaiah said, “And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.” So when we said yes to Jesus Christ we were covered with God’s anointing IN Christ which is the very thing that destroys the yoke of bondage we were enslaved to. Christ IN us has made us alive IN Him and we are no longer under the yoke of bondage like the people who are slaves to sin and children of wrath because we were made alive IN Him on the day of our salvation!

But if we do not accept this truth we will continue to believe the deception of the devil and put ourselves under the yoke of bondage through condemnation or trying to keep the laws of the Old Covenant. Colossians 2:13-15 says, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

In order for us to embrace and live the fully liberated life IN Christ we have to accept what He did for us on the Cross! Unlike the people who try to cross the borders into the United States, we are not the ones who had to cross the border into our liberation. Christ did on the Cross! (Through grace we have been saved, through faith) And unlike the soldiers in the armed forces, who have to fight to keep us free; we don’t have to fight for our freedom! Christ did it in His resurrection! (John 10:10) Our only responsibility is to renew our minds to the truth of who we are IN Christ and who Christ is IN us! The battlefield for the Christian is in the mind and our responsibility to is fight the devil, using the Word of God, as Jesus did in the Desert of Temptation; and tell him to flee. When we do this our minds stay liberated and we are not deceived into taking back the yoke of bondage that make us slaves to the mindset of sin and bondage!

Prayer: Lord, I understand that the liberated mind is the mind that is free from condemnation and able to discern things in the Spirit! I know that the liberated mind is the mind that is able to seek first Your kingdom and righteousness with the understanding that all other things will be added! I know that the liberated mind is the mind that is able to fulfill Your purpose! And I understand that the liberated mind is the mind that can focus on Your ministry IN me and lead others to the saving knowledge of You. It is the desire of my heart to walk in the liberated mindset of knowing who I am IN You and who you are IN me and I believe by faith that You will grant me the desire of my heart! Amen

IN Christ I Am NEVER Condemned! (Part One of Two)

Before reading today’s devotion spend time praying that the eyes of your understanding will be opened to the truth of who you are IN Christ because what we will be discussing today is where many Christians struggle the most! Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The word no means no! It doesn’t mean there is now some or certain kinds of condemnation. It says there is NO condemnation for those of us who are IN Christ Jesus! But we have a responsibility to walk according to the Spirit in the mindset of Christ or we will not understand or accept this truth!

This truth is a vital key to understanding who you are IN Christ! Your brain and the devil use condemnation as a weapon of deception to drive an invisible wedge in your mind; in order to convince you that you can be separated from God when you commit a sinful act. It’s a lie! But if you do not understand this, the devil can drive a wedge in your mind because he wants to gain a foothold in your soul! If you do not come against him, and he gains a foothold, that foothold soon becomes a stronghold and eventually it leads to a stranglehold of death in your thinking! As a new creation IN Christ, under the New Covenant, NOTHING you do can separate you from God because you are IN Christ and Christ is IN you!

The devil has used deception and the weapon of condemnation since the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and it led to their destruction because they believed it. Let me explain. In the Garden when Adam and Eve committed a sinful act; did God change in His relationship with them? And did He separate Himself from them? The answer to this question is found in Genesis 3:8-9. It says, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?””

Can you see it? God NEVER changed in His relationship with man when man sinned and He NEVER separated Himself from them! Man changed because of his shame for the sinful act he committed and man separated himself from God; when he hid. And it was here where man became afraid at the sound of the voice of the One who could save him from his sinful act! There’s no way to know what would have happened if Adam and Eve would have approached God and repented; instead of hid from God in shame! But what we do know from this account is what we should and should not do; when we commit a sinful act.

As new creations IN Christ we should always approach God and repent by renewing our mind to the truth that our sinful act was paid for on the Cross. This is where we are freed from the mindset of condemnation. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) We should never try to hide from God under the condemnation of shame because this is exactly what the devil wants us to do! He knows that if we renew our mind to the Truth, the Spirit will remind us that Christ made us free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:2-4 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Our responsibility is to renew our minds and know that as new creations IN
Christ we live according to the Spirit, not according the flesh!

But if our minds are not renewed to this truth we will set our minds on the deception of the devil and condemn ourselves and accept his lie of condemnation. This is called living according to the flesh and this mindset always leads to death in our thinking. Romans 8:5-7 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

The devil knows that if we fully accept the truth about who we are IN Christ and who Christ is IN us; he cannot oppress us any longer because we will not accept his lie as truth. He knows that the person who is spiritually minded is peace filled in the knowledge of their righteousness IN Christ! And he knows that the spiritually minded person is the one who will fulfill God’s purpose and the one who will put his works to death; which will lead them to introduce other people to life IN Christ! He does not want this to happen!

If you want to operate as a spiritually minded person here is what you can do as an exercise of faith in this area. The next time you commit a sinful act renew your mind to the Truth about who you are IN Christ and who Christ is IN You! Stand firm in your faith until the temptation to accept the devil’s lie of condemnation passes! Tell him he is a liar and meditate on God’s Word until it becomes deeply rooted in your mind. Praise God for your liberty IN Christ and deny the devil the right to put you back into the bondage of a sinful mindset! You are liberated IN Christ and I will talk about that in tomorrow’s devotion so you can gain an even greater understanding of who you are IN Christ and who Christ is IN you.

Prayer: Lord help me to understand that I am not condemned when I commit a sinful act! Give me the wisdom to comprehend Your Truth about who I am IN You and who You are IN me, so the devil does not deceive me into believing the lie of condemnation. I believe by faith that I will overcome in this area by the power of Your blood that You shed for me on the Cross! Your blood covered my sin and made me free from the death that my sin required! Thank You for loving me so much that You took my place and help me to come to a full understanding of what that means. Amen

The Love Of Christ IN ME IS Unstoppable!

One day when I was driving down the road a song came on the radio that struck a chord in my heart. It was “Unstoppable” by Rascal Flatts. After listening to it I cried because it is such a great depiction of Who Christ is IN us and how His love IN us is unstoppable! The lyrics say, “So, so you made a lot of mistakes, walked down the road a little sideways, cracked a brick when you hit the wall. Yeah, you've had a pocket full of regrets pull you down faster than a sunset; hey it happens to us all. When the cold hard rain just won't quit, and you can't see your way out of it, you find your faith has been lost and shaken you take back what's been taken, get on your knees and dig down deep you can do what you think is impossible.

Keep on believing, don't give in it'll come and make you whole again, it always will, it always does, love is unstoppable! Love, it can weather any storm, bring you back to being born again. Oh, it's a helping hand when you need it most, a lighthouse shinning on the coast that never goes dim. When your heart is full of doubt, and you think that there's no way out. (chorus) Keep on believing, don't give in it'll come and make you whole again, it always will, it always does, love is unstoppable! “

Sometimes we can become disheartened in life when we make mistakes or when people hurt us with their words or actions. In an instant our mood can change from hope filled and joyful to a state of hopelessness and sadness. It doesn’t matter what triggers the change because it can be any number of experiences. What does matter in times like this is that we remind ourselves that the Love of Christ IN us is unstoppable and He is at work IN us making us whole again in our minds. Our responsibility during times like these is to fix our minds on Him and allow His Spirit to quiet us in the midst of our circumstance!

Love has many definitions and the feelings of love invoke many different responses in our soul, but there is only one type of love that is unstoppable and able to make us whole; and that is the love of God! All other forms of love can be stopped because we can turn our feelings of love on and off at will. But no matter what we do or what others do to us; the love of Christ IN us, never stops flowing through the heart of the believer. In Ephesians 3:17-19 Paul tells us how to set our minds on this constant flowing love. He says, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Once again we find that it is our faith that sets our minds on the root of Christ’s love in our hearts. It is not something we do in our strength because at any point our strength will fail when we experience pain of any kind. But when we focus our minds to believe by faith in the unstoppable love of Christ IN us we do not grow weary or weak; no matter what painful experience we find ourselves in. When our focus is on the unstoppable love of Christ IN us we also block the devil from getting a foothold in our souls. He wants to plant bitter roots of anger or resentment in our hearts but his plan is thwarted when we resist him by submitting ourselves to the Spirit of Christ IN us!

James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Submitting to God means to support God’s mission IN us which is to perfect the love of Christ IN us, through our faith. This is why in 1 John 4:17-19 John reminds us, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 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. We love Him because He first loved us.” As we begin to embrace the unstoppable love of Christ IN us we begin to believe by faith that no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in; we can overcome and be able to love with a Christ centered love! This is when we are made whole in our minds because we understand that the love of God, IN Christ Jesus, overcame when He resurrected Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heaven.

It is also important to remind ourselves that the fullness of God’s love lives and dwells in the heart of the believer and it flows freely through our soul; even when we stop choosing to feel or express the emotion of love. It is in understanding this truth where we will stop resisting the prompting of the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us in the midst of a painful experience. And this is when we will begin to focus our minds on the unstoppable love of Christ IN us which will lead us to love ourselves and love others with a Christ centered love. My prayer for all believers is that we come to this understanding so we can begin to be the beacon of light for a world of people who are lost in the darkness!

Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your unstoppable love that flows through me at all times. I believe by faith that only Your love in me can make me whole in my mind. Help me to release past memories of pain that have kept me from embracing Your love In Me IN Christ! Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand just how much You love me so I am able to love myself and love others with Your unstoppable love flowing through me. I praise You that as You are in heaven so am I on this earth and through my faith IN You I am whole and able to love! Amen

IN Christ I Am Kept In Perfect Peace!

The story I am going to share with you today is a very personal one but it is a wonderful example that will help you better understand who you are IN Christ so I am willing to share it openly. May it encourage you on your journey of faith and may you be built up in your understanding of who you are In Christ and who Christ is IN you.

One of the hardest realities to deal with is facing the death of a loved one. This reality came too soon for me when my dad was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago and given only a few months to live. As the days and weeks went by and it became more apparent that he was going to need to be taken to hospice; I had to make a decision of how I was going to handle this reality. I spent much time in prayer and meditation asking God to give me strength for the journey I knew I was about to embark on. When the news finally came and my dad was placed in hospice I made the decision to be by his side.

I had been a daddy’s girl my entire life and he was one of my heroes! But when I entered his room on the day they moved him to hospice I was overwhelmed with emotion! To see him laying in the bed struggling for life was one of the hardest things I have ever witnessed. I cried many tears as you can imagine but I did something else that day and that is what I want to share with you. I chose to believe God’s promise to us in Isaiah 26:3. It says, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

Choosing to believe God’s promise enabled me to experience something I would have never been able to experience if I had given in to what my flesh wanted to do. My flesh wanted to ask the questions why him, why now, why this? My flesh wanted to be angry at God! My flesh wanted to become depressed and it wanted to hide from the world. But if I had given into my flesh I would have missed the most amazing opportunity, which was to be one of my dad’s caregivers during the last days of his life. In choosing to fix my mind on God and committing myself to Him during that time; I was blessed beyond anything I could have ever thought or imagined! Jesus truly kept me in His perfect peace and He also strengthened me to be a witness to those around me.

I share this because being kept in perfect peace, IN Christ, is one of the biggest blessings we receive from God when we become a believer. And it is not something we have to muster up or do in our own strength. God does it, IN Christ, IN us, when we believe by faith that it belongs to us and act on the promise that is rightfully ours IN Christ! In John 14:26-27 Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Many times our trials and circumstances warrant a troubled heart or fear because they can be so traumatic and overwhelming. But when we fix our eyes on the truth of who we are IN Christ and who Christ is IN us, the power of Jesus Christ quiets our troubled heart and silences our fears. This is when we are empowered to handle seemingly impossible situations and face the most difficult circumstances! This is also where we see God perform His Word in us and in turn we are able to be a living example of His Word to others.

I wasn’t the only person who chose to operate IN the mindset of Christ and act on His promise of peace during my dad’s stay in hospice. My mom and many other visitors did as well. Since I was there day and night I can attest to the fact that the living example of God’s people made a huge impact on other families who had a loved one in hospice and on the nurses. It was so amazing to watch as the peaceful presence of Christ filled that hospice facility! The atmosphere became hope filled; even though in the natural death was taking place.

Experiencing what it is like to be guarded and kept in perfect peace is one of the most amazing feelings you will ever experience in this life. And knowing that it is not something we have to muster up or do in our own strength is one of the most freeing experiences. God’s incredible love for us overwhelms me because it is so much more than I can comprehend at times! I want to encourage you to spend time meditating on these passages of Scripture so you can begin to fully embrace the enormity of the blessing that has been promised to those of us who believe. And if you are in the place of needing to feel the presence of Christ guarding you and keeping you in peace right now, believe that He is by faith, and you will begin to sense His presence.

Prayer: I believe by faith that what You have promised You will perform in my life! I believe that You are guarding and keeping me in perfect peace. I choose to fix my mind on You and I commit myself fully to You. I choose to lean on you and confidently hope in You during trials and circumstances that seem overwhelming. I believe by faith that as I do this I will sense Your presence surrounding me. I praise You for loving me so much that You give me Your perfect peace IN You! Amen

IN Christ Alone I Find Rest For My Weary Soul!

Have you ever experienced what it is like to have a weary soul? Do you know what it’s like to feel the pressure of a heavy burden when you are weighed down by life’s circumstances? I know both of these realities very well because I have walked through many fiery trials in my life. In the recent past I found myself wanting to put my face in my pillow and weep because my circumstances seemed too overwhelming to bear. I am a very strong person and I don’t buckle under pressure very easy, but the accumulation of many simultaneous events caused my once strong soul, to become weary and worn down in the midst of the struggle.

It didn’t seem to matter how many Scriptures I meditated on, how much I prayed, or how many people tried to encourage me; I could not be comforted. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” I thought I had been doing this and frankly when I thought about this passage, I got irritated because I didn’t know what part of this I wasn’t doing.

I began to cry out to God to speak to me in regards to this situation. I didn’t get an immediate answer and so I stayed, on my bed, waiting. I tuned out all distractions and focused my mind on the truths I know about who I am IN Christ and how Christ IN me is perfect peace! As I was laying there I heard a sound outside of my window that I could not ignore. It sounded like someone was hammering a nail over and over again. Finally I got up and went outside to see what it was. The sound was coming from a tree and I realized it was a woodpecker. I was agitated and I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, “Are you kidding me? A woodpecker?”

I turned to go back inside and all of the sudden other birds started chirping and at that moment I realized what God was trying to tell me. I ran back inside and opened my Bible to Matthew 6:25-27 and read, ““Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”

I realized that even with a strong understanding of who we are IN Christ and who Christ is IN us we can still be given to worry at times of weakness. If someone would have told me I was in a mindset of worry I would have argued with them, but they would have been right. And so with the revelation I asked God what I was to do to and His Spirit directed me to Ephesians 6:13-14 which says, “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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”

I stopped reading right there and understood the message God was trying to tell me and here is what He said to my spirit. Sometimes we cannot make sense of circumstances and trials and there is nothing we can do to fix them, change them, or make them disappear. And it is in these times where we have to understand that our responsibility is to stand firm in our faith knowing that God is working in our situation to perform His Word on our behalf. It is in understanding this truth where all striving ceases and we are able to release our cares to Christ, the only one who understands our pain, worry, and fear.

It isn’t about us doing more! It is about us understanding that the fullness of God is already working IN us, IN Christ Jesus, and He is doing as Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:13. “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” The good pleasure of God is to perform His Word in our lives so we can stand on the other side of our trials and give Him glory through our testimony of His faithfulness. On that day I came to understand this as I stopped trying to make sense of it all and I stopped trying to calm my weary soul through my own efforts.

This is a daily exercise of faith because with each new day a new trial unfolds. But I have come to understand that Christ IN me is the hope of glory and only Christ IN Me can bring rest to my weary soul; for He is the fullness of rest and He is the Prince of Peace! Today I have come to better understand what the peace that passes all understanding feels like and I want to assure you that this same peace is available to you. All you have to do is to rest on the promises of God and believe by faith that He is at work in your trial or circumstance. He will not fail you and He never leaves you! He loves you and He cares for you!

Prayer: God this burden seems too much to bear but I believe Your Word over my reality and You promise that I will never be given more than I can bear. If I feel it is too overwhelming remind me that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light so I can remind myself to give all my cares over to You. I believe by faith that You are in the midst of my trial working to perform Your Word on my behalf. I believe by faith that when this trial is over I will testify of Your great love and faithfulness that brought me through it! Amen

Meeting A Need IN Christ Always Brings A Harvest Of Reward!

Meeting A Need IN Christ - Principle One:

“Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” Philippians 4:14-18 NKJ

When we come to understand that God supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory IN Christ Jesus our hearts are filled with overflowing joy! Our minds are stabilized in thoughts of abundance instead of lack, and our countenance is one of peace and tranquility! When this happens we begin to look beyond ourselves and our needs; and our eyes are opened to seeing the needs of others. When we make the decision to give to the needs of others God multiplies the very thing we gave away and our account abounds in fruitfulness!

Meeting A Need IN Christ - Principle Two:

“Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:6-10 NKJ

It is important to understand that when sowing a seed to meet the need of an individual or ministry it is the condition of the heart that matters. When we sow in the flesh out of guilt or false motives we will reap a harvest of corruption. 2 Corinthians 9: 7 says, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” When we sow in the Spirit out of a purposeful heart; we will reap everlasting rewards that are accredited to us as righteousness. And we also reap a harvest in the natural realm, in due season, if we continue in a purposeful heart of faith; knowing that God rewards those who meet the needs of others.

Meeting A Need IN Christ– Principle Three:

“He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given.” Proverbs 19:17 NKJ

Sometimes we have a tendency to judge certain people who are poor, and when we feel led to give to them we retract our giving, because we surmise that they will not be faithful with what we give. What we have to understand is that the Spirit of God will not prompt us to give and then retract it due to the outward appearance of an individual or their circumstance in the natural. Again our reward comes from God, based on the condition of our heart, and those who understand this principle know that when they give to the poor as prompted by the Spirit; they have given to God and He pays back what has been given.

Meeting A Need In Christ – Principle Four:

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:37-38 NKJ

Have you ever experienced what it is like to have what you have given returned to you in good measure, pressed, down, shaken together, and running over? I can attest to the fact that there is nothing like the joy of experiencing this! It prompts you to want to give more because you understand that the more you give, the bigger the harvest; which gives you even more seed to sow to meet the needs of even more people! So many Christians never give expecting a harvest from God because they have been taught false doctrine that leads them to false humility in regards to sowing and reaping.

It is so important to understand that when we have high expectations from our God who is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we could ever think or imagine; we operate IN His mindset of sowing and reaping! And this is where we begin to experience what Jesus is talking about in Luke 6:38. Not only are we not to judge people based on our limited understanding, but we have to make sure we do not judge God in the same way. He wants to supply the riches of His glory IN Christ Jesus to us who believe, because He wants us to have the ability to meet the needs of others. I want to encourage you to meditate on today’s Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and understanding of what it means to meet the needs of others IN the mindset of Jesus Christ!

Prayer: I believe by faith that as You meet my needs according to Your riches in glory In Christ, You give me the supply to meet other people’s needs. Unveil my eyes to see what You see and blind me from seeing through my natural eyes of judgment. Give me wisdom and understanding of what it means to sow and reap in Your Spirit and prompt my heart to have a joyful expectation of You in this area of meeting others needs! Amen

IN Christ All My Needs Are Met!

If I was to ask you to sit down and list every need you have, could you do it? At first you might think this would be an easy task but what I discovered when I did this myself is that it is actually an impossible task! We may know our immediate needs or the needs that are in our near future but none of us know all our needs. With each new day come new needs according to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

This reality can leave a person disheartened and anxious if they believe they are the ones who have to figure out how to meet those needs. I think of my unsaved friends who are constantly in a state of panic with every new need, trying to figure out what they are going to do to meet it. They are completely self-reliant because they have no other source to draw from to help them meet their needs. What saddens me is when I see Christians who do the same thing because they have a promise from God that He supplies all their needs. Philippians 4:19 in the Amplified Bible says, “And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

This verse doesn’t say He will supply some of our need or most of our need. It says that He supplies EVERY need. And it doesn’t say He supplies it according to our need. It says He supplies it according to His riches in glory IN Christ Jesus. With our limited understanding of the fullness of God there is no way we can know what all of His riches in glory are because we are only human and this side of heaven we only know the fullness of God, in part.

In 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 Paul says, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

Sometimes I imagine that when I get to heaven God will hand me a treasure box that is full of all of the blessings He wanted to bestow on me while I was on earth that I never asked for or believed for. I know this is not going to happen but the thought of it makes me expand my expectation of God! It helps me to wrap my mind around the truth that the fullness of God’s riches in glory IN Christ are available to me if I will believe by faith in what God has promised.

This opens my mind up to looking with hopeful expectation for God to supply ALL of my needs and it keeps me from adopting a mindset of doubt or fear. As believers in Jesus Christ the fullness of God’s riches dwell IN Christ and when we accept who we are IN Him and who He is IN us we begin to believe for the promises of God to manifest in our lives.

For example let’s look at a physical scenario so you can gain a better understanding of what I am talking about. Let’s say that you have a financial need. If you knew that there was a bank with your name on it and it was filled with riches that only you could access would you go to that bank when you had a financial need? The obvious answer is yes, of course you would. But what if someone told you this bank existed and you didn’t believe them. Does your unbelief change the reality of the truth they have shared with you? Absolutely not! All your unbelief does is it keeps you from ever accessing the riches that are stored in the bank because unless you believe the bank really exists, you will never look for it.

This is what I came to understand when I meditated on Philippians 4:19. Up until then I didn’t believe God had riches in glory IN Christ stored up for me. Did it change the truth that He did? No! Did it change the truth that the bank had my name on it? No! Nothing about the truth changed just because I didn’t believe. The only thing my unbelief did was keep me from looking for it which kept me from being able to access the riches that were rightfully mine that were stored up in it! For years I strived in my own strength to meet my needs; financially, physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and relationally. This striving left me exhausted and frustrated.

As soon as I chose to believe by faith that only God knows ALL my needs and only God has the riches to meet those needs everything changed! I redirected my focus from looking at my needs, to looking at His riches in glory IN Christ Jesus! This is when I began to be filled with hopeful expectation of seeing Him meet my needs and since then that is exactly what He has done. This is my prayer for all believers because it is in knowing and believing by faith in this truth; where we become a beacon of hope for the unsaved world. If you struggle in this area spend time meditating on Philippians 4:19. If this is not a struggle for you find someone who is struggling and mentor them in the Word. Let’s all build each other up so we can begin to see the manifest blessings of God be poured out in the body of Christ!

Prayer: I choose to believe by faith that You supply ALL my needs according to Your riches in glory IN Christ Jesus. I believe by faith that You have a bank with my name on it and through faith I have full access to the riches that are stored up for me in it. I praise You for loving me so much that You made Your one and only Son poor so that IN Him I can be made rich! (2 Corinthians 8:9) Amen

Christ IN Me Cannot Fail!

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:16-19 NKJ

From the day of our salvation until the day we go to heaven we are being transformed into the person God has called us to be. For all of us we have moments of great revelation and moments of incredible doubt throughout this transforming process. Some days we identify ourselves with the Apostles when they preached the Gospel unashamedly and other days we identify ourselves with the Apostles when they failed. But it is important that we constantly remind ourselves that God always identifies us as the rock on which He will build His church and the ones He has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to! We may falter and fail in our humanness, but Christ IN us never fails or gets discouraged! (Isaiah
42:4a)

When Jesus asked the disciples who people said He was Peter was the first to proclaim He was the Christ, the Son of God. Instantly Jesus commends Peter and then tells him he is the rock on which He will build His church and tells him He will give him the keys to the Kingdom. Then He gives him authority to bind and loose things on earth with the promise that whatever he binds and looses on earth will be bound and loosed in heaven. Peter must have felt pretty amazing at that point but his feelings didn’t last because right after that encounter is when Jesus told the disciples what He would suffer and Peter countered Him. During this interaction Jesus rebukes Peter! Imagine how he must have felt then?

And we all remember the time Peter had great faith and walked on water when Jesus called to him. He must have felt pretty incredible in that moment but again that moment didn’t last! For as soon as he took his eyes off Jesus and doubted he began to sink and Jesus had to save him. Then at Jesus’ betrayal Peter must have felt incredibly powerful when he drew his sword because he knew Jesus had given him authority, but imagine what he felt like when Jesus healed the soldier’s ear!

Now let’s look at the encounter Peter had with Jesus at the last supper as recorded in Luke 22:28-34. “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

And what Jesus said to Peter came true. But can you imagine what must have been going through Peter’s mind during this encounter and directly following it when he did deny Jesus three times? He must have felt like a complete failure! But did that stop him from running into the tomb at the word of Jesus’ resurrection? No! He ran to witness it for himself! And in the years following Jesus’ ascension Peter’s life was a rollercoaster of faith and failure, even to the point of in his death demanding he was crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die as Jesus died. Yet in all of Peter’s times of fluctuation Jesus NEVER failed in fulfilling His promises for Peter’s life! Why? Because, Christ IN us never fails or gets discouraged, even when we do!

In renewing our minds to the truth of who we are IN Christ we have to remind ourselves of the truth of who Christ is IN us! We will falter, fail, and become discouraged throughout the transforming process but that NEVER changes who Christ IN us is and it never disqualifies us from fulfilling God’s plan for our lives! He NEVER falters or fails! And He is the One who has chosen to build His church on the Rock of Himself IN us! And the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, even when we falter or fail! The keys to the kingdom of heaven belong to Christ and Christ IN us uses them to unlock the Kingdom blessings for us as we renew our minds to who we are IN Him and who He is IN us! And it is Christ who sits at the right hand of God and intercedes and petitions on our behalf; knowing that whatever He binds on earth IN us will be bound in heaven IN Him.

Our lives of transformation have never been and never will be about us and our ability to perform perfectly the plan of God. For this is an impossible feat! It has always been and will always be about Christ IN us who performs His Word to perfect IN us the plan of God in building His church on the Solid Rock of His foundation! It is in understanding this where we will be able to think, speak, and act boldly in the ministry we have been called to while we are still on earth as the disciples did. Remember that Christ IN you is the hope of glory! So when you falter or fail believe by faith that Jesus prays for you the way He prayed for Peter so that your faith will not fail! This will enable you to return to Him in your thoughts and empower you to strengthen your brothers and sisters IN Christ with the Gospel truth after you have returned to Him. It will also empower you to preach the Gospel unashamedly to the unsaved world as the disciples did!

Prayer: In coming to understand who I am IN you renew my mind to who You are IN me so that I can embrace the fullness of the Gospel that You have placed IN me. Help me in areas of unbelief when I falter and fail so I believe by faith that Christ IN me is the hope of glory! Give me wisdom to understand that You never fail or become discouraged even when I do. And help me to renew my mind to the truth that You perfect Your Word IN me to fulfill Your plan for my life! Amen

IN Christ I Can Discern The Voice Of God!

Have you ever received a phone call from a friend and instantly knew who was calling because you recognized their voice? If you have children, have you ever been in a crowd and called to them and they responded because they knew your voice? Have you ever listened to the radio and knew who was talking because it was a familiar voice? Now for another question that will help you understand what I am going to share with you in today’s devotion. During any of those scenarios were you ever afraid you wouldn’t know the voice of the one talking or afraid that your children wouldn’t know your voice?

I am sure your answer to the last question was no and yet every day I hear people say they are afraid because they don’t know how to discern the voice of God or they wonder if God hears them when they are speaking to Him through prayer. There is great confusion in the body of Christ when it comes to knowing how to discern the voice of God that doesn’t need to be there. Discerning the voice of God is quite simple, but people have complicated it through false teaching and over analysis.

God isn’t playing hide-n-seek with us and He doesn’t disguise His voice to see if we are paying attention. He speaks plainly and clearly to us through His Word, written or spoken. In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Proverbs 16:3 in the Amplified Bible says, “Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.”

These two verses answer the questions of whether God hears us when we pray and how we discern the voice of God when He speaks. When we know that He hears us and we hear Him and when we commit our ways to the Lord and put our trust fully in Him; He causes our thoughts to become agreeable to His will. But when we hear a voice speak whether it is a spoken word or a written word, we have a responsibility that is described in 1 John 4:1. John says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” In verse 6 of the same chapter John tells us there is a spirit of truth and a spirit of error.

In understanding that as Christians we have a responsibility to test the spirits and in knowing the truth that there is a spirit of truth (Holy Spirit) and a spirit of error (the devil and demonic forces of darkness) we discover how to discern which voice is speaking. The voice of God is never contradictory to His Word, but the voice of the enemy is always contradictory to God’s Word. For example God won’t tell you to love your neighbor as yourself and then tell you its okay to hate someone. He won’t tell you to bless those who curse you and then tell you it is okay to gossip about someone who has done you wrong. He won’t tell you that by His stripes you were healed and then tell you He has brought a sickness upon you to teach you a lesson in longsuffering.

He doesn’t say He gives you the power to stand up under a temptation until it passes and then tell you He has allowed you to be tempted in order to test your resistance level to temptation. He won’t say that He supplies your needs according to His riches in glory and then tell you He is allowing you to live in poverty so you learn how to be humble. He doesn’t say He gives His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways and then say He is taking your security of protection away because you have been disobedient. God isn’t schizophrenic and unstable! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! And His voice always aligns with His Word and is given to His people through the voice of His Spirit in order that we grow up IN Him who is the head over all, Jesus Christ.

The key is in knowing His Word and rightly dividing it by the power of the Holy Spirit teaching us. Where is the first place you go when you want to know what God’s will is for your life? Do you go to Him with full assurance that He hears you and will lead and guide you? Or do you talk to someone and seek their advice? When you read God’s Word do you believe by faith that His Spirit will teach you all things or do you question God’s Word based on teachings you have heard from man?

In the first paragraph of today’s devotion I asked three questions about recognizing the voice of a friend, the voice of your children, and the voice of a familiar person. I asked these to show you just how easy it really is to discern the voice of God. Discerning the voice of God comes from spending so much time with Him that you recognize His voice when He is speaking. It really is that simple. The more time you spend with Him in the Word, in prayer, meditation, and worship, the more familiar you will become with the sound of His voice. And you will begin to identify the counterfeit voice because it will be such a distinctly different voice that your spirit will detect it when it speaks.

Prayer: Spend time today with the Lord asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Believe by faith that He will and watch as you are able to detect the sound of God’s voice. Do this daily until you no longer question the validity of His voice. Tune out the voices of your own reasoning based on past teachings from man and watch as God begins to reveal Himself through His Word in a new way that brings clarity and peace in your spirit.

IN Christ I Can Establish And Maintain Healthy Boundaries!

One of the hardest things to do in life is to establish and maintain healthy boundaries. Since our boundaries are threatened and crossed on many occasions throughout our lives; most people find themselves not knowing how to establish or maintain healthy boundaries as adults. They end up confused or conflicted in knowing what healthy boundaries are and they struggle to stay within the boundaries they do set for themselves. This happens because once again people are working in their own strength to do something that can only be done IN Christ! Remember that everything temporal will eventually crumble, including setting boundaries in our own strength.

In God’s incredible love for us He knows this and this is why on several occasions during Jesus’ life, God had Him establish and maintain healthy boundaries. We have to constantly remind ourselves that EVERYTHING we experience in life Jesus was required to experience so we would have an example to follow that leads us to victory while we are still on this earth; in EVERY area of life. He was tempted as we are tempted, wounded as we are wounded, betrayed as we are betrayed, and so on. God does not require of us what He did not require of Himself; in order for us to understand that He knows our every need and He will meet them as we submit ourselves to Him!

During Jesus’ life He established boundaries on several occasions. I want to encourage you to read the Gospels specifically looking for every time Jesus established and maintained healthy boundaries. When I did this my eyes were opened to an understanding that helped me learn how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries in my own life. The Spirit of God will do the same for you if you seek Him for wisdom and understanding in this area. We are only going to look at a two examples from Jesus’ life where He established and maintained healthy boundaries today so you gain an understanding that will empower you as you do your own study on the subject.

The first one we are going to look at is when Jesus established a boundary to take time to be alone with His Father and pray. This is an area we all struggle with because life’s demands are so great that we sometimes forget the importance of setting aside quiet time to be alone with God. But if Jesus needed to do this and He was the Son of God; we need to do it even more because though we are the children of God; we are not the Son of God! Luke 5:16 says, “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” Mark 1:35 says, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Other passages where Jesus set this example for us are found in Mark 6:45-46, Luke 6:12, Luke 4:42, Mark 14:32-34, and Matthew 14:13.

We have to understand that spending time with God is the foundational step in learning how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries. It is when we are alone with God where the Spirit of God speaks to us and only the Spirit of God knows what our needs and desires are. This is where we become empowered to experience healing from past wounds where our boundaries have been crossed, where we get a vision of what healthy boundaries look like, and where we learn how to walk IN Christ’s strength to establish and maintain healthy boundaries! Apart from Him we can do nothing!

The second boundary we are going to look at is found in Matthew 16:23. Speaking of Jesus it says, “But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” How many times has someone said something to you or done something to you that you knew was contrary to what God’s Word said about you? This happens all the time but most people either ignore it or accept it as a truth; even though it is a lie. Jesus gave us the second foundational step to follow in establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries in His encounter with Peter.

He showed us the importance of knowing whose voice is speaking through a person and how we are to respond if it is a voice that is contrary to the voice of God. Though we won’t speak those words to the person because we do not wrestle with flesh and blood; we do speak those words to the devil when he tries to lie to us through a person’s words or actions. We have to take our rightful authority over him and tell him to leave us alone! James 4:7 says, ‘Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Notice that we are first called to submit to God which goes back to the first foundational step of establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries; which is spending time with God so we know the voice of God.

When we know the voice of God we can discern when a contrary voice is speaking. When we know it is a contrary voice speaking, then we know what our responsibility is in resisting it. And when we resist it; it has to flee! It is only IN Christ where this can happen! It cannot be done in our own strength! Are you beginning to see why it is so important to be IN Christ when establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries? IN Christ is where all power to overcome the works of the devil is found! I want to encourage you to spend time meditating in the Word so the Spirit can continue to teach you how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries IN Christ by studying the boundaries Jesus had in His own life.

Prayer: I desire to establish and maintain healthy boundaries in my life and I have come to understand that once again this is directly tied to me knowing who I am IN You! Help me to resist the temptation to operate in my own strength in this area and I believe by faith that as I submit myself to You; You will teach me ALL things that pertain to life in regards to boundaries! Amen

IN Christ I Can Do ALL Things!

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 KJV

One of my favorite stories from childhood is “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper because it gives a vivid depiction of what it takes to draw on a force greater than one’s self to complete a task too big to accomplish! Here is an excerpt from the book.

“A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill "I can't; that is too much a pull for me," said the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused.

In desperation, the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. "I think I can," puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." As it neared the top of the grade, which had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly. However, it still kept saying, "I--think--I--can, I--think--I--can." It reached the top by drawing on bravery and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself by saying, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

The biggest lie the devil wants God’s people to believe and meditate on is the phrase “I can’t” because he knows that if we believe and operate in the mindset of “I can”, he is rendered powerless in his attempt to defeat or destroy us! How often does the phrase “I can’t” come into your mind or out of your mouth? If I added up the number of times throughout my life where I thought or said “I can’t” I could fill several notebooks with “I can’t” entries. I am sure you could do the same. But the phrase “I can’t” should not exist in the Christian’s vocabulary because it is completely contrary to the truth about who we are IN Christ!

The truth is that IN Christ we CAN do ALL things! Not some things. Not most things. But ALL things! The problem is that we do as the large engines did in this story and look at the weightiness of the load and our own insufficiency to carry it and we say, “I can’t”. We somehow forget that Christ is the one who carries the load and His strength is great enough to carry it! Our eyes are turned inward and focused on our own limitations instead of being fixed on Christ IN us!

In this story the load the little engine was asked to carry was a load of toys for the children who lived on the other side of the mountain. In choosing to operate in the mindset of “I can” the little engine was able to deliver the gifts to the children and in doing so he brought incredible joy to the hearts of the children. Without him choosing to take on the mindset of “I can” the children would have missed out on receiving the gifts that were rightfully theirs.

As this applies to us as Christians, what are we called to carry to the people on the other side of the mountain? The answer is found in Mark 16:15-18. “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

As New Covenant Disciples we are called to take the Good News of Jesus, the greatest gift a person will ever receive, to the people on the other side of the mountain! When we choose to operate IN the mindset of “I CAN do ALL things through Jesus Christ” we are able to carry that Good News gift to the people in the world. But if we choose instead to operate in the mindset of “I can’t” the people are robbed of what is rightfully theirs; which is the opportunity to receive the gift of Jesus Christ!

That gift could be in the form of salvation, healing, deliverance, overcoming, hope, faith, joy, longsuffering, peace, or any other good gift that comes from God! So the power to operate IN the mindset of “I CAN do ALL things through Jesus Christ” comes from denouncing the lie of the devil and embracing the truth of God’s Word! This is where we will be able to ignore our natural limitations and instead draw from the force greater than ourselves; which is Jesus Christ IN us! And this is how we will be able to complete the tasks that seem too big to accomplish! Begin today to say, “I CAN do ALL things through Jesus Christ which strengthens me” and believe it by faith without doubting and watch as you are able to do more than you could ever think or imagine!

Prayer: In Jesus name I denounce the lie of the devil that says, “I can’t” and I believe by faith that IN Christ I CAN do ALL things! I praise You for infusing me with Your strength to accomplish the task of taking the Good news to the people of the world. Thank You for giving me everything I need to do what You have called me to do and today I choose to say, “I CAN do ALL things through Jesus Christ which strengthens me!” Amen

IN Christ I Can Do The Will Of God!

“having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:9-12 NKJ

A question I get asked often is, “How do I know the will of God is and how do I walk in it?” This is a very good question that deserves an answer. But unfortunately I cannot define God’s will for anyone’s life, including my own. For the will of God is revealed by the Spirit of God to all who believe in Jesus Christ. So in order to discover the will of God we have to access it through the revelation knowledge that is given by the Holy Spirit. Jesus understood this. For throughout Jesus’ ministry He said that He did nothing on His own, but only what His Father told Him to do or what He saw His father doing. In and of Himself Jesus didn’t know the will of God when He was in the form of man; except by the revelation knowledge that was given to Him after He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.

If you study Jesus’ life you will not read one time where Jesus performed a miracle or ministered to the people before He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the key to understanding the mystery of God’s will. The word mystery here comes from the word musterion and refers to something that is revealed. We often think of the word mystery as it is defined in the English language as something that is kept secret. But in the original context of this word in Greek it means the exact opposite. It means something disclosed. Another way to think of the word mystery here is to think of it as the inner teachings of God that are disclosed to us by the Holy Spirit.

So how does the New Covenant Disciple access the inner teachings of the Holy Spirit? It is only accessed through our faith IN Jesus Christ! Jesus is the ONLY ONE who ever fully understood, accepted, and executed the will of God by the power of the Holy Spirit operating IN Him, even to the point of death and resurrection! In our own strength we cannot know, understand, or execute God’s will for our lives because if we could, Christ’s death and resurrection were in vain. Since Jesus is the focal point of God’s plan and the executor of God’s will in the believer’s life; our responsibility is to submit ourselves under the authority of Jesus Christ because He is the head over all things.

This is why Paul said, “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” (Verses 10-12)

The word dispensation refers to the order of things or the method by which affairs are conducted. In Ephesians 1:22-23 Paul says, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” The problem is that we misunderstand what submission means because of the way it is defined in the English language and the negative connotation associated with it. We have to come to understand it in the way my husband described it for me years ago. He said, “Holly, submission means to come under to support the mission of the one who is the head or leader.”

When he defined it this way the eyes of my understanding were opened and I was able to comprehend what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 1 in regards to knowing the mystery of God’s will. In order to have the mystery of God’s will revealed to us we have to submit ourselves under the headship of Jesus Christ so we can fulfill the ministry of Jesus on earth and that is done by the power of the Holy Spirit operating in us. This is the key to operating IN the mindset of Jesus Christ because only Jesus knows how to submit to the will of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Can you see it now? In order to know the will of God all we have to do is grow in wisdom and understanding of God’s Word as revealed by the Holy Spirit. This comes in accepting the authority of Jesus Christ in our lives and supporting His mission until the day of His return, through faith. It is that simple! This is where we become stabilized in our faith because we understand who we are IN Christ! It is in fellowshipping with Christ through prayer, study, meditation, and worship, where we grow in wisdom and understanding. I want to encourage you to meditate on the passages today and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about who you are IN Christ so you are able to submit under His headship. This is where you will begin to walk in the will of God according to the ministry He has called you to do in this life and where you will begin to operate IN His mindset.

Prayer: Jesus, today I choose to submit myself under Your headship, understanding that You are the only One who has ever submitted to the Father’s will. I believe by faith that as I do this; I will begin hear the voice of the Holy Spirit teach me all things that pertain to life and godliness. I desire to do Your will and to fulfill the ministry You have called me to. I praise You for revealing Your will to me through the Holy Spirit and I believe by faith that I am empowered by Your Spirit to walk in it. Amen

IN Christ We Are Redeemed And Forgiven!

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,” Ephesians 1:7-8 NKJ

I can sense Paul’s excitement when he wrote this verse! He breaks forth with a joy filled explanation of what the two spiritual blessings of adoption and predestination mean to us who believe! Paul knew what a wretched man he was before he received and accepted the revelation of Jesus Christ. He speaks of his knowing throughout many of his writings. What Paul did before he accepted Christ he did out of a belief that he was doing right by God. It is important that all of us understand that before we believed IN Christ we lived according to our limited knowledge of God just like Paul did. This caused us to think, speak, and act contrary to God’s purpose for our lives. After Paul accepted Jesus he realized just how wrong he was and how devastating his actions of living in wrong thinking was and he changed! This is what happens to us as well when we accept Christ and walk in the revelation of Jesus Christ!

When Paul came to understand who he was IN Christ, the revelation of being IN Christ opened his understanding to see ALL the blessings that accompany it. This inspired him to share that revelation with others as God called him to. I am going to be very vulnerable with you right now so you can understand why Paul’s life and his writings have had such a huge impact on my life! You see like Paul I was a murderer before I came to the revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ. Yes I said I was a murderer! I had taken the lives of two of my children through abortion when I was a teenager because I had a limited understanding of life and of God’s purpose for my own or my children’s lives. This caused me to live a life of shame and guilt for many years and a life that was contrary to God’s purpose. I felt that God did not love me or that He could ever use me for His purpose because I had killed His own children, just like Paul had.

But when I came to understand that IN Christ I was restored to His original plan through salvation and I came to accept my adoption as His child IN Christ Jesus; everything changed! So when I read Paul’s writings hope comes alive on the inside knowing that I was redeemed by the blood and my sins were forgiven on the Cross; because of the riches of His grace that He made abound in me in ALL wisdom and prudence. This is the most liberating truth for us who believe because it is where we can release the memories of our past sinfulness and embrace our righteousness IN Christ Jesus! This is the ONLY way can live IN the mindset of Christ because without it we are bound to the thoughts of our past failures and shortcomings in sin.

But IN Christ our minds are renewed to the truth of what Christ redeemed for us on the Cross! We all deserved judgment and death for our sins! And in the eyes of God ALL sins are the same! He doesn’t elevate the sin of murder above the sin of gossip for instance. Sin is sin and we have all sinned. Romans 3:22-24 says, “even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

Jesus died for ALL sin so that through faith IN Him we could be redeemed from the judgment and death that our sin required according to the law. With His blood He bought us back! He paid the ultimate ransom for our sin when He gave His own life on the Cross! We are no longer bound by the sins we have committed or that we will commit. We are bound by the blood of Jesus Christ which is the ultimate glue that holds us together in our relationship with God!

The problem for most Christians and even for me at times when the accuser comes to remind us of our past sins is to accept the truth of our redemption and forgiveness through grace. The reason for this is that even though we know this is true we have not come to place of accepting it in wisdom and prudence. Prudence in Ephesians 1:8 refers to understanding. This is why in Ephesians 1:17-20 Paul says, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”

So the power to believe in our redemption and forgiveness comes by faith through the power He worked IN Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. Again it is not something we can do in our own strength or reasoning. It is ONLY IN the mindset of Christ that we can fully come to understand the grace of God and our redemption from sin. In His great and mighty love for us who believe He makes His grace abound towards us in ALL wisdom and understanding through His Spirit of revelation. This is where we can begin to know the mystery of His will which is what I will expound on in tomorrow’s devotion. For today I want to encourage you to spend time meditating on the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to grant you wisdom and understanding in the full revelation of who you are IN Jesus Christ.

Prayer: I desire to come to the fullness of the knowledge of who I am IN You! It is my heart’s desire to operate IN Your mindset so I will know how to complete the work You have preordained for me to accomplish on this earth. Thank You for redeeming me by Your blood and for raising me from the dead so that I can reign in life by the power of Your Spirit IN me! Amen

IN Christ I Am An Adopted Child Of God!

“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, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6 NKJ

How did you feel this morning waking up with a new thought about being worthy of God’s blessings because of what Jesus did for you at the Cross? And what does it feel like to know that IN Christ you can access and operate IN those blessings? This might be a hard truth to accept for some because we have been conditioned our entire lives to feel unworthy. I know this was my reality when I first learned this truth. I felt anything but worthy! I was so inwardly focused on my own shortcomings that I didn’t believe I was worthy of God’s blessings. This caused me to operate in my own mindset instead of operating IN the mindset of Christ; which led me to reap the things of the flesh instead of reaping the spiritual blessings of God, IN Christ!

This lasted for years until I came to understand the revelation that Paul shares in Ephesians 1:4-6. Understanding that I was chosen IN Christ before the foundation of the world was created to be holy and blameless before God IN love, changed my life! I came to realize that what Adam and Eve had cursed me with in the Garden of Eden when they sinned; Jesus redeemed for me on the Cross! As a believer in Jesus Christ I was born again into the original image of the one God chose IN Him before the foundation of the world was created! So Holly, the new creation, (his adopted daughter) in His eyes, is holy and blameless because He sees me through the blood of Jesus! I am not holy or blameless in this earthly body or in my flesh, for it is a part of the fallen world that won’t be made new until Christ’s return.

But I am holy and blameless in my spirit because I believe IN Jesus Christ! And so are you if you said yes to Jesus Christ! Being holy and blameless isn’t a feeling, it is a fact! This is a truth that is contested on a daily basis by the accuser of the brethren, but he is a liar and he has no authority over our spirit man. He can do all he wants to try and get us to believe that we are worthless (unholy) and to blame, but we have been given all authority IN Christ to put his works of accusation to death. The key is to believe the truth that in God’s eyes we are holy and blameless because of what Christ did for us on the Cross! When God looks at our new life creation IN Christ, He no longer sees the wretched man that we once were. He ONLY sees the heart that has been washed clean by the blood of the LAMB!

When we come to accept this truth then we can accept our adoption as sons and daughters of God. But Paul uses a word before he tells us that we are the adopted children of God that needs to be understood because so many Christians quarrel over this word. The word he uses is predestined. What does that mean? If we look at in the context of this writing it is clear that every human was predestined to live IN relationship with God IN His original plan for man. But when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden that original plan then became a plan of redemption through Jesus Christ.

When we say yes to Jesus Christ God does not restore our spirit to the state of original man. He restores our spirit to the state of His original plan before the foundation of the world was formed. And the original state that existed before the foundation of the world was formed; was completely holy and blameless IN Him. But we cannot access that state through the flesh. We can only access it through our faith IN Jesus Christ! And only IN Him can we operate in a mindset that does not take on shame and guilt. IN Him we operate in the mindset of knowing we are covered with His holy and blameless blood! This enables us to believe by faith that when God looks at our hearts He sees us as holy and blameless IN Christ!

This was, “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.” (Verse 6) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) So in order for us to walk IN the good works of God that He prepared beforehand for us when we were created IN Christ, before the foundation of the world was created; we have to accept our adoption as the holy and blameless children of God IN Christ!

This is what empowers us to walk IN the mindset of our NEW Father IN adoption, who gives us the desire IN our hearts to do the will of our Father, just like Jesus had when He was on the earth. Can you see it? We are no longer bound to the earthly ties of natural man. Jesus loosed those ties that bind when He broke forth from the grave and defeated the devil! Understanding this is where we begin to see ourselves, not as weak and incapable human beings, but as strong spiritual beings IN the power of His might through His Spirit!

Prayer: Help me to come to an understanding of the wisdom You want to grant me in regards to my adoption as your son/daughter IN Christ. Open my eyes to see beyond the physical realm of my reality so I can see with my spiritual eyes, because this is where I can begin to access every spiritual blessing You have stored up for me. Help my unbelief and empower me by Your Spirit to believe by faith that what You have promised, You will perform IN my life. Amen