Christ Has Freed Us From The Curse That Comes Because We Broke God's Laws

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

 

The curse of the broken law is three-fold: spiritual death, poverty, and sickness. Jesus bore the results of the curse of the broken law in Himself on the cross. Since He has legally borne our penalty for sin, we are released from the results of the broken law.

 

In the place of spiritual death, we receive spiritual life. The very life and nature of God (Greek- Zoe) enters our spirit when we are born again! The wall that separated us from the Father has been removed, and intimacy with Him becomes possible if we will pursue it! Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

 

In the place of poverty, we receive prosperity. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). Some people think this verse refers to Jesus becoming spiritually poor. But the spiritually poor can’t heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, or preach and teach the gospel! Jesus became physically poor as He bore our poverty. In the place of poverty we have abundance and the blessings of God. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).

 

In the place of sickness we have His health! Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). We have a legal right before God to walk free from sick and disease.

 

Satan does not give up territory easily, and you must be diligent in the Word and stand in faith for the blessings of God to be yours. Don’t stand for low level fellowship with the Father when Jesus has opened the door wide for intimacy! Don’t walk in poverty when Jesus has secured your blessing! Act and speak like you believe God’s Word is true! Don’t permit sickness and disease to reign in your body. Command Satan to keep His hands off of you in the name of Jesus! With His stripes you are healed.

Don’t settle for less than God’s best! Jesus has endured the curse for your freedom. Honor Him by receiving the best He has for you today. You’re free from the curse and an heir of blessing!

We Are Righteous In Christ!

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Galatians 2:16).

 

We are right with God, not because of what we do, but because of what He did for us! We are not saved by grace to live by works.

 

Early in my Christian experience I learned a valuable lesson about trusting the grace of God in my life. Being a hard worker, I had a subtle belief buried deep within my soul that I must work to be accepted. As a young boy, I received affirmation mainly when I accomplished something. I carried this habit into my adult life.

 

As I began to walk with God, the familiar call of guilt and inferiority pulled me back into a works righteousness instead of a faith righteousness. I begin to read my Bible to be right with God instead of for spiritual nourishment. I would pray, not for fellowship, but to calm a overbearing conscience. I would fast a few meals, not to wait on God as much as to please Him.

 

The Lord graciously revealed to me during that season that He loved me, and that Jesus had already done everything necessary to make me right with Him. He showed me that I must take all of my inferiority to Him, and that there was nothing more I could do to become righteous. Jesus paid my sin debt. Jesus cancelled my past, and gave me His standing before the Father.

 

The Lord showed me that my righteousness was like filthy rags and that I could never do enough to be right with Him. I must accept by faith that He loves me, that He has forgiven and forgotten my past, and that I am now secure in Christ. My human efforts could never match what Jesus has already done to make me right with Him.

 

Stop struggling in self-effort to be right with God! Accept the fact that the blood of Jesus gives you a righteousness that makes close fellowship possible. When you sin, confess what you did before the Father and ask for His grace to enable you to overcome the weakness of the flesh. We’re not saved by grace to live by works!

Jesus As Revealed In The Four Gospels

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)

Matthew 1 begins with the genealogy of Jesus. The book of Matthew presents Jesus as the king of the Jews. It shows Him through this genealogy as the legal heir of the throne of David through Joseph.

All of the gospels depict Jesus differently. And here is the background. In the Old Testament tabernacle and temple stood the figure of the Cherubim. There were four faces on these Cherubim; the face of a lion; the face of an ox; the face of a man; and the face of an eagle. The early church fathers applied these four symbols to the four Gospels as they reveal different perspectives of Jesus’ life.

The Lion represents Jesus, the King of the Jews. The kingship of Jesus is the theme of the book of Matthew.

 

The ox represents Jesus as the suffering servant, and this is typified in the book of Mark. Mark represents Jesus as the worker, serving mankind by preaching, teaching, healing, and delivering form satanic bondage.

 

The human face represents Jesus the son of man and He is typified in the book of Luke. In Luke we have a display of the humanity of Jesus and He is represented as the Son of man. Details of his birth are given in Luke, showing that He was both God and man. Mary clothed Jesus with a body of flesh so that He could identify with our weakness, show His strength, and set us free.

The face of the eagle on the cherubim represents Jesus’ Divinity. The gospel of John reveals Jesus as the Son of God. John looks at Jesus from the aspect of his Divine nature. In John we see Jesus as the Living Word, pre-existing the body that Mary gave Him. We see Him as the Son from eternity past who came to give us light and to set us free!

In the genealogy of Matthew 1, four women are mentioned that had nothing to do with God’s covenant with Abraham. Tamar and Rahab are mentioned and they were both prostitutes. Ruth is mentioned, and she is from the cursed race of the Moabites. Bathsheba is mentioned, and of course she is the woman who committed adultery with David.

Why did God add these women to the genealogy? I believe that He wanted us to know that we are accepted into the family of God regardless of our background. Jesus was a friend of sinners, and when He cleanses from sin, it is so thorough that He is glad to include us in His family tree!

 

Neither race, gender, social place, nor political persuasion can keep us from the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers if we will simply humble ourselves. He will be to us everything we need. The face of the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle all represent the fact that Jesus came as the king; not too mighty or proud to work; willing to identify with our humanness; yet being Sovereign Deity who reigns over all.

As member of His body, let’s identify with Jesus and see every person through His eyes. Every person is precious to Him. He love and forgives if we simply yield and accept His freely given grace and mercy. Let’s look beyond the flesh when we see others, and place on them the value that God places on them. For God so loved the world!

MERRY CHRISTMAS - FROM THE HORTON FAMILY

May God Bless you and your family today as we celebrate the greatest miracle in all of history. The Virgin birth is the grandest manifestation of God’s  love for us. Without the Virgin birth and Jesus’ vicarious life, death, and resurrection, we would live in the shadow of a dark, hopeless future. As you give gifts on this Christmas day, take time to reflect on God’s gift of salvation made available to you - compliments of the Incarnation!

Matthew 1:18-2:23 The Message Paraphrase (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) (19) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. (20) While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. (21) She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus — 'God saves' — because he will save his people from their sins." (22) This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: (23) Watch for this — a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). (24) Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. (25) But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus. (2:1) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory — this was during Herod's kingship — a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. (2) They asked around, "Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We're on pilgrimage to worship him." (3) When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified — and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. (4) Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" (5) They told him, "Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly: (6) It's you, Bethlehem, in Judah's land, no longer bringing up the rear. From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel." (7) Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. (8) Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, "Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I'll join you at once in your worship." (9) Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. (10) They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! (11) They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh. (12) In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.  (13) After the scholars were gone, God's angel showed up again in Joseph's dream and commanded, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him." (14) Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. (15) They lived in Egypt until Herod's death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: "I called my son out of Egypt." (16) Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he'd gotten from the scholars.) (17) That's when Jeremiah's sermon was fulfilled: (18) A sound was heard in Ramah, weeping and much lament. Rachel weeping for her children, Rachel refusing all solace, Her children gone, dead and buried. (19) Later, when Herod died, God's angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: (20) "Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead." (21) Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. (22) When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. (23) On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

Your Mouth Is Like A Thermostat!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).

 

The thermostat on the wall in your home is set to continually monitor the temperature. The thermostat constantly calls for a certain temperature and works ceaselessly toward that goal.

You also have a built in thermostat. It’s your mouth! And right now it is bringing into your life what you’ve set it on! You and I are calling things into our lives with the words of our mouth every day! Whatever you allow yourself to verbalize and believe is what is coming into your future. Don’t confess what you don’t want because one day it will show up!

Words are powerful. God creates with them. And in a large way, you create in your world what you have with your words. Don’t use them lightly. Fill your words with faith and confidence in God.  Rid yourself of the habit of talking about negative and unseemly things.

Fill your words each day with healing, blessing, favor, abundance, success, boldness, compassion, love, and courage. You may feel none of these things, but if you’ll set your thermostat there, and keep it working, little by little your personal life temperature will begin to agree with your thermostat. It’s a never ending principle from the time you’re born until the day you go to be with Jesus (See James 3:1-6).

Words can move mountains, heal disease, mend relationships, produce abundance, cancel fear and doubt, bring the presence of the Father, and soothe the spirit and soul. Fill your words today with what know the Father wants in your life. Let your words agree with God’s word.

Start today where you are. Don’t brood over the past. Get up and fight the fight of faith! You’re a winner! A conqueror! You are the Father’s favored one! Talk the way you believe, not the way you feel. Speak the answer, not the problem today. Keep your thermostat set on victory!

Use The Authority That God Has Given You!

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

 

As a believer, you are a person with authority and the devil knows it! The original authority to care for the earth that God gave Adam has been handed back to you! Jesus came back from death with the keys of hell and death (Revelation 1:18). Keys represent authority.

Just before Jesus left the earth to be seated at the right hand of the Father He gave His authority as the New Creation man back to the church (Matthew 28: 18-19). You now have the same authority that Jesus had when He walked the earth! You are seated in a place of authority called heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Your position of authority is far above all principality, power, might, and dominion (Ephesians 1: 21). Satanic power is under your feet!

Satan’s knows that you have authority. He plays a game of bluff with you. He tells you that you’re defeated; that you’ll never amount to anything; that nothing that God has promised will ever come to pass in your life; that you’ll be sick and broke all your life; that God doesn’t care; and that you should go ahead and throw in the towel and give up. He’s an accuser. And He’s a liar (John 8:44)!

Many believers buy into Satan’s lies and quit fighting the fight of faith. They perish for refusing to act on the Word! Make a decision today to resist the devil and his lies. Throw off from yourself the blanket of unbelief that keeps you down! Act on the Word today! Take the sword of the Spirit and go to work. Speak God’s Word over your life, your family, your body, your finances, and your circumstances. Declare that your past sins had been removed, your present is blessed, and your future is bright. Use your Jesus given authority today and command Satan to take his hands off of you and those around you. You have the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18).

The Father is waiting today for you to act. He has done all He will ever do about blessing your life. All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3: 21-22)! But all is lost if you fail to act! The Father has faith in you, that you’ll rise to the position that He’s placed you in. It’s a position of favor, of blessing, of honor, and of responsibility!

Make the Father’s heart glad today by using the authority He’s given you. He’s counting on you to carry out His plans!

Keep The Word Of God in Your Thinking If You Want God's Best

I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways (Psalm 119:15).

Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97).

The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).

I’ve been reminded recently by the Lord of the importance of meditating in the Word daily. Like no other generation before our time, we have an overload of information. With so much available from multiple sources, it’s now necessary to become selective in what we read, hear, and watch.

The most important information that we need each day is the WORD! God’s Word is my standard that keeps distractions out, and keeps me focused on the necessary and important. As Isaiah 33:6 states, Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation...Without the Word, our lives will be like sand bombarded with a flood of water; we’ll be unstable!

The Word insulates us from the harsh environment of the world, where fear and doubt try to steal into our minds. The Word washes the debris from our thoughts that may get temporarily lodged there through daily interaction with so much stuff! And we’re admonished to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom or practical application (Colossians 3:16).

Joshua tells us that meditation in the Word will bring prosperity and success into daily life (Joshua 1:8). David encourages that meditation in the Word will cause us to be like a tree by a river bank that has a great supply of nourishment, and from that association with the river, all that we do will prosper. Solomon tells us that the Word is even like medicine to our flesh (See Proverbs 4:20-22)! Isaiah relates that the Word will give us perfect peace (Is. 26:3).

If it’s available, what would keep us from pursuing that which would better us? Jesus said the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of money, and the desire for other things could steal what the Word wants to do in us (Mark 4). The enemy knows what a powerhouse for God we will be if we act on the indwelling word, so he’s real busy these days cooking up some interesting distractions. Don’t buy his game of bluff!

I’ve made a fresh decision to take time each day to meditate, to take scripture and let it go over and over in my mind while a taking a quick break, or when going for a walk or bike ride.  To speak it out loud in my car, or to let it revolve over and over in my mind when I’m going to sleep, or when I wake up at night. The more opportunities we give the Word to dwell in us richly, the more success, favor, health, life, light, peace, and rest we will enjoy. The Word will NEVER leave us empty like so much in this information age. Let’s let it dwell in us – RICHLY!

Get Ready! Persecution Is In Our Future!

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

 

The spirit of antiChrist is already busy on earth today. It manifests as a spirit of religious tolerance and religious inclusiveness. The idea is that all religions lead to the same God. It is rapidly gaining ground in the social and political discourse and ideology in our nation. It already dominates Europe. And the elites of our nation and the educational institutions are now under its’ diabolical control.

In the period to come, believers in Jesus will be more and more persecuted, labeled as extremists and castigated form the public social dialogue as harboring a belief that segregates, divides, and demeans. The idea is that all religions are good and that we must not speak against any of them, nor should we seek to proselytize anyone from another system of belief.

 

The idea of tolerance and inclusiveness is rapidly gaining ground in the workplace, and is already the norm in public schools and in colleges and universities. It’s the reason for the push for Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. It’s the reason that a hundred years of traditional Christmas songs and displays are being sidelines when the public refuses to protest.

 

We’re entering a dark period culminating in a severe worldwide test from Almighty God commonly called the tribulation. And it’s coming fast; perhaps faster than we think. The only restraining force holding it back and keeping it in check is the church! Once we leave in the rapture, the world will go full force into this ideology.

 

I want to give you the promises of God for the persecuted. These promises will guide you in the days to come and will give you boldness and strength to stand undeterred in confrontation with this anti-Christ spirit as it works through people.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt 5:11-12).

Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets (Luke 6:22-23).

If you are censured and suffer abuse because you bear the name of Christ, blessed are you — happy, fortunate, to be envied, with life-joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of your outward condition, because the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God, is resting upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or any sort of criminal, or as a mischief-maker (a meddler) in the affairs of others [infringing on their rights]. But if one is ill-treated and suffers as a Christian which he is contemptuously called, let him not be ashamed, but give glory to God that he is deemed worthy to suffer in this name (1 Peter 4:14-16 - Amplified).

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12).

God Guides Us Through Our Spirit Nature

The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart (Proverbs 20:27).

When you need direction, don’t look to circumstances or even to your thoughts and feelings. You must go much deeper than that. Look to your human spirit.

 

The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit, not in your mind. In your spirit is the needed direction for every area of life.

 

As a pastor, I look to my human spirit for direction and guidance. I usually know intuitively many things about people and about out direction in ministry.

 

Information comes to us from our spirit in the form of a “nudge,” an inner witness, an intuition, or we sometimes call it a “gut feeling” or a “hunch.” This witness could also be referred to as conscience. This is deeper than logical thought. This is the Holy Spirit bearing witness in our human spirit (Romans 8:16).

 

If you want to make good choices and decisions, learn to listen to this inward witness. Throughout the years of my life, I’ve learned to depend on this inward witness for guidance, and it has never once led me the wrong way! All that we are doing in our ministry today is the results of leaning on and trusting this inward witness to have the final say in my decision making processes.

 

To become sensitive to your spirit and to this inward witness, you must take time to meditate the word. Meditation will cause you to become keen in spiritual perception. Take some time regularly to get quiet with the Lord and muse in the Word. If you do, He will begin to bear witness about things to your human spirit.

 

Praying in the spirit, in other tongues, is an excellent way to become spiritually sensitive. Taking time daily to pray in the spirit will also help keep you spiritually sharp. Then, when decisions must be made, you can look to your spirit for this inner sense, this inner knowing, this witness, and you’ll be perceptive enough to pick up a yes or a no, or a just wait a bit. It’s wise not to make decisions in haste, but to take time and wait until you’re sure about a matter before you act.

 

I suggest that you read Kenneth Hagin’s book How You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God if you haven’t. This is probably the best book I’ve ever read on the subject of being led by the Spirit and following the inward witness.

 

The Father wants us to be successful in all of life’s endeavors. And we will be if we learn to follow and obey the inward witness. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:14). Allow the lamp of the Lord to burn brightly in your life today!

 

This Is Not A Time To Be Slack Spiritually!

We know absolutely that anyone born of God does not deliberately and knowingly practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him; Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against the evil, and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch him (1 John 5:18 - Amplified). Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8a). And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12)

This is not a time to coast spiritually. There is too much at stake. Satan has launched an all out assault on man and on the kingdom of God. Persecution is becoming more intense. The potential pull on the flesh from the world and the enemy is stronger than ever. There are many “potholes” in the road of life right now that could trip you up and make you stumble.

This is a time to draw closer to the Father than ever before. Spend more time in the word. Spend more time in prayer. Spend more time in church meetings, not less! Keep your spirit fine tuned so that the Father can use you to minister to those around you in bondage. Those believers who are sidelined by the flesh and the world need someone to lift them up. That someone is me and you.

Keep your mind saturated with the Word of God. Confess the Word about who you are in Christ every day. Constantly affirm what God says about you, particularly when it doesn’t seem real, and thoughts and feeling defy the reality of the Word. Make yourself say what God says about you.

 

Don’t give in to fear and doubt. They are the twins born of Satan to put you out of commission spiritually. Yield your tongue to the Word! Meditate it, speak it, and chew on it. When the pressure to yield and quit is strong, that’s when you need to speak the Word the loudest!

 

When temptations to yield to strife come, choose instead to yield to love. Go love’s way instead of the flesh way. Demon forces are looking for a way into your life to trip you up. Strife will let them in. See strife as a tool of the enemy to sideline you spiritually and cause your faith to fail. Mediate on the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Keep your mind fine tuned to the Word.

 

Don’t allow the selfish spirit of the age to box you in and rule you. Ideas like the most important thing is for me to be happy are of the enemy and the world. Thoughts that tell you that you don’t have to put up with this or that from your spouse are born in hell (I’m not talking about adultery or abuse here, but just the small aggravations). Thoughts that tell you that you deserve a better spouse are lies from hell. God wants you to have stable family life so your children will grow up emotionally and mentally level and whole. The kingdom of God is strengthened or weakened by family matter in believer’s lives! Refuse to yield to the compromising pressure of the age!

This is the time that the Father wants us to rise up and shine and display His light in the darkness. Resolve to give God your best today!