by Jen Ewing
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7.
Have you ever had something about you, about your life, about your ministry, that you really wanted to see changed? Struggles, addictions, faults, shortcomings, weaknesses, inabilities, fears, bondages, bad relationships, sickness, lack, etc. You may have gained some ground, things may seem to have improved for a little bit, but all of a sudden you find yourself right back where you started from. Still in the same pit. And so you go at it again, even try a little harder this time….and then you slip right back down in. You see God’s promises out ahead of you, you know you should have them, but every time you attempt to obtain them, the freedom that He’s promised you, it seems to get further and further away. Discouragement begins to set in because you’ve believed the lie that it’s for everyone but you. You start to settle for “it” as a normal way of life. Condemnation seems to set in because you feel like a failure. You feel like everybody sees your failures under a magnifying glass, and all you hear is their disapproving conversations about you. Pretty soon, it leaks over into your relationship with God. You stop spending the time in the Word like you used to. It’s not so exciting to go to church anymore. And as far as sharing Christ with other people? Why should you? You’re not worthy enough to be a witness to them. You’re screwed up enough as it is. How could you possibly say anything to them?
Because of this condemnation, it led to actions. Divorce, failed ministries, broken relationships, financial ruin…straying right into the arms of sin. If you really loved God, how could you have done something like this? Shame, discouragement, failure, condemnation…they seem to always lay underneath the surface of your heart. The Bible says, “Hope deferred, makes the heart sick.” Proverbs 13:12. If ANY of this describes you today, I want to give you reason to hope again. Whether you have experienced “little failures” that seem to hold you back, or whether you have stepped into full blown sin, the answer is still the same. JESUS!!!
God has not, and will not ever change His mind about you. He never has and never will grade you on a scale of you. Romans 5:8-10 says, “(8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath THROUGH HIM. (10). For if, when we were enemies, we WERE reconciled to God by the death of his Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.” So according to this, there is no longer a problem that we need to fix. Jesus already fixed it. And I don’t care what “it” is. But the problem seems to remain, because we keep trying to fix what has already been fixed. Why? Because we are looking at us, instead of at Him. We keep trying to change the outside, when inside we still see a problem. We keep identifying with the problem, instead of with the solution…which is Jesus. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Prov. 23:7
To see lasting change, we need to take on a new identity. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Those who are in Christ are new creations. The old is GONE. The new has come.” When God showed up and spoke to Abram, He told him, “I have made you a father of many nations.” Genesis 17:5 At that moment, as far as God was concerned, it was a done deal. He was Abraham, father of many nations. That was God’s grace extended to Abram. But Abraham had a part to play to BECOME the father of many nations. He had to believe the word that God spoke to him in his heart. He had to “see” himself as Abraham, father of many nations. Abraham had to “against hope (what he saw on the outside), believe in hope (what God said and saw), so that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken…” Romans 4. He had to agree with God, by taking Him at His Word. Abraham meditated day and night on this God Word. Every time he saw the sand. Every time He spoke his name. Every time he looked at the stars…his inner image of himself began to change. The seed of that Word began to take root and grow, until “he was fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was also able to perform.” Romans 4:21 So you see, to see lasting change, it is not a passive thing. Some of the images that we have about ourselves, and our circumstances are so deeply ingrained into our consciousness, that it is impossible in and of ourselves to bring about the change that we so desire to see. Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” John 15.
Determine today, to put condemnation out of your consciousness. I don’t care what challenges you face, or what mistakes you’ve made. Jesus came to give us life. His life. And the only work required on our part, is to believe it. It’s a free gift done merely for the sake of Love. He knew we couldn’t do it, so He did it for us. There’s nothing we can do to earn it, and there’s nothing that we can do to be disqualified from it. “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk NOT after the flesh (our own efforts and toiling), but after the Spirit.” Romans 8. To walk in, is to be in agreement with. Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, unless they be agreed?” The answer is NO! There are some changes that will just not happen overnight. Whatever effort you sow into changing that image is what you will reap on the outside. Whatever we desire to be successful in, we must do it in Christ. Not in our own strength. In Christ, our ONLY limitations are whether or not we will believe it, and receive it as our own! So stop looking at your shortcomings and look at Christ’s victory. You are no longer weak, but strong. You are no longer a victim, but a victor. You are no longer bound, but free!!! You are no longer cursed, but blessed! You are accepted and loved by the One who made you for the sole purpose of sharing His Life with you. Believe that today, and keep believing it, and before you know it, you’ll be walking free!!!