Dear Believer,
I am always amazed at the faithfulness of God, aren't you? It's so easy to love a God like ours; especially when we recall what Jesus did at the Cross. I have noticed that the message of the Cross and the power in the Blood of Jesus are rarely discussed anymore. It's difficult to locate a church that truly focuses on the finished work of Christ. However, there seems to be plenty of churches and ministries that hold onto religious works and man-made traditions. Yet, Jesus died so that we can become completely free of religious performance.
Performance is a very hard taskmaster. In fact, under performance we can never do enough. For us to believe that God only loves us or approves of us because of what we DO for Him rather than WHOSE we are, is to actually demonstrate that what Christ did on the Cross is of no effect! In other words, we are believing that His death and the shedding of His Blood was not enough to place us in right-standing with God.
Righteous Because of the Blood
Dear one, we will never be righteous due to anything we do for God. Only the righteousness of Jesus Christ which covers us makes us righteous. This is why in Galatians 3:1, Paul addressed those in the Church concerning this issue. Paul was concerned that they seemed to have tossed aside the finished work of Christ and were back into the old belief system that involved the Law and performance. If they were truly doing this, and obviously Paul thought they were, then they were negating what occurred on the Cross! Read what Paul said to the Galatians:
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing – if it really was for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Galatians 3:1-6
Foolish and Bewitched
Paul pointed out that the Galatians had become "foolish." He asked them if they received the Spirit by observing the law or believing what that had "heard." Let us all remember how faith in God comes – by hearing and hearing the Word (Romans 10:17). And, precious saint, we "believe" because we "hear," and not because of what we do! What we do for God does not make us righteous, nor does it cause our faith to become established. Our relationship with Him establishes our faith and our righteousness is only due to the fact that when Christ shed His Blood, we, therefore, became righteous.
Notice that Paul asked the Galatians who had "bewitched" them. This word means "cast a spell," (over them) or "fascinated" (them). Fascination and sensationalism are closely linked. All too often Christians like to be entertained. It's unfortunate that many Believers have "itching ears" to hear what merely flatters the flesh. Many church services are geared more to entertaining rather than preaching the grace of God to be saved, healed and restored.
When Jesus died on the Cross, He provided the fullness of sozo, a Greek word meaning not only salvation, but also healing, deliverance, provision and all that Heaven offers! Yet, if our relationship with God is somewhat superficial (meaning we want the sensation without the relation (relationship), we fall short of receiving what we need from God because we really don't know how to believe for His best!
Self-Focused Mentalities
It is unfortunate that many Believers have become self-focused rather than God-focused. By this I mean that we focus on what we need rather than the One Who shed His Blood to provide what is needed. Matthew 6:33 says that we are to "...seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you (my emphasis). Did you notice that we are to seek first God's Kingdom and "His" righteousness? This means that we are not righteous without Him and that we are to seek His righteousness – this is clearly stating that we cannot be righteous due to our performance or religious works, but only righteous due to Christ's righteousness.
Secondly, when we do this "first," then "all" things are added to us. The term "all" in this passage refers to everything we need is already accomplished due to the finished work of Christ! We need not perform any longer believing that this makes us a better person or that God will bless us because of what we do. No! It means whatever we need is already done – at the Cross!
Christian Legalism
How sad it is for me to witness so many Christians bowing down to legalism and religious works. I have even witnessed some Believers saying that they couldn't wait until Resurrection Day so that they could be healed. My heart sank because many other people believe this way.
Dear one, if you received a bad report from your doctor that you had cancer, would you wait several months to pray for your healing? I just know you wouldn't! We don't have to wait for a certain time of year (or even wait until another church service!) to pray the prayer of faith. After all, our faith is in Christ and what He did at the Cross. Our faith is not centered around a certain day, date or year. While I am writing this article it is Passover week, but I have not waited until this season to apply the Blood of Jesus over my situation, no! I plead the Blood whenever I need to.
Let me give you an example. Years ago my mother had lung cancer which was diagnosed in the month of September. Though I knew that on Resurrection Day that God demonstrated His power through the resurrection of Jesus, we did not wait until then to believe for her healing. No way! We began to immediately pray for her and a few days later she coughed up the lung tumor which was cancerous! She was completely healed of lung cancer!
However, if I had been bound up in religious performance, we may not have had faith to believe for God's perfect timing for her healing. It is the same for anything I need; remember all things are supplied and they are supplied because of the finished work of Christ. Hallelujah!
Pleading the Blood of Jesus
I have learned to plead the Blood of Jesus over many different situations and therefore have witnessed various miracles. But I have also had to understand that to simply shout out a religious term or phrase, such as pleading the Blood of Jesus, without fully understanding what it truly means gives little results (this is an example of religious jargon). Precious Believer, when we "plead the Blood," we are proclaiming all that Jesus accomplished for us by shedding His Blood. Let's not just charismatically (or religiously) plead the Blood without full understanding the accomplished work at the Cross. To plead it with faith of all that Christ did on our behalf will release the demonstration and power of God!
Baptize Your Land Today or Any Day!
In my recent book, The Power in the Blood: Possessing Your Spiritual Inheritance (order through Elijah List), I explain how to baptize your land to possess all of your Promised Land. Let me first remind you that God provided the first sacrifice for the sin of mankind. He placed skins of a slain animal upon both Adam and Eve to cover their sin.
Later we notice that Noah, upon coming out of the ark after the Flood, made a sacrifice to God immediately upon stepping onto the land.
Later we notice that Noah, upon coming out of the ark after the Flood, made a sacrifice to God immediately upon stepping onto the land.
This is symbolic of our going to baptize our Promised Land by recalling what Jesus accomplished at the Cross (I go further into detail in my book if you desire more information). In other words, when we recognize what Christ did and that we are righteous due to His Blood, it empowers us to take our Promised Land! Wow!
Think upon this. Every time we receive a prophetic promise or prophetic revelation, we baptize that promise from God by renewing our mind concerning what Christ did at the Cross. We can, therefore, tell the devil to "get off our land," when we remind him that the battle is already won!
Free Indeed
Many of you are aware that I am known to be a freedom fighter! It is no accident that I married Mickey Freed – with "Freed" as my covenant-married name. I am destined to point the way to freedom. I don't just want you free – I want you free indeed. This means completely free, especially from a spirit of legalism or religious works.
So, therefore, precious freed-up-Believer of God, rise up and declare the power that is in the Blood! And, know that TODAY is your day that God will provide for your every need!
So, therefore, precious freed-up-Believer of God, rise up and declare the power that is in the Blood! And, know that TODAY is your day that God will provide for your every need!
In Him,
Sandie Freed co-labors with her husband, Mickey Freed, doing the work of the Lord as a ministry team. In addition, Sandie is the Founder and Director of the School of the Prophets and Apostolic Training Center in Bedford, Texas. With a strong anointing of discerning of spirits, Sandie has been known to discern territorial strongholds and release churches and regions from spiritual assignments that withhold finances, deliverances, and breakthroughs. Prophetess Sandie and Apostle Mickey are ordained with Christian International Ministries, serving on their Board of Governors and the Board of Directors. Together they serve as the Mid-Southern Regional Directors of the Christian International Network of Churches, which is the Prophetic-Apostolic oversight for Texas and Oklahoma regions, as well as several other states and regions. They have been married since 1973, and have one daughter, Kim Putman.
No comments:
Post a Comment