Freedom is simple, yet we tend to complicate it by continuing to deal with our sin nature.
When God looks at us, He cannot see anything wrong, only what is missing. He is in the business of strategic life exchanges: new for old, and He never requires us to look a the old. He wants us to lay it aside, put it in the grave and never dig it up again.
He is not dealing with our sin any more because Jesus dealt with that at Calvary. He who never experienced sin, was made sinful on our behalf, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him. This is absolutely brilliant!
He is only teaching our new man how to live in His righteousness by only focusing on our righteousness in Christ. That's what He's dealing with!
He has made Jesus our wisdom, righteousness, and lifestyle of practical holiness. He is our full atonement and freedom.
He does not deal with our fear, He comes as perfect love and overwhelms fear. In our anxiety, He offers a new place of rest and renewal instead. In our worry, He focuses only on our fresh revelation of peace.
God does not help us work on our anger because it is dead; instead He empowers us to become gentle. He displaces irritation with patience, bitterness with gratitude, and turns sorrow into joy.
The OLD HAS PASSED AWAY, AND HE IS ONLY WORKING ON
THE NEW, REAL AND TRUE US IN JESUS.
Since freedom is His nature; it's also ours.
By Graham Cooke.
I would like to share a revelation from reading Mathew 9:2-7. I love it when the Lord opens up the Word to understand more about Him.
This is the story about the paralytic who was lowered through the roof to Jesus's feet. Jesus saw the friends faith, and said to the the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you." The scribes got all hyperventilated and cried out, "this man blasphemes!" Jesus knowing their thoughts replies, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ' Your sins are forgiven' , or to say, 'Arise and walk?' But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" He turned to the paralytic and said, "Arise , take up your bed and go to your house." And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
When Jesus said, "Which is easier for Me to say, your sins are forgiven or arise and walk ," This spoke to me.. I felt like Jesus said to me, "Dorothy, when you are sick or ill , check the areas of unforgiveness in your heart, because you are forgiven and by my stripes your are healed. Unforgivenss is a huge hinderance to healing. My most loving act in your life is My forgiveness and must be given to all men. Sin, sickness, and disease is the consequence of Adam's sin in this fallen world. But be of good cheer, "I have overcome the world."
I know there is so much more to be revealed in this scripture. I would love to hear any thing the Lord has revealed to you about this story too.
Most of us are familiar with the story of the 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt who held fast to their faith and were beheaded by ISIS in February, 2015.
But did you know that only 20 of them were actually Copts from Egypt? Did you know that one of the martyrs was from Chad, and he had not been a Christian prior to the day of his beheading?
Although this story was previously reported, I had not heard it before this week.
But at this week's World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, a Coptic leader shared the account.
It is a remarkable story. All 21 men had been working in Libya when they were kidnapped by ISIS.
The Coptic Christians were given a choice to deny Jesus or die. They refused to deny Him, knowing it would cost them their heads.
When the terrorists ordered the man from Chad to deny Jesus or die he answered, "their God is my God," thereby sealing his fate.
That is how moved he was by the faith of these Christians. Their refusal to deny their Savior, even at the point of death-literally at the point of a knife to their throats- moved him to make a profession of faith. One that would cost him his head as well.
The man had not been a believer. All he had to say was, "I don't believe in Jesus" or, "Jesus is not the Son of God," and he could walk away a free man. He would be with his family again. He would not die a brutal death. He would live to see another day.
Instead this man chose to proclaim "Go ahead and behead me," Your god is not my God Their God is my God."
That is the power of the gospel, and that is how we overcome Satan, by not loving our lives to the point of death. (Revelation12:11) May our Lord strengthen His people with these words.
One morning I noticed that the only tree on our front lawn was dying. Something was wrong. We had tried for years to plant other trees but failed. Our only survivor was a little Japanese Maple tree and this morning it was loaded with Japanese beetles chewing on its leaves. I was sick.
My first thought was to pray. But what to pray? As I started to praise the Lord for the little tree, the beetles would rise up and stand at attention. When I stopped, they continued to chomp. I got mad. The authority of Jesus rose up in me."In the name of Jesus, you Japanese beetles have to bow and leave. This tree belongs to the Lord and you have no right to it. At the cross He won back what Adam lost. The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof. We rule now in the Name of Jesus."
For the next week I faithfully prayed and declared the victory of the cross over the little tree. The Japanese beetles were stubborn. They were trying to ignore me, but still stood at attention when I praised the Lord. It was getting fun to watch. Then one day they were gone. The little tree became our "resurrection tree." It has now been forty years, and no bugs have dared to touch it.
I witnessed for myself the power and authority I have in the Name of Jesus. He rules over His creation and at the Name of Jesus everything that has breath, praises the Lord. The enemy may have power to deceive, but no authority to rule. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father!
