Week 1 – Day 5
Dear Friend,
We have all heard the story of Christ on the cross saying, “It is finished”, then releasing His Spirit and dying. What is your answer to these questions: What was He talking about? What was finished?
Your answers hold the key to the level of victory you believe you have a right to live in. For some they believe it means they have a chance to go to heaven if they receive Jesus’s sacrifice. This is true, and yet there is so much more to it.
You see, Jesus went to the cross because sin (way back in the Adam and Eve fiasco days) separated God from His children, His creation. Before the fall, God hung out in the garden with Adam and Eve sharing, conversing and caring for them on a one-on-one basis. Sin changed all of that, it created a separation because God’s holiness and glory would destroy sinful man. When Jesus died that separation was eradicated!! Nothing had the power to separate God from His children ever again. He could finally be that Father He always desired to be; the Provider, Comforter, Deliverer and Confidant. One-on-one communication was restored and God could rightfully reinstate His children to their place as heirs to the “abundant life” Jesus died for them to live.
How do we live this “It is finished” lifestyle? How do the promises in the Word of God become reality in our day-to-day lives?
Similar to a child in foster care who has never owned anything and lives in a constant state of transition, we have come to rely on ourselves and have a low expectation of being cared for by someone else. Take this child and place them in a loving forever home they will mentally have to struggle with the adjustment. Though they are told that they belong, have rights as family members, have caring parents who provide for and love them they may still find themselves relapsing into self-provision and survival mode. We are just like that in the spirit.
We know that God has forgiven us, received us, adopted us and granted us all the promises of “abundant life” listed in the Bible. Yet we are unfamiliar with what those are and when we find ourselves returning to our former nature; survival-mode, we have to stop and remind ourselves “who” and “whose” we are now. We are not alone and never need be again. God is our Father, we are now His children, with rights and privileges.
Have you ever heard the term “renewing your mind”? For your whole life you have believed the way a foster child has, now you have to renew the way you see things from a God’s Child perspective. God’s Word has tremendous power (Hebrews 4:12) and when you speak it out it actually changes things both in you and around you (Isaiah 55:11). In the next few weeks you will do just that, change the way you see position and your outlook on life will be changed, as well, for the better.
To recap:
- You are God’s child with the rights and privileges of an abundant life.
- Jesus finished the work on the cross, done and done.
- God is your Father and you will never be alone on your own again.
- It is time to learn the benefits of being a Child of God by renewing your mind.
- You renew your mind by speaking the promises of God and thinking on them.
Love,
Jen
Meditation:
Hebrews 4:12 (AMP)
For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged [a]sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Isaiah 55:11 (AMP)
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me void (useless, without result), without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Galatians 4:7 (AMPC)
7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave (bond servant) but a son; and if a son, then [it follows that you are] an heir [a]by the aid of God, through Christ.
Journal:
When you step back and look at your mindsets, do you see yourself as less-than others in the family of Christ? Do you believe God will do for some but maybe not for you? Are you ready to challenge those foster child thoughts and take your rightful position as Beloved Child and Heir?
