The Word

Knowing Who We Are in Christ Jesus

September 25, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

Let’s look at 5 keys to anchoring our identity in Christ.

This is the 5th post in a series titled “Set the Captives Free.” We’ve been looking at how we can walk in the freedom that Jesus died to give us. Life is hard when we live in our own strength and when we focus on ourselves and our problems. But when we live in Christ and set our focus on Him, we can rest, have peace and enjoy life. He did all the work for us to live victorious lives.

6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
John 10:6-10

In Christ alone we find our salvation. When we remain in Christ, He will take care of us. In the Scripture above, Jesus uses an illustration of the shepherd and his sheep. Sheep follow their shepherd because they know his voice which brings us to the first key to anchoring our identity in Christ Jesus.

Key #1 – Know His voice.

As we dig into the Bible, we will gain knowledge and understanding. When we read the Word, God will give us revelation and understanding and plant it in our hearts. When we know the Word, we will not be led astray by the enemy whose main purpose in life is to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy wants to keep us in bondage of regret, fear, shame and anything else you can think of that keeps us locked up inside. When we are in bondage, our focus is inward making it impossible to see all those around us who are desperately in need of Jesus.

In the book of John, we see that Jesus Christ is the Word. Pause just one minute and think about what this means. When we dig into the Word, we are digging into Jesus. The more we read the Word, the more we get to know who Jesus Christ really is and the more permanently etched His voice within us becomes.

In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:1-5

And John goes on to tell us that the Word lived among us.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
John 1:14

God’s ways are so much higher than our ways.

Not only do we have an incredible book of instruction for all areas of our life, but the Word is the very heartbeat of Jesus Christ. This book reveals to us Jesus from Genesis to Revelation. Reading the Word is how we learn to hear His voice. When you read the Word, start looking for Jesus in every single book and chapter. You will find Him throughout. It truly is amazing grace!

Key #2 – Know that He is in us.

13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
1 John 4:13-15

God has given us His Spirit to live within us. When we declare Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we have His very Spirit living within us to guide us and teach us and comfort us. It is the Holy Spirit within who gives us the revelation of the Word. He opens it up in our hearts and allows it to take root within us.

If you are interested in learning more about the Holy Spirit, you can click this link to receive a free e-book that I’ve written titled “Holy Spirit – True Transformation”.

Key #3 – Know that we are in Him.

Key #2 is that Christ is in us. Key #3 is that we are in Christ. We are protected from the inside out.

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

Christ is the Head of the Body and we are the Body. Together we are the Church. This is a powerful truth. The Church is not four walls and a steeple. It is a living, moving, breathing, active Body of believers who are tucked away in all corners of the world to share the light and love of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit within us gives us the boldness to proclaim His name.

Key #4 – Know how He is, we are right now.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
1 John 4:17 (NKJV)

As He is, so are we. Repeat a few more times. As He is, so are we. And how is He? In the verse right before this verse we see that God is love. It goes on to say that perfect love casts out all fear. There is no fear in Christ. There is no condemnation in Christ. Only love. How He is, so are we!

God is love ~ 1 John 4:16 ~ We are love.

He is the light of the world ~ John 8:12 ~ We are the light.

Key #5 – Know we are free from our past.

The final key we’ll look at in this post is that we are no longer defined by our past. When Christ died on the cross, He redeemed our past so we no longer have any legal ownership of it!

So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you— 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter,[f] or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 3:21-23

Paul tells us what belongs to us and he specifically mentions the present and the future. Take note that he does not mention the past. We do not own our past. When we allow things in our past to tie us down in regret, shame, fear, condemnation or the like we are perverting the work that Jesus did on the cross. The only way we can look at our past is through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. To look at it any other way is to view it in a distorted manner which leads us to distorted beliefs. Put the past in the past and let it stay there.

If you would like to read the past posts in this series, here are the links:

The next post, and last post, in this series will help us understand what is next in our walk. We’ll talk about our assignment in Christ.

Here is my prayer for all of us:

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your written Word which became flesh to live among us. Thank You for the Word being alive and active in our lives. As we read Your Word, please give each of us discernment and knowledge. Help us tuck it away in our hearts so that we can stand strong against the enemy. We thank You for Jesus Christ. We thank You for Your ways being so much higher than our ways. Help each of us fully realize that You are in us and we are in You. For this and for so much more we are forever grateful and humbled. In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen♥

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Romans 9:1-5 – The Blessings for the Israelites

June 21, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

A Seven-Fold Blessing for the Nation of Israel

With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Romans 9:1-5

The Nation of Israel was and always will be God’s chosen people.

It grieves Paul’s heart that his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters could not open their eyes to see Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Let’s look back in the book of Exodus where we’ll see that the same thing also grieved Moses’ heart. Paul and Moses were both willing to sacrifice their own eternity with God for their Israel. What deep love, deep pain, deep sorrow they each had for the Nation that they loved.

31 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a terrible sin these people have committed. They have made gods of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”

Exodus 32:31-32

In this first part of Romans Chapter 9 (verses 4 and 5), we see a seven fold blessing with Israel. Let’s take a closer look at these last two verses above.

They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. (Blessing #1) God revealed his glory to them. (Blessing #2) He made covenants with them and (Blessing #3) gave them his law. (Blessing #4) He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and (Blessing #5) receiving his wonderful promises. (Blessing #6) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and (Blessing #7) Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen

Romans 9:4-5 (emphasis mine)

Blessing #1 -God revealed His glory to the Israelites.

God revealed His very glory to the Israelites unlike He’s ever done with any other nation. One example is in Exodus 19, we see God’s glory descend on Mt. Sinai in the form of smoke. There are many other examples in the Old Testament of God’s glory becoming manifest in smoke, fire, and clouds. The glory of God filled the Temple that King Solomon built.

Blessing #2 – God made covenants with them.

God gave the Nation of Israel His promises. The first promise was given to Abraham. God promised Abraham that He would make a great nation out of him (Genesis 12:1-3). In Genesis 15, we see another promise to Abraham. God told Abraham that he would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky. God gave Abraham many other promises as well as promises to other patriarchs in the Old Testament.

Blessing #3 – God gave the Israelites the Law.

The Law was only given to Israel. As we’ve seen in prior lessons in Romans, the Law itself was not bad. In fact, it was given to Moses from God so it is holy and pure. But the Law was unable to do anything other than point out a man’s sin. It was incapable of offering human salvation. It was unable to change the penalty for man’s sin. For more information on the Law refer to my prior lessons on Romans 7:1-6 and Romans 7:7-13.

Blessing #4 – God gave the Israelites the privilege of worshiping Him.

This is something that we need to grasp. When we go to church, we need to go with the understanding that it IS a privilege to worship God. We should not go with the attitude “what am I going to get out of this?” Instead, we need to go with the attitude “it is a privilege to worship God today!” The Israelites had this privilege long before us. They were given the priesthood. They were given first the Tabernacle and then the Temple. These people were given the Feasts.

Blessing #5 – Israel was given the promises.

All of the prophecy in the Old Testament are promises written for Israel. These are the prophetic promises. Some have come to pass and others are in the future. And they were all given to Israel.

Blessing #6 – The Israelites’ forefathers were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In God’s Word, we know that heritage and lineage are important. The people of Israel are of the lineage including the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Blessing #7 – The Messiah is from the Israelite lineage.

The Messiah was promised to come from the Nation of Israel. And we know that He did come from Joseph and Mary who were both of the line of King David. This is a big promise. Christ is the Creator of all. He is our Lord and Savior. We see this lineage in the first chapter of Matthew.

What powerful verses. God’s Word never fails to amaze me. It has so many depths and levels. We can (and should) spend a lifetime studying the Word and we would see something new each and every time we open the Book. There is no way that man could create such a living and breathing Word. Only God is capable of this masterpiece.

And Christ is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

Holy Spirit E-Book Free Offer
If you’d like to learn more about the Holy Spirit, get my e-book all about Him. It is available for free when you sign up to receive emails from my blog by visiting http://evaconner.com/free-ebook-holy-spirit/ and entering your email address in the subscription form at the left of the page. You’ll receive an email asking you to verify that you are not a robot. After you do that, you will receive an email with a link to the free PDF e-book.

SOURCE: I used teaching notes from www.lesfeldick.org for some of the information in today’s Bible Lesson study.

Romans 8:1-9 – External Power Source to Bring Life

June 9, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

We need an external power source to restore life where death once ruled.

1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

Romans 8:1-9

There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.

This is good news for all of us. We need to shed the guilt once and for all. Do you see the words in the first verse of chapter 8 above? There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set us free. We’ve been talking about the law in the past few lessons. We know the law itself was not bad. In fact, the law was holy and pure because it came directly from God and anything that comes from God has to be holy and pure.

The problem is not with what we do – the problem is with who we are!

We are sons of Adam; therefore, we all have a sinful nature. No amount of works that we do on our own can change our inner nature. The law shows us what is right and what is wrong. But our sinful nature cannot obey the law. We are not capable without help. I heard this analogy and connected with it so I’m sharing it with you:

Think of your inner self as a dead car battery. On your own, you can do nothing to that car battery to restore life. Cleaning the outside with soap and water doesn’t change the inner, dead part of the batttery. The only thing that can change the inner part of the battery is an external power source.

Our inner self is the same as this dead car battery. Nothing we do externally will change our inner self.

We need an external power source to bring new life to our inner man.

That external power source is the Holy Spirit! Paul confirms this in verse 2. “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, He sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in us. He is our Comforter and our Guide but it is not instantaneous. Let me clarify. The very minute we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us – this is instantaneous. What does not happen so quickly is learning to walk in the Spirit.

How do we do this?

Paul tells us in these verses above that we can either let the sinful nature control our minds or we can let the Holy Spirit control our minds. One leads to death and the other to life and peace. The battle is in our minds. In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2

So knowing that the battle is in our minds, we must let the Holy Spirit control our thinking. We need to turn from the ways of the world toward the ways of God. This raises another question.

How do we let God transform our thinking?

We let God in our minds and our thoughts by developing a close relationship with Him. We develop a close relationship with Him when we spend quiet time with Him and get in His Word. These are the two primary ways that we will know who God is and hear from Him. His Word is His Voice. When we get in the Word – studying, meditating, praying – we will draw closer to God. His Word is alive and breathing. It is Life. The Word is Jesus Christ.

The Word of God will bring about an amazing transformation of our minds, souls and spirits.

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva

10 Truths for all Graduates

May 26, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

10 Truths for Graduates

My heart is for the graduates this month. To all the seniors who are leaving their high school days behind them, here are important truths from The Word of God and a prayer for all:

1. Imitate Christ! Don’t be yourself.

He must become greater; I must become less.
John 3:30

High school is a small fraction of your life. Do not let it define who you are. We do a great job in high school of putting labels on one another. Most Popular. Prom Queen & King. Most Athletic. Most Likely to Succeed. Wipe these titles out of your mind. They don’t matter beyond the walls of the high school (and they really don’t matter in high school).

The world will tell you to “be yourself.” The world teaches us that we need to be strong and independent. Christ teaches the exact opposite. We should live our lives with the main goal of becoming more like Jesus and less like us. This is truth!

2. Love yourself.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139-13-14

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23

You are unique and no one is just like you. God created each of us to be exactly as we are. When we love ourselves, it is easier to understand God’s love for us. Look in a mirror today and look past your own familiar facial features. Stare at that face seeking Jesus. He is there and He wants to be the one people see when they look at you. As we go deeper into prayer and meditation in the Word, He grows our faith so that the fruits of the Spirit grow in our heart and become evident to all who know us. This is truth!

3. Know who love is.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:10-12

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16

Jesus Christ is love. Love is a noun. Love is Jesus. We know what love is because of Jesus Christ. He teaches us what love is. We only have love in this world because Jesus is love. He fills our heart to overflowing with love. This is truth!

4. Know your identity.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

Know that you are made in the very image of God. You are a child of the Most High God! You are precious and loved. This is the only identity you need to know. Learn this early in your life and you will be spared a lot of heartache. We often stumble through life trying to find out who we are only to feel empty time after time when the things we thought would identify us fall away. People, positions and possessions can never define us! We are new creations in Christ Jesus. The old person is gone and the new person is here. This is truth!

5. Stop the comparisons.

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
Galatians 6:3-5

Comparing ourselves to others is a losing game for all. Comparisons are a trap of the enemy to get us tangled up in webs of insecurity and jealousy. Listen to Paul’s words above. Take pride in yourself alone. Do not compare yourself with others. Carry your own load. This is good and pleases God. We can own something and be completely satisfied until we see something someone else owns that appears to be better than what we have. All of the sudden, we are no longer satisfied with what we have. Sound familiar? Learn to be content with what you have. This is truth!

6. Set Heavenly goals.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21

Our hearts are linked to what we treasure. For if your treasure is money, there your heart will be also. For if your treasure is power, there your heart will be also. For if we treasure Jesus, there your heart will be also. As you set out fresh in life – whether you’re headed to college, to the military, to new employment, or to start a family – set out with your heart focused on Jesus and loving others. If you find yourself focused on things other than Jesus, ask Him to realign your heart. This is truth.

7. Look inside a person.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7

What awesome words to live by. Learn to look deeper into people around you. Don’t judge on appearance alone. Someone who is beautiful on the outside may be ugly on the inside. If you enter into a relationship based on appearance, you may find yourself entangled in a web of hurt. Enter into relationships based on what’s in a person’s heart. Ask God to surround you with people who have a heart after Jesus. Ask Him to bring the right person into your life at the right time and the right place. And wait for Him to do so. It’s that simple. When we rush into relationships without His blessing, we are setting ourselves up for heartache. This is truth!

8. Be different.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2

It’s okay to be different. As a matter of fact, as Christians, we are called to be different. We should look different than the world. Others should look at us and see the difference. God will work through us to draw others to Him. They will look at us and see that something different and He will plant a yearning for it in their hearts. This is truth!

9. Seek God’s approval – not man’s approval.

No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
Romans 2:29

When our hearts are aligned with Jesus, we are seeking praise from Him and not man. However, when our hearts are aligned with the world, we will be seeking praise from the world. The world is fickle and the praise given from the world will always come up short. The praise we receive from Jesus is always perfect and encouraging and perfect. This is truth!

10. Dream big with NO limitations!

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26

Memorize these words. With God all things are possible. DO NOT LIMIT GOD with your own limited thinking. We have finite minds and we often limit God’s hugeness. The very God that created everything out of nothing is the same God that lives within us. The same God who wants us to be the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrow, above and not below. He wants us to be successful and do well in life. DO NOT LIMIT GOD. Dream big. Ask God for big. Then set about making it happen with Him as your Guide. This is truth!

Here is my prayer for all graduates:

Dear Father,

Thank You for each of these dear souls. We lift them to You for guidance and direction. Steer them toward the dream that YOU have for them. Before the beginning of time, You created each of them with a purpose and plan. Direct their steps and keep them on the path you laid out for them. Settle love in each of their hearts. Surround them with other people who have a heart for Your Son Jesus Christ.

As they go deeper in their relationship with You, grow their faith. We ask that You use these young people to change the world – to bring revival, to share Jesus. Give each of them a passion and burden to share Jesus with those in darkness. Let them be the light that shines ever so brightly in the darkness. Thank You for Your great protection, love and mercy for them. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen♥

Romans 6:1-7 – We were Crucified with Christ

May 26, 2017 By Eva Conner Leave a Comment

We were crucified with Christ. Hallelujah!

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.

We are no longer descendants of Adam. We are of a new creation of people. Do you see the wonderful words in verse 6? We are no longer slaves to sin. We have been set free. God’s Word is truth. It is infallible and a guarantee. His Word is the only thing that is for certain in this very broken world. Our jobs are not guaranteed. Our health is not guaranteed. Our relationships are not guaranteed.

But our salvation in Christ Jesus is guaranteed! Our new life in Him is guaranteed.

Grace does not give us a license to sin. We cannot have the mindset that grace covers all of our sin so why does it matter if we sin or not? It does matter! Paul is emphatic in his response to this question in verse 2 above. We are those who have died to sin. Our old self died when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is so important to understand. Our old self is no longer. We are now in the Body of Christ. And He is in our body. How can we keep sinning in our lives when we are in Him and He is in us?

We were buried with Him through the baptism into death so that we could be raised with Him into the new life. This new life should reflect Jesus to others. When we look in the mirror, we need to get past seeing ourselves. Look in a mirror today and look for Jesus. He truly wants us to have a transformation from death unto life. This transformation happens gradually.

As we go deeper into Jesus in our prayer time and our time with Him studying His Word, He goes deeper in us. This is called “sanctification” which means the process of being made holy. Sanctification is the change that God makes in our lives as we grow in our faith. It is all HIM. It is all about Jesus. All. The. Time.

This brings about an amazing transformation taking us from Adam to Jesus.

This transformation results in the good fruits growing (and showing) in our hearts.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Stay in the Word with me on this journey. Together we can transform families, communities, cities, states, even nations! Look in the mirror today and see Jesus! Start telling yourself who you are out loud throughout your day.

You are holy and pure.
You are righteous.
You are a child of the Most High God.
You are heir to the promises of Abraham.
You are precious and loved by Him.
You are protected from the inside out.
You are the light.

Let it shine!

Stay in the Light and the Love Always,

Eva