victory

Something Beautiful

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

First of all, I love Needtobreathe and I totally stole this blog title from one of their songs (which I love, by the way). Just so you know. Not that it has anything to do with the rest of the blog.

One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen lately is a group of believer who are fully coming alive to who they are in Christ, who are learning that they have all the authority and power of Christ in them, and they can do what everyone else says is impossible, because for God who lives in them, all things are possible. They have a God who lives in them who relishes making impossilbilities into possibilities. It’s His speciality.

I love seeing my brothers and sisters in Christ waking up to their sonship and daughtership (if that’s a word) in Christ, watching as the chains of past failures and hurts fall away, as strongholds and addictions are broken, and as the love of Christ cleanses and heals and restores and makes them whole. I love seeing fear turn into joy, mourning into dancing, ashes into beauty, despair into confidence, and defeat into victory.

The absolute most beautiful thing to me right now is believers who share life together, who break bread together, who bear each others burdens and laugh and cry together. That kind of love is what turned the 1st century world upside down, and is what will turn this 21st century world on its head if we ever can come together in Christ as one.

Now is the time to come together in unity and love with crazy radical love. Now is the time to be all in for Christ and to embrace His vision of who you are and accept what He has already said about you. Revival comes to hearts that are not just a little hungry and thirsty and needy, but to starving, parched, desparate people who will wrestle with God and not let go until true revival fire falls.

Let those things be our desire and our prayer. Don’t wish for something beautiful to make the world fall in love with Jesus; let your transformation be that something beautiful that will draw them to the God who can change anyone and to Whom no one is ever past hope or a lost cause.

Amen and amen! Come, Holy Spirit. We need you now!

Fighting From Victory

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 5 Comments

chariots of fire

I was reminded once again in a Bible study on Wednesday that we fight not for victory, but from victory. That may sound like semantics to some, but to me it is huge. Fighting for victory means it’s all up to me and that it will be an uphill all the way kind of battle with the ending very much in doubt. Fighting from victory means:

1) The battle has already been won. There is no  doubt Who the Victor is and which is the winning side. The only real question is: are you on it?

2) The enemy may scare us and threaten us, but he can never really touch us (1 John 5:18). As long as we are wearing the armor of God and standing firm in His finished work, we are protected from the enemy.

3) You don’t have to live defeated anymore. You can start living out of victory now. You are an overcomer now. Even in the midst of struggle and trial, you can know for sure the promises are true and they are for you!

4) You want to make it very clear which side you’re on. Don’t play both sides and be a follower of Jesus on Sundays and a player the rest of the week. The time has come to be hot or cold, not lukewarm. Those days are over.

5) You never give up on anyone else who is seeking after Jesus, because Jesus never gave up fighting for us until He secured our destiny. You never despair of anyone because if Jesus defeated death and hell, nothing else will ever be impossible for Him to overcome.

6) You don’t let the opinions and actions and attitudes of others dictate how you live. You live now for an audience of One, the One who won your heart forever!

7) You can finally cease striving and be still and rest in the love of Jesus, because that love is more powerful than any hate or power that ever came up against it or will ever face it. Period.

So live out of that victory and claim it every second of every day. Don’t let failure rob you of this truth. Victory is yours and mine– not later at some indistinct point in time, but NOW!

Amen and amen.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts on spirituality

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

As believers in Christ, we don’t fight for victory; we fight from victory. The battle is the Lord’s and He has overcome. The battle is won!

The moment we choose to rebel against what we know to be true is the very moment we open the door to demonic activity in our lives. Peter is a good example of this when he opposed Jesus’ going to Jerusalem and to the cross. If we are under attack, maybe the question to ask is, “What am I believing that is a lie?” or “What am I not believing and acting on that I know to be true?”

God doesn’t want all your activities and programs and to-do lists as much as He wants your heart. And that does not mean a still-beating heart on a silver platter. It means that God wants your heart surrendered to Him. He wants your affection, your emotions, your devotion. In essence, He wants you to fall in love with Him all over again like you did at the first. God is not mad at you or disappointed in you. He knows you better than anyone. He knew who you were and who you’d turn out to be when He created you. Nothing you do is a surprise to Him. But what He’s about to do in your life will be a great surprise to you (and better than anything you could have dreamed of). As I heard someone say, God will use you unless you choose not to be used.

Some of Satan’s modes of attack is accusation and condemnation. That you are not good enough. That you are not nearly up to the task He has called you to. Remember that God doesn’t call the equipped, but equips the called. He wants your availability, not your ability. Another mode of demonic attack is to divide and conquer, to get you isolated and vulnerable. If you are cutting yourself off from fellowship with other believers, beware. You are walking straight into the devil’s trap. But every story of deliverance starts with admitting that I am helpless and that I need Someone to come to my rescue. And God is in the business of rescuing.

God wants your heart. God wants your availability. Believe it or not, God wants you. God still wants me, after all I’ve done wrong and how I’ve often been a walking billboard of reasons not to believe. Rest in your Abba’s love for you. Wherever you are and wherever you’re headed, you can always turn around and come Home.

Praying the Blood

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

shutterstock_26863573_0

Jesus, I believe You. I believe Your blood has covered all my sin and vanquished every lie and broken every chain. You have overcome, and the victory is won! I am more than a conqueror through You who loved me.

By the power of Your blood, I renounce the lie that I am alone and that no one wants to know me or hear what I have to say.

By the power of Your blood, I renounce the lie that I don’t measure up or have what it takes and that I am just in the way.

By the power of Your blood, I renounce the lie that I have nothing to offer and that I might as well not even exist.

Jesus, You don’t come to me to tell me the truth. YOU ARE THE TRUTH! You don’t come to show me the way. YOU ARE THE WAY! You don’t come to give me a better life. YOU ARE MY LIFE!

You make my brokenness beautiful and my woundedness a balm of healing to others. You don’t make me good, or better, or my best. You make me ALIVE!

I will never ever find the words to tell You how good You’ve been to me. May my life be a living prayer of thanksgiving back to you. Amen.