Once Bound---Once Released

"Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love", (Ephesians 3:19).

Knowing God and knowing His love for you, is so important in becoming a child of the King...  Now you find yourself separated from His love.  Even through the storms of life; even through the darkest night, love has come to rescue you.  You no longer have to be bound by chains of guilt and shame.  A new day has begun when you find life.  It wasn't right that spikes pierced the hands that formed the earth, or was forced to hear the silence of His Father.  God sat in silence while the sins of the world were placed upon His Son, and He did nothing while a cry a million times bloodier than John echoed in the black sky: " My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Was it right? No.

Was it fair? No.

Was it love? Yes.

When the work of Christ was done on the cross, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom indicating man no longer was separated from God.  Know that all of us who were baptized into Christ, just as He was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

So, by now dying to what once bound you, you have been released from sin so that you may serve in the new way of the Spirit.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.  I once was bound in sin and death staring me in the face, now I am once released and reconciled by the blood of the Lamb who takes away my sin and loves me forever.

MercyMe  Jeremy Camp  Max Lucado  Romans 7  Psalms 33

The Promise of God's Rest

Do you ever just get so tired of searching for what is real in this world and what the truth of the matter really is?

Dose God really know me and care about how I live?

Does He have a plan for my life even though I continue to sin?

How can He use me after all that I have done and my rejection of His will?

You should memorize 1 John 1:7. "The blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.".  In the Greek, this means you are always being cleansed.  The cleansing is not a promise for the future, but a reality in the present.  Let a spot of filth land on the heat of God's child and the filth is wiped away.  If you are full of guilt and shame, run to Jesus and from the basin of His grace, He scoops a hand full of mercy and you are clean once more.  And what is amazing, you and I can do the same; because He lives in us and has forgiven us, we can forgive others.

When you became a Christian you entered into the rest of His comfort and assurance.  Since then make sure you know the promise of His rest and be carful you have not fallen short of it.  It must have been combined with faith and obedience before you could ever enter in.  Instead you are probably floundering around trying to figure things out on your own and that can be terrifying.

The word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates dividing soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thought and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all of creation is hidden from God's sight, but everything about you is uncovered and lay bare before the eyes of Him that you must give account.

Allow yourself to approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Are you tired and run down from chasing after the things of this world?  The more you chase, the more frustrating your life will become.  Run to Jesus and profess to Him by faith that you need God's grace to fall down like rain and to enter into:

"The Promise of God's Rest".

Trust in the holy Lamb of God and seek His kingdom first, and all these things will be added unto you by His grace and outrageous love for you.

Max Lucado  Chris Rice  Hebrews 4  Chris Mullins  MercyMe

Cast into the River of Life

"Then Jesus went about a stones throw away from them.  He knelt down and prayed" (Luke 22:41).

Did you know that the final prayer of Jesus was about you?  The passion he would enter into was for you.  Before He went to the cross, He went to the garden and spoke with His Father and prayed about you.

God couldn't turn His back on you because He saw you and one look was all it took.  Right there in the middle of a world which isn't fair, He saw you cast into a river of life you didn't request.  He saw you betrayed by those you love; He saw you with a body that grows weak, and a heart full of loneliness.

In the garden, Jesus made a decision.  He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.  Holy is the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

Praise be to Jesus, for in His great mercy he has given you new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish.  Though you do not see Him you love and believe in Him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus is revealed.  Since you call on a Savior that judges each man's work, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.  For you were not redeemed by precious things like gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

Far back in time, Jesus knew you before this earth ever revolved around the sun.  He loved you with an outrageous love then and knew that you would turn your back on Him and go your own way.  He knew that you'd need a Savior.  he never gave up on you and knew He would have to go the way of the cross.  Look into the heart of Jesus and there you are.  And you may ask Him, "Why did you have to die that horrible death, and suffer so much?"  And He will tell you that He didn't have to, He chose to because of you.  He knew you were going to be:

"Cast into the River of Life"

and couldn't swim out by yourself.  So He plunged in; became flesh and delivered you from the storms of life, and by His blood reconciled you to Himself.  Because He couldn't stand to see you in Satan's clutches, so He smiled when you surrendered to Him.

Jeremy Riddle  Among the Thirsty  1 Peter 1  Max Lucado  David Crowder Band

Conflict of the Spirit

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Him the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death", (Romans 8:1).

Why do I have conflicts going on inside my mind you might ask? It's because you also have within you the old sinful nature which may weaken your new nature in Christ.  Are you living according to the old nature, or according to the new Spirit?

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on that of which nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit, have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God, but those who live by the Spirit have a life of peace.

Therefore, you have an obligation to live a life according to the Spirit.  The choice is yours to make; will it be peace or conflict?

The Spirit of God will help you in your weakness.  For instance, you may not know what you ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for you with words you cannot express.  Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, not hardships, persecutions, or dangers of the old nature.  Paul says, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord", (Romans 8:38).  No wonder we are considered more than conquerors.

God knew that you would have conflicts because that old nature is always lurking about.  He knew you couldn't handle it by yourself, so He designed a way that seemed strange to us, the mystery of the cross.  He sent His Son to become flesh and rescue your soul from death.  The hand that reaches out for you has been pierced with nails.  The voice that cried out, "My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?" says to you, come and follow Me, and I will give you mercy and grace to receive life everlasting.

By His great name, Jesus, He will send His Spirit to protect you and teach you the will of God for your life.  Walk in the way the Spirit leads, and you will never have to wonder what it would have been like if you had just given more of yourself.

So, sing to Him a new song for the earth is full of His outrageous love for you.  Let Him be your hiding place form the old nature within you that keeps you in a state of conflict and confusion.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently on Him.

Jesus gave you His Spirit so there would be no conflict in your heart.  Rest in Him alone.

Romans 8  Psalm 37  Natalie Grant  4HIM  Selah

A Reason to Believe

Remember that at one time you were separate from Christ, without hope, without God in the world.  You lived in your sins and transgressions and followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  We were like that at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinning nature.  We were, by nature, children of wrath.

But, He can set you free from this prison you and the powers that be on this earth have built around you.  God knows your heart and your ways.  Your days are like a breath; your days like a fleeting shadow.  Ask God to show you the way you should go...  He will answer you and show you a new day that bursts from the heavens above.

God realized that you would need a Savior and a Spirit from above to transform you into a new creation.  So, out of His mercy and love for you, He sent His Son to suffer and die on a Roman cross.  By believing on the power of the cross and trusting in the blood of Jesus to save you, and reconcile you unto Himself.  He will reach down from heaven and touch you, and give you a reason to believe.

God will raise you up with Christ and seat you with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in his kindness to you in Jesus.

You see it is by grace you have been saved through faith in Jesus---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast.  For you are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Once you were far away, but now you have been brought near by the blood of Jesus.

At the cross He beckoned me, and as I saw Him hanging between heaven and earth, I became so lost in love that I became "sweetly broken, wholly surrendered", He was so bruised and crushed, yet he reached out and said "you are forgiven". I was taken in by His outrageous love for me, through His crucifixion and death, He gave me:

"A Reason to Believe"

He gave me all He had, now I will give Him all I have; with honor and love.  Bless me with your Spirit Lord, so that I may know You and Jesus Christ, and be filled up with the Holy Spirit.  All that I need is to be with you in the Holy depths of Your heart.

MercyMe  Jeremy Riddle  Psalm 144  Ephesians 2, 3  Rod Stewart

Created to be Like God

I know I was created by God, however, in my wildest dreams could I ever imagine that I was created to be like God.  That's a tall order, so here are some starting points:

To know love that surpasses knowledge that I may know the fullness of Him.

Put off my old self to be made new in the attitude of my mind.

Put on the new self in true righteousness and holiness.

Be very careful of how I live---making the most of every opportunity.

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them.

Be slow to anger and rich in love, being gracious and compassionate.

Uphold the cause of the oppressed and give food to the hungry.

Watch over the alien and sustain the fatherless and the widow.

The tall order is to be imitators of God; therefore, there must not be a hint of sexual immorality, impurity, or greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

If I live like that, things around me will start to change; my life will become beautiful because of who I am imitating.  Instead of always asking for God's blessings, I can be the one who is used by Him to bring blessings to others without realizing it.

But I don't know where to begin; I feel the world caving in around me.  I try but I can't control this fear inside; so where do I go from here?

As I pray I hear a distant voice "Be filled with the Holy Spirit"...

"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.".

After all, you were:

"Created to be Like God".

Isaiah 26:19, 60:1  MIKESCHAIR  Psalms 145, 146  Ephesians 3, 4, 5

Francesca Battistelli

A Light Has Dawned

You may be wondering, "What am I doing here in the middle of this hopeless mess called life?  What's the use, why am I here anyway?  Does anyone really care?".  Your life is going around in circles and seems to lead nowhere.

Fact is, you are not alone.  Most people, including Christians are in the same boat with you, waiting for something to happen.  They don't have a clue about why they are here and much less God's will for their lives and are spiritually bankrupt.

My question to you is, where are you looking, up or down?  Most are looking toward the earth and see only darkness and distress and fearful gloom.  However, if you are willing to look up for a change, there will be no more gloom and fearfulness.  You, among those who continue to look down, will see a great light shining though you feel like you have been living in the shadow of death, "A Light Has Dawned".  You finally realize that only God has all the answers for your life.

A new day has begun as you realize, Jesus saves.  You will rejoice when you know that you can trust in Him and not be afraid anymore.  You will feel like shouting out, "The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation!".

Everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.  Isaiah 26:19 says, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise form the dead, and Christ will shine on you.".  You need to grasp how wide and long, and high and deep is the love Christ has for you.

Jesus knows about your struggles, and knows that they are not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  He has got you covered with a full set of armor that will protect you.  You can stand firm with your belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness in place; and the shield of faith.  Then, most importantly for anyone experiencing struggles, take up the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Now, you will not feel alone with life's problems and you can call out "Hold Me Jesus" and He will be right there.  He will let His light shine on you, giving you grace and understanding.  And you will know your new happiness and freedom are there because:

"A Light Has Dawned"

And now you can see Jesus.

Proverbs 1-4  Ephesians 3-5  Rich Mullins  Bebo Norman  Isaiah 9 and 12

Springs Without Water

You come to the Lord in your hour of deep need, abandoning your good works, you realize that human strength won't save you.  So you look to God in desperation.  The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but your springs have run dry.  You know that your heart is not pure and you are not free from sin.

You sometimes feel that God has forgotten you, but you remember God is good and upright and guides the humble in what is right.  All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful.  Your eyes should be ever on the Lord for He will guide your life.  Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Isaiah tells you, "Come now, let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow", (Isaiah 1:18).  The Lord is ready now, are you?

Identify your problem---maybe it is bitterness about someone or some event that's happened in your life.  Bitterness is a sin and can devastate you.  Do you have something against a brother?  Forgive him even if he was wrong, because without forgiveness only bitterness remains.  "There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit" (Ray Burkhaulter).

Whatever your problem, you must start by praying and confessing to God what sin in your life is holding you back and destroying you.  My good friend Ray Burkhaulter put this in an unusual but provacative way.  His definition of prayer is "you get ahold of God"..  I have never heard it put that way as a definition, but I don't think you could say it any more succinct.

Get ahold of God, and get going.  He will teach you by the work of the Holy Spirit what you should do.  But by all means, do something.  Bitterness is a dry stream and will not satisfy.

If you trust God and ask for grace to heal, it will be like sunshine breaking through storm clouds, you will witness the work of our Almighty God.  Suddenly the waters will rise and you will no longer experience---

"Springs Without Water"

in your life.  God loves you with an outrageous love---after all you are His beloved child.

Psalm 25-27  Isaiah 1  Francesca Battistelli  Max Lucado  Proverbs 20

Ray Burkhaulter

So Lost in Love

"He humbled Himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused His death---death on a cross", (Philippians 2:8).

When human hands nailed Jesus' hands to the cross, it was not the soldiers who held his hands steady.  It was God, His Father, who held the hands of Jesus steady.  Those same hands who built the mountains and formed the oceans; that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud.

Take a stroll out to the hill; out to the cross where, with holy blood, the hand that placed you on the earth wrote the promise, "God would give up His only Son before he would give up on you."

God's Son, who is the radiance of His Father's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by His powerful word, after providing purification for our sins by a bloody death on the cross, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  He was so lost in love for us that He gave up His entire self...

When God brought His firstborn into the world, He said, "Let all God's angels worship Him.  He makes His angels winds His servants flames of fire.  And to His Son said, Your throne will last forever and ever.  Your Father, has set You above everything, and anointed You with the oil of joy."

We had better pay attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.  For if the message spoken by angels was binding and all disobedience will receive its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation.  He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

For this reason He had to come in the flesh in order that He might become a merciful Savior.  Because He Himself suffered.  He was placed on a Roman cross and as the soldiers began to drive the nails through His hands, His Father reached down and held His hands steady.

God would give up His only son before He would give up on us.  Oh, what love He has for us, I can barley take it all in...  I am so lost for words to express my gratitude, I'm so:

"Lost in Love"

Thank you for the price You paid.  What a priceless gift You gave as You called me into undeserved life with You for eternity.  What a Savior!

Jeremy Riddle  Hebrews 1 and 2  Max Lucado  Hillsong  Psalm 15

The Mercy of His Touch

Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man and said, "Be healed" (Matthew 8:3).

Oh, what power comes from a godly touch.  We display that power when we reach out to:

Help the poor and oppressed.

Hold the hand of someone who is dying.

Brush away the tears of the lonely.

Be a father to the fatherless.

We reach out to these because we have inherited the mercy of His touch.  But some of us forget.  Our hearts are good; it's just our memories are bad.  We forget how significant one touch can be.  Jesus never forgets.

The Lord weighs the heart and searches out its inmost being.  Some crave evil and his neighbor gets no mercy from him.  When mercy is shown it brings joy; if no mercy is shown it brings terror to the evildoers.

So set your hearts on things from above, for now you are alive in Christ.  Show God's mercy by being compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient to others...  Wrap these virtues in love and you bind them together in perfect unity; it is your Savior you serve...

Do you remember when you were lost; enslaved by sin?  But by the kindness and love of God your Savior appeared and saved you, not by righteous things that you had done, but because of the mercy of His touch.

I remember when at the cross Jesus called for me.  I saw His body so bruised and crushed and became so lost in love, to know He suffered and died just for me.  He called me into life and I was reconciled by His blood and redeemed by the power of His love for me.  It makes me want to cry out, "Hold Me Jesus" forever.

You may ask, "What does the Lord require of me now that I am His?".

Seek Justice---treat everyone the same no matter what; help the poor and oppressed.

Love mercy---show everyone the kind of mercy your Savior had for you.

Walk humbly with your God---do as Jesus did, accept the will of the Father for your life.

This and this alone will show that you have received the "mercy of His touch".

Micah 6:8  Psalm 16  Jeremy Riddle  Rich Mullins  Colossians 3  Titus 3  Proverbs 21