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You Don’t Have To Carry The Burden

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Hebrews 12:1-2 says,

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (NLT) 

Jesus is always working in us as we keep our eyes fixed on Him!

Don’t make the big deal about what you do (how you behave). Just a warning though: This may make some people (self-righteous people) mad.  

Make the big deal about what Jesus has done for you through His finished work on the cross. This way of doing life will remove the heavy weight you may be carrying of trying to fix yourself. It will also bring you great peace and cause your behavior to improve. Yes, you read that correctly. This way of approaching life will cause you to grow in Christ. Why? Right believing leads to right living! You will be changed by the Holy Spirit as you keep our eyes on Jesus!  See 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Here’s an example from my own life that just happened today:

I was sick today and had to miss the last day of volunteering at JUMP Camp. I started getting a sore throat yesterday about mid-day and it turned into a cold and flu type thing. I’m sitting here in my bed in the same pajamas I woke up in, just to give you an idea.

I do not believe God puts sickness on us or that He allows it, but I do believe there are times when we experience negative things in our life as a result of the natural consequences that come along with our poor choices. This is what happened to me today.

I explained in my last blog post about the importance of getting enough sleep and admitted that this has been a difficult discipline for me. So during this past two weeks while volunteering at JUMP camp I was hoping to get on a better sleeping schedule, but I didn’t follow through as I should have. I may have gotten a full 8 hours of sleep 2 out of the 7 nights. This left me with 5 other nights where I got less than 8 hours and on two or more of those occassions I got between 4 and 5 hours of sleep.

Not cool. Thank God the lack of sleep didn’t affect my interactions with the kids or adults at camp because it could have caused me to be crabby. I shouldn’t have taken that chance. I’m very thankful I wasn’t crabby, but felt peaceful the whole two weeks (whew). I did experience some tired spells at different times throughout the day though.

Then yesterday about midday it hit me, I started getting a sore throat. I get sick so very little that this was a surprise to me until I remembered how very little sleep I had gotten. In fact, as I am typing this I am recalling that the last time I got sick was during a time when I wasn’t getting the right amount of sleep either. And I have no excuses. I could have gotten in bed earlier if I really wanted to. So I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I need help in this area.

Something very important I want to point out though, is that I have had zero guilt and condemnation over this. I have been sad that I disobeyed God by not getting in bed when I should have, that I had to miss my last day of JUMP camp and also had to miss another very special event tonight that our family was invited to, but no guilt or condemnation. I have a closer relationship with God than I have ever had before so, of course, it makes me said when I disregard His leading.

But that was it. My genuine act of repentance didn’t take all day and it never does for me anymore. I already know I’m loved, righteous and forgiven in Christ and I think about that A LOT. In fact, everyday and all throughout the day.

The Bible says it’s God’s goodness that leads us to repentance, which is why I’m more genuinely repentant now than I have ever been before. It’s the natural result of having my mind on God’s goodness more than I ever have before. I hope you’re experiencing this same freedom!

As a believer in Jesus your position of being loved, righteous and forgiven never changes according to what you do or fail to do. It was never established based on you to begin with. Your position in Christ is established on what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you and your acceptance of that.

Even though I know I opened the door for the sickness through my disobedience, I’m fully expecting to get over this very quickly. It’s not like I have to be sick for a certain amount of days to pay my dues and then I’m clear. This is not a punishment from God. In the new covenant of God’s grace we don’t get punished for our sin, thank God. Jesus already took all the punishment for all of our sin in His body on the cross. Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross changed everything!

I also want to be sure I clarify that every time we are sick or have a negative circumstance, this does not always mean we’re living out natural consequences from some choice we made. Many times these things just happen as a result of us living in a fallen world. The devil will continue to attack us until that glorious day when God throws him into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.

Seriously, I’m just sayin’ – this is going to be one of the happiest days of my life!

Revelation 20:10 (NLT)

Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Until this day arrives, we have to fight the good fight of faith and remember that we have authority over the devil.

Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses. –1 Timothy 6:12 (AMP)

Ok, I just got a fresh revelation on the importance of us knowing we are completely forgiven in conjunction with us walking in our authority in Christ from reading this next scripture.

Colossians 2:14-15 (NLT)

14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Jesus paid our debt and by paying our debt and securing our complete forgiveness, he disarmed and shamed the devil and his demons by His victory over them on the cross.Then He gave this authority to us, His followers!

And then He gave this authority to us, His followers! Through the cross, what Adam and Eve had handed over to satan was now being handed back to us believers – all because of Jesus. I told you the cross changed everything!

Luke 10:19 (AMP)

19 Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on [a]serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.

My good friend Cally had to fight the good fight of faith and remember her authority in Christ recently as she got some routine blood tests and her numbers were really high, indicating possible cancer. Her doctor wanted to do an exploratory surgery on her. I watched her rest in Jesus’ finished work and all that He has provided for her. From that place of rest I also watched her follow through on a specific protocol that the Holy Spirit led her to follow.

She received grace to implement this protocol AND she just received the great news last week that every one of her numbers are completely normal. Her doctor cannot explain it, but Cally can. No surgery needed. And Cally has already been able to speak into several doctor’s lives as a result of this miracle!

Cally didn’t carry the burden of her healing because she understands that when Jesus said, it is finished, He meant it is finished! She stayed in peace, relied on the power of prayer and God’s Word and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.

This is not the first time Cally has received a miracle either. Another one of her miraculous stories is in my book and in this blog post titled Victorious Living.

God is still in the miracle working business folks. In fact, I’m convinced if we wrote down all the good things God did for us we would be astounded by the way He miraculously watches over us! Just this week on the first day of camp my right eye was bothering me really bad. I almost never have eye problems. Sometimes, don’t you just want to say, “you’re so obvious devil.”

I even had to borrow eye wash and saline solution from the first aid station at camp several times during the day to get rid of the pain, but it started hurting again after getting home. I simply prayed over my eye and commanded the pain to go and my eye to be made whole in the name of Jesus and I received the healing that Jesus provided for me through His finished work. It never hurt after that. Healed!

Now, do we perfectly understand everything that happens in this life. No we don’t. Sometimes we have to set aside what we don’t understand and stick with what we do understand and one thing we know is what Jesus Himself said here in John 10:10.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – John 10:10 (NKJV)

One thing we know is that the devil is bad, but God is good.

Referring back to the title of this post, I refused to carry the weight of my poor choice to not get enough sleep, even after I started living out the natural consequence of that choice today. I still turned and looked at Jesus and thanked Him once again for His love, His gift of righteousness and His forgiveness.

I’m not sitting here feeling guilty or condemned for my wrong choice. I’m still believing wholeheartedly in the healing power of Jesus for my body and am ever so grateful that it is not based on my actions, but on Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

The more you understand your position in Christ, the more immovable you will be, no matter what storms come along.

My friend, always remember you can rest in Jesus’ finished work for every single thing you need!

Make the big deal about Jesus and His perfect life of obedience to His Father. Refuse to make the big deal about you and your failures. When you do this, you will see as I have, that it is 100% possible for you to enjoy a life of peace and rest and in addition, you will notice your spiritual life taking off like a rocket!

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

Don’t Let Sin Be Your Master

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Don't Let Sin Be

For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

This is such a freeing verse. Many Christians today believe that they will never get above sin. They believe that they are still sinners who are just saved by grace. But this is not the truth. We are not still sinners because sinners have sin as their master. Every born again person is the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Sin is no longer our master. Jesus is our Lord and Master.

If you see sin as your master then you will always see yourself as a slave to obey sin. It will always be your focus. You will never truly live free. You are not under law. The Mosaic Law is no longer valid for a New Testament Christian. We are under grace. We do not live by a long set of “thou shalt nots”. We get to live under freedom which is relationship based, not rule based.

I know that many people still struggle with “sins”.  They might be addicted to pornography, have anger issues, or gossip.  They may live with incredible insecurities which cause them to do things to find security, rather than find their security in Christ.  Does this make them a sinner?  I don’t believe so.  If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.  Therefore, he can’t be a sinner if he is a new creation.

The issue here is how we see ourselves.  Perspective is everything.  Now, I am not saying that one can do whatever they want.  Just because we live under grace doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want.  May it never be!

What is does mean is that when we understand our standing in Jesus, that we are sons and daughters of the Most High God, we will not want to sin because sin is beneath us.  It is not who we are anymore.  We may struggle with it at times, but it is not our master!

Don’t allow the thought that you can’t conquer your vices, addictions, sins, bondages, etc. hold you back any more. You are under grace. God’s grace is sufficient. Will you mess up? Most likely, but you are not counted out because you messed up. Under grace, you are not guilty because you messed up. You are declared righteous because of your Lord and Savior. That is amazingly great news.

Don’t allow sin to have one more day as master over you. Begin to declare grace over every imperfection, weakness, addiction, and bondage you might be experiencing. You are free in Christ.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any area where you have allowed sin to master you. Then submit that area to the Lordship and the grace of Jesus. Declare you are free and live as a free person.  The way you see yourself is the way that you will live!

What about you?  How do you see yourself?  Does it affect how you live?

The above blog was taken as part of a daily devotional page from my FREE 30 day devotional, Going Deeper in Grace!  It’s yours free if you sign up to receive updates from this blog.  Just fill out the form on the sidebar near the top on the right.  

Your Sin Nature was Cut Out by Jesus

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Do believers still have a sin nature? Do we have a partially righteous nature and a partially sinful nature?

You may have heard the “white dog, black dog” theory. This idea says that believers still have a root of sin or “sin nature” after being born again. The dogs come in as an illustration, meaning you have two natures (dogs) in you and whichever one you feed will grow. You will always struggle with sin because it’s still part of your identity.

I disagree. Why?

Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Verse 11 says a circumcision has taken place and your dead, sinful self was removed. Couple that with these truths:

  • Jesus became your sin so you could become righteous 2 Corinthians 5:21
  • You were dead but have been made alive in him (see above passage)
  • His blood/sacrifice has sanctified you and made you holy Hebrews 10:10
  • Righteousness is by faith and not by works  Romans 3:21-22

We’re left with the conclusion that we are currently righteous because we have put our faith in Jesus and as a result we are made alive in him and he has given us his righteousness. The old you was crucified with Jesus and the new you is like him. I think it’s safe to say that Jesus doesn’t have a sin nature.

Some may say that we are still partially sinful because we still have a physical body or flesh. The word of God distinguishes between our bodies and our flesh. Our bodies can be yielded to sin or righteousness, it presents our physicality as caught in the middle of the world and the new man, able to choose sin or yield to righteousness. Flesh is described as a mindset or our own efforts to be made righteous through works.

The Gnostics believed that the physical body was inherently sinful and evil. Much of the New Testament was written to refute Gnostic thought, including the idea that the body is inherently sinful. You do not still have a sin nature because you have a physical body.

Why do you still sin? That’s easy, because you choose it. It’s just as easy, if not easier to yield to righteousness as it is to choose sin. Because you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you have a righteous nature. You have a steady flow of grace directly from the indwelling life/spirit of God that strengthens your inner man to live above the power of sin and in the righteousness that you’ve been given in Jesus, but you have to yield to that influence to live in that power rather than turning to the physical world to fulfill your desires.

Romans 6:13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

So why do you still sin? Again, not because it comes natural to you but because you’ve opened yourself to sin. There is much more opportunity to live in the power of grace than there is opportunity to sin. It may be time to meditate on God’s word until you change your perspective and believe that his spirit can feed you and satisfy you much better than the world ever could.

Choose well. Choose life. Yield to righteousness. Soon you’ll naturally look on the outside like you already do on the inside.

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 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, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The post Your Sin Nature was Cut Out by Jesus appeared first on Forward Ministries.

540. Jesus Did More Than Enough

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Are you busy working to try to establish or maintain acceptance from God? Is your idea of repentance tied into reducing your sin count so your good works will outweigh the bad? Do you find yourself feeling the need to ask God for forgiveness over and over again? Are you in a constant state of wondering where you stand with God? Our conversation this week will be a reminder that the gospel was never meant to be about us and our performance, but is entirely contained in the Person of Jesus Christ.



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539. Becoming Christ Conscious Instead of Sin Conscious

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When we focus on our struggles and problems instead of the answer to them, it can be a frustrating endeavor. Jesus came to release the Israelites from a covenant that kept them in a constant state of sin consciousness. His one-time sacrifice was meant to put an end to this. If we're stuck in a mindset that revolves around trying to avoid sin with the commands of "thou shall not," it will generally cause an increase in sin, resulting in self-condemnation. The alternative is giving up and surrendering to the completed work of Jesus Christ.



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538. Freedom from a Sin Consciousness

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Under the law, the Jewish people were trapped in a consciousness of sin because they were in a covenant based upon their works and repeated sacrifices that constantly brought a reminder of sins. In contrast, Christ offered one sacrifice for all time to remove the struggle of a guilty conscience and the taking away of sin to be remembered no more. We shouldn't be seeking freedom from sin, but begin realizing God already provided it through the blood of Jesus. We can now live in this freedom found in Him.



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532. God Justifies the Ungodly

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Sin is bad. It causes pain, hurts and destroys. We should exhort one another to live from the life of Christ in us which is based on perfect love. However, religion will attempt to convince you the work of Christ was not fully completed at the cross and will try to lay the burden of maintaining an acceptable relationship with God with your performance of works. As a believer in Him, you have been credited with the gift of righteousness. Our conversation this week centers around the result of Christ's finished work, the taking away of sin and what it means for us and our relationship with him.



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Examine Yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5)

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  In my country every car has to pass an annual road-worthiness test. As a poor student with a cheap car, I used to dread this test. Would the inspector say something about my dodgy brakes, the missing tail-light, or the cloud of black smoke coming out of the tailpipe? Would my car fail the test and […]

Does believing in Grace makes you more susceptible to sin?

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   Many people presume that the grace believer is more susceptible to sin because he is no longer under law but grace.  They argue that’s why Paul tells them the following verses.  Romans 6:12-15 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to […]

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511. “Are You Saying People Can Do Whatever They Want?”

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The position we have proclaimed that the ministry of the Spirit of grace has replaced the Old Covenant of death and condemnation, will frequently lead to the accusation that we are sending the message it's okay to sin. Covenant mixers instinctively assume if we have no list of rules to live by, it encourages people to run wild and that behavior doesn't matter. Since their own spiritual identity has been bound to following rules, they have a hard time understanding the freedom from law that came through Christ and the new heart and motivation of love that is found in Him. Our growth in grace will change our perspective and our desires.



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No Liars in Heaven

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With our new identity securely grounded in our union with Christ, we can begin to understand why the Bible draws big fat lines between who we are and who we used to be: Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral […]

The Chief of Sinners

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The apostle of grace called himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Tim 1:15) and ever since then Christians have been confused about their identity. They say things like “I’m a sinner saved by grace” even though the Bible declares they are a saint (Eph 1:1, Php 1:1). So what are you? A saint or a […]

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