July 19, 2011
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 New American Standard
Free from condemnation … Free from shame .. Free from guilt. The blood of Jesus Christ has removed every speck of condemnation from you. You may still carry around the faded voices of the past or even the present day whispering lies that your life is an exception. They’re lies! Why? Because God says so. His Son says so. His life and love for you conquered all those sins .. those condemning parts .. and those lingering defeated memories. You’re not allowed to condemn yourself. Christ conquered that as well. And now you have His power and His life through you. You don’t fight those battles on your own any longer. You fight them or rather Christ’s life in you fights those battles. Whatever you are facing today? Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. It’s His life that gives you strength to face your day. It’s His life that holds you together when you face temptations and sometimes monstrous battles within. It’s His life that overwhelmingly accepts you today. It’s His life that loves you deeper than you can ever imagine. It’s His life that un-condemns everything in you. It’s His life that invites you to open your heart again. It’s His life that whispers over and over into your mind that you are loved. It’s God’s Gift because so much of our lives have been developed out of condemned strategies and formulas. They never work. They never set anyone free. But Jesus does. And He wants your life to be filled with the greatest un-condemning love that threatens all the powers of this world. It’s His life … and it only takes a moment …
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:35-37 New American Standard
Ken Chester:Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Grace-Contaminated Followers of Jesus Christ and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)