The Law of Liberty (A Testimony)

When we find out who we are in Christ, there is no need to struggle to become like Him, because we see we already are like Him. We become freed by the law of liberty.

“[Look] in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of [your] face in the beginning…perceive how God sees you…your divine origin…Gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty.”

James 1:23-25 (TPT)

I love the law of liberty! Trying to live under the old law literally killed me in so many ways. I burned myself out trying to keep all the rules and never felt good enough, never felt I’d ever arrived at the destination of being acceptable to God. Instead I spent my time examining myself (and others) for flaws and living such a defeated life. Finally I gave up. I  decided the Christian life was “too hard” and checked out mentally. I didn’t try anymore. I felt I’d failed to be the good person I was “supposed” to be. It was at that point that my cousin mentioned that he wanted to tell people about grace. When he said that, it was like the word grace flashed in my mind in bright lights. There was something so attractive about that word! God began speaking to me and teaching me about grace. I found out that all I was wanting to be, He had already made me – perfect, acceptable, complete, holy, and righteous. I found out that I was under grace (unconditional free acceptance, love and gifts from God), not law (you must do things or improve in order to earn acceptance).

Grace is a law of liberty, of freedom from obligation. This law is not one you work for but is one that works for you. It does not say I need to become; it shows me who I already am so I can just be.

What a difference it has made to be under this law of liberty rather than the old law I struggled (and failed) to keep. There is no pressure to perform with this law, nothing I have to do. There is no requirement to be kept or else punishment will come. There is no pointing out flaws. There is no work to be done to get the blessing. There is no high standard that I must struggle in my own power to reach. I am not trying to reach some perfect place, because I am already there. The law of liberty says if I want to know who I am, I am to look into the mirror of the Word, Christ. My identity is found in Christ, not in my performance or measuring up to a standard.

If Christ is my mirror, I already look like Him, I already am like Him. I am not trying to become Christ-like; I am Christ-like! Just looking into the face of the Beloved Jesus, I see that I, too, am the beloved, God’s child, one with the Father, just as He is. I realize I am perfectly celebrated, adored and pleasing, just as He is. I see myself mirrored in Him - I am just like Jesus - I am just as loved, worthy, perfect, accepted, complete, beautiful, good, and pure as Jesus is. Already. And I always have been! It’s a permanent thing.

For I have found that I was chosen in Christ, holy and beloved, before creation. Christ was the source of my identity from the beginning, my divine origin. I was never evil, hopeless, rotten, unworthy or unloved. I did not have to be ashamed of myself, for I was always just as Jesus is, in God’s image of love, good and pure as my core identity, valuable and beloved. That never changed. Behaviors change, but identity doesn’t. Christ came to liberate my true, core identity from confusion, sin, bondage and death so I could be free and live free, full of His Spirit and free in the law of liberty.

This wonderful law of liberty brings me to complete REST in His arms. I am filled with such completeness, rest and love. I find that I can just be myself, because all I want to do is love Jesus and love other people. My nature is to love, for Christ the Lover is the source of my nature. Life becomes, not an outward struggle to keep rules, but a spontaneous flow from an inward Spirit motivation. 

And the wonder of it all is that as I am simply being myself, Christ (my true center) is expressing His very life and love through me to this world. He will shine forth in love till one day the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, shining out from within us. For we are His glory! Grace, the law of liberty, has blessed my life, showing me my true identity in Christ. May it bless your life, too!

A Thought: Discover yourself in the face of Christ, our mirror.

A Poem: All is Well, All Will Be Well

I walked with Him today on the green path

And I heard Him say, Everything will be okay.

I heard the birds sing and felt the cool breeze

And I heard Him say, Everything will be okay.

I swam in innocence, I bathed in love

And I heard Him say, Everything is okay.

I felt His warm embrace and saw His beautiful smile

And I heard Him say, Everything is okay.

I ate His sweet fruits and filled up on His goodness

And I heard Him say, You will be okay.

I slept in the grass and woke refreshed

And I heard Him say, You will be okay.

I laughed with Him and knew He was hugging us all

And I heard Him say, All will be okay.

I saw us all soaked in showers of glory

And I heard Him say, All will be okay.

I feel such a peace when You say all is well.

I feel such a joy when You say all will be well.

Thank You for telling me this.

Thank You for this inner knowing, strong as anything - 

All is well, and all shall be well for us all!

"Then I heard all beings in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea offer praise. Together, all of them were saying, 'Praise, honor, glory, and strength forever and ever to the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!'"

Revelation 5:13 (CEV)

Where We Have Always Belonged

We have always been in His thoughts and in His heart.

“God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy.”

1 Peter 1:2 (NLT)

God our Father chose us to be His very own long ago, before the universe even existed. He already had us in His heart and in His mind as the beloved children He adored. He already knew us long ago in Christ. 

Rather than hoping to find God, we can truly say we’ve always been with Him in Christ from before time began. 

God has always been holding on to us and we have always been included in the love and joy of God. Our place of belonging has always been in God’s family. We have always been special, delighted in, a treasure to Him!

A Thought: My Father wants me, my Father chooses me, my Father treasures me.

Everywhere I Go

A Poem: Everywhere I Go

Everywhere I go I see You.

You are the sheltering of the trees

You are the sunlight glowing through the leaves

You are the unfurling beauty of the ferns

You are the cool, shady trail I walk upon 

Everywhere I go I find You.

You are the waves caressing the shore

And the infinite grains of sand I walk upon

You are the song of the seabirds calling

And the embracing immensity of the sea

Everywhere I go I am with You.

You are all around me like the fresh morning air

I live and breathe in You my atmosphere

You fill me like the sunrise fills up the sky

You surround me, I live in Your embrace

Everywhere I go I sense You

You are in the smile of a friend

And the warm laughter of my family

You are the notes of a love song

Floating endlessly through my soul

Everywhere I go I am in You.

Inside and out You are present

Saying, "I love you and I never leave you,

I hold you and I never fail you."

Your presence is everything to me.

“You have surrounded me on every side, behind me and before me.”

Psalm 139:5 (VOICE)

Defined by Christ

I am defined by Christ alone.

“The Spirit… bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

Romans 8:16 (ESV)

We can consider all the struggles, all the fears and anxieties, all the failures as over and gone, part of a “life” that ended at the cross. What rose with Christ is all “the life” that we are, our true identity in Him revealed and filled with His Spirit. We died, and we are alive again. always with Him. All that He has is ours. We no longer see anyone according to worldly fleshly labels. We see noone as unclean. We see everyone through Spirit eyes, new creation eyes. Perhaps some have not awakened to it, but it is still true what Christ did for us. Christ said, “Now is the judgment of the world, now the ruler of this world is cast down.” When was the “now” Christ spoke of? It was about 2000 years ago, when He took away the sin of the world, justified us, reconciled us, set us free. He brought down with Him the old creation (or old Adam) and brought up with Him the new creation (heavenly Adam). One died for all, thus all died. If we died with Him, we will live with Him. Let’s wake up to what is already ours! The gift, the eternal life, the righteousness, the freedom! Let’s wake up to who we already are, to who God always made us to be - human beings filled with the life of God! Let’s see ourselves in Christ, for when we see Him, we will see ourselves to be like Him! Let’s turn from law to grace, turn from the old way to Christ, and let that veil over our minds fall away! And let’s find the Spirit within and be renewed from glory to glory as we look at the face of Christ and see our face in Him!

A Prayer: Lord, remind me of my true, new creation identity.

Law and Grace

“The law makes you conscious of sin. Grace makes you conscious of being the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” 

Rob Rufus

“You no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

Romans 6:14 (NLT)

Law is a system of trying to earn blessing by good performance or keeping rules; grace is the beauty of having blessing as a free and unconditional gift of love through Christ. The unconditional love of Christ does for us what living by rules could never do. It takes us right into God’s arms, into a real relationship with Him. What freedom and joy come knowing that we are not under law but under grace. 

Law is about reward and punishment. Grace is about a love relationship.

Law says, "It's up to you." Grace says, "It's up to Jesus."

Law blesses only success. Grace blesses even failure.

Law is only the pure may come. Grace is whoever wishes may come.

Law says, "You’re not enough, do better." Grace says, "Jesus is enough, rest."

Law says, "You must be perfect before God." Grace says, "You are already perfect before God."

Law leads to condemnation and death (retribution). Grace leads to forgiveness and life (restoration).

Law condemns the ungodly. Grace justifies the ungodly.

Law makes us feel God is a judge. Grace makes us know God is a Father.

Law is conditional acceptance. Grace is unconditional acceptance.

Law says everything must be earned. Grace says everything is a gift.

A Thought: It is wonderful to live under grace.

A Complete Salvation - Quotes from Early Church Fathers

Christ did all that was needed for our salvation - it is finished!

“The Lord touched all parts of creation, and freed and undeceived them all from every deceit.”                                       Athanasius of Alexandria

“As God He washed away our sins.”            Gregory of Nazianzus

"[Christ suffered] as if a condemned sinner, so that we might be delivered from the penalty of our sins. This is God's righteousness...all our sin is removed."

John Chrysostom

“The death of all was accomplished in the Lords’ body, and death and corruption were wholly done away with because of the Word that was united with it.”                                  Athanasius  of Alexandria      

“Christ, having completed for us His saving work and ascended to heaven with the body which He had taken to Himself, accomplishes in His own Self the union of heaven and earth.” Maximus the Confessor

“By Christ’s suffering, all of us, and not one but not another, have been restored. All of us who participate in the same Adam were deceived by the serpent and killed by sin; all of us have been saved by the heavenly Adam.”                                                           Gregory of Nazianzus

"He pitied sinners, and restored them without cost, and made low the mountains of their sins." Ephrem the Syrian

"Having taken up that which was condemned, He liberates all from condemnation."                                             Gregory of Nazianzen

"For when the Lord forgave all sins, He made an exception of none."

                                                                         Ambrose of Milan

"You redeemed us from the curse and from sin, having become both on our behalf." Macrina the Younger

“This is the One who delivered us from slavery into freedom, from darkness into light, from death into life, from tyranny into an eternal kingdom.”                                                        Melito of Sardis

“Christ took humanity, and humanity has been raised in Christ to God.”

                                                                         Hilary of Poitiers

“He was transfused throughout our nature, in order that our nature might by this transfusion of the Divine become itself divine, rescued as it was from death and put beyond the reach of the caprice of the antagonist.” 

                                                                         Gregory of Nyssa

“Christ unites all mankind to Himself, and to the Father through Himself.”                                                         Gregory of Nyssa

“Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all.” (John 1:16 GNT)

Ancient Voices: An Easter Poem

Melito of Sardis was a 2nd century church leader in what is now Turkey. I quote from his Peri Pascha, which reads like an Easter Poem to me: 

“This is the one …

who was hanged on the tree,

who was buried in the earth,

who was resurrected from among the dead,

and who raised mankind up

out of the grave below to the heights of heaven.

“When the Lord had clothed himself with humanity,

and had suffered for the sake of the sufferer,

and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned,

and had been judged for the sake of the condemned,

and buried for the sake of the one who was buried,

he rose up from the dead,

and cried aloud with this voice: ...

I set the condemned man free;

I gave the dead man life;

I raised up the one who had been entombed ...

I, he says, am the Christ.

I am the one who destroyed death,

and triumphed over the enemy,

and trampled Hades under foot,

and bound the strong one,

and carried off man to the heights of heaven.

I, he says, am the Christ.

“Therefore, come, all families of men,

you who have been befouled with sins,

and receive forgiveness for your sins.

I am your forgiveness,

I am the passover of your salvation,

I am the lamb which was sacrificed for you,

I am your ransom,

I am your light,

I am your Saviour,

I am your resurrection,

I am your king,

I am leading you up to the heights of heaven,

I will show you the eternal Father,

I will raise you up by my right hand.

“This is the alpha and the omega.

This is the beginning and the end -

an indescribable beginning and an incomprehensible end.

This is the Christ.

This is the king.

This is Jesus…

This is the Lord.

This is the one who rose up from the dead.

This is the one who sits at the right hand of the Father…

to whom be the glory and the power forever. Amen.”

Great Shepherd Mbate quotes

Great words from Shepherd Mbate:

"Love has nothing to protect “himself” from, because nothing could ever threaten love, he has no low self esteem. Love has the courage to prepare a table in front of those who persecute him, in front of those who are against him; he invites them in and dines with them. Love is an irresistible voice which invites even the most prodigal to come back home. Love takes away the masks we lived with as we feared the vengeance to come. He proves to us that his kind of vengeance never had anything to do with punishment towards those who are against him, but rather it is about overwhelming them with great fondness and all goodness."

"Re-member: to put back together. One can only re-member something that is meant to belong together! We have always belonged and the core of our hearts knows this well. The psalmist saw this coming;'The ends of the earth shall remember ( awaken to their forgotten self ) and return to the lord (metanoia).'"

"God was in Christ giving himself to die in the hands of his creation, reconciling our alienated selves(minds) to himself. The cross is not Jesus satisfying the Father, but rather God in Christ satisfying humanity. The reason why the blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel and any other is that, while the blood of Abel cries toward God for vengeance and retribution, the blood of Christ cries toward humanity with love and a woo for reconciliation.

I'm glad He took the cross of shame and turned it into an icon of love and reconciliation."

Branches on the Vine

We are one with Christ. He is the vine and we are His branches. That is a very close association! We partake of His nature and are nourished by His life. For His life is our life and His nature is our nature. This is the natural way of a vine with its branches. So it is normal and natural, even effortless, for the fruit to come forth from us branches. It comes, not by our effort or strain but by the law of life. We are branches on the grapevine. It is most natural for us to bear the fruit of the vine! But it is important to see that the life of the vine produces the fruit, not us; we simply bear the fruit. Life produces life. Life bears fruit. Life thrives and grows and brings forth. Christ is our life. Christ brings forth the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We simply relax in the vine. We do not struggle, try to perform, or keep inspecting ourselves (or others!) for fruit. We simply enjoy the vine we're one with, enjoy the nourishment of the vine. What a life. What an effortless life is produced in us, because it is His life, not our own.

You Are So Beautiful, Lord

You are so beautiful, Lord!

We rest here in Your love that’s so true

We worship You from deep in our heart

And sing our love back to You

You are so full of light

Dazzling and magnificent in every way

You are purer than snowfall

You are brighter than sunshine

You are the most wonderful One of all!

You are all kindness and love

Tender and gentle in every way

You are soft like a blanket

You are warm like the fireside

You are the most lovable One of all!

You are so full of life

Vibrant and lovely in every way

You are sweeter than honey

You are fresher than fountains

You are the most splendid One of all!

“The one thing I seek above all else: I want to live with him every moment…beholding the marvelous beauty of Yahweh, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace."

Psalm 27:4 (TPT)

You're Wonderful

I just want to say You’re wonderful

I just want to praise Your name

You are such a Giver 

You are such a Wonder

I just want to soak in Your love.

I just want to say You’re beautiful

I just want to lift You up

You are such a Savior

You are such a Beauty

I just want to celebrate Your love.

I just want to say You’re marvelous

I just want to worship and adore

You are such a Victor

You are such a Marvel

I just want to bask in Your love.

I just want to say You’re glorious

I just want to sing of all You’ve done

You are such a Father

You are such a Glory

I just want to live in Your love!

“Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live.”

Psalm 63:3-4 (NIV)