What Do You Own?

1 Peter 2:24 “…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.”

Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,  And by His stripes we are healed.”

“That’s mine and you cannot have it!”

How many of you have every said those selfish words when you were growing up? How many of us were taught by our parents that we needed to share? I am sure we all were. God has been dealing with me a lot this past year about ownership. What do I own? What do I SAY is MINE? He is constantly checking me on my words. It is so easy to say, “That is mine” and still not really be aware of what I am trying to own. I have done a lot of listening to how people talk this year, and I have noticed how many times people refer to the negative things going on in their lives as being theirs.

Take sickness, for example. I often hear people talk about THEIR disease or sickness. The first thought that crosses my mind is, “You have taken ownership of something that is not even yours!” They talk about their disease or sickness as if it were their friend. They focus their whole lives around it. Over the years, I have had some bad reports from doctors. I usually don’t talk about them, and when I do, I try really hard not to take ownership of them because I DO NOT WANT THEM! I do not have to settle for what the doctor’s say.

I know I often feel like I’m chipping away at my circumstance with my faith and I get to where I can just begin to see a light at the end on the other side, then WHAM! I am hit with something else! Of course, that’s the way the devil wants me to think life is, but I know better. The Word says I always triumph in Christ, regardless of my circumstances! When you get bombarded, you can loose your focus. You have to be watchful, because you can end up shifting your focus from God and His Kingdom to yourself.  Before you know it, you have taken ownership of your bad circumstances. You eat, drink, sleep, and live your circumstances. What you don’t realize is that you don’t own those circumstances because Christ redeemed you from them, but you sure are letting those circumstances OWN you!

During this seeking time, my focus is to meditate more on His Word, to spend more time in fellowship with Him, and to spend more time in worship so that my focus gets realigned in all the areas that it needs to. I am going to pay close attention to the words I speak and take the thoughts that are not of God captive. I refuse to give up and give in! Our words are POWERFUL! God spoke and it WAS! We will all eventually walk in whatever we speak. My suggestion to you is that you make a list of what you want to own this year and throw out anything that is not of God. Take ownership of what God says about you and your circumstances. The last time I looked, the Word says that WE WIN!

~Ronda  Sullivan

What are you waiting for? (Pt.2)

“But, I know Jesus has come. I am not like those Jews who are still waiting for Him,” you may say.

We all know Jesus has come. We sing songs about His birth and place tiny Baby Jesus images all around our houses and churches at Christmas. We know Jesus came to this earth, that He lived and died…But, we’re still waiting on the promise of The Christ.

If we really, truly believed that Christ has come, we would understand the scripture that says, “He HAS blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph 1:3)

God has already healed you: “With His stripes, we ARE healed.” (1 Pet 2:24)

God has already given you peace: “ Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you.” (John 14:27)

God has already blessed your finances: “The LORD shall open unto thee his
good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to
bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou
shalt not borrow.” – Deut 28:12

God has already restored your relationships: “As the Father hath loved me, so
have I loved you: continue ye in my love…This is my commandment, That ye
love one another, as I have loved you.” – John 15: 9/12

God has already supplied all your need: “But my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” – Phil 4:19

Paul, the apostle, was a good Jew who waited for the Messiah to come. Even after his conversion to Christ, he found himself waiting, waiting, waiting on God. When he asked God three times to take care of his problem, God said to him, “My grace is sufficient.” God had already done what Paul asked Him to do. He had already given him the grace to rule and reign in life through Christ (Rom 5:17). God had already given Paul the victory (1 Cor 15:57). Paul needed to remind himself that he wasn’t waiting on God… God had already provided.

As you are packing up all your tiny Jesus figures from the Christmas season, keep in mind that He is more than the baby in the manger. He is the Head of Christ, and we are His Body. As such, we are joint heirs with Him to all the promises of God that have already been delivered. We are not waiting on Him anymore! Now, we are to take what He has given and use our authority to restore His Kingdom in this earth.

NO MORE WAITING!!!

~Linda Frederick