How do Christians live in VICTORY over the contestant sin that endeavors to pull them down? How does one overcome strongholds and sin that so easily entangles?
The ANSWER is so simple: Jesus Paid it ALL
What does this mean?
Any person would clearly admit they most definitely fall short of being perfect. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Every person born of the seed of Adam is under sin and essentially cursed with death. That means every person is born with sin and every person will eventually die.
Now, God is perfect, holy, and righteous. He is without sin. Man is unholy, sinful and thus separated from God.
Not only are people separated from God, but they are responsible to pay for every single sin they have committed! In the Old Testament it says, "If there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."(Exodus 21:23-25)
Jesus said, "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:2)
Thus, one is bound to pay for every sin they commit and “the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
In the Old Testament God called Abraham to be the father of Israel, his chosen people. They were to be set apart from all the other nations. They were to be holy just as God is holy. The Israelites were commanded by God to offer sacrifices for their sins. They would pay for their sins by sprinkling the blood of an unblemished firstborn lamb on themselves. The shed blood of the lamb paid for their sins temporarily. They continually had to offer sacrifices day after day, year after year.
Because God loved the whole world he had a plan to redeem every nation, tribe and tongue. He sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice. He was the unblemished Lamb who was slain. On the third day Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death!
Jesus blood shed on the cross paid the debt that no human could pay. When anyone sincerely asks that the blood of Jesus cover their sins, then they are forgiven. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life!” Romans 6:23.
Jesus PAID for all the sins that we were supposed to pay for. So the next time you are struggling with the things of this world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions (1 John 2)—renounce this sin and pray:
“Lord, I deserve nothing more than death yet Jesus was the perfect Lamb who was sacrificed. I lay my sin/burden down and cover myself with Jesus’ blood. Jesus paid for my __________________, infirmities, lust, pride, selfishness, cancer, idolatry, eating disorder, disobedience to parents, oppression…
He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. —Psalm 18:16-17
Lord, teach us the power of the cross and what it means that you bore our sins and infirmities.
JESUS PAID IT ALL
Jesus urged his disciples to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt. 10:38)
Six of my roommates gathered around to pray for our Christmas break. Each girl shared a request. One of my requests was that God would open the door for me to share the Gospel with 20 people during my trip from Lynchburg, VA to Brisbane, Australia.
I believe one of the main strategies of the enemy is to proclaim Jesus everywhere so that everyone has heard about him and even believe in him, but there is no repentance, there is no turning from sin and becoming a new creation.
So on this trip I prayed that God would use me to share the Gospel, and tell everyone I met how to become a Christian. When sharing the Gospel we must earnestly ask the Lord to send us out into his harvest field. We need to go in God’s strength rather than our own confidence. We must also look for the person of peace, as Jesus said, “And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you” (Matt. 10). To be worthy indicates someone who responds in peace to the gospel message.
Over the course of my 30 hour trip the Lord of the harvest brought many people who were worthy to hear the gospel. One lady, Jill, had pink hair and tattoos all over, I asked her about her trip and she told me all about her travels around the world and how she lived in a Hindu temple in India for a year. She had grown up in an American Lutheran home, but became a Hindu in high school. At the end I asked if I could share the Gospel with her and her teenage son and they were open to hear it. When I finished I asked them if they had ever heard how to invite the Lord Jesus Christ into their life, they had never heard how to do it.
As I boarded my flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Las Angeles, I prayed and asked God that whoever I sat next to would become a Christian. I sat next to a man from India, named Rajesh. After talking for a while I share the Gospel with him. He had heard that Jesus was part of a religion called Christianity, but he had never heard the Gospel! Over the course of the trip we talked for about 2-3 hours.
I explained the Gospel and read from the bible explaining the Scriptures to him. He said he had no peace and was ready to accept Christ Jesus as his Savior. I prayed and he repeated the prayer of salvation. I believe he sincerely prayed from his heart. Afterwards, he said he felt peace and looked at me and said he was refreshed. I truly believe he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, the ONLY way, truth and life.
“The Lord opened her (Lydia’s) heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” I believe God opened Rajesh’s heart to pay attention and receive the Gospel message, just as Lydia did in Acts 16:14.
Please pray for Rajesh as he starts this new journey. I pray he will one day take the Gospel back to his people in India, as I believe they are an unreached people group.
I also shared the gospel with an elderly lady from Florida, a college girl, Jess, who has been involved with the church some, a Muslim man, Fazel from Afghanistan and a Catholic lady from the Philippines and her agnostic American finance. I blessed some people from Mexico. I was surprised to hear many of them knew about Jesus, but none of them had heard about repentance or inviting Jesus into their life as Lord and Savior. They all thought that being a good person or going to church and being baptized was enough for salvation.
 Isaiah 49:6 “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
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May HIS Kingdom come to Lynchburg, Nepal and the ends of the earth!
http://operationworld.24-7prayer.com/country.php?country_id=36 |
