Tag Archives: prophetic exhortation

Another Encounter with Love.

Posted on 04/01/2025 | Comments Off on Another Encounter with Love.

I had an encounter early one morning while worshiping God before work. I was there for over an hour when the cassette tape I listened to ended, and it gave a loud click as it shut off. (Yes, this was in the mid 90’s) The absence of the music left me in a silence that made me acutely aware of God. It was a holy moment; all my senses were alive, and I was a bit overwhelmed at how tangible and weighty His presence was.

As I sat there with a goofy grin on my face, my mind was racing, and my heart was filled with emotions. It was gradually dawning on me that the God of the universe loved me. I can’t describe the joy that filled my heart at that moment.

After about two minutes, I could not be silent anymore. I had to express this ever-increasing tide of emotion that I was experiencing. I broke that holy silence and blurted out, “Lord, I love you so much!” As soon as I said that the Lord asked me in a clear, distinct, inward voice, “How much do you love Me, Jack?” Without thinking, I promptly said, “Lord, I love You with all my heart!” A few seconds passed, and the Lord gently responded in that same clear voice, “Jack, that is not enough.”

All the joy I was experiencing seemed to drain out of me in an instant. The tangible presence of God lifted, and I felt like the Lord just punched me in the gut! Before I sank too deep into the confusion I felt at that moment, the Lord reminded me of this scripture.

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

Math was never my strong suit in school, but even I could see that loving God with all my heart was only 25% of what He commanded us to do in this verse. I picked up my Bible, and I kept reading that scripture repeatedly. I realized there were four parts to obeying the command to love God, and I was only familiar with one out of the four. 

I was encouraged after He showed me this verse because I realized He was fathering me, giving me a gentle correction so that I can be closer to Him. He was treating me like a son whom He loved dearly. I was pursuing God, and I was finding love. I was asking for understanding, and God was teaching me about love. I was worshiping God, and love is what He revealed. 

He wanted me to know His amazing love for me. He was waiting for me to pursue Him. 

Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

After a few minutes of adjusting to this new revelation, I had to admit that I didn’t understand how to love God with my soul, mind, or strength. So, I set myself to study and asked Him to lead me to a greater understanding. The first thing He did was show me how He loves.

How God Expresses Love.

The first thing God did was remind me of John 3:16

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God so loved… that He gave!

I saw right away that selfless giving of ones self was the primary expression of the love of God. Now, I just had to figure out how to give my mind, soul, and strength to the Lord in a way that expresses my love for Him.

I started taking a personal inventory. I took a long look at my life and asked myself: What am I giving my attention to? What am I investing time in? What am I giving most of my energy to? What kind of fruit are these things producing in my life? How much of my life am I truly giving to God, and how much am I squandering on selfish endeavors?

I began to see that some of the things I was giving myself to were hurting me and hindering my spiritual growth. Even worse is that my example hurt others in the same way. I saw that my family, friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ were all impacted by my lack of love for the Lord. It brought me to a place of many tears.

To properly understand how to love God with my mind, soul, and strength, I first had to define these terms according to the original text. I needed to know exactly what I was obligated to give the Lord to express the love I felt in my heart.

Many of us are familiar with the Greek word “agape,” which is the God kind of love. However, that differs from the word used in our New Testament command.

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

The word for love in the original text here is “agapeo,” which is the Greek verb for the God kind of love. We know from grade school English class that a verb is an action word. Agapeo is defined as a commitment of devotion that is directed by our will and can be commanded as a duty.   

Love is an action word. Love can only be known from the actions that it prompts. Love is as love does. Love is known and revealed by its behavior. Agapeo is God’s love in action, or simply, God in action.  

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.

This passage lists things that love does and does not do. This is our instruction on how love behaves. It is also how God behaves. After all, God is love.

This passage tells us how to put love into action. We put God into action in the lives of others by how we behave toward and around them. As we actively give our heart, soul, mind, and strength to the Lord in humble obedience, we at the same time give ourselves to loving people. 

Here are the words used in Mark 12:30 as defined in the original Greek text:

1) Heart (kardia)

The word heart denotes the center and seat of our spiritual life. It can also mean the central or innermost part of anything, even though inanimate. For instance, “the heart of a tree” refers to the innermost growth rings in the center of a tree trunk.

When the Bible talks about the heart, it refers to the essence of who we are. To give our heart to the Lord, we must steward every part of our inner man, taking stock of the other three parts mentioned and ensuring that we are committed and submitted in all areas of our existence. 

The heart of man is affected by the other three parts. Suppose a man’s soul, mind, and strength are wholly submitted in obedience to God. In that case, the heart can attain its highest and most noble expression.

2) Soul (psychē)

The seat of feelings, emotions, desires, affections, and aversions. The soul is a moral being designed for everlasting life. The soul differs from the body and is not dissolved by physical death.

We must give our emotions, desires, and affections to the Lord. God did not give us the emotions we were born with. Our emotional maturity develops as our spiritual maturity grows. Consciously developing and growing emotionally will help our overall spiritual progress.

There is no such thing as an emotionally immature and spiritually mature Christian. Spiritual maturity will only rise to the level of our emotional maturity. This is why it is essential to allow God to rebuild and renew us emotionally so we can be free of the emotional makeup we inherited being born under the first Adam.

3) Mind (dianoia)

The mind is the faculty of understanding our acquired knowledge, feelings, desires, deep thoughts, and overall way of thinking.

We give our minds to the Lord by disciplined renewal of our minds to His Word. While renewing our minds, we must protect them from ungodly influence and steward what we give our attention to.

Man’s mind was never intended to know good and evil, yet we gained that knowledge through the fall of Adam. Our capacity as spiritual beings were immediately diminished. Our perspectives about God and ourselves became twisted. Now, our minds are naturally bent toward evil. This is why we must be renewed in the spirit of our mind.

Ephesians 4:17-24 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

 To love with our minds, we must protect our minds from worldly influence that has infiltrated every form of media and entertainment. The world uses science to help them better understand how to influence us and eventually control our thought processes. Through advertisements, social media, and fake news with a preconceived agenda, they gain influence over our decision-making. 

This practice has slowly seeped its way into the Church, producing a group of people with itchy ears. So-called Church leaders are now competing to see who can scratch our ears the best to build a more prominent organization and line their pockets.

4) Strength (ischys)

These are our abilities, talents, gifting, graces, and strengths. It can also mean forcefulness, power, and might.

God places within each of us the gifting, graces, and natural abilities needed to fulfill our purpose on Earth. Only by laying these down at His feet can we fully reach our God-given potential.

We need to ask ourselves some sobering questions. 

Are we giving all these aspects of our lives to God? What are we giving our minds to? What is consuming our thought life? A hobby? A vice? A relationship? What are we using our talents, strengths, and gifts for? Are we giving them to God or using them for selfish reasons? Are we loving God with everything in us, or are we withholding parts of our lives from God and using them to love ourselves and serve our selfish ambitions?

This line of thinking opens a whole new level of judging ourselves. We must be a people of integrity when loving God and giving Him every aspect of our being. 

The word of God must become a mirror and a microscope, allowing us to be brutally honest with ourselves and bringing us into an entirely different realm of accountability. Abiding in His word opens up the possibility of a deeper, richer, and more intimate relationship with the Father.

Let’s take another look at the New Testament command.

Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Notice the difference in how we are commanded to love God and how we are commanded to love our neighbor? There are four very different and specific aspects to loving God, but there is only one requirement for how to love our neighbor. Why is that?

We are only expected to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. What if we don’t even like ourselves? What if we hate who we are and what we have become? Many people come to Christ in this condition. Self-loathing, hopeless, even suicidal. Not much is expected of these people at first regarding loving others, but they are still expected to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Love comes into our hearts in seed form. As that seed grows, the capacity to love others grows as well. As our love for God grows, the expectations of loving our neighbor also grow. Suppose we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In that case, we won’t have to be concerned about loving our neighbor because that will be the natural response from our loving relationship with the Father. We love people out of the overflow of our love for God.

Loving our neighbor becomes evident by our love for the Father.

1 John 5:1-3 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 

This verse says that the best way to express our love for others is to give ourselves wholeheartedly to loving God. The greatest thing we can do for our family, friends, neighbors, and the world is to submit ourselves to the Father and love Him entirely. This love is expressed through complete submission to the Lord and His word.

When we love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we bring all four parts of our existence into a perfect harmony of worship that pleases God and becomes the most significant expression of faith attainable by man. We become a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Great faith is only realized when there is great love for the Father.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

JESUS IS COMING!

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Experiencing God’s Love: A Personal Encounter

Posted on 03/31/2025 | Comments Off on Experiencing God’s Love: A Personal Encounter

It was summertime in Florida in 1996, and the heat index was over 100 degrees. I had been working in a hot and dirty shop all day when I came home from work, physically exhausted. It wasn’t just the physical exhaustion I was experiencing; I was feeling spiritually dry and depleted, which made me a bit short-tempered and agitated. 

I had recently taken in a few struggling Christian brothers who needed a place to stay, and their presence in my home had encroached on my personal space, my devotion time, and my rapidly diminishing patients. They were constantly asking me for advice and wanting to talk to me about everything in the world I didn’t care about.

I was getting frustrated. I was used to living alone, and now it seemed like I couldn’t get any private time with the Lord in my own house. It was bothering me more than I would care to admit, and I was becoming a little bitter toward my Christian brothers.

In hindsight, I would not have been feeling this way had I not let my personal devotions continue to slip.

On this particular day, after working in the torturous heat, I pulled into the front driveway and parked my car. I walked up to the front door and took a deep breath, bracing myself against the oncoming barrage of questions that had become the norm over the past few weeks.

I opened the door and was almost knocked over by the complete silence in my home. The guys were gone. I didn’t know where and didn’t care. I was overwhelmed by the relief I felt. My heart jumped at the realization that I finally had time to myself.

I didn’t even take the time to shower because I feared they would come home before I finished. I desperately needed to be alone with the Lord and did not want to miss this golden opportunity. So, I threw my keys on the table, plopped down on the couch with my Bible, and looked up to Heaven. With every bit of faith I could muster, I prayed these words; “Lord, show me something cool in Your word.” I wasn’t prepared for what followed.

Immediately, God spoke to me so clearly and remarkably that it wouldn’t have been any clearer had I heard His audible voice. He said, “What would you like to know, Jack?” 

With those words resonating inside me, realizing that God had just spoken to me with a clarity that I had rarely experienced, I was gripped with an overwhelming sense of responsibility that is hard to explain. Somehow, God caused me to know that I could ask Him anything in the world for this moment in time, and He would bless me with a clear and definite answer. 

The fear of the Lord was suddenly on me. I felt His overwhelming presence. I didn’t want to blow this extraordinary opportunity, so my mind began to race with thoughts of what I should ask. At first, I tried to think of questions that great theologians had argued over for centuries. Then, my mind wandered to stupid questions about dinosaurs, life on other planets, aliens, and similar foolishness.

I caught myself and physically shook my head, trying to jar that nonsense from my thinking. I realized I didn’t have a clue what to ask. It was too much; I didn’t feel qualified to answer Him. The responsibility was too great. I feared I would ask the wrong thing and blow this fantastic opportunity.

Finally, I said, “Father, I want You to tell me what You think I need to know the most.” I barely got the words out when He spoke again in that clear, powerful voice: “1 Corinthians 13.”

I had my Bible in hand and quickly started flipping to that passage when I realized it was the chapter on Love. I looked toward Heaven, smiled, and said, “You got me!”

Of course, it’s love! What else could it be? To know love is to know God. He answered my simple prayer to show me something cool in His word. Love is the coolest thing we can ever learn. God had made His point clear.

When I finally reached 1 Corinthians 13 and was about to read it, God spoke again. He instructed me to get my Amplified Bible and read it as I saw it for the first time. I had the original Amplified Bible, now called “the Amplified Bible Classic Edition. “It was the first Bible I ever owned. It was given to me in 1988 by the people who led me to the Lord.  

I obeyed the Lord’s instruction and slowly read through this version of the Bible, which contains exhaustive and very descriptive language.

For those unfamiliar with the translation, here is the whole chapter, as seen in the AMPC version.

1 Corinthians 13 (AMPC) If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose) and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody). 3 Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing. 4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. 7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. 8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]. 9 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

10 But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded). 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. 12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God]. 13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I tasted every word and chewed on them thoughtfully, allowing the scriptures to strengthen and inspire me. It truly felt like I was seeing this passage with new eyes, with a fresh perspective. As I finished the chapter, I knew God was watching me. I was about to close the Bible and meditate on what had just happened and what I had just read when the Lord said, “Don’t stop there; read the next verse.” And here it is.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (AMPC) Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).

It was one of the most life-changing and profound encounters I have ever had with the Lord. I knew then that I was ignorant in the love department. I also knew I was not alone.

This was one of the encounters that set me on a path to understanding and pursuing love. The journey has been rewarding and fruitful. Now, my heart’s desire is to teach others what the Lord has taught me by sharing my journey. I hope people will learn from my relationship with the Lord and the mistakes I’ve made so their pursuit of love will be easier, their path a little straighter, and their understanding a little better.

JESUS IS COMING!

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A Vision of Jesus in a Wheelchair?

Posted on 03/31/2025 | Comments Off on A Vision of Jesus in a Wheelchair?

As I was praying one day on my long drive to work, I was overcome with a deep sense of gratitude. I began to thank God for different things that would come up in my heart, things I would never typically think about. After a few minutes of this, I uttered these words by the Spirit, “I thank you, Father, for the body of Christ that validates You to the world.”

As soon as I made that statement, I saw a vision of a dark skinned fellow of middle age, dressed in a Kittel, sitting in a wheelchair with his head bowed down. He was facing almost directly to my right, and I could only see his profile. He was crippled in his arms and legs. As I stared at him, wondering what this meant, the word “INVALID” appeared above his head in all capital letters.

My grandmother was a nurse, and I had heard her use that word many times about my aunt Alice, her daughter, who was stricken with polio. Alice could do almost nothing herself. She had little to no use of her arms and legs and needed full-time time care.

As I continued to watch, the word changed from “INVALID” to “NOT VALID.” At that moment, the man looked up at me, and I saw that it was Jesus! The expression on His face was one of profound sadness. As soon as I realized who it was, the vision ended. The whole thing only lasted about 15 seconds. My heart went from overflowing with gratitude to being grief-stricken in a moment. The Lord gave me an instant understanding of what I had just seen.

The Church has done a poor job of validating Jesus Christ to the world. We are His body; we are his hands and feet; we are the ones called to demonstrate His kingdom to the world. Through this brief vision, He was showing me the current condition of the Church.

His body is weak and crippled because of the poison we have been feeding it—the poison of false doctrines of men and doctrines of devils. We have left our first love and not represented Christ well. To the world, Christ was becoming increasingly invalid. I cried profusely.

We have seen a few men and women throughout history who have given themselves in complete surrender to Christ. These individuals demonstrated kingdom authority by signs and wonders, operating in the supernatural power of God, but they have been very few.

Maybe God allowed this to remind us that it is still possible, to encourage us to go deeper, to pursue Him more aggressively. This level of complete surrender must become the norm for the end-time Church. We must develop a culture that reproduces completely surrendered disciples. This is the key to validating Christ to the world.

John 14:12-14 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that the Church has not lived up to these powerful words Jesus spoke. Not even close. And yet He said them nonetheless, which means they will be fulfilled. Glory to God!

The end-time Church must lead with demonstration and power, not just eloquent teachings and entertainment-focused ministry. Signs and wonders must be present to maintain influence over people who are being persecuted for their faith. Demonstrating kingdom power and authority will be needed to give people hope and keep them moving forward and pursuing God during the greatest tribulation the world has ever known.

There are inherent dangers that come with God’s power and authority. This is why we don’t see it much in Church today. God loves us too much to trust His power to irresponsible babes. We must be mature enough spiritually to maintain a servant’s perspective while operating in His divine power. If we don’t, we will likely fall into pride and spiritual abuse, thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, destroying ourselves, our witness, and forfeiting any rewards we may have in eternity. Not to mention the damage we can do to our brothers and sisters.

Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” 

The best leaders in any capacity are, without fail, the best of servants to those they are leading. When we hear the word “servant,” we tend to think of a slave, a hired hand, or someone in the “helps” ministry. In the case of leadership, this takes on a much higher and nobler meaning. A servant leader is devoted to meeting the needs of those he is leading so that they are better equipped to fulfill their roles and grow as leaders themselves. He serves others with the hope of them finding and fulfilling their God-given purpose and destiny. He inspires others to lay down their life completely while modeling the process.

“If we are not willing to serve others, we are not qualified to lead them.”

I believe that God is stirring the Church and changing its culture to better represent our Lord Jesus Christ to the world. We need to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Church.

Jude 3-4 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

JESUS IS COMING

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An Encounter with the Lord about Sin.

Posted on 03/31/2025 | Comments Off on An Encounter with the Lord about Sin.

I had an experience with the Lord years ago that I think will help some people, so I will share it. It took me years to understand what the Lord was teaching me through this experience. Still, I have found it to be one of the key revelations that should govern the life of every believer.

The Lord woke me in the middle of the night and said, “Get a pen and paper and write down everything I tell you.” I quietly rolled out of bed and did as He instructed.

As soon as I sat down, the Lord began to speak to me about my life and ministry. After a page and a half of correction, instruction, and exhortation, the Lord made this final statement to me,

“Don’t let sin distort your reflection of Me. I will confirm this word with a sign following to seal it in your heart.”

Seven days later, while starting my daily routine, I took a prayer walk around a nearby lake. It was summer in central Florida, and the sun was coming up. As I walked around the lake, the Lord instructed me to sit on a specific bench facing the lake. As I sat down on the bench and looked across the lake, I was mesmerized by what I saw.

The lake was eerily still, not a ripple or a wave of any kind. It was a perfect mirror. Having been an avid fisherman, I have been on many bodies of water early in the morning and seen water so still that you almost didn’t want to touch it and disturb its beauty. This was something more. It was still like a glass of water sitting on the counter. I have never seen anything like it before or since.

As I looked across the 20-acre lake with the rising sun behind me, I could see the shoreline on the other side. I saw the rich green grass rising from the water’s edge with gigantic Live Oak trees on the other side, topped off by a beautiful blue sky with a few puffy white clouds. As I looked at this scene, I saw that the reflection in the lake was a perfect mirror image of what I saw on the shore.

As I focused on the absolutely perfect reflection in the water, I realized that this reflected image perfectly represented the real thing. If I didn’t know this was a reflection from the lake, I would not be able to tell the difference. It was as if I was looking at a reflection in a spotless mirror.

As I was having this thought, amazed at this perfect reflection, a tiny fish jumped in the middle of the lake, right in my line of sight. I sat there for over ten minutes and watched as the ripples from that tiny fish slowly spread over the entire lake, distorting that perfect reflection that I was admiring.

Then the Lord spoke the exact words He said a week earlier, “Don’t let sin distort your reflection of Me.” This was the sign that He promised me, to seal the things He had said to me in my heart. This was a prophetic word to wage spiritual warfare. It changed my life.

I won’t share the other things He said to me, but they were precise in defining who He called me to be and what I needed to correct. I focused on the things that He said to me about my identity instead of focusing on the sign and trying to gain understanding. A grave mistake on my part and it cost me years of struggle with sin.

Not only have we been freed from the consequences of sin, but we have also been freed from wrestling with sin as well. Our only responsibility is to embrace the truth of who we are, a new man in Christ Jesus. Holy, acceptable, and above reproach in His sight.

We must believe our old carnal man is dead. Otherwise, we carry a distorted image of Christ to the world.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57 (NKJV) The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ gave us victory over spiritual death and sin. It is a gift! It was easy for me to believe that I had the victory over spiritual death and was going to heaven, but having faith to believe that I was completely freed from sin was just too hard to swallow. After all, I know myself. I know my weaknesses. I know how many times I have fallen in the same area, so I battled against sin in my life for years, not realizing that the battle had already been won.

 In the past, I would get so worn out and so frustrated from trying not to sin that I would lose hope and give up, letting sin reign in my body and remain a slave to it. I am so thankful God never gave up on me.

Romans 6:6-7 (NKJV) knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 

I was free from the slavery of sin and didn’t know it. My old carnal self was crucified with Him when I made Jesus the Lord of my life. The enemy made me believe that I would never be free from sinning and tricked me into fighting a battle that Jesus had already won.

A wise spiritual warrior knows when to fight and when to rest in victory.

I know I am not alone. I see this problem in the lives of many believers. Hopefully, this will shed some light on why some of us struggle with sin.

God’s grace will transform us and restore us into His image. If we make a mistake and fall into sin, we must quickly repent and forget it just like He does.

Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV) “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.

Notice that God blots out our sins and chooses not to remember them. He does this for His own sake, not ours. He sets the example of how we are to behave toward sin and calls us to do the same, for our sakes.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Admit it, quit it, and forget it. If we diligently practice this, we stop the ripple effects of sin before it distorts the reflection of His image in and through our lives.

There is an old saying, “Sin takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you can pay.”

When we dwell on sin and our propensity to sin, we acknowledge its power and give sin a voice and a platform for expression. Dwelling on sin produces sin consciousness. Eventually, it builds a stronghold of wrong thinking and wrong believing in our hearts and minds, making it even harder to break free of this cycle of unbelief.

It is impossible to reflect the clear image of God with a sinful consciousness. Sin has been dealt with by the only one ever qualified to deal with it, Jesus Christ. We must start our Christian walk where He finished on the cross or we will never run our race well.

We must no longer think like slaves to sin. Instead, we have the privilege of waking up daily in Him, understanding that we are righteous in His sight, and allowing His amazing grace to reshape us and mold us into His image.

A modern paraphrase of the bible called “The Message. The Bible in Contemporary Language” was written by Eugene H. Peterson, an American theologian. I understand that he wrote this paraphrase so his young grandchildren would have a more easily understood translation of the Bible. While this is not a word-for-word translation and many people reject his writing, I believe he captures the heart of God and the spirit of truth on revelations concerning sin and righteousness. Here is a beautiful passage in Romans that teaches this truth beautifully.

Romans 6:1-14  (MSG) So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!

3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.

6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of “death-as-the-end”. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

We can’t let sin distort the image of God in us. We will never experience the freedom from sin that Christ died for if we keep it in our language and thoughts.

Suppose we take all the energy we expend on struggling to clean ourselves up, stop sinning, and do the right things, and use it to pursue Him in an intimate relationship. In that case, He will do what we are unable to. He will remove all things that are not pleasing to Him and cause hurt to His children.

We are dead to sin but must also be dead to the Law. When we live by legalism and try to keep the letter of the Law, we empower sin and keep it alive.

Romans 7:4-6 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

He is a good Father. We can be confident that He will complete the work He started in us if we just cooperate and believe what He said is true.

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

JESUS IS COMING!

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