“In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor.” (Ephesians 1:7)
The subject of redemption is at the heart of the gospel message. God, the Father, sent Jesus to be our Redeemer. As God opened my eyes to my identity in Jesus Christ, the subject of redemption became clearer to me than ever before. One morning as I was reading in Isaiah, I came across the following scripture. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you {ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives}; I have called you by name, you are Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1 Amp.) For several weeks I meditated on this scripture, asking God to show me the full meaning of redemption. For that reason, I am sharing some personal revelation that came to me during those weeks. Jesus came to redeem our hearts. Follow me through some of the personal revelation.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind? I the Lord search the mind; I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah17:9-10)
A friend and I were doing the Breaking Free Bible study by Beth Moore. One morning, I saw these words beside a bullet point on the page...
‘Christ’s ministry is a ministry of the heart’.
She pointed out in the following statement that after hearing Jesus teach (Luke 4) “the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at his works” (v.22). Then she shared the following statement.
“I am touched again by the realization that speaking well of Christ, and even being amazed by His works or words, does not equal belief.”
This reminded me of a discussion we had in our connect group just the day before about the passage in Proverbs 6: 16-19 about the seven sins God hates. We all came to the conclusion these sins had to do with the ‘heart’. I asked God to continue to make this clear to me. He is always faithful when we ask Him to reveal His word to us. All we must do is ask.
The next morning, I woke to find an email from a dear friend with the following word-picture.
“A closet door with a high shelf on which sat a silver-plated heart complete with valves, aorta, etc…”
My friend Sandy shared what she felt God speaking to her about her heart as she read scripture that day.
“I have redeemed your heart from destruction…. All those things you have kept hidden in your closet.”
Two scripture references were included.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm and impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
“Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] His benefits—Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring].” (Psalm 103:2-5)
He came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty and freedom to the captive in their hearts, to release us from the darkness in the chambers of our own hearts. He wants to comfort our hearts where there is pain and bestow upon our very hearts a crown of beauty in the place where there have been only ashes.
God sent Jesus, our Redeemer, in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit to bring our hearts under the freeing authority of God’s word. We will only find freedom to the degree our hearts accept, rely and respond to the truth of His word. Being free has everything to do with our hearts. He came to redeem our hearts from destruction.
Our prison doors are locked from the inside and we hold the key to being set free from captivity. We have built walls around our hearts and placed a “No trespassing sign” at the gate of those chambers where our dark pain and sorrow reside. We have become skilled at compartmentalizing our pain and covering our brokenness. I would like to suggest that those of us who are Christians have become even more adept at hiding our wounds and brokenness. We speak well of Jesus in our daily conversation and even share with others the amazing things He has done in our lives, and yet there in the chambers of our heart lurks a dark secret sin we have set up on the highest shelf in our closet. In other chambers reside the lies we have believed about ourselves and the condemnation and victim mentality which has served as our life blood. We need a transfusion.
Silver in the Bible represents ‘redemption’ which makes the word picture of the silver plated heart more meaningful. In the Bible, both Joseph and Jesus were betrayed with silver. Though Joseph was sold into slavery for silver, he rose to bring release to his family and is a picture of the redemption that would come through Jesus Christ. No matter how deeply we have buried things in our hearts, He is always working to redeem us from the enemy’s plan of destruction.
Looking back to Psalm 103, it is Jesus who came to forgive ALL our iniquities and heal ALL our diseases. He came to redeem our very hearts from the pit and corruption. We have to unlock the doors from within and allow His blood which He shed to redeem us, to flow from chamber to chamber, bringing new life to those areas we feel we have safely hidden away from Him.
I challenge you to join me in allowing the Great Physician to have a look into the chambers of your heart. Allow Him to search out your mind and heart as it speaks about in Jeremiah. He wants to make our hearts His home.
Some thoughts for journaling.....
What have you hidden away in the chambers of your heart? A secret sin, the fear of failure, rejection or abandonment, pain that seems too great to expose?
What holds the highest priority in your heart and is most accessible? A victim mentality, judgment and a critical spirit, lies that protect you from confronting the truth, or a lifestyle of fear?
Where have you been deceived in your own heart?
On which chamber of your heart have you posted a “No Trespassing Sign”?
How and when did you become deceived?
Why is it difficult for you to trust His Word?
He has paid the price (past tense) for your redemption. Will you allow Him access to your whole heart so that your heart can be entirely redeemed and surrendered to Him?
Part two is posted on the web site at http://www.aredeemedheat.com/ today, Sept. 13, 2010.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Lesson 6 Accepted in the Beloved
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. “ Ephesians 1:6
At the point of your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are accepted by God the Father. There is no other place of acceptance except in the Son of God. As we see in this verse, God's motivation is always His glorious grace. All the spiritual blessings we have talked about so far are free gifts of God's grace.
Charis (5485), the word grace in the original Greek, means joy, favor, acceptance , a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace. A favor done without expectation of return; absolute freeness of the loving-kindness of God to men, finding its only motive in the bounty and freeheartedness of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. God is the Giver, we simply receive His free gift of grace by faith.
Charis stands in direct antithesis to erga (2041), which means works, the two being mutually exclusive. God's grace affects man's sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy, thankfulness, and acceptance to him.
When you accept Christ, you are no longer under the law of the Old Covenant. You are now under the covenant of grace. “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14) The New Covenant in Christ's blood, spoken of by Jesus at the Last Supper, had its origin in the wonderful grace of God. With His grace working in us, all the promises of the blessing can be fulfilled and experienced by those who believe.
Grace came by Jesus Christ to deliver us from the bondage and dominion of sin. It's work is twofold.
Full pardon and the righteousness, or right standing with God, and acceptance into God's favor and relationship with Him are first. This is the redemption spoken of in the Bible. Second, throughout our lives, grace will forever put an end to thoughts of merit, work and worthiness.
Two important points as we close our lesson today. Grace is the power that moves the heart of God in its compassion and love to accept us as sinners, it is also the power that moves our hearts and provides us as believers everything we need to love God and accept His will for our lives.
Lesson 7 and 8 on Redemption. Don't miss this vital piece of our study of your identity in Christ. Lesson 8 continues with the subject of Redemption on the web site at http://www.aredeemedheart.com/ today Sept. 13, 2010. Archived lessons here at Unveil my Heart will be in descending order... lesson 7 last one in archives, 6 before that one and so on. There are two lessons on some archives indicated by the (2) beside the date.
At the point of your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are accepted by God the Father. There is no other place of acceptance except in the Son of God. As we see in this verse, God's motivation is always His glorious grace. All the spiritual blessings we have talked about so far are free gifts of God's grace.
Charis (5485), the word grace in the original Greek, means joy, favor, acceptance , a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace. A favor done without expectation of return; absolute freeness of the loving-kindness of God to men, finding its only motive in the bounty and freeheartedness of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. God is the Giver, we simply receive His free gift of grace by faith.
Charis stands in direct antithesis to erga (2041), which means works, the two being mutually exclusive. God's grace affects man's sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy, thankfulness, and acceptance to him.
When you accept Christ, you are no longer under the law of the Old Covenant. You are now under the covenant of grace. “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14) The New Covenant in Christ's blood, spoken of by Jesus at the Last Supper, had its origin in the wonderful grace of God. With His grace working in us, all the promises of the blessing can be fulfilled and experienced by those who believe.
Grace came by Jesus Christ to deliver us from the bondage and dominion of sin. It's work is twofold.
Full pardon and the righteousness, or right standing with God, and acceptance into God's favor and relationship with Him are first. This is the redemption spoken of in the Bible. Second, throughout our lives, grace will forever put an end to thoughts of merit, work and worthiness.
Two important points as we close our lesson today. Grace is the power that moves the heart of God in its compassion and love to accept us as sinners, it is also the power that moves our hearts and provides us as believers everything we need to love God and accept His will for our lives.
Lesson 7 and 8 on Redemption. Don't miss this vital piece of our study of your identity in Christ. Lesson 8 continues with the subject of Redemption on the web site at http://www.aredeemedheart.com/ today Sept. 13, 2010. Archived lessons here at Unveil my Heart will be in descending order... lesson 7 last one in archives, 6 before that one and so on. There are two lessons on some archives indicated by the (2) beside the date.
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