A Different Kind of Battle - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
-Ephesians 6:12
Captain Scotty Smiley has served his country with great courage, but he also has had to face great adversity. A U.S. Army Ranger and a combat diver-qualified infantryman, Captain Smiley is also the Army's first active-duty blind officer and its first blind company commander. In April, 2006, Captain Smiley lost both of his eyes when a suicide bomber blew himself up thirty meters away from his vehicle.
He has faced this adversity with great faith and courage, an example to anyone dealing with a disability. Since losing his eyesight, he has climbed Mount Rainier, completed a triathlon, skied, skydived, and earned an M.B.A. He was named Soldier of the Year in 2007 and has written his story in a book called Hope Unseen. Captain Smiley is a fantastic model of bravery and courage on the battlefield.
As Christians, we, too, are in a battle, but it's a battle of a different kind. It is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one - and it is just as real. The Bible tells us that we are "fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). It would blow our minds if God were to pull back the curtain and enable us to see into the spiritual world - the world of God and Satan, the world of angels and demons, the world of heaven and hell.
So here is our choice: Either we are going to win or lose in this battle. Either we are going to gain ground or lose ground. Either we are going to advance or retreat.
Which will it be? It's a decision we all need to make.
When Unclothed Is Unfitting: Thoughts on Selling with SexJohn Piper
Jonathan Edwards once said that godly people can, as it were, smell the depravity of an act before they can explain why it evil. There is a spiritual sense that something is amiss. It does not fit in a world permeated with God.Ephesians 5:3 says that some things "are not fitting" among saints." "Fitting-ness" is not always easy to justify with arguments. You discern it before you can defend it. That's good, because we have to make hundreds of choices every day with no time for extended reflection.
But from time to time we need to pause and give rational, biblical expression why something is not fitting. Some years ago I came to that point when, week after week, a local newspaper put scantily clad women on the second page of Section A in order to sell underclothes. I wrote a letter to the paper with nine reasons why they should stop using this kind of advertising.
Perhaps my reflections will help you deal with the hundreds of abuses of God's good gift of sexuality in our culture. Here is what I wrote.
As a 14-year subscriber and reader of the [name of paper omitted], I am writing to express the persuasion that your sexually explicit ads that often turn up in Section A are increasingly offensive and socially irresponsible. I mean that the effectiveness of catching people's attention by picturing a woman in her underclothes does not justify the ads. The detrimental effects of such mercenary misuse of the female body are not insignificant. The harm I have in mind is described in the following nine persuasions.
1. This woman could not go out in public dressed like that without being shamed or being mentally aberrant. Yet you thrust her out, even in front of those of us who feel shame for her.
2. This portrayal of a woman sitting in her underclothes at a table with a cup of tea disposes men to think of women not as persons but mainly in terms of their bodies. It stimulates young boys to dwell on unclothed women's bodies and thus lames their ability to deal with women as dignified persons. I have four sons.
3. The ad stimulates sexual desire which in thousands of men has no legitimate or wholesome outlet through marriage. In other words, it feeds a corporate, community lust that bears no good fruit outside marriage, but in fact many ills.
4. The ad makes sensibilities callous so that fewer and fewer offenses against good taste feel unacceptable, which spells the collapse of precious and delicate aspects of personhood and relationships.
5. The ad makes thousands of women subconsciously measure their attractiveness and worth by the standard of rarefied, unrealistic models, leading to an unhealthy and discouraging preoccupation with outward looks.
6. The ad feeds the prurient fantasies of ordinary men, lodging a sexual image in their minds for the day which can rob them of the ability to think about things greater and nobler than skin.
7. The ad condones the proclivity of males to mentally unclothe women by reminding them what they would see if they did, and by suggesting that there are women who want to be publicly unclothed in this way. This reminder and this suggestion support habits and stereotypes that weaken personal virtue and jeopardize decorous relationships.
8. The ad encourages young girls to put excessive focus on their bodies and how they will be looked at, adding to the epidemic of depression and eating disorders.
9. The ad contributes to dissatisfaction in men whose wives can't produce that body and thus adds to the instability of marriages and homes.
I realize that the bottom line is big bucks for page two, and lots of attention for [name of department store omitted]. But please know that at least one assessment of your standards of fitness for print is that it is part of a tragic loss of modesty and decency that may, for now, feel like mature liberation, but in generations to come will reap a whirlwind of misery for all of us.
Cleaning up a Mess I Didn't Make
CHRYSTAL EVANS HURST
"And I pray that you ... grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17b-18 (NIV)
When my middle son was 2 years old, he went through various stages that almost sent me to the mad house.
One of the most irritating stages was his habit of taking off his diaper after putting him to bed. Many late nights we would have to put on a fresh diaper, change his sheets and put him back to bed.
After awhile, we wised up. We started putting him into all-in-one pajamas that made it not so easy for him to accomplish his little feat.
That pretty much solved the problem.
Until one night, when my husband put the boys (ages 2 and 4) to bed. Unfortunately, he forgot about our precautionary measure of locking our toddler into his diaper.
Before long, our eldest son shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mommy! It stinks in here! Somebody needs his diaper changed!"
No worries. It happens, right?
Soon we heard urgency in our eldest son's voice as he called out again, "MOMMY! COME QUICK! THERE'S A STINKY MESS IN HERE!"
We entered their room. The smell that greeted me at the door was enough to make me want to run for my life.
Friends, we are talking yuck e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e ... on the sheets, blankets, feet and smudged into the carpet. So that night, while many other mothers slept peacefully in their beds, guess what I was doing?
Cleaning up a mess.
At almost midnight and for close to an hour, I was on my hands and knees cleaning and scrubbing. I'll spare you the gory details.
Believe it or not, the carpet today looks like nothing ever happened. Between my cleaning concoctions that fateful night and a borrowed steam cleaner the next day, I managed to handle the situation like a pro.
Of course I did. I'm a mom. That's what moms do. We clean up after our children when necessary, because that's what love does.
There is a lesson to be learned from the middle of this messy situation ...
My son didn't mean to make a mess. He didn't intentionally deprive me of sleep or aim to make me uncomfortable. He didn't mean to make me suffer for his transgression.
But I did.
And why? Because that's what love does.
Even when he wasn't showing me much love, I loved him anyway. And I showed my love by cleaning up a mess that I didn't make.
My dear sister... don't you know Jesus loves us this same way?
He saw us in our mess. He cleaned up after us. He was willing to suffer for our transgressions. And even when we aren't showing Him much love, He loved us first and continues to love us anyway.
Because that's what love does.
I believe with all my heart that as my son matures, he will be grateful and appreciate my sacrifices. I pray that eventually he will come to understand the width, length, height and depth of the love I have for him. Just like God's love for us, Paul prayed that the church at Ephesus "may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Ephesians 3:18).
In the same way, as we mature in our relationship with God and develop a greater understanding of why we needed His rescue, we can appreciate more and more His huge sacrifice.
Here's the kicker - our lives, actions and attitudes should show it.
Just like mothers find a way to do what seems
... inconceivable
... impossible
... or insurmountable ...
so, too, our precious Savior found a way to rescue us from our plight.
And I'm so thankful. Aren't you?
Dear Lord, thank You for being willing to clean up my mess. Sometimes I'm a little bit of a mess. Other times, I'm a big mess and the yuckiness in my attitude or actions greatly impacts others. Yet You still love me. You loved me enough not only to clean up after me, but also to suffer on my behalf. I want You to know I'm grateful. Help me to walk worthy of the love that You have so lavishly offered me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
When Your Life Feels Like a MessRENEE SWOPE
"But while Joseph was there in prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden." Genesis 39: 20b-21 (NIV)
Do you ever feel like your days are filled with one messy relationship and situation after another? During those times, it's easy to label my circumstances and myself as "a mess," then wonder how God could ever use me, or my experiences, for good.
To protect my heart from discouragement, I often ask God to remind me of times when He has worked in ways I couldn't have imagined, in my life and the lives of others. Recently He reminded me of Joseph's story (Genesis 37-50). It reads like a series of very unfortunate events!
Imagine being beaten and thrown into a pit, sold as a slave and then relocated to a foreign country where you are falsely accused of a crime you didn't commit and banished to die in prison. And to make matters worse, what if your siblings had initiated this evil against you?
That's only the beginning of what happened to Joseph.
Looking behind the scenes of stories like his helps me see how God specializes in using messes to transform people into masterpieces of His grace. That's exactly what He did here:
"[Joseph's brothers] saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him ... they stripped him of his robe ... and they threw him into a pit" (Genesis 37:18, 23b-24, ESV).
Joseph was then taken to Egypt where he was sold as a slave to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Could things get worse? They did when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him, and despite Joseph resisting her advances, she accused him of attempting to rape her:
" ... she called to the men of her household and said to them, 'See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.'"
"As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him ... his anger was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison ..." (Genesis 39:14-15, 19-20a).
In Potiphar's house, Joseph learned servant leadership and integrity; in prison, Joseph learned forgiveness, wisdom and patience. He had been wronged multiple times, yet he experienced God's guidance through the darkness that helped Joseph get out of prison:
"And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ... And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed" (Genesis 39:22-23, ESV).
In a messy pit, the house of Potiphar and a cold dark prison, God prepared Joseph for the amazing future and role he would play in rescuing God's people and eventually bringing his family back together.
Through it all, Joseph stayed close to God and allowed his difficult circumstances to make him more dependent on the Lord. And in turn, God molded Joseph's character into a great and godly leader - who was humble, loving, forgiving, patient and wise.
Friend, you might feel like you're in a pit right now just like Joseph was, but don't despise the mess you're in - God is doing some behind-the-scenes work. He is preparing to unleash His limitless power in and through you!
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me that You are always with me, just like You were with Joseph. When I face hard circumstances, I want to lean in and depend on You for wisdom, patience and grace. In all these things, I will remember that I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Do Not Neglect Your Spiritual Gift
1 Timothy 4:12-16Every Christian is given at least one spiritual gift with which to serve the Lord and build up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7). But many believers neglect this special empowerment of the Spirit. Although Timothy had some good reasons to forsake his calling from God, Paul advised him to "take pains with these things" and "be absorbed in them" (v. 15). As you look at Timothy, ask yourself if either of the following situations are hindering you from fully serving the Lord.
Age: No matter how old we are, the Lord wants us to use our spiritual gifts. Because Timothy was young, he could easily have been intimidated by those with more experience. However, youth isn't our only excuse. Some believers think they're too old to serve the Lord. Even though our areas of ministry may change over the years, we're never called into spiritual retirement.
Inadequacy: Have you ever avoided a service opportunity simply because you felt totally unqualified? That's probably how Timothy felt about leading the church at Ephesus. Our spiritual gifts rarely come to us fully developed. God often requires that we step out in faith and trust Him to work in and through us. Over time, as we obey and serve Him in our areas of giftedness, He increases the effectiveness of our ministry.
Is anything keeping you from using your spiritual gifts? Though given to us, these abilities aren't for us; they're for the church. To neglect them would not only deprive fellow believers but also rob ourselves: there is joy and blessing in serving others anddoing the work God has designated for us.
Understanding the Bible
1 Corinthians 2:12-16"I just don't understand the Bible." That's a comment I hear quite often, even from believers. We can understand why those without Christ are unable to comprehend biblical concepts, but why do those who know Him struggle? Some people think that a seminary education is the answer, but I have met several trained pastors and teachers who didn't really understand the Word of God. They knew facts, but they had no excitement for the Scriptures or for the Lord.
The key is not education but obedience. As we act on what we read, the Holy Book "comes alive," and we begin to hear and understand the voice of God. However, if we have not obeyed what He's previously revealed to us, why would He give us His deeper truths? "The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him" (Ps. 25:14), and those who fear Him are the ones who obey His commandments and are promised "a good understanding" (Ps. 111:10).
Living a fleshly lifestyle of disobedience to the Lord clouds our eyes, diminishes our ability to hear, and fogs our thinking. Although we have full access to the mind of Christ, our attachment to our own sinful ways keeps us from tapping into the rich treasures of wisdom that are found in His Word.
As you read the Scriptures each day, look for God's instructions. Then with reliance upon the Holy Spirit, commit to do what He tells you. When you obey His voice, He'll reveal deeper truths, and your understanding will grow. Soon your time in the Word will become a delight instead of a duty.
The Church God's Design
Hebrews 10:23-25
When you hear the word "church," do you picture a little white building full of smiling people in fancy clothes? As lovely as that image may be, God's design for church is unrelated to it. He created the church to be a unified fellowship of believers who encourage each other and carry out His ministry to the world.
The Bible clearly defines the following as ministries of the church: worshiping the living God, instructing and edifying believers, making disciples of all nations, and serving the needy. Unless the leadership is careful, however, these purposes can all too easily get out of balance, with the unfortunate result that the body ends up malnourished. For example, a church with too heavy an emphasis on praise might become introverted. Congregations that overemphasize teaching could lose their joy, and those that evangelize to the neglect of the other areas could miss out on great faith.
Because of sin and human imperfection, we do not experience church as it was originally intended. Instead, there's a tendency to overstress certain ministry areas. What's more, divisive arguments--many of which concern minor issues, such as music preferences--too often destroy unity. Greed, pride, selfishness, and gossip can also tear a congregation apart.
Since they're composed of imperfect people, churches will be imperfect too. Though expecting anything else leads to disappointment, we should nonetheless strive for God's original design, continually measuring ourselves against Scripture and correcting course to realign with His purpose.
The Church What Is It All About
Colossians 1:18-24
Church buildings are plentiful in our country. Locating one may be easy, but wisely deciding which to join involves more effort. God's Word gives us some specific instructions in this matter.
First, let's explore the original biblical meaning of the word "church." The term ecclesia meant a group of people who are called out of the world's system by God's grace for the purpose of assembling to worship and serve Christ. Ephesians 5:29-30 further specifies that believers are the body and Jesus is the head of such a fellowship. Under His leadership, we can enjoy the unity and purpose that He intended.
God's design for this sacred gathering involves worship, instruction, encouragement, evangelism, and ministry to those in need, both within the fellowship and outside its walls. A healthy, vibrant congregation is possible only when members rely fully on the Holy Spirit's guidance. The work of the church is to be done in His power, in humble, prayerful submission to the Lord.
To help you determine whether a church is following the design laid out in Scripture, here are some important questions to ask: Do they believe God's Word is infallible and inerrant? Is the church disciplining her people? Does the fellowship have some kind of missionary or evangelistic program?
Joining a congregation is an important decision, as a fellowship of believers is one tool God uses to mature and encourage His children. Those three questions can be helpful in discerning God's will. Listen for His Spirit to warn or direct as you prayerfully investigate your options.
Christ Will Come Again
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2-3)
Judging Others
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1)
This is a very familiar maxim, often cited by unbelievers and carnal Christians as a rebuke to Christians whom they regard as intolerant. These words of the Lord Jesus Christ do, indeed, warn us against a self-righteous attitude, condemning others who disagree with us on the basis of superficial criteria.
On the other hand, this caution by no means relieves us of the responsibility of evaluating the beliefs and practices of others in the light of Scripture. In the very same sermon, in fact, Jesus said just a few moments later: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine"; and, "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing" (Matthew 7:6-15). Obedience to such commandments obviously requires one to make a judgment as to whether certain unbelievers should be regarded as "dogs" or "swine," to whom it would be counterproductive to try to speak of spiritual matters, or whether certain professing Christian leaders are actually false prophets who should be repudiated. Jesus also said: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
Since the Scriptures themselves are to be used in the final judgment (John 12:48; Revelation 20:12; etc.), it is obvious that we should use them right now to discern truth and error, right and wrong. "For the word of God . . . is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
There is another basis of judgment that the Lord Jesus has authorized us to use. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. . . . Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:18-20). Thus, the test of Scripture plus fruit produced can serve as the basis of a valid judgment. Until adequate data for making such a test are available, judge not! HMM
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1)
Confession and Forgiveness
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)
Every person, even the most godly Christian believer, at least occasionally commits acts of sin-sins of omission, if not sins of commission. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).
When a Christian does sin, the remedy is available. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This forgiveness is based on the fact that "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
The problem is that the very compulsion that caused the believer to commit the sin in the first place will often lead him to try to justify the sin. If that is not possible, he will try to hide it, or even to deny it.
The antidote for this situation, of course, is to confess and forsake his sin(s). This confession, however, cannot be simply a generalized confession ("please forgive all my sins"), but a specific "naming" of the particular sins, acknowledging that it was, indeed, a sin in the sight of God, deserving of divine punishment and repudiation by a holy God. Similarly, the term "forsaketh" does not mean simply to quit engaging in the particular sin, but to quit even thinking about it-no longer either desiring the sin or being depressed under the guilt of it. If possible and applicable, this would also entail making restitution to anyone who had been injured by that sin; otherwise, the confession need be made only to God.
And God will forgive and cleanse. Then, "forgetting those things which are behind," we can "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven" (Psalm 32:1). HMM
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16)
"So," as Moses prayed to the Lord, "teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). HMM
The Abounding Life
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Jesus said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). This well-known promise is sometimes misapplied, being interpreted to mean that the Christian life would normally be a life of material prosperity, popularity, and happiness. The words "abundantly," "abounding," and similar terms are all based on the same Greek word, which does, indeed, mean "abundant." But it can apply to sorrow as well as happiness.
The Christian life, as our text indicates, should be abundant in good works for the simple reason that God's saving and keeping grace has been manifested abundantly toward us. Having been "stablished in the faith," we are to be "abounding therein" (Colossians 2:7). Christians, of course, should also "abound in love." "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you" (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
But the Christian may also experience much sorrow and difficulty in his life. Paul was a classic example: ". . . in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft" (2 Corinthians 11:23). One may also abound in poverty. For the Christians at Philippi, for example, "in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality" (2 Corinthians 8:2). An abundance of suffering for the believer can always be overbalanced by God's abounding grace. "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:5). Our God of all grace "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20). HMM
One Another
"But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another." (1 Thessalonians 4:9)
The Christian life involves both individual accountability and interpersonal involvement. Each of us is individually responsible for maintaining the right sort of relationship to others, especially others in our Christian fellowship.
A beautiful Greek word is allelon, often translated "one another." For example, we are commanded: "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32). Furthermore, we are to "be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility" (1 Peter 5:5), "in honour preferring one another" (Romans 12:10).
There are many other such admonitions, all built around the beautiful phrase "one another." Although we have indeed "been called unto liberty," we are nevertheless to "serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). We are also to "exhort one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13) and to "consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" (Hebrews 10:24). "Use hospitality one to another without grudging" (1 Peter 4:9). We are told: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).
In times of sorrow, Christians are admonished to "comfort one another" (1 Thessalonians 4:18). "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another" (1 Thessalonians 5:11) and "pray one for another" (James 5:16).
But by far the most frequently repeated admonition is that in our text: "Love one another!" There are no less than 15 times where this command is given in the New Testament. Most significantly of all, it is Christ's own "new commandment. . . . By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35). HMM
My Faith Declaration
WENDY BLIGHT
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37 (NIV)
It was a day like any other. She awakened to the usual routine: Rouse her children from bed. Prepare lunches. Pack bags. Drive carpool. Work out. Return home.
A day like any other ... until she walked into the kitchen.
She heard a text alert from a phone on the counter. Not hers, but her husband's. A name she didn't recognize. A woman's name. Probably a new co-worker. Or a client. She trusted him. Right?
Something drew her to the words on the screen. Reading through the intimate communication, waves of nausea overcame her. She scrolled through more texts ... words that pierced her heart.
She heard her husband step out of the shower. What would she say?
She said nothing.
That night, she confronted him. He confessed, apologized and promised to end it. She wanted to believe him, but she knew how difficult that would be. The woman lived in another state. They worked and traveled together often.
How could I ever trust him again? she thought to herself.
Months passed. She discovered more texts and e-mails. So she asked him to leave, at least temporarily.
She appeared at my door, tears streaming. She poured out her heart as she shared his betrayal. Betrayal that flooded the depths of her soul. My heart ached.
She felt abandoned and alone. Words escaped me. But I knew she didn't need my words. She needed truths and promises from the One who would never betray her, never abandon her, never leave her. So I gave my friend a Faith Declaration to remind her of who she was in Christ and the promises that, no matter what happened, could never be taken away. Here's what I shared with her that day ...
You are Loved
"For I have every confidence that nothing - not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing - can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39, The Voice)
You are Known by Almighty God
"You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." (Psalm 139:15-16, NLT)
You are Forgiven
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NIV)
You are Redeemed
"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, NLT)
You are God's Masterpiece, Created with a Purpose
"For we are the product of His hand, heaven's poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, The Voice)
You are More Than a Conqueror
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37, NIV)
Has someone broken your heart? Betrayed you? Lied to you? Used you?
Are you feeling lost? Alone? Defeated? Desperate? Unworthy? Unloved?
You are not alone. Jesus understands. He identifies with our pain and suffering. Those He created betrayed Him. Those He loved abandoned Him.
Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer, understands.
Through His living and active Word, He has given us truths and promises to heal our gaping wounds ... to bring hope to what seems hopeless ... to speak truth to the lies.
Sweet friend, pray this declaration over your circumstances. Plant these seeds of truth in your heart. God will water them and grow deep roots of love, hope and faith.
Heavenly Father, I pray this declaration over my life today. Plant these truths and promises deep in my heart, water them with Your love and make them come alive in my circumstances. I ask this in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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