| LOOKING FOR WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE I am like a man sitting on a horse looking for a horse to ride. God has given me everything I need for life, but if I don’t believe it, it does me no good. My behavior follows my perception. If I believe lies, I live by lies. If I believe the truth, I live the truth. This came home to me in a very vivid way when our old house finally sold. For nine months, I had lived in worry about payments, insurance, taxes, repairs and the threat of intruders. I heard horror stories about break-ins, broken contracts, and the housing crisis. All our reserves went down a rat hole of interest at the bank. I was a nervous wreck. My prayers only made things worse, because I was constantly rehearsing my problems to God. Then we finally closed on the house. It should have been a great relief, but I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with the old anxieties. Old habits of worry don’t die easily. I kept thinking I had to go over to the house and protect it or fix something. All the same feelings of dread were still there. Worry had grooved my brain and took away the joy of the sale. At closing I signed scores of documents proving to me that the house was sold. But in the face of this indisputable truth, my brain kept lying to me and I had no peace. The truth was that I was free of the burden, but I didn’t believe it so I still carried the weight. God has destroyed my old place (my old man) and put me in a new home “in Christ.” He has handed me one hundred and seventy two “documents” describing the details of my new “home” in Him some of which are listed on our next two days. He has moved me from a kingdom of death to the kingdom of life. This is the truth, but it does me no good unless I believe it. Well, I decided to get out the old “documents” and read about my new home “in Christ” Then, I thought it would be good to believe it and move out of the old place into the new. It made no sense to live in an old smelly barn, when God had provided a beautiful new mansion. So I went over the specifications of my new home listed below, and believed the truth because it was true! It felt good to be in my new place again! It is so important to renew our minds with the truth of the Word. (Rom 12:2) We can’t believe what we don’t know. The “documents” of our new identity in Christ are listed for you to go over for the next two days. You can make copies and put them in your Bible as I have done, so you can review them often. These documents are signed by our Lord who is utterly reliable to always speak the truth. |