This year however, I decided to set one New Year’s resolution for 2012—to learn to love more. When I thought about loving more I had my husband, kids, friends, church, and family in mind. I did not for a second think about loving those who would challenge my resolution to love; the sandpaper people in my life who rub me the wrong way with their lies, accusations, hating, slander, betrayal, and criticism.

The start of 2012 has been a challenging year already. I have been used, abused, betrayed, lied to, accused, hurt, and slandered. Loving has been challenged for sure. My resolution to love is being well-tried. Can we as Christians really love in the face of persecution and betrayal? Can we love when others are unloving to us? How?

I am quickly discovering that the only way to grow in love is to actually be put in, or allowed in situations where our commitment to love is tested and tried. It’s easy to love someone back when they are being nice, caring, understanding, respectful, and faithful. When people are rude, mean, selfish, self-centered, and unfaithful, however, it’s not so easy.

About a week ago I was reminded by a dear woman of God to pray for my enemies. I have to learn to love them in-spite of their ugliness. I searched out the Word of God and found, Luke 6:27-36. Take a few minutes and read these verses. I will share the verses that really spoke to me.

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. (verses 27-28)

“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!  And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! (verses 32-33)

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. (verses 35-36)

That is a lot to take in. Love our enemies. Pray for them. Pray for those who hurt us. Be compassionate because our Father is compassionate.

Thank God for the Holy Spirit that lives in His children because it will have to be by His strength and empowering that I am going to walk this out when I have been so hurt. But His Word promises that we CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. So here I go; not by my own might, nor by my own power, but by His Spirit. (Philippians 4:13, Zechariah 4:6)

Then the Spirit of our Lord reminded me that I have been forgiven much, so I must forgive others much. I need to make allowance for others faults. I need to be quick to forgive, but that I also need wisdom in my relationships; accepting the fruit of repentance as a means of reconciliation. At the same time, I need to understand that not all relationships will be immediately restored. I need to trust God in the midst of those losses.

In the month since making my resolution to love more, I have suffered great loss and experienced severe stress, persecution, and betrayal. I realize it is only by giving others the same grace, mercy, and forgiveness that Christ has given me, that I can truly walk in love with everyone—friend or foe.  This is not of myself. It is truly done by the grace of God. Thank God for that!

In closing, I leave you with the verses that God always brings me back to. Colossians 3:12-14:

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

His Word has been rising up in my heart comforting me, confirming the truth, and directing my steps. I feel like He has poured out an extra measure of grace and faith that has been supernaturally sustaining me. I have been in awe this whole week because I feel like I have experienced His grace in a new way. Jesus told a story that comes to my heart; it’s found in Matthew 7:24-27.

  “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

The winds are blowing and beating on my house for sure but I am NOT falling apart because of the Word of God that is in my heart. In fact I have a divine reassurance that the Spirit of God IS taking everything that is happening right now and turning it for the good of those in involved; and for His glory. I know that He IS faithful to see me through no matter what I face in this world. I am confident in Him and the Spirit that He has put inside of me; so when the rains descend and the floods come I won’t fall apart, I won’t crumble under the pressure.

Sure I will cry and hurt. I will go through different emotions; sadness, anger, etc. However I have found that I CAN count it all joy even while we are having troubles because I know Who my hope is in. I know on Whose promises I stand. My joy and confidence comes from KNOWING THIS…God is faithful. So I don’t need to know how everything is going to work, even though I want to know; I just need to know that it IS going to work out and in the end I will be stronger in my faith. I will be a stronger witness because I stood on the Rock.

So if you are reading this and you feel completely overwhelmed and you feel like giving up, DON’T. Throw yourself at God’s feet, receive His mercy and grace; allow Him to strengthen you. He does not expect us to face our trials on our own, that is why He has given us His Holy Spirit and His Word. They will sustain us in these times. Rely on them.

This is when you have to learn to stand in the face of whatever it is that you are going through. Realize that these trials will build your faith muscles. Allow these tests to help you grow strong in your dependence and faith in Christ Jesus. You will learn endurance, patience, and steadfastness by choosing not to throw in the towel. Be thankful, even in the midst of the storms of life. Focus on your blessings. Focus on what you do have and not on what you don’t have. (Philippians 1:28)

I heard Joyce Meyers say something like this”

“We get spiritual growth during our hard times. In our good times we enjoy the growth we got in the hard times.”

So take a step back for a second; take a deep breath, now exhale and allow God to renew your strength. Be filled with His peace. Be filled with hope. I leave you with these verses,

“Always be joyful . Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances , for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

As I grow in my faith and as I renew my mind with God’s Word I see more and more that our strength as Christians has to come from leaning on and relying on Him daily; trusting Him moment by moment and struggle to struggle. We have to learn to allow ourselves to overcome in this world not by our own power or might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and by his grace and mercy. (Zechariah 4:6) Look at what the Apostle Paul says here to the Corinthians:

“But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.” - 1 Corinthians 15:10 – Amplified Bible (Emphasis mine)

Paul knew it was God’s grace working through him that gave him everything he needed to fulfill his calling, to do all the good things God planned for him. It was God’s grace that sustained him in the face of trouble, calamity, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, and even when threatened with death.  God’s favor and blessing, His mercy and grace are with us also. In fact He loves us so much and He is so faithful that His mercies never cease. In fact they are new every morning. We don’t have to live off of yesterday’s mercy and grace because today his mercies are fresh. I love how Lamentations chapter 3 says it;

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (Emphasis mine)

Of course we are going to have struggles and troubles in this world. We are going to fight temptation and battle moments of weakness in our flesh, but thank God we have grace covering us. When, by faith, we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we received God’s grace FOREVER, not as an excuse to sin but as the power by which we can live victorious Christian lives here in this world. (Romans 5:1-2) I love how Kay Arthur said it in her book, ‘Lord, I Need Grace to Make It Today’;

“His grace covers our past and equips us for the future.”

So we have God’s grace and mercy covering us and we have the Holy Spirit empowering us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you and me. It is the Spirit of God living within us that will enable us to be more than conquerors. (Philippians 2:13, Romans 8:11)

In closing the words that Paul wrote thru the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 comes to my heart reminding me that we don’t have to try to be perfect cookie cutter Christians who act like they have it all together. We can be exactly what we are; people saved by the grace of God, walking in the Spirit by the grace of God, overcoming by the power of the Spirit of God in us, accepting and depending on  God’s grace and mercy to fulfill our callings daily. His grace is enough for us.

May the Spirit of God allow these final verses that I’m sharing here to penetrate our hearts, soul, and spirit. May He bring to our remembrance the truth that His grace is all we need to be really strong Christians.

“But He said to me, ‘My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness.’ Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – Amplified Bible (Emphasis mine)

Jazz I want you to know that I believe in you baby. I know that God has a good plan for your life and as you surrender your will for His, you will see many changes in your life. Not that you won’t have hard times, in fact you will, we all do at some time or another. But I promise you that God WILL continue the good work that He started in you. Keep your eyes and ears on Him, shut the rest of the voices out. Read this post and allow yourself to be encouraged, empowered, and edified. I love you.

—–

Like my Father God I have a heart for the black sheep, for the under dog, the one that no one believes in, for the one that people say will never change. Maybe that’s because there was a time in my life where it felt like no one believed in me. A time when I didn’t believe in myself. Perhaps it’s because even now, even though I have changed, there are still those spirits and people that would love to see me fail just so they can say, “I told you so”. You know the people that smile in your face but behind your back talk about you.

This has been on my heart for a couple of weeks now. I just needed to take some time out and speak to the one who is feeling alone, abandoned, and or betrayed. I want to tell you to:

“STOP LISTENING TO THE NAYSAYERS!”

You are not what they say you are. God has His hands on you. If you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life then you are a child of The Most High God. Stop allowing people to speak negative words into your life. Stop listening to it! Don’t receive the words of condemnation. It is ok for you to say, “I don’t receive that.”

Ignore the accusations. You don’t have to defend yourself. God is our defender. Stop listening to what the haters have to say. There are those that are not going to approve of what God is doing in our lives. There are going to be those that don’t understand and will criticize. Who cares! We need to walk in faith towards our destiny, even in the face of fear or persecution. I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Galatians.

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God, if pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” – Galatians 1:10

If you are going to fulfill God’s call on your life you are going to have stop listening to the nay sayers. Don’t receive the lies that you are:

Going to fail.

Going to be just like so and so.

Never going to be loved because of this or that reason.

Never going to change.

Learn who you are in Christ and walk in it. Get into God’s Word and see what He has to say about you and don’t be afraid to walk in it. Don’t be afraid to let your light shine. Be unapologetically bold in your faith, in your assurance that God is in control and that He IS working things out in your life according to His plan. Know that you ARE:

Chosen by God and adopted as His child ~ Ephesians 1:3-8

A disciple and friend of Jesus Christ ~ John 15:15

Justified ~ Romans 5:1

United with the Lord, and one with Him in spirit ~ 1 Corin. 6:17

Bought with a price, and belong to God ~ 1 Corin. 6:19-20

A member of Christ’s body ~ 1 Corin. 12:27

Redeemed and forgiven of all your sins ~ Colossians 1:13-14

Complete in Christ ~ Colossians 2:9-10

Given direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ ~ Hebrews 4:14-16

Assured that God is working for your good in all circumstances ~ Romans 8:28

Free from any condemnation brought against you, and cannot be separated from the love of God ~ Romans 8:1-2,31-39

Established, anointed, and sealed by God ~ 2 Corin. 1:21-22

Hidden with Christ in God ~ Colossians 3:1-4

Confident that God will complete the good work He started in you ~ Philippians 1:6

A citizen of Heaven ~ Philippians 3:20

Not given to the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

Born of God, and the evil one cannot touch you ~ 1 John 5:18

The branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life ~ John 15:5

Chosen and appointed to bear fruit ~ John 15:16

God’s temple ~ 1 Corin. 3:16

A minister of reconciliation for God ~ 2 Corin.5:17-21

Seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm ~ Ephesians 2:6

God’s workmanship ~ Ephesians 2:10

Able to approach God with freedom and confidence ~ Ephesians 3:12

Able to do all things through Christ, who strengthens me ~ Philippians 4:13

More than a conqueror through Christ Jesus ~ Romans 8:37

Stop listening to anything that contradicts the Word of God. This is who you are! Don’t receive anything else.

Note: Most of the scriptures above taken from Dr. Neil T. Anderson’s page, ‘Who You Are In Christ’

http://www.christiangoth.com/whoyouare.html

Dear Parents,

In our classroom we have been reading and discussing what we think the true spirit of the “Winter” holidays are. The students and I have agreed that family and faith are the most important and that giving is indeed better than receiving. After much discussion we started talking about what we could do to give back to others this holiday season. One of my students suggested doing something for kids who are sick and in hospitals during the holidays. So I told my students my story with my son and they all agreed that we should do the toy drive in our class. We also discussed how else we could help those kids and we came up with the idea of raising funds to donate to Saint Jude’s to use for cancer research.

In short I am going to tell you my story and share with you all the ideas we came up with to make the above possible. Our class wishes to thank all of those in advance that will help make this short project a success for all children.

A few years ago my two year old son Jesse was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma (cancer of the muscle tissue). My family and I learned a lot about the life of cancer patients and their families. We had great doctors and nurses at Texas Oncology and got to know the caring staff so well. Children with cancer make weekly doctor visits that are never filled with much fun. They always result in pokes, pulling of skin, and sometimes the dreaded unplanned hospital stay. The staff did everything they could to make the patients happy and comfortable. They often gave stuffed animals to the kids after unpleasant visits or before being admitted for treatment. On one such visit, the doctor came in and offered Jesse a stuffed animal. Jesse looked at the doctor and said, “Doctor Goldman, I am a little boy and I like cars. Do you have any cars?” Doctor Goldman went to look and returned with the response,” I am sorry Jesse, but we do not have any cars.” Jesse responded “well you need to get some.”

My husband told this story to the students in his class and one boy said, “We need to get some cars for the doctor to give to the boys.” Then one girl asked, “What about the little girls? Some don’t play with cars.” The students then decided the girls should get some Barbie Dolls for the girl patients. Long story short the students started bringing in Hot Wheels and Barbies for the kids at the Texas Oncology office and thus Hot Wheels and Barbies were born in honor of my son, Jesse Mooney.

Jesse went into the hospital December 4, 2007. His cancer had returned. We spent 47 days in the hospital. The Hot Wheels and Barbies arrived just before Christmas. Before the doctors came to pick up the toys, Jesse took three cars to his friend Dillon who was finishing a two week treatment of antibiotics. We also met Samantha. She, like Jesse, was going to be spending Christmas in the hospital. Samantha had not smiled once for anyone the whole two weeks she had been there. Until, Jesse took her one of the Barbies. Dillon started bringing his cars to the hospital when he had to stay. His grandfather said Dillon would not leave without them. Samantha asked about Jesse every time she came to the hospital.

Then on March 11, 2008, Jesse went to the doctor for the final time. We were admitted and told that the cancer had consumed one of his lungs and that the other was partially covered. Jesse never regained consciousness after he came out of surgery. Samantha came to visit him on March 12. She held Jesse’s hand and gave it a kiss before she left. Dillon came and placed a car Jesse had given him beside Jesse and told me that it needed to go with Jesse to heaven. On Jesse’s final evening, March 13, he was surrounded by family and friends while his favorite movie, Cars, played in the background.

You see those small tokens; Hot Wheels and Barbies help provide those bits of happiness needed to help those that have cancer live the daily fight. My class and I wish to thank all of those who participate in this toy drive that helps keep Jesse’s memory alive.

After Jesse’s passing and through those years of exhaustive research
we found that his type of cancer was not widely researched and studied. Saint Jude’s was the only place that was beginning to study his type of cancer and was trying to develop new treatment plans. So my family and I began to donate every year to their foundation in our son’s name so that maybe one day those children will have a fighting chance for survival.

In short our class has pledged to at least bring in one Hot Wheel or Barbie or both by Friday the 16th to donate to the doctor’s office. We are also collecting pledges to donate to Saint Jude’s on December 16th. Your child will have an envelope in which you will need to help them write the person’s name who wants to donate and how much they are willing to donate to the foundation. Then on December 14th our class will participate in an 8 min. marathon of solving addition and subtraction math facts. After that each child will bring home the number of problems completed and collect their pledges and turn them in to me on Friday December 16th and we will donate our pledges to Saint Jude’s. It is important to remember that you can pledge a flat donation or an amount per completed problem.
Many thanks and please let me know if you have any questions,

Mrs. Mooney and Class
———–

If you would like to help Mrs. Mooney’s class by donating a Barbie or Hot Wheel or both to the kids at Saint Jude’s please ship your toy to:

Rueben Johnson Elementary
Attn:Mrs. Mooney 2nd Grade Class
3400 Ash Lane
McKinney, Tx. 75070

If even it does not make it to them by the 16th. It’s ok. They will make sure that it gets to the kids.

If you would like to donate financially. Please contact Mrs. Mooney directly for more information, emooney@mckinneyisd.net .

Thank you for helping us keep little Jesse’s memory alive.

The debate on FB got offensive. I saw other Christians verbally attack and insult one another because they had different view points on whether we as believers should celebrate Halloween. At one point one honest sister shared that she questioned if her Christian friends and even the ministry that posted the original comment were truly Christians. This broke my heart. The founder of the ministry that posted the thread is a beautiful woman of God. She loves the young women she ministers to and has a sincere love for our Savior Jesus Christ. Her ministry helps many young women all over the world and is a light in the darkness of cyberspace.

I just felt the need after seeing this series of posts last night to encourage and challenge you to, whether or not you choose to celebrate Halloween, when someone asks you why you do or don’t be ready to tell them, BUT do it in a gentle and respectful way.” (1 Peter 3:15) This is the instruction the Spirit of God has given us through the apostle Peter. We are not supposed to get involved in foolish arguments that just provoke fights amongst us. Don’t argue with your Christian brothers and sisters who have different views about non-salvation issues. Don’t try to be the Holy Spirit in peoples lives. Share your perspective, listen to their perspective and then if you don’t agree, it’s ok to agree to disagree, move on from the conversation before contention arises and someone gets offended.

I know that in our hearts when we share why we believe the way we do we want others to see the Truth that God has revealed to us, but when we share our revelations aggressively and disrespectfully we do not win the person over. We cause the other person to feel attacked and judged because they don’t believe the same way that we do. The Truth of the matter is that God’s Word clearly says,

“All things are legitimate [permissible--and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].” – 1 Corinthians 10:23.

Each of has to pray and seek God in His Word about whether or not HE would have us participate in the celebration of Halloween. It is His Spirit that leads us into all Truth. We have His Word that is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We can not force our views on each other. We can only share what the Spirit of God has shown us in a gentle and respectful way. It is not our job to reveal Truth, that is the Holy Spirit’s job. Are job is to love one another no matter what. Are we loving one another when we think less of each because we do or don’t celebrate Halloween?

I know it is our Heavenly Father that put it on her heart to send me this little love note because it came on a day that I would totally miss the mark. I mean I messed up big time. That’s right I’m am one of those imperfect Christians. I am fully aware that as long as I’m here in this world living in this flesh of mine that I will fall short. I know that I can become a slave to whatever I choose to obey, sin or God. So when I fall short I try to quickly confess my shortcomings to God, repent, and then I try to receive His forgiveness. However often times first I go through an awful battle with a spirit of condemnation, guilt, and shame that attacks my mind. That’s where I was at when I felt led to reread her note. Part of my dear friend’s note read:

The Holy Spirit knew that I would feel down on myself that evening for my shortcomings. My peace and joy were gone. He knew condemnation would try to fling its nasty accusations and put downs at me. He did not want me to sit in a pile of ‘woe is me’ dung. He made sure that card made it to me right on time. He wanted me to know that NO MATTER WHAT my Heavenly Father loves me. He wanted me to know that He saw and He knew what I would do, but that Jesus is on my side sticking up for me. He loves me regardless of my shortcomings. He believes in me no matter what others have to say. No matter what I do, or don’t do, nothing I can ever face in this world will EVER separate me from the love of God, NOTHING.

So He had her send this note to me with Romans 8:35-39 written in it knowing that I would search out His Word. I read it and I have been so encouraged in my heart ever since by these verses that I have read plenty of times. This time though I felt led to read them out of the Message Bible. I would like to share these verse with you now:

Isn’t that just beautiful? He loves us!! He loves us NO MATTER WHAT! Thank you Jesus!

I want to encourage whoever is reading this to allow these verses to get down deep in your heart. I pray that the Holy Spirit would give us power to really understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His is love is for us. May we experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to fully understand. Then we will be made complete with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:18-19)

We need to remember that God is not some far away being. He is near to us. He cares about every detail of our lives. Even though we will face troubles in this world, that does not mean that He has abandoned us. He has given us His Spirit to help us get through and overcome in any situation, in any circumstance. No problem is too big for Him to solve. He has given us His Spirit to help us to forgive ourselves and others. Yes even our accusers, persecutors, or haters. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us and helps us to love the unlovely, to share the same mercy and grace that we have been given, to continue to do good and believe even when we feel we just can’t any more. He helps us not to give up. It is His love that comforts us and gives us hope, confirmation, direction, and encouragement.

He is not mad at us. He hates to see us hurt. He hates to see us fall for the traps that the demonic spirits set for us. He hates to see us being led by our flesh, instead of by His Spirit because He wants to see us walk victoriously. He wants to see us live life abundantly, free from the bondage of our sin nature.

This card confirms to my heart that He loves us and does not give up on us even when we fall short. He does not give us the silent treatment or lose hope in us.

Let us open our eyes and allow even creation to testify to the love of God. Let us look at how He has blessed us today. Look at how we are still alive today because He still has a plan and a purpose for us here. He is NOT done with us yet. Mediate on His love and realize that His love is what has really set us free. We don’t have to sit in a pile of condemnation when we fall short. Let us instead be humbly sorry for our sins and run to His throne room for help and mercy. He will be faithful to give it to us. Then let us turn away from what is causing us to stumble. He will help us to overcome whatever it is that is trying to overtake us.

Let’s choose to endure and let’s choose to let him continue the good work that He has started in us. He is not finished with us yet. His love will help us grow and change daily. Allow His love to embrace you.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the misuse of our freedom in Christ and how some Christians will use the “not under the law” verse to justify something that we want to do, that may technically be legal, permissible (allowable and lawful) for us; but may not be spiritually appropriate or helpful (good for us to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23-24)

So often times the Christian will say as a means of justification for something that they want to do, that may not be the best thing for them or others around them, “We are free. We are not under the law we are under grace”, instead of truly praying and seeking God about whether it is HIS WILL for them to do whatever it is that they are contemplating, even if it is technically legal.

“[Many things] are not specifically condemned by the Scriptures, and thus we must apply other criteria. For example, would these matters cause us to sin, or harm our bodies, or cause a brother to stumble, or tempt us to fall into a pattern we could not control? Clearly if those things occurred, then it would be wrong for us to do them. If not, then we have the liberty to enjoy these activities” – Curtis C. Thomas

I love how The Message Bible translates 1 Corinthians 6:12,

“If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.”

Our freedom in Christ is not a means of justification for us to do whatever it is we think we want to do, especially those things that are just us trying to fit into to our culture or us wanting to fulfill a selfish or even sinful desire. We are called to live in freedom, but our freedom is meant to serve God by living in the Spirit and by serving one another in love, not for us to live without restraint. (Romans 7:6, Galatians 5:13-14)

It is dangerous to claim freedom in Christ as a means of indulging the flesh. Some claim, “I’m free. I’m free” only to find that their ‘freedom’ has led them into shame, regret, isolation, and bondage because their freedom was not freedom at all. It was a false sense of liberty that led to a lack of self-control, self-discipline, and discernment. Some have been so deceived in their ‘freedom’ that they justify old behavior, thoughts, attitudes, and self-expression causing themselves to slip back into their old ways of living. Some have even allowed themselves to become so ‘free’ that they’ve harden their hearts and will not allow themselves to receive loving correction and exhortation accusing the concerned brother or sister in Christ of being judgemental or legalistic. (1 Peter 1:14, Ephesians 5:21-24, Proverbs 3:11-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Proverbs 27:5) I like what Sam Storm has to say about this:

“The Christian is not free to do what the Bible forbids. Christian freedom does not entail the right to fornicate or to steal or to lie or to persist in an unforgiving attitude or to do anything else the Scriptures explicitly prohibit. And a person who lovingly points this out to you is not a legalist for having done so!” – Sam Storms

For the record let us get it right, Christians are free from the law but not lawless. Often time people will quote Romans 6:14 saying, “We are not under law but under grace”, well we really need to know what that whole verse says in order to really understand what Paul meant. Here is Romans 6:14 out of the NLT Bible:

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

Paul is showing us that since we have died with Christ we are not under that old way of being right with God, which was by trying to do what the law tells us to do without the power to do it. That way, made us slaves to sin. It was SIN that took advantage of God’s good commands and deceived us. The problem has never been with God’s law. The problem is sin in us that incites us to do what the law prohibits. The law is spiritual and good. (Romans 7:12, 14) However,

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”-Romans 8:3-4

Because we have received Jesus Christ as Lord we now live under the freedom of God’s grace that empowers us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to serve and obey God and love and serve our neighbors and also to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) Christ’s liberty is truly about loving service to God and man. I read a quote that said,

“Love’s slaves are the true freemen.”

Living under the freedom of God’s grace does not mean that we do not have to follow God’s commands or are free to live a life without self-discipline. (John 14:15) It means that now sin is not our master anymore and that we are now able to please God by living by the Spirit’s power, by faith, not by trying to obey the Law of Moses.

“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” – Romans 3:31

I read another quote by A.T. Pierson which says:

“True Freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks: without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncontrolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and to the universe. The same law which fences us in, fences others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make the free man.”

My goal with this post is to encourage those who like to pull the “not under the law” card as a means of justification for their actions to “Stop It”. I would encourage you to first really pray and seek God in His Word as to whether or not He truly wants for you to do whatever it is you’re thinking or planning to do in your ‘freedom’, even if it’s technically legal. Allow God to help you check your heart and motives. Be sure you are not slipping into your old ways. Be sure it is the Holy Spirit leading you and not your flesh. Also may we all beware of the deceiving spirit that would have us think that our freedom in Christ is a license to sin, or to live to satisfy our own desires and whims. Let us follow the instructions given to us in Romans 12:2, let God transform us into a new people by changing the way we think. Then we will learn to know God’s will for us and we can do what He would have us to do in every situation.

I pray that through the verses shared throughout this post we all see that we are free in Christ, given power to live a life of righteousness, love, and service to God and others. May our lives bring Him glory and may we hear our Master say one day,

“Well done good and faithful servant”

“O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.” – Psalm 40:5 – (NLT)

I believe another component to obtaining that perfect peace is to remember all the wonderful things that God has already done in our lives, in the lives around us, and of course we should remember the wonderful miracles and stories of deliverance in the bible.

When we allow ourselves to remember how faithful God is we will be encouraged in our hearts. Faith will rise up in us. We will begin to feel confident that our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We will have a knowing deep inside that He delivered us then and He will deliver us again. He brought us through then and He will bring us through again. He sustained us then and He will sustain us now. (Hebrews 13:8)

When we allow ourselves to mediate on the wonders and the miracles He has already done in and around our lives, we begin to find ourselves assured that He will get us through this situation also. We may not know how. We may not know when. But we are sure that He is faithful to His promise to never leave or forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5)

“He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.” – Job 5:9 – (NLT)

Take some time out and really get in the Word. Read about these stories of deliverance. There are countless stories in His Word that will bless your heart and give you a revelation of the God we serve. Stories like:

• God’s faithful servant Daniel who was thrown in the lion’s den for worshipping God even when a decree was made that no one was to worship any other man or God except for the king for 30 days. The next morning after he was sentenced to the lion’s den the king who cared for Daniel goes out to check on him. He found that because Daniel had trusted in God, he was alive and did not have one scratch on him. God’s angel had closed the mouths of the lions. Daniel was removed from the lion’s den. His haters that tricked the king in to implementing that decree got thrown in to the den instead. (Daniel 6)

• Then there’s Daniel’s friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown in a blazing furnace because they refused to bow down and worship a gold statue that the king had erected. The furnace was heated 7 times hotter than usual and they were thrown in bound, but they were not alone in there. There was a fourth person in there that the king said, ‘looks like a god’. The king called for them to come out of the fire. When they came out of that fire they were not burn, not even a hair on their head was singed, and their clothing didn’t even smell of smoke. (Daniel 2-3)

• One of my personal favorite stories is the story about Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. Even though he was in slavery God gave him favor no matter what situation came against him. He ended up in prison but then God lifted him out of prison and set him in a place of honor, second in command to the Pharaoh. He helped prepare the country for a terrible famine. His high position saved his family from that famine. God turned what his brothers meant for evil for good. (Genesis 37-50)

• What about Jesus raising His friend Lazarus from the dead after four days of being dead and in his tomb. Jesus revealed that He is the Resurrection and The Life. (John 11)

These are wonderful stories of deliverance! God is still in the business of delivering his people and giving them favor. He is still in the business of resurrecting dead situations. Just think back over your own life and allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of times where God did some wonderful miracle or act of deliverance. Don’t minimize it. Don’t justify it with rationalization. Allow those times to be exactly what they are; one of God’s countless miracles in your life.

“Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever.” – Psalm 136:4

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Now give him thanks! Lift up your hands in worship and thank Him for everything He’s doing in your life, regardless if you understand it or not. Thank Him for being so faithful to take care for you. Don’t allow your emotions to rule you. Allow yourself to hope and believe. Fall in love with his faithfulness. Allow this confident hope in His faithfulness to fill your heart with that perfect peace that comes from believing His promises and trusting in Him. He will never fail you! (Psalm 134:2, Isaiah 55:8)

As long as we live here in this world we will have troubles and trials. We will at times feel overwhelmed, stressed, distressed, and frustrated. But we do not have to allow ourselves to be agitated and disturbed by our circumstances. We do not have to permit our hearts to be troubled, fearful, intimidated, cowardly, and unsettled. We can have a supernatural perfect peace that surpasses all understanding in the middle of life’s storms. (John 14:27 Amplified Bible)

But how do we get to the point where we have peace in the middle of our most unsettling trials? How do we take courage; be confident, certain, and undaunted when we feel completely overwhelmed?

We get that peace by remembering what The Word (Jesus) has to say, by praying and trusting God even in the middle of the storm.

Jesus has said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence.” Jesus is The Word. (John 1:1) His Word is what will infuse peace and confidence into our spirits. We have got to run to The Word for comfort, encouragement, direction, and for protection from the attacks that will come against our minds and try to overwhelm us in our most trying times. Then with the Word we have to run to the throne room of God and pour out our hearts to Him. God has promised that when we do this we WILL receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Worry, fear, doubt, unbelief, anxiety, and depression will come against us and try to get us to throw away the confident trust we have in the Lord. But patient endurance is what we’ll need in these seasons of tribulation so that we can do God’s will in our lives and circumstances. (Hebrews 10:35-38)

We have to do exactly what Philippians 4:6-14 says in order to experience that supernatural peace. It says,

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Emphasis mine)

The Word is clearly telling us in these verses that we don’t need to worry about anything. All we need to do is pray, tell God what we need and thank Him for everything that he has done. He is telling us in verse 8 to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. To think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. I believe right here He is telling us to mediate on His Word, which is all of these things. His Word will speak to our hearts and minds reminding us that we are not alone in our troubles, reminding us that God has not left or forsaken us. It will reassure us that we are more than conqueror’s because of our faith in Christ Jesus. It reassures us that no weapon formed against us will succeed because Jesus has overcome the world and its power to truly harm or conqueror the real us, the redeemed us. (John 14:18, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:37, Isaiah 54:17, Romans 10:17)

Look at what these verses say about trusting God: (Emphasis in the verses mine)

Nahum 1:7 (NLT) – The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

Isaiah 40:31 – (NLT) – But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

1 Chronicles 5:20 – (NLT) They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.

As we pray and read His Word we will increase in faith and trust, resulting in our taking courage; being confident, certain, and undaunted. It is this trust in the Lord that will draw us closer to God, that will renew our strength, and that will lead us into victory.

Don’t allow your circumstances to overwhelm you. Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Draw close to Him in prayer and in His Word like never before. Allow yourself to walk by faith and not by sight. Don’t ever lose hope and be assured that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. He WILL make everything work out according to His plan so that even what the enemy means to destroy or harm you God will turn for good. That’s the kind of God we serve! So keep trusting Him no matter what! (Proverbs 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:11, Genesis 50:20)

Here’s a song called Let The Water’s Rise by Mike’s Chair I wanted to share with you. I hope that it speaks to someone’s heart.

Enclosing, like Paul, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.