1 Peter 1.6

My wife is leaving to serve on Heart Quest today and there is always a little bit of fear in me. I know I need to take that thought captive, but still it is there. I have battled all morning to avoid getting in the word. Does that ever happen to you? You know you need to read but you avoid it at all costs. You walk by your bible and you feel the tug, but you put it off? Or maybe this……….. You tell yourself you will read in a minute and before you know it you don't have time and you are out the door. I actually made myself get in the word and it only took three hours to get there. So I hear James 5, but it was 1 Peter that nailed me. 1 Peter 1:6
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.NLT
So I continue to read and then I get to verse 13 1 Peter 1:13
So think clearly and exercise self-control. ……………………………………. 1 Peter 1:13 I didn't have to read any further. Enough said.

Walk in who you know you are today and be free.

 

 

2 Corinthians 10.5

I walked in victory yesterday. I was at my father-in-laws yesterday afternoon working on his unprotected computer. What I mean is, on my personal computer I have an internet filter to prevent inappropriate material from being accessed. Steve's computer does not have this. So there I am working on getting his email and office working when he says that he has to leave for about an hour. I was terrified. I know my flesh very well. As soon as he said that, I heard the enemy say (perfect you can look at whatever you want) so I had a choice, I could get up and walk away or I could kick the enemy's ass. I did not call anyone, but what I did was take that thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,NKJV You see, the Lord had me call a man who lives in Michigan ( At the time I did not know it was the Lord, I called to just say hi) and we talked about this very thing as I sat in Steve's driveway. He reminded me about 2 Corinthians 10.5. The whole time I was there in front of the computer the enemy continued to accuse me. I know who I am and yesterday I walked it out. I am broken right now and I don't even know why, but I know it is God. Thank You Jesus

I leave you with this, 2 Corinthians 10.5 works for everything; it works on anything that comes against you that is not of God. The other area of my life that the enemy has come against me is with my Daughter Nichole. When she got pregnant at the age of 16, every dream and expectation I had was smashed to hell. One day when I was beating myself up … thinking, where did I go wrong raising her? The Lord gave me a word … a promise on June 22, 2008 at 8:30 pm, I was reading in Proverbs 22, verse 6 leaped off the page. All of you with children know this scripture.
Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.NLT. As soon as I read that I heard the Holy Spirit say "Patience Kevin …… Nichole is not older yet" I have had peace ever since. It gets better … on down I came to this verse Proverbs 22:19 I am teaching you today—yes, you— so you will trust in the Lord.NLT I hear "trust me and my promise" so now when the enemy tries to accuse me about Nichole, I take that thought captive as well

 
 

 

The Email

I have been going through a little email battle with a company that I get a little men's devotional magazine from. I finally got frustrated enough that I sent him an email, (the editor) Tired of being frustrated.  Cancel my subscription please.  Not my individual but the group.  I will send a check immediately for the remaining balance.
It is interesting here because you never know when God is going to show up. (I think I wrote about this a few days ago) Here is what he responded back with. I am so very sorry about your frustration. I am also saddened that the men in your circle of influence who were served by Men of Integrity will no longer receive our spiritual encouragement and challenge. Please do accept my sincere apologies. We really do try our best to serve our customers, and it is we deep regrets that we have not been able to serve you.
So I just sat there and stared at the email for a while and then wrote a response. Here is what I said. I have started a men's group in my home that is not affiliated with a church it is only affiliated with Jesus.  I am not with the other group anymore.  All I wanted was to drop my subscription down to 10 instead of 20 and I could not figure out how to do that on the website.  Don't sweat it, the men in this group don't even know. 

Here is what I know.  That Jesus said in Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."NKJV

So you see all is not lost.  Emails suck because you don't hear the tone of the individual on the other end.  I am not mad; it is just easier to cancel than to keep going back and forth.  I think the Men of Integrity magazine is awesome and I have been reading it for four years.  In fact I have some missing copies.  What can I do to get the missing copies?  Do you have some back issues that you would sell?

You know as I read my email to you and ponder this whole thing ,  Holy Spirit just showed up and got my attention, and I just realized that I have not shown you any grace and certainly not the grace that my Father shows me.  For that I am sorry, will you forgive me.  Will you drop my subscription to 10 instead of 20?  Can you do that? 

 

So here is the deal, do I/we show the same grace to friends, family, businesses, whoever we interact with the same amount of grace that our Father shows us? Or do we pick and choose who we give grace too? Let's go one more ….. Do you Love unconditionally or do you have standards that you go by and you pick and choose.

Kevin

 

 

 

 

 

Mark 10.21

I had someone tell me the other day "you need to be careful and don't make his problem your problem" the rich young ruler asked Jesus "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Mark 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."NASB95. Here is the part that gets me, the ruler asked and Jesus told him what to do. So what did the ruler do? He walked away sad, because he had much property. So what did Jesus do? It is not what did Jesus do, it is what he didn't do. He didn't do anything. He didn't run after the ruler and say HEY! Didn't you hear what I said? I said you needed to sell all of your stuff and follow me. He didn't call him up 3 days later and ask him again if he sold his stuff. He didn't call him up 3 weeks later and ask him if he sold his stuff. He just ……walked…… away.

Another instance in is where Jesus is talking to Peter. John 21:22-23
Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me." So the rumor spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn't die. But that isn't what Jesus said at all. He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"NLT So many times we want what is the best for other people and Jesus says "What is that to You?" Jesus knows what is best and sometimes we just have to get out of his way and let him deal with someone the way he sees fit not the way we see it. Jesus wants us to follow Him and He will work out the details.

Kevin

 

Matthew 6.6

Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

So is that what you do? I mean really? Is that what you do? When was the last time you got quiet? I mean really quiet? This is what it looks like to me; you get up in the morning or late at night and you get quiet. You don't open up your bible; you don't get on your knees and pray. You just get quiet. You quiet your mind and you sit and listen. For me that looks like sitting in my favorite chair in my office and closing my eyes and try to think of things of God. It is a very difficult thing for me to do. To get quiet and not be distracted. Matthew 6.6 says when you pray, go to the closet (secret place) and shut the door and when your Heavenly Father sees what you have done in secret He will reward you in the open. For those of you that have young kids or grandkids this is what that looks like. Do you remember the last time that little child just came over and crawled up in your lap and didn't say anything but was just quiet, (maybe fell asleep) and what did you do? You held this child and just loved on that child. You might even have whispered something over that child. You most assuredly spoke a blessing over that child. That is what it looks like. You go to the secret place and leave all of your cares, crap or whatever you want to call it outside, and close the door. You crawl up in your Fathers lap and let Him speak to you and you don't say anything in return, you just listen. I promise you when you do this; it is an incredible experience, very peaceful.

Kevin

Nehemiah 2

I am putting a bid together for a kitchen remodel. It would be my first full blown kitchen remodel. New cabinets, appliances, paint and tile. I received an email from the customer about the scope of work and they approved it. Now I can give them the numbers without so many money changes. So I prayed about how much I should make on it, how much profit. I had a number in my mind.

So I did a little bible roulette and I opened up my bible to Nehemiah 2. 9 through 12 and I didn't know what they were talking about. So I went back to the beginning of Chpt 2 and read. When I got to the end of verse 8 that is when it just jumped off the page at me and that was really cool and I got total peace about what I am charging and feel I will get the job.

 

 

 

Nehemiah 2:8
And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself." And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.NLT

Isaiah 55.9

I often times sit around and wonder about the crap that I am sitting in. You know … sometimes you just have to flush the toilet. I know this sounds vulgar, but we are talking depravity here … your cesspool. Have you smelled yours lately? I have noticed over the last few days … since last Wednesday that I have been on a somewhat downward spiral until last night. The other thing I have noticed is that I have caused my own issues. I heard a message on TV and God spoke through a circumstance. It is so easy to miss God when our minds are closed. I didn't really want to watch Joel Osteen because "REALLY" he kind of annoys me with all of his blinking. I kept watching though and he started to get my attention and then I realized that I really didn't want to hear the Lord that way. I wanted to hear him my way and I almost missed him. How many times do we get stuck in old traditions and then we miss what God is saying? We put God in a box.

Be open to what God is saying no matter what circumstance you are in. God speaks to us right now as if we are already what He has called us to be. Not where we are right now.

Isaiah 55:9
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.NKJV

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 11.26-28

1 Corinthians 11:26-28
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. I don't know about you but this is saying every time you eat remember … do you? I have to say that I don't take communion every time I sit down to eat …. But I think about it almost every time. So is that my conscience or Holy Spirit? 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. So what does it mean to partake in an unworthy manner? What does that look like? 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.NASB95

dok·im·ad·zo/] v. From 1384; TDNT 2:255; TDNTA 181; GK 1507 and 1508; 23 occurrences; AV translates as "prove" 10 times, "try" four times, "approve" three times, "discern" twice, "allow" twice, "like" once, and "examine" once. 1 to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals. 2 to recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy. So here is my question….. When you examine, what are you examining? What does it say above in the definition? To Approve, deem worthy. Guess what? You are approved and you are worthy! Why? Because you are a son of the living God. The goal is to look inward and to look at the cross of Christ and what His blood purchased, His sacrifice makes us approved. The world teaches us to look at our hearts and to ask "What's wrong with me? Paul says to examine yourself for approval. Look into your heart to find what brings you approval (quote chpt. 28) The only thing that qualifies us before God is the finished work of Jesus. Amen!

Kevin

James 5.16

The fear of Judgment …. A nasty place to be, an easy place to be. The Lord does not sit up there and decide to leave you or forsake you for something we did, but He hurts because of what we are doing to ourselves, whatever that may be. So many times we will confess our sin to the Lord but we will not confess to one another like it says in James 5:16 therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.NIV You have to get to a point where you can confess to one another without the fear of being judged. Many times it is the fear of being judged that makes us not want to confess. Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.NIV

So confess your sin and walk free or keep it to yourself and be bound up. So the question is this: have you confessed to the Lord but not to your brother? If that is the case, then do what needs to be done and don't give the enemy any ground by keeping your mouth shut. If you are fessed up, then more power to you. Amen

Be Free

 

So we will better know you

 

Lord, sometimes we cannot help the way we think.

That really does stink.

You know what, that is okay.

Look to the clouds and pray.

 

Sometimes Lord, we cannot explain

The way we truly feel.

Sometimes we are in so much pain

Nothing seems real.

 

Everything You do God, is so calculated

So why does life sometimes feel so complicated.

He speaks to us in prayer that is how we communicate.

He always gives us something to contemplate.

 

The Lord instills in us confidence

The Lord in our lives is not a coincidence.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to get us out of our stalemate.

He tells us that whatever we do, please do not deviate.

 

The Lord is talking about our walk.

He says, "spread my word when you talk."

Some people will not listen, that is okay.

Those that do not listen get their names and pray.

 

 

 

By kevin gwyn

ÓCopyrighted 4/17/2002

 

 

 

The rest of the Story

The rest of the Story: Darrin Hufford is the man in the story. He is the author of several books. This story comes from the book I just finished called "The Misunderstood God".

A young married couple had asked him to stop by their house and minister to the young lady who was living with them. They said she was demon possessed. They were going to be with him but they had to go out of town at the last minute so he had to go alone. This made him very nervous. He had actually been training for a while about deliverance. So he got prayed up and when arrived at the house he even drove around the house seven times. He put anointing oil on his hands so when he shook the girls hand he would scare the demons but to his amazement nothing happened. So he sat down with the young lady and she begins to explain to him that the demon in her spoke to her all the time and that she knew his name. That is when he said, can I pray with you? she said, yes but you cannot use the J-word (Jesus). That was paralyzing to the author! It would be like training a soldier in the use of a weapon and then stripping him of it moments before battle. How are you supposed to cast out demons without using the name of Jesus? So what did he do? He pleaded the blood, rebuked the demon and called down the blessings, but nothing happened. He said he was dead in the water and felt like a traveling snake oil salesman at the end of his bag of tricks.

So he sat there with her for more than two hours feeling embarrassed and emotional spent. While sitting there thinking about what else he could do, he caught a glimpse of the little girl. She had not slept in days. He saw a little girl consumed in fear that she could barely sit still. It was in that moment that his heart broke for her as if she was his own child. He got up and walked across the room and took her into his arms and held her tightly. Everything in inside of him melted and he cried with her as he held her. That moment that young lady was set free. Her name was Joy. And she had reclaimed her Joy in his arms. He learned that day that tricks are for kids. Though he was stripped of using Jesus' name, He found that if he became Jesus to her all the power of the universe was at my fingertips. It was love that sat her free. From the day forward the author says that his entire ministry was built on the foundational truth that God is Love and that it is more important to be Jesus with skin on than to just say His name. God is Love and nothing else. God gave us the Golden rule. Do unto others as you would them do unto you. The golden rule is for God as well….. Not just us.

John 15:17
These things I command you, that you love one another.NKJV

The J - Word

I have something for you to think about. You get a phone call from someone who asks you to go over to a friend of theirs to minister to the individual. They tell you this individual has demons hanging off of them like bats! This individual is expecting you. When you arrive this person answers the door and invites you in. You see that this individual is somewhat scared but you do not know what this person is scared of. You begin to ask questions and then you ask if you could pray for this individual and this individual says yes you may, but I have to ask you that you not say the

J – word (Jesus) when you pray for me. What are you going to do?

This is just something to chew on.

Kevin

Forgive

Proverbs 24:29
Don't say to anyone, "I'll get back at you for what you did to me. I'll make you pay for what you did!" The Message

Ephesians 4:31-32
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.The Message

So you have a choice today, You can walk in forgiveness or not. I choose to walk in forgiveness for the man who stole my wife from me 9 years ago. I can choose to get mad at him and he will not even know it, but my life will be measurable. That sounds like fun doesn't it. Matthew 12:31-32
"There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit,
(This part right here really made me think)
you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives. The Message
Matthew 18:21-22
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. The Message Forgiveness to me is this "Lord when "blank" stands before you on judgment day please forgive him for what He did to me" Then pray a blessing over this person even if he is deceased. Do you think for a moment that there are occasions when I would like to go back in time and get my revenge for what my ex wife's husband did? There have been times, but I immediately take that thought captive to Christ. When the anger and bitterness start to take root you have a choice, You can pull it up right then and stop and take it captive or you can dwell on it which is fertilizing the root. It is your choice.

Who do you need to forgive today? Quit living in the past. There is no future in the past. Be Blessed and Highly favored

Remember, if you have not forgave then you have been turned over to the tormentors. How is that working for you?

Proverbs 14. 12-16

Change……… don't we love that word. For a lot of us, change is more than we want to deal with, because it means looking into our heart. It means that we may have to admit …..Oh My Gosh, I am wrong! So many times we value being right more than we value our relationship. A lot of times when that happens we move on to another relationship, until it happens again. A lot of times when people speak into our lives we think it as judgment when really all it is meaningful input. So many times we are not aware that we are going the opposite direction of God's wisdom. You must ask Holy Spirit!

Proverbs 14:12-16
there's a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak. A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace. The gullible believe anything they're told; the prudent sift and weigh every word. The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless. The Message

 

Quote: So don't reject those who have been faithful just because you don't like their input. When you find yourselves being defensive or reactionary, ask yourself why you are so resistant. Sometimes it good to listen to people with whom you disagree, just to get another perspective. The wise learn by instruction; the slow learn by correction; the foolish learn by consequences; and the selfish never learn. Listen, learn, grow …. And stop the pain.

 

Be blessed and Highly Favored today! You are a Son!

 

Anyone read James lately?

James 1:19
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.NLT

1 Corinthians 4:5

Who are you listening to? What voice or are there many voices that you are listening to? For me, often times I will seek wise counsel among Godly men and women and those are the many voices I hear. What I often find is this; if you talk to enough people you will get a split answer. Some will say go left and some will say go right. Does that ever happen to you? Often times we forget to ask Holy Spirit. We get so caught up in what is going on that we just forget. I think if we ask enough people we will eventually get the answer we are looking for and then we will ask Holy Spirit to "bless" our decision that we made without Him. Just something I have been chewing on today. I pray that you find favor in Him today. Kevin

1 Corinthians 4:5
So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God. The Message

Job 40.8

 

Have you Judged God lately?

Job 40:8
Will you also annul (set aside and render void) my judgment? Will you condemn Me [your God], that you may [appear] righteous and justified? AMP

Job 40:8
"Do you presume to tell me what I'm doing wrong? Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint? The Message

 

Do you create a concept of God that justifies your life experiences. What I mean is so many times we recreate God in our own image instead of seeing Him the way scripture says who He is. We want God to see the experiences in our lives the way we want him to see them.

 

Quote: When we begin to ask "why" in regard to God, we enter into judgment about Him. God has told us all we need to know about Him in His word. He sent Jesus, who modeled all that He is. We should be able to look at the life of Jesus and understand God. But we don't – we look to our experiences and ask" Why did this happen to me?" "why did God let that happen"

 

So here is the big question, are you judging God and asking him to bless your life in the same sentence? The rest of the passage below

 

Job 40:9-14
Do you have an arm like my arm? Can you shout in thunder the way I can? Go ahead, show your stuff. Let's see what you're made of, what you can do. Unleash your outrage. Target the arrogant and lay them flat. Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees. Stop the wicked in their tracks—make mincemeat of them! Dig a mass grave and dump them in it— faceless corpses in an unmarked grave. I'll gladly step aside and hand things over to you— you can surely save yourself with no help from me! The Message

 

 

Proverbs 15.5

Who are you? Do you learn from instruction, or do you choose to learn the hard way. Holy Spirit in Proverbs says 15:5 Only a fool despises a parent's discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise. NLT Proverbs 17:10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.NLT The majority of the pain in our lives comes simply because we will not listen. In the proverb above, the fool's only hope of learning is when he has to face the consequences of his own actions. Think about that for a moment ………. How many times have you sought out advice, or someone spoke into you, only to find that you felt you knew better than they did. So you chose to do it your own way and it was wrong or it did not work and it cost you dearly. Then the thought comes in your head "I guess I should have listened." That is always fun listening to that little voice.

So here is my question, Has someone spoken into you lately or you sought out Godly counsel on a mater? Then you chose to do it your way? This isn't Burger King you know. How did that work for you?

Be Blessed and Highly favored today

If you will ask

This is something I read this morning from the book "If You will ask" by Oswald Chambers. The book is about prayer. Below is something out of chapter 3

 

 

If we struggle in prayer it is because the enemy is gaining ground. If prayer is simple to us, it is because we have the victory. There is no such thing as a holiday for the beating of your heart. If there is, the grave comes next. And there is no such thing as a moral or spiritual holiday. If we attempt to take a holiday, the next time we want to pray it is a struggle because the enemy has gained a victory all round, darkness has come down and spiritual wickedness in high placeshas enfolded us. If we have to fight, it is because we have disobeyed; we ought to more than conquerors.

". . . and having done all, to stand"— a mental state as regards confidence, no panic. What is it puts us into a panic? The devil is a bully, but he cannot stand for a second before God. When we stand in the armor of God he pays no attention to us, but if we tackle the devil in our own strength we are done for. If we stand in God's armor with the strength and courage of God, he cannot gain one inch of way, and the position of prayer is held, as far as we are concerned, untouched by his wiles. Confidence in the natural world is self-reliance, in the spiritual world it is God-reliance. We run away when we have not been practicing, when we have not been doing anything in private, then when there is a new onslaught of the wiles of the devilwe lose heart instantly. Instead of standing we scuttle, and others have to fill the gap until we are sufficiently ashamed to come back. We cannot stand against the wiles of the devil by our wits. The devil only comes along the lines that God understands, not along the lines we understand, and the only way we can be prepared for him is to do what God tells us, stand complete in His armor, indwelt by His Spirit, in complete obedience to Him. We have not to wait for some great onslaught of the enemy, he is here all the time and he is wily. The secret of the sacred struggle for prayer lies in the fact that we must stand in the armor of God, practicing what God would have us do, then we can hold the position of prayer against all the attacks of the devil.

If we are struggling in prayer it is because the wiles of the enemy are getting the upper hand, and we must look for the cause of it in the lack of discipline in ourselves. There are some things we have not been strenuously practicing—we used to pray in the morning, do we now? We used to commune with God over the Bible, do we now? We used to be in contact with God wherever we went, are we now? Put on the whole armor of Godand keep continuously practicing, and then the wiles of the devilcannot get you unawares.

 

Proverbs 27.17

Being judgmental really makes me want to hurl sometimes. Case in point, I had to call someone yesterday to see if he was going on an event, to serve with me. He had not responded to any of my emails, so I had to call him. When I asked him why he had responded to my email, he responded with "I don't get online" I thought "okay" so I asked "how to you read the men's emails?" He responded louder and more sternly "I don't get online!" It really pissed me off the way he was talking to me. Then he said "Mike Chaney knows that" I said "I am sorry, but Chaney failed to mention to me that you did not get online." Now I am starting to get annoyed. (In my mind I am wondering if I am being Judgmental or is this guy being a jerk). What he failed to mention was that his daughter kept him up to date on the emails. He also said he had responded to Michael so he felt he didn't need to respond to me. That annoyed me as well. What I had to do was be super nice to him. He bowed up then I bowed up. So I had to make myself be nice so I could end the conversation on a good note. Which, that is what happened. Does this phone call still bother me…? Somewhat, but I am working through it. Here is what really got me. So I talked to a friend of mine who served with this man and he said that the individual that I am referring to is one of the nicest persons he knows. So now I have to really think about my tone with Him and did I start it?

When I told my wife this story she looked at me and said "that is what you do to me" I said "what" She said, "I will ask you a question and you will give me an answer, but I don't understand your answer, So I ask you the question again and you get louder and give me the same answer thinking that I will understand because you are louder and annoyed that I did not understand you the first time."

As Iron sharpens iron, so one wife sharpens a husband.

 

Proverbs 27.17 "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another:

Who are you?

When you look in the mirror, who do you see looking back? Do you see a Son? Romans 8:15
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"NASB95. Or are you judging yourself? When you see yourself in any other form other than what God sees you, you a creating a big problem for yourself.

Romans 6:10-11
When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.NLT

Romans 6:11
Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.AMP why do we as a people have such a hard time with believing who God says we are? This is how God sees us. He does not see the sin…….. He sees us!

 

Quote: You may say "Yes, but I have all sorts of problems. This can't be true about me." That's the problem you don't consider God's opinion to be real; therefore, you will never experience His version of reality. You will only experience what you consider to be true.

 

When you get to the point where you believe this verse you will be free from all other judgments, including the harshest ones of them all. The ones where you judge yourself. I assure you that I have not gotten there YET! But I am close.

 

So the next time you stand in the mirror are you going to believe what you see? Or who the Lord says you are?

 

Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.NASB95