For Deliverance

2/26/1998

What is the fate of a BITTER WOMAN, or SELFISH MAN? What can a LAZY person expect, in the life to come? Where does a man’s sharp, ungoverned tongue lead, as it relates to his destiny? Are jealousy and fear and emotionalism fatal to a woman’s soul? ...... ....... .......

There will seldom be glorious Deliverance (that He so desperately wants for us, to show Himself MIGHTY!), apart from the personal and immensely practical application of the CROSS, by FAITH, to your life, or mine. “If any man would come after Me, he MUST take up his cross...”

(1) The CROSS must be applied to JUSTIFICATION. We must personally BELIEVE, all the way through our hearts, that JESUS has forgiven our sin by His Blood. We are justified by His substitutionary, undeserved gift to us. We cling TENACIOUSLY, through any adverse circumstances or events, to the WONDER-WORKING POWER of the BLOOD! It is our only Hope; it is SUFFICIENT for all who BELIEVE!

(2) We must apply the cross, practically, ourselves, to MORTIFICATION. Beg Him to show us DEATH to NEEDING the pleasures of the world to be happy. NEEDING recognition, physical comfort, hourly or nightly entertainment to be happy. NEEDING to be valued or liked or paid attention to in order to go on giving. CONDITIONAL service of Jesus and others... is NOT the cross that He begs us to pick up and carry—the fertile ground for Deliverance. Beg Him for DEATH to addictions, vices, moods, erratic behaviors, defensiveness, self-justification, judgment of others, and the whole mess of garbage that stinks up Heaven and earth. Lay it down, without excuse, without defense, without comparison. And without fear. He is Sufficient for you. Pick up your cross and Believe in Him!

(3) The cross must be applied, personally, to PERSEVERANCE. There must be NO TIME LIMIT on “how long” we will serve God or put away sin or endure hardship. There are no “take-backs” in God’s Kingdom. There must never be a deadline put on God! “I’ve served You this long, God, and given up this and that for You, AND YOU’VE LET ME DOWN! You didn’t come through. My problem isn’t gone yet. I don’t trust you anymore. ‘IT’ didn’t ‘work’ for me.” The CROSS must be applied through our lives in PERSEVERANCE (if it is His Cross) unto His Pleasure and Companionship. It is easy to run for a short sprint, if there is perceived reward and it is for the right cause. But He has called us, if in love with Him, to run FOREVER. Through the brambles and briars, over the brooks, across the plains, through the deserts, bloodied by the mountains’ rocky crags, FOREVER, WITHOUT notice or visible reward if need be. Never stopping, never looking back. It is for Him. If there is not Perseverance, it is a Styrofoam cross of our own un-crucified self-centeredness—not His Cross at all. Come to Him on HIS Ground, and you will MARVEL at Him when it is all said and done. Hallelujah!

May He help and encourage all who look to Him as their Salvation and their Source of Justification, Mortification, and Perseverance. All praise to our Messiah! : )