But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.     Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Lk.2:10-11)

The birth of Christ was declared to be good news by the angles who announced his birth. Good news, of course, is the definition of the word gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of Jesus Christ. In this verse, the idea is linked to the title of Savior. If you’re drowning and someone shows up on the scene who can save you – that’s good news. A world drowning in sin and hopelessness needed some good news and that was Jesus! It is still the same today.

The declaration of good news by angels to shepherds in the gospel of Luke was not the first use of that term related to Jesus. In Isaiah 61, the prophet who spoke often of the coming Messiah, declared on behalf of the one who would come, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn” (Isa.61:1-2). This is one of the great Messianic prophecies and it gives us some significant insights into the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Somehow in the past 200 years the gospel of Jesus for many has simply become the message that Jesus died for our sins so that we could be forgiven and live forever in heaven. If that was all the gospel promised, that would be more than enough but the truth is that it offers much more. The “good news” referenced in Isaiah 61 includes the healing of broken hearts, freedom from every form of bondage including sin, release for those who have been imprisoned in spiritual darkness, and the declaration that God is for us rather than against us. Too many believers have lived a Christian life believing that the extent of Christ’s power in their lives was forgiveness. As a result, they live forgiven but not transformed. They live as if freedom from bondage, addictions, fear, depression, and all the other things that hinder the witness of believers is only available after their funeral. They seem to believe that forgiveness is for now but transformation only comes in heaven. But that is not the gospel.

The good news the shepherds heard 2000 years ago was that not only will your sins be forgiven in Christ but the power of Christ will make you into a new creation in this world as well as the world to come. If you were to read the next few verses of the Isaiah 61 passage you would see the word “instead” mentioned several times. The prophecy promises that when Jesus came the lives of people would be drastically changed. In Christ they would exchange ashes for a crown of beauty, mourning for the oil of gladness, and despair for a garment of praise. In each life there would be radical reversals – not just the forgiveness of sin but radical transformation.

Yet how many of us know long-time believers whose lives and conditions are hardly different from those who don’t know Jesus at all. Sometimes, they remain in the same condition in which they met Jesus because they don’t know what has been made available to them through the cross. The announcement of angels that a Savior had been born was intended to communicate that this Savior would not only deliver them from sin but also from their brokenness and their bondage. That is a gift worth celebrating. That is a gift you definitely want to unwrap and yet many believers leave most of the packages Christ has purchased for them under the tree. They leave the gifts unclaimed because they don’t know what’s in the boxes nor do they know that those presents are for them. This Christmas you may want to seriously consider all the gifts in heaven with your name on them and begin to confidently ask God to release those gifts into your life because in the Kingdom of Heaven, every day is a day to celebrate Jesus and every day is Christmas.

One of the keys to a growing relationship with the Lord and the power of the Spirit flowing through us is the practice of confession and repentance. Confession is the act of agreeing with God about sin and repentance is a commitment and often a recommitment to align our hearts and actions with the will of God.

David’s confessional psalm (Psalm 51) after his sin with Bathsheba has always impressed me with his lack of self-justification. Because of the gravity of the sin and his fear of the possible repercussions for him, Bathsheba and the nation, David kept quiet for nearly a year after his sins of adultery and murder. When God finally confronted him through Nathan the prophet, David made no excuses but fully owned his sin and the consequences.

Most men or women who faced such dire consequences would have made an attempt to spread the blame around, excuse his or her behavior or at least minimize it in some way. It would have been easy for David to point out Bathsheba’s culpability in bathing outdoors where she might be seen or her eager willingness to come to his apartment. After all, David was just a man and couldn’t help himself after she threw herself at him the way she did. He might have blamed Uriah for not being a husband who met his wife’s emotional needs so his failure as a husband actually set up both of them for an inevitable affair. Not only that, but it was a one-night stand based on impulse – not a long-term, premeditated affair. David could have confessed his years of struggle with sexual addiction and checked into a clinic for 30 days. He could have easily tried to justify himself and excuse his actions as being only human.

However, David simply owned his sin and entrusted himself to the mercy and unfailing love of God. He made no excuses. He simply declared his sin and took full responsibility for his actions. He responded with godly sorrow and asked for cleansing and mercy rather than attempting to convince God that he simply couldn’t help himself or that he was the real victim in some twisted view of reality. God’s response was immediate forgiveness and a promise to walk with David through the consequences of his actions.

I see many believers today who do not walk in an intimate relationship with God or who are not filled with the Spirit because they continue to justify or excuse sin in their lives. Godly sorrow for sins is hard to come by in a culture that wants to hold no one responsible for their actions and excuses sin based on past wrongs done to the person, genetic predispositions, or brain chemistry. We live in culture of double and triple standards that makes everything a “shade of gray” where right and wrong have no meaning and, thus, the idea of confessing a wrong and repenting of it loses all meaning.

The recent tragedy in California where white policemen shot and killed a young black man demonstrates our confusion. As soon as word got out that a white policemen had shot an unarmed black youth, many leaders in the black community immediately decided that the cop was a racist who had gladly shot down a black man in cold blood. Racism is about unwarranted stereotypes that project negative qualities on an entire race or class without considering the individual.

In California, the racism was first apparent not in the policeman but in the community that quickly assumed that every white cop would gladly gun down a black man if given the chance without looking at the facts or the individual. But no one called that rush to judgment racism. No one pointed out the double standard and so many judged (possibly unjustly), many rioted, many stirred the waters of racial hatred and no one called it sin. The white policeman may, in fact, turn out to be a racist but his sin cannot justify or excuse the racism and sin of others or nothing changes. Sin is sin and needs to be owned and confessed in order for God’s grace to touch a life, a situation, a neighborhood, or a nation.

Two people will never be reconciled and two races will never make peace until they both acknowledge their sins and their need for the blood of Jesus. We can no longer excuse or rationalize sin and refuse to hold anyone responsible for their actions because God still holds them responsible. The answer to sin is not excusing or denying but confessing and repenting. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 Jn.1:9-10).

The Spirit of God brings healing and transformation when we own our sins and lay them at the foot of the cross. We cannot give away what we do not own. We cannot give our brokenness or sinfulness to Jesus until we own it. If you’ve ever thought that you wanted to be like David, it starts with no excuses. Be blessed and know that God is so willing to forgive when we acknowledge how much we need it.

In his letter to the Ephesians, it is clear that Paul expected the new identity of believers to have an impact on their lifestyle.  In several places he essentially points out that although these followers of Jesus had once been unbelievers living in the kingdom of darkness, God had given them a new identity. Since that was true, they were expected to live up to who they now were in Christ.

For instance, Paul says. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ…He came and preached peace to you who were far away…Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household ” (Eph.2:1-2, 13; 17,19).   Over and over Paul reminds the believers that they once were like the unbelieving Gentiles and once were living under the power of the enemy but that was no longer their condition or their identity.  Jesus had changed all that.

After describing their huge change of fortunes for three chapters, Paul begins to tell them in very practical terms how they must live as these new creations in Christ.  “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…So I tell you this and insist on it ion the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking…Put off your old self…and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph.4:1,17, 22,24).

Then Paul begins to work through a list of things these new believers were to leave behind or jettison from their lives while “putting on” the garments of the kingdom.  “Put off falsehood and speak truthfully…In your anger do not sin…do not give the devil a foothold…steal no longer but work…do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up…get rid of bitterness, rage and anger…be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other…Be imitators of God and live a life of love…among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality…because these are improper for God’s holy people…For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord”  (Eph.4-5).

Paul discusses many other things that we are to “put off” and “put on” as believers. In that process there will be radical transformation. We came into the kingdom looking like the devil but we should quickly begin to look like Jesus.  It is, in one sense, a life-long pursuit but it should not take a lifetime to see major changes in our hearts and our lifestyle.  It all begins, however, with the conviction that in Christ, I am not who I used to be and since I belong to him this is how I now live.

What I have seen in my own life and in others over the years is that expectations are key.  Many of us have not been given great expectations for change in our lives nor have we been told what that change should look like.  If I go to a golf pro and ask him to fix my swing, I expect to see a change and the evidence of that change will be more distance, more fairways, and lower scores.  To get there, he must not only tell me what not to do but he must show me what the new swing will look and feel like.  That is what Paul is doing for the Ephesians.  As believers we should expect to become people who live the life Paul describes and we should see his descriptors as the normal life of a believer rather than some impossible standards we can never live up to.  We must expect transformation for us to experience it. 

What we must also know, however, is that transformation is a team sport in the kingdom of God. It takes God’s Spirit working with our desires and often takes other believers to get us where we want to go.  I promise you can’t make those changes in your own strength.  When stress and crisis come, you will default back to your old settings because your behaviors will have changed while your heart has stayed the same.  Scripture is clear that it is God who gives us a new heart. But we should also know that God will not change our hearts without us doing our part.  That means sincerely inviting him to make those changes; it means getting his Word in our heart; it means learning how to fight against the enemy; it means confessing our faults to others for prayer; it means repenting each time we find our hearts or our actions out of line with God’s will; and it means submitting to his will and his ways whenever we see it in the Word.

The promise of Ephesians is that God is ready and willing to bring our hearts and actions in line with who we are in Christ and he is willing to use the power of heaven to do so.  Paul says, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,          far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph.1: 18-21).

That power is for you because you are in Christ.  You are his temple, his household, a citizen of heaven, a new creation, seated with him in heavenly places, a child of the light, marked by the Holy Spirit, alive in Christ, and a dearly loved child.  Ask for his power to transform you.  Expect it.  Look for it. Engage with him.  Be who you are!  Be blessed.

Our freedom in Christ is dependent on two essential things.  The first is that Christ took responsibility for our sins.  That is grace.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus took on the responsibility of our debt because it was a debt we could not pay.  The second essential is that we take responsibility for our sins. Many believers fail to experience freedom from sin, brokenness, and their past because they will not take ownership of the failings and faults in their own life.

We are glad for Jesus to own our sins but somehow we are not willing to do the same.  However, if I don’t own something I can’t legally give it away.  If I don’t own my own failings and faults I cannot give them to Jesus so I retain the very things I wish to be rid of. I just want Jesus to take away the things I struggled with and the things I’m ashamed of without me ever having to acknowledge those issues in my life. Lets just keep my secret sin secret.

Philip Yancey says, “People divide into two groups: not the guilty and the “righteous,” as many people think, but rather two types of guilty people. There are guilty people who acknowledge their wrongs, and guilty ones who do not” (Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace, p.181).  John tells us a story where those two categories collided with Jesus illuminating the sins of both.  You know the story.  In John 8, Jesus is teaching in the temple courts and a group of religious leaders haul a young woman into the courtyards and essentially throw her at the feet of Jesus.  She has been caught in the act of adultery and the religious zealots quote the Law of Moses that demands she be stoned to death because of her sin. They ask Jesus what he has to say about this woman and her punishment.  Interestingly, the Pharisees are trying to place Jesus in the middle of a religious controversy.  If he denounces the Law as too punitive then he opposes Moses and will be seen as a false teacher.  If he hands out the rocks, he will be despised by the people witnessing this event because he showed no mercy.

The self-righteous feel no need for mercy so they are concerned about the letter of the law. The crowds watching the spectacle feel the weight of their own sin and their hearts cry out for mercy because they themselves need so much. John recalls that at the moment of decision, Jesus simply stooped down and began to write on the ground.  This is the only account in the gospels of Jesus ever writing.  What he wrote we don’t know.  Many think he began to write out the sins of those who stood in the crowd ready to stone the adulteress.  Perhaps, he wrote scriptures related to mercy or confession. Still, we don’t know. What we do know is that Jesus simply pointed out that everyone in the courtyard that morning belonged to the “guilty of sin” group.  The only difference was that the woman acknowledged her sin (albeit under duress) while the ones holding the stones did not. Convicted of that reality, they all left one after another dropping their stones in the dust.

Jesus told a related parable that Luke recorded for us. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.    The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk.18:10-14).

Again, one acknowledged his sin while the other remained silent about his own. We fail to acknowledge or, at least, fully acknowledge our sin because we fear the judgment and rejection of men but also because we fear the rejection of God. Many of us read the call to repent and confess as God’s way of shaming us or getting more dirt on us for the scandal sheets in heaven. But it is just the opposite.  God calls us to take responsibility for our sin so that he can forgive, heal, and exalt us in the kingdom. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Whoever humbles himself by acknowledging his sin, his weaknesses, and his failings will experience more fully the grace of God and will more readily extend that grace to others.

Jesus told Simon the Pharisee, “He who has been forgiven much loves much.”  The truth is that we have all been forgiven much.  But not all of us acknowledge or allow ourselves realize how much has been forgiven. We deny, rationalize, and minimize our failings but not the failings of others. In doing so, we greatly limit our love for God and our healing.

There is no question that we are sinners.  The only question is which group of the guilty will I stand with? If you desire freedom and healing you must stand with the ones who take responsibility for their “stuff” so that Jesus can finally take responsibility for “their stuff.”  Blessed are the poor in spirit who acknowledge their sin, their weakness, and a great need for a Savior, for they shall be healed and set free. We can all be blessed today by owning “our stuff” because once we own it, Jesus will be glad to take it off our hands.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  The corollary to truth setting us free is that lies will keep us captive.  Lies and belief systems built around them are strongholds that push back against God’s truth.  They may simply come from our intellect and the worldly perspectives we have been taught or they may have been established by intuitive conclusions we drew as a result of some hurtful experience.  If these beliefs were created by experiences and reside deep in our hearts, they can become formidable strongholds because we are often unaware of those powerful influences.  If the enemy works to maintain these false beliefs and assigns demonic spirits to reinforce the lies they become spiritual strongholds.

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that our thought life is the real battleground for the believer.  He tells us that strongholds exist within us that exalt themselves and argue against God’s truth.  Paul writes that before we can walk in the freedom of Christ, these strongholds must be pulled down, but the dismantling of these fortresses can only be accomplished by divine weapons. The goal is to take every thought captive (conscious and subconscious), and surrender them to the truth of Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that his words are spirit and they are life (See John 6:63).  Aligning our beliefs with his thoughts gives us life.

Scripture asserts that we are body, soul, and spirit.  It tells us over and over that the spiritual realm is where the greater realities reside. Paul tells us that our most profound struggles are not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces that come against us (See Eph. 6:12).  He tells us that spiritual armor is essential to overcoming daily attacks of the enemy (See Eph. 6:11), and that divine weapons are needed to tear down false belief systems and bring our thought life into alignment with God’s truth (See 2 Cor. 10:3-5).  Secular counseling, psychology, self-help books, and twelve-step programs cannot effectively reach these places because they don’t deal effectively with the spiritual realm. Without the divine weapons of prayer, healing from the Holy Spirit, hearing a fresh word form God, deliverance, etc. the best we can hope for is to manage the behaviors or emotions prompted by or core beliefs and demonic influence most of the time. Real freedom cannot be achieved through weapons or therapies of the world.

God uses many tools to transform us and make us into the image of his Son.  But the greatest transformation occurs when Jesus heals our wounds from the past and the Holy Spirit aligns our core beliefs with God’s truth.  This can occur in several ways, but the most powerful way is through a moment of revelation where God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit about his truth.  In such moments, the life-giving Word of God can replace a lie that has shaped our perspectives and decisions for years (See Rom. 8:16).

The truth is that every one of us carries some level of brokenness and some core belief(s) that are not perfectly aligned with the mind of Christ.  Some lead us off course by a few degrees, while others have us sailing south instead of due north.  The question is not if we carry wounds and brokenness—we do—but can we find healing and freedom from these and other things that keep us from the abundant life Jesus has promised?

The answer is “Yes!” in Jesus.  He promises healing and has purchased it for you.

He (the Father) has sent me (Jesus) to heal the brokenhearted.  (Luke 4:18, parenthesis added)

Surely, he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows . . he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are healed.  (Isa. 53:4-6)

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  (Ps. 34:18)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  (Psalm 147:3)

These scriptures tell us that God has a great heart and great compassion for broken people.  In fact, he is close to those individuals in some way that he is not close to others. I think that simply means that his heart is especially responsive to those in pain and bondage.  The greatest lie of the enemy is that God has no use for the broken and that he rejects them just like those who first wounded the brokenhearted.  Broken people expect rejection and often judge themselves more than others judge them.  Because of the stronghold of rejection within them, they project their own rejection onto others and even onto God. Having done that they don’t truly believe God loves them except in some abstract, general way.  They have little faith that God will answer their prayers or that he has a great future in mind for them.

The truth is that God cares deeply for each of us but especially the brokenhearted and has purchased their healing with the blood of his Son. Jesus defined his ministry as preaching, healing broken hearts, and setting captives free (See Isa. 61:1-3). I know I have said that numerous times in this blog but I don’t know that it can be said too often.

God is providing healing through his church today.  That healing grace is being dispensed through those that God has already healed and set free.  Not every congregation knows how to use divine weapons to tear down these strongholds and not every congregation moves in the power of the Spirit and the exercise of spiritual gifts, but many do.  If you are one of those who desperately need the healing touch of Jesus then find one of those churches. Ask God to lead you to the people he wants to use to dispense his grace in your life.  Do not give up.  Do not settle for a life of emotional pain.  Do not buy the lie that God doesn’t care for you.  Be aggressive in finding your healing.  Jesus said that since the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing and forceful people are taking hold of it.  Let me encourage you to be one of those forceful people.

Be blessed today.

I really enjoy Graham Cooke. In his book, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, he relates a story that you need to hear this morning. “Many years ago, I was in a Pentecostal church. There was a time of worship that was absolutely excruciating to be a part of. I was squirming in my seat and apologizing to God because I couldn’t join in. I knew the songs – I just didn’t think they should be sung that way.  “Lord, I’m really struggling with the worship,” I prayed. “I’m sorry.  To be honest, we’ve had fifty minutes of mindless singing and I’m really quite bored.”  “It’s alright for you, your only visiting this place,” I heard God whisper back to me. “I have to be here every week.”

Here’s the theology gem from that story.  God has a great sense of humor.  He laughs often and he wants you laugh often as well.

That’s not what this particular blog is about but I thought the story was worth repeating. One thing God has taught me over the past few years is that our mind evaluates and reasons while our heart just responds.  We have been taught over the years not to trust our emotions but rather to be lead with our heads rather than our hearts.  At some level that is good advice but not always.  It is good advice only if your heart is not in tune with God.

Revelation comes to our hearts rather than to our minds.  When Paul was praying for the church at Ephesus to receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation he prayed that their hearts might be enlightened rather than their craniums. Who has ever heard an altar call for Jesus to come into our heads instead of our hearts?  The process of revelation is that the Spirit takes from God and gives that truth to our spirit which then reveals the heart of God to our hearts and then we become conscious of the revelation.  God calls us to have a renewed mind but he promised to give us new hearts.

The mind always wants more information, another class, and a little more training before jumping into a challenging mission or situation.  The mind puts off obedience while it is calculating the risk, the cost, and the likelihood of success.  The heart simply jumps in when God calls. I’m not saying there is no place for planning but unless the spirit rules the heart which then rules the head, our reason will talk us out of obedience until our mind can determine a way to obey God in our own strength.

As Jesus was strolling across the Sea of Galilee, he encountered the twelve rowing hard against the wind.  Peter declared, “Lord, if it is you, call me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus said, “Come” and Peter leaped from the boat.  I’m pretty sure the other eleven had reasoned their way clear of such a rash act.  But Peter responded with his heart not his head. The result was that he actually walked on water until he noticed the winds and the waves and began to reason rather than operate by revelation. As soon as he took a “reasonable” look at his situation, he sank.  When challenged to feed the 5000, the apostles took a reasonable look at their inventory (five loaves and two fish) and immediately wanted to break up the party.  Jesus reasoned with a faith that came through revelation that had penetrated his heart.

Since revelation is the key to faith and since revelation comes to us through the heart, then we should take special care of our hearts in things that pertain to the spiritual as well as the physical.  Distortions in our heart will also distort revelation. Lies from the enemy, unforgiveness, bitterness, distrust, and fear are all conditions of the heart that distort God’s revelation to us and so hinders our obedience.  A broken heart does not discern the heart and mind of God clearly and often defaults to a fleshly mind to determine how we will live and serve God.

To live by faith and to hear God clearly, we need God to do a lot of work in our heart.  We too often worry about cleaning up our behaviors rather than sifting through the debris in our hearts.  David was wise to pray, “Search my heart O God and show me if there is any offensive way in me.”  If we want all that God has for us we must be unrelenting in our forgiveness of others, relentless in pulling up the weeds of half-truth and Satan’s lies in our hearts, and relentless in guarding our hearts from the things that defile our souls.

Where there are wounds, we can’t put off finding healing because the wounds distort the revelation of God in our lives.  Where there is disobedience we must declare the Lordship of Jesus over our hearts and step out in faith even when our reason rails against it. Where we have built up walls of protection in our hearts with unforgiveness and anger we must ask Jesus to tear down the walls.  Broken hearts are like faulty GPS monitors.  They will lead us astray and so we think we must trust our reason and our intellect.  But reason pushes back against obedience when what God is asking us to do seems unreasonable – which describes most of the great things God has ever done.  Jumping out of boats, commanding the dead to rise, marching around walled cities blowing trumpets, or calling on God to send fire down from heaven would get a thumbs down from reason every time.

So…let’s get busy on our hearts because the more debris we clear away, the more clearly we will hear God and the more willing we will be to obey.  Heart health is critical to life both in the natural and the spiritual realm.  Be blessed today and guard your heart.

The New Testament writers are very clear that Satan lays traps and designs schemes against God’s people. We are not to be ignorant of his schemes (see 2 Cor.2:11) so it seems that we should give some thought to the processes by which Satan attempts to pick us off one by one.

I appreciate the way in which Graham Cooke describes one of Satan’s patterns so often used to take God’s people out of the game.  “ The Enemy’s strategy works on that same principle.  He is geared to make us feel dissatisfied with who we are.  He wants us to separate from God, the church, our friends, and any useful function we may adopt in furthering the kingdom. If he can get us to hate ourselves and tell our hearts that we are of no account and, as such, it doesn’t matter if we don’t go the meeting or pray or worship, then apathy will follow.  If we allow apathy into our lives then it will hold the door open to unbelief, condemnation, self-loathing, bitterness, anxiety, fear, misery and selfishness.  All these things spell passivity, a passive acceptance of life, and a demoralized outlook on the things of God.  The prophetic is geared to challenge this whole issue since it is based on the truth of God’s love, grace, kindness, and mercy.” (Graham Cooke, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, p.50).

Notice the progressive nature of this scheme.  We become dissatisfied with ourselves and, after a while, come into agreement with Satan’s accusations that we are unlovable, unworthy, and incompetent.  As we begin to agree with him on those issues our self-image plummets and we begin to suspect that other people feel the same way about us.  Because of that, we begin to withdraw and isolate ourselves from the very people who love us and give our lives meaning. As we isolate ourselves our fruitfulness begins to wane. Since we are already feeling bad about ourselves we push back against any encouragement to re-engage and against any conviction from the Holy Spirit because we take it all as criticism and rejection.  As we numb our senses to avoid any more feelings of rejection, we slide into apathy and passivity which continues to alienate us from ourselves and isolate us from God and his people. Of course, throughout the entire process Satan is whispering how much God, the church, and our friends have let us down so that our misery is really all their fault.

Satan excels in placing us in mindsets and situations that create a downward spiral.  For instance, Christians who feel a great deal of rejection and who question their own worth and significance often seek to medicate the pain of their self-loathing through pornography.  The temporary rush of sexual fantasies or the endorphins released during the fantasy soon give way to a sense of shame and failure.  The sense of shame and failure depletes their self-image all the more, which increases their need for escape and the medicating effects of more porn, which then creates more shame.  The shame creates secrets. The addiction becomes a secret part of his/her life that is hidden by lies and deception which, in turn, undermine trust in a marriage relationship or family.  The broken trust then tends to alienate one spouse from another which usually leads to arguments, frustrations, withdrawal from church and isolations from friends. The cycle is self-perpetuating and can devastate not only the man or women caught in the cycle but those who love them as well.

Huge numbers of believers have been marginalized by these schemes and traps of the enemy.  The key is to understand the outcomes and the strategies and to take steps to short-circuit the strategy as early as possible in the process.  Not only should we short-circuit the process but also we should create safeguards in our lives to keep the enemy from even getting a foothold.  Let me recommend a few things.

1.An honest evaluation of our spiritual and emotional health.  This is the hardest step as those of us who struggle with self-worth try to avoid acknowledging any weaknesses or sins in our lives because we fear rejection if others were to find out.

2.Choose to have accountability partners in life with whom you will be ruthlessly honest about your struggles.  Give them permission to ask the hard questions and call you back to spiritually healthy dynamics in your life or when you start to withdraw or isolate yourself or begin to make excuses about diminishing spiritual practices and ministry involvement in your life.

3.Recognize areas of weakness and sin in your life and get to work on those areas while they are occasional struggles rather than something that is dominating your life.  Low self–esteem, anger, addictions, fear, compulsions, etc. are all life issues related to our brokenness and sin nature.  They will not get better without taking action both in the natural and spiritual realms.  Unhealed and unrepented, these issues will be open doors for the enemy to gain access to your life and your soul – first a foothold and then a stronghold.

4.When you recognize you are caught in a scheme of the enemy short-circuit his strategy by refusing to go the to the next level in the process.  Refuse to live a lie.  Refuse to withdraw and isolate yourself from church, friends, and family.  Face the shame by telling someone immediately so that the shame does not grow and give the enemy a more powerful stronghold.

If you know you struggle with your self-mage get help immediately by finding healing in the Lord, establishing your identity in Christ, gaining freedom from spirits of rejection, bondage, fear, and condemnation through deliverance, and by getting intercessors to pray with you until that issue is overcome.

5.Know that the longer you put off surrendering your struggle to the Lord and humbling yourself by getting help from the body of Christ, the harder it will be to find freedom and the more it will have cost you before you do.

Ask yourself:

•  Where will I be in five years if I do not get victory over the sin and brokenness in my life?
• What will it cost me to continue to hide and deny my struggles?
• What will it cost my family and my relationship with the Lord if I don’t deal with this now?
• What could my life look like if I found true freedom from my sin and brokenness?

We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes and we must take action as soon as we sense we have stepped into his trap or have vulnerabilities that invite his presence.  Jesus has come to heal and set free and he is willing to do that for you. If we excuse or deny these struggles, we are making ourselves easy targets for enemy.  Jesus has purchased so much for you by his blood and the Father is so willing to gives those gifts to you, don’t let the enemy steal your life and your blessings.  Be wise.  Avoid the traps or at least call for help as soon as you feel the noose tightening around your ankle.  Be blessed and be wise today.  Tell someone the truth about whatever you have been hiding or denying.

Alignment with God is the key to healing, the key to freedom, and the key to ministering in power through the gifts of the Spirit.  These gifts are treasures entrusted to us by our heavenly Father to be enjoyed and used for the sake of others. Numerous teachings in the New Testament alert us to the principle that we must prove to be faithful stewards of the small things before the Master will entrust larger things to us.  Faithful stewardship implies that we manage what has been entrusted to us in the same way the Master would if he were present.  The best way to insure the alignment between the Master and the steward is for them to have the same values, vision, and goals.

Another way to speak about that alignment is to say that their hearts are aligned.  God delighted in David because he was a “man after God’s own heart.”  David loved the things God loved and hated the things God hated. The greater the Old Testament prophet, the more his heart was aligned with the Father’s.  God used prophets whose hearts were not aligned with his (Jonah for instance) but certainly not in the same ways he used Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Daniel, Moses, etc.  God accomplished earth-shaking things through these men because he was willing to entrust the power and the prophecy of heaven to them.  He did so because their hearts were aligned with his.

Jesus said a great deal about the heart. Just a few quotes are:

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.  (Matt. 5:8).

For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt. 13:15)

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ (Matt.15:19-20)

 For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  (Matt. 12:34)

This last scripture is most enlightening.  We all want to believe that our hearts are aligned with God’s heart. When we are in church and while we are hanging out with leaders in our churches we typically guard our words and say all the right things. Our words in those settings reflect the values, the perspectives, and the heart of Jesus.  But what about in other settings?

It’s amazing how often married couples come to me with detailed reports of what has been going on behind closed doors at home. These are usually long-time believers who have been serving faithfully in the church and who are well thought of.  But at home, behind closed doors when their words are not guarded, incredibly hurtful and nearly pornographic language pours out in the midst of their fights.  When it’s over they want to blame each other for making them so angry or they want to play the “I didn’t really mean it” card.  I know that we all say and do things that we regret later, but Jesus challenges us with the idea that our unguarded words reveal things that are in our hearts.  Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If our hearts are full of love, mercy, compassion, faith, etc., words come out that reflect those qualities-even in unguarded moments.  If our heart is full of pain, resentment, distrust, lust, unbelief, or lies then those qualities show up as well.

The words we speak are interesting, however, because not only do our hearts influence our words but out words influence our hearts. The words we choose to say in every circumstance can train our hearts.  Paul tells us that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus in Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead we will be saved. (See Rom.10:9). In the Hebrew mind there is often a causative connection between two things joined by the conjunction “and.”  We recognize the same principle.  For instance, we might say that we went to the beach and got sunburned.  Although those are two different things, the first contributed directly to the second.  With that in mind, confessing with our mouths can deepen the belief in our hearts. In other words, the words we speak come from the heart but words spoken consistently can also train the heart.

In his book, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, Graham Cooke said something I really liked.  The gift of prophecy under the new covenant is intended to comfort, strengthen and encourage people – always.  However, some with the gift do not always comfort or encourage.  In that context, Cooke says, “In tough situations we must ask God what the need is.  Do we need something? Does the other person need something?  Instead of speaking out the first nasty thing that comes to mind, we must settle into the Spirit of God and speak a word of edification. If we can get into a lifestyle of gracious speaking in our everyday conversations, our prophetic ability will grow in leaps and bounds. The heartbeat of God will become clearer and clearer to us” (page 17).

In other words, when God can trust us to speak comfort, encouragement, and strength to others then he will entrust us with greater gifts to steward because our hearts are aligned with his.  Our words will be evidence of that.  I’m not talking about our public words but our private words.  Those are the real indicators of what is in our hearts.

If we want to receive healing, freedom, ministry, and powerful gifts of the Spirit then we should become students of our own words.  They will point us to areas of brokenness in our hearts, areas where healing is needed, or repentance and will show us where our perspective are skewed.  Then we can submit those issues to the cross and the Spirit for correction.  We must also begin to speak as God would speak in every situation. When we misspeak we shouldn’t excuse it or blame others but learn from it. Relive the moment. Ask the Spirit how he would have had you speak in that situation.  Rehearse that in your mind and ask the Spirit to give you that response next time.  In doing so you will be training your heart while your heart is being healed.

All spiritual gifts are expressions of God’s grace that he wants us to administer to others (See 1 Pet.4:10).  As our hearts and words become more gracious, he can entrust more to us. Even anger doesn’t excuse ungracious words.  Paul told us to be angry and sin not.  Instead, we should remember, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col.4:6). This is one more key to freedom and power in the kingdom of God.  Today be blessed and be a blessing to others with your words.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!     As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal. 1:6-9).

Occasionally in his New Testament letters, the apostle Paul went “completely Billy Jack” on certain groups who were trying to influence the church. If you aren’t a baby boomer who watched a lot of movies in the 60’s you may have to do some research on that expression.  In his letter to the church at Galatia, Paul runs quickly through a curt greeting and then assaults a group who had come to Galatia soon after Paul had departed.  This was a group who had come to present a “different gospel” from the one Paul had presented.  It was, in fact, so different that Paul judged it to be no gospel at all and declared a curse over those who had brought the teaching.  The curse was for them to be eternally damned. He was so serious about it that he spoke the curse twice.

What in the world would get Paul stirred up so much that if he had been present I’m certain he would have gotten physical with these “teachers?”   In a nutshell, Paul preached a gospel of grace through which salvation comes by faith not by the stringent keeping of laws and rituals through which a man earns his salvation.  Those who came after Paul were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah but that keeping the Law of Moses faithfully was still a condition of salvation.  Their formula would have been “Jesus + good works + faithful obedience to the Law of Moses = salvation.  Pauls’ formula simply read “Jesus + faith = salvation.”  To add more to the gospel condemns man to a slavery under law.  That’s why Paul felt so strongly about it.  As a former Pharisee he knew how spiritually debilitating living under a religious system could be.

For those of us who have never lived under the Law, that might not seem like such a big deal.  After all, aren’t we as Christians supposed to do good works and keep the commandments of Christ anyway?  Yes, but we do those things as a response to the grace of God that gifted salvation to us rather than as a means to earn our salvation. The difference is worlds apart.

Under any system of religious law we are left to earn our salvation on the basis of faithfulness and good works as defined by the religion.  The problem is that you never really know where you stand.  Somehow I lost my catalogue that tells he how many salvation points are required to get into heaven, how much each good work is worth and how much is subtracted from my total score on the basis of sins and bad attitudes. I also have no way of assessing how much faith is enough faith, how much love is enough love, or how much godly sorrow is required before it counts.  Do Wednesday nights count more than Sunday mornings and do I get bonus points if I drove to church on slick roads? I’m also left to wonder if there are penalties and interest that accrue if sins go unrepented for significant periods of time.

In short, a person can never be sure of his or her salvation if we must earn it or merit it somehow. Islam is a great illustration.  Because it is a religion of works and judgment, a Muslim can never know with certainty whether he will be given access to paradise or not – unless he or she dies in defense of Islam.  Suicide bombers then have the only real assurance of salvation but even then entry is not guaranteed but only highly probable.  But the uncertainty is enough to drive many to blow themselves up along with the infidels in order to get a good shot at salvation.

Whenever Satan wants to derail faithful believers in the kingdom of heaven, he simply introduces an element of legalism into the faith.  He introduces a different gospel.  Ask any pastor who does much counseling in his congregation and he will tell you how many believers stumble through life under the weight of guilt from past sins. He will tell you how many still operate under the unspoken assumption that God’s love is conditional and based on their own goodness or religious performance.  They carry a profound sense of unworthiness that steals their faith in the promises of God.  They don’t feel worthy to ask God for big things and if they do they have no real expectation of having their prayers answered because they are too insignificant or sinful for God to say yes to them.

Multitudes of Christians live with the assumption that continued salvation and the promises of God all depend on them – their goodness, their perfection, and their performance. That is a form of legalism that cripples the church.  Notice how that kind of religious system affected the Pharisees.  If you assume that people earn their way to heaven and you know that not everyone gets in, then you must make assumptions about percentages.  Does the 50^th percentile get a passing grade or must you be in the 70^th or 90^th percentile? If only so many get in, then you are not only invested in doing better but you must also be invested in others doing worse.  The result is that you must tout your own righteousness while pointing out every other person’s failings.  In fact, you might even be invested in helping them fail. Jesus often confronted the Pharisees about their self-righteousness, their willingness to throw stones at others, and their willingness to pile religious demands on the multitudes while not lifting a finger to help them meet those demands. Rules and ritual become the test of faith because only those can be measured.

As believers, we don’t have to have a well-developed religious system like the Pharisees to fall prey to legalism.  Satan will simply point out a few attitudes or weaknesses or past sins that he will highlight as the very things that make us unworthy and unacceptable to our Father.  He gets us to focus on our self and our sin rather than the all-encompassing sacrifice of Jesus so that we feel the pressure to be perfect, to deny our own sin, or to blame others for our shortcomings because we are participating in some kind of vague score keeping.  If we don’t blame others we still always feel unqualified to share our faith, walk in the power of the Spirit, lead in our churches, or ask God to do great things using us.

As I have said before, God isn’t hung up on our imperfections, we are and Satan delights in whispering a gospel to us different from the one we first received.  We were saved by grace and continue by grace.  We serve, we make mistakes, we get up, we dust ourselves off and keep going by grace.  God’s mercies are new every morning and so we are able to put yesterday’s mistakes under the blood of Christ every evening and rise the next morning fresh in the Lord.  We are able to rise ready to serve him and love him in better ways today than we did yesterday – not in order to be saved but because we are saved.

Paul said that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free – freedom to live each day new in the Lord and freedom to know that perfection is not a requirement for salvation.  The faith that we have is enough for today and God will give us more for tomorrow.  Our part?  Refuse to accept a different gospel from the enemy or people who don’t know any better because a different gospel is no gospel at all.  Feel free to be imperfect today in Jesus and love him all the more because you can.  Be blessed in Him.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,       I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:15-20)

This is a text that I often go to when ministering freedom and healing to broken and oppressed believers. Most of us continue to live with our brokenness because we don’t truly understand who God is, what he has provided for us, or who we are in Christ.  Through the years you have probably known someone that continued to live in a hurtful, abusive situation year after year. Perhaps they were in an abusive relationship or a job where they were underpaid, overworked and never appreciated.  They clearly hated their situation and it was clear that it was taking a toll on them emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  And yet, they would not take steps to free themselves from the relationship or to seek different employment.

I have visited with a number of individuals in those situations.  Some finally made the break after they became absolutely desperate.   I asked them why they had stayed in those hurtful situations so long when everyone they knew encouraged them to get out.  Inevitably the same reasons always surface.  One reason was fear of the unknown.  As bad as their situation was, they knew what they had and feared having nothing at all if they left the relationship or the job.  Most of us would believe that nothing was better than what they had, but fear that the future might hold something even worse kept them where they were.

Others viewed themselves in such a way that they truly believed they didn’t deserve anything better.  The messages from their past had convinced them that they were worthless, low achievers whom no one would ever love or value.  Their abusers or unappreciative employers reinforced those beliefs so they thought life would never offer more because they didn’t deserve anymore.  So … they stayed.

The third reason was that their mothers or fathers had modeled that life for them by continuing in abusive relationships or staying in dead end jobs with a sense of resignation that the world would offer them nothing more. These abused and oppressed people in some way believed that what they were experiencing was “the norm” because they had watched their parents endure it all the years they were growing up.  In some subconscious way they probably sought out what their parents had modeled because that was familiar.

Our spiritual lives can be the same.  Many believers continue to live with a sense of insignificance, a painfully negative view of themselves, oppressive thoughts, addictions, and general sadness because they believe there are no real alternatives for them or because they simply don’t deserve more in this world.  Some even believe that God has visited their misery on them so that continuing in their pain is a way of “paying for their sins” even though Jesus had already paid for every sin.  Many have simply taken on an identity of pain, rejection, and failure.  They can’t imagine being anything or anyone else and so they stay in that place for decades.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul affirms their faith and love and his excitement about their newly found life in Christ. He then lets them know that he has been constantly praying for them and asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He says that he is praying for the Spirit to give these believers both of those gifts so that they might know God better.

We can come to know God through study, teaching, conversations, etc. to an extent.  But if our faith and understanding of God stay at an intellectual level then God remains a concept more than a person. We tend to know about God rather than knowing God.  Revelation deposits truth in our hearts – in our core being – and that is where profound change and healing occur.  Wisdom is knowing how God perceives people and situations and acting in accord with God’s view of things.  To know how God thinks is a huge step toward knowing God. To know how he feels about people, especially ourselves, is also a huge step toward knowing him.   Paul is really asking God to reveal both his mind and heart to the believers at Ephesus so that they might truly get to know him.  And as they say, “To know him is to love him.”  To know his love for us is also the most healing thing in the universe.

Paul goes on to say that he has asked the Father to enlighten the eyes of their hearts that they might also perceive what they have in Jesus.  In short, Paul declares that they have hope, riches, and power in Jesus.  They have hope because God has a future for them that is full of life and blessing if they will trust him enough to receive it.  They have the riches of heaven available to them if they will receive his promises by faith.  They also have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and that created the universe working on their behalf. Most of us have read those truths and promises in scripture and would say we believe them.  But for many of us, the belief is an intellectual position rather than something we have “written on our hearts.”

The work of the Spirit is revelation and revelation writes truth on our heart.  When we get the truth in our hearts it changes things.  Believers who stay in their brokenness and oppression don’t know God, who they are in Christ, or the riches that are theirs if they will pursue them.  They hear these truths but haven’t received them in their hearts.  They need revelation.  They need an experience with God, a fresh and personal word from God, or a teaching to explode in their hearts.  They need the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom and understanding to know what God has just done in their lives and to receive it as a gift from him.

I believe that we need to pray Paul’s prayer constantly for ourselves and for those who are struggling in their faith. We desperately need divine wisdom, the revelation of God’s truth, and for the “eyes of our heart” to be opened so that we might fully understand everything that is ours in Jesus as well as the power our Father is willing to wield on our behalf. When we grasp those things we can let go of the present and step into the future. We can exchange the devil’s view of who we are for the Father’s view of who we are. We can lay fear about the unknown aside and trust that God already has it worked out in marvelous ways.

Today I pray that God will give you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that you may know him better and that he will open the eyes of your heart so that you may know the hope, the riches, and the power that are yours in Jesus Christ.  I hope you’ll pray the same for me.  Be blessed.