November 27th
Here is
your Victory!
By Riqui Ricón*
Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified (Ga 2. 16).
The works
of the law are those that you perform on your own merit and effort when you are
trying to enforce the law of God with your own strength so you can be on good
terms with the Lord and also, to enjoy His presence and His promises. As you
can read in the Bible, this is and always will be a futile effort.
The Bible
is the Word of God and cannot lie, it teaches you that the works of the law are
the product of the flesh, while the works of faith, those you make believing in
God, believing His Word, are spiritual because they are produced by the spirit.
For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit…For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace… Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be…So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. (Ro 8.5-8)
The good
news (and the really interesting thing here), is that you're not of the flesh
but you really are of the Spirit (otherwise you would not be reading this
reflection). You are a child of God Born Again and no longer live accordingly
with your flesh, but now you live accordingly to the Spirit.
Those
who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please
themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing
those things that please God… Following after the Holy
Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to
death… because the old sinful nature within us is against
God. It never did obey God’s laws and it never will… That’s
why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on
following their old evil desires, can never please God. (Ro
8.5-8 LB).
In fact,
if you want to please God all you need is faith, that is, to believe God by
believing His Word, it is written that without faith it is impossible to please
God; But without faith it is impossible
to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11.6)
To be
justified means to be declared righteous by God, who is the judge of all the universe.
Your justification is not the result of the work you did, or that you can do,
but salvation is the result of your faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
Your
justification is the result of believing what God says: that Jesus was the only
begotten Son of God, who gave himself for love to you, to PAY ALL your sins and
thus set you free from that old sinful nature that cannot or will not obey God.
But now
you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Pe 1.23).
So, you
are now a new creature, you have an entirely new and incorruptible nature and
you are free of any prosecution or charge that you could be possibly imputed
For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death… For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh… That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Ro 8.2-4).
Pay close
attention here, because when you sin and there is no man or woman who does not
sin (If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 Joh 1.1) this does not mean that you live
according to the flesh, for the Truth is that your spirit and the Holy Spirit that
lives in you, guides you to repentance to always live according to the Spirit.
So there
is no other way to be on good terms with the Lord and to enjoy His presence and
His promises other than through the faith in Jesus Christ.
And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that
he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Heb
11.6 NIV).
This does
not mean you should not act and live according to the Word of God, but on the
contrary, now, as a Son of God Born Again you act accordingly to your beliefs:
• God
loves you so much that he preferred giving His own Son to pay for all your sins
rather than losing you.
• That,
God has declared you righteous trough the faith in Jesus Christ.
• So NOW
you think, speak and live like righteous because that is what you are and
• You do
not practice sin anymore.
It is
this identity that comes from your faith in God's Word, which now drives you to
act and live according to what you believe and declare that you are.
Here is your victory!
For whatsoever is born of
God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but
he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?(1 Joh
5.4-5)
Always
remember that it is not what you do or can do for God what defines you. What
defines you is what God says in His Word about who are you now. The Bible, the
Word of God, is the Absolute Truth, and the Truth, establishes that by the
redemptive work of the Cross and the victory of Jesus over death, you are now a
child of God Born Again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible seed which
is the Word of God which lives and abides forever.
So,
whatever the problem, sorrow, sickness or challenge you are facing today, Stand
on your identity as Son of God, discard all condemnation; if you've fallen and
repent and confess your sin because He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all evil (1
Joh 1.9b). And finally, prepare to come
out more than conqueror in all things.
Pray outloud:
Dear
Heavenly Father, You said in Your Word (and I believe so), that I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; The life I
live in the flesh I live it by the faith of Your Son, Jesus, who loved me and
delivered himself for me. Father, today I understand a little more of Your
Great Love and Grace and therefore I won’t discharge it; for if the law was
justice, then Jesus Christ would have died in vain. Therefore, I am determined
not to think, speak or feel about me as a failure, or frustrated, or defeated,
or hypocritical, or any other thought, word or attitude of deceit or lying to
myself. By Your Grace and Love I am what I am. By Your Grace and Love I,
___________ (your name here), am who You
say in the Bible that I am: justified and forgiven; a born again Son of Yours.
So, I have all the authority and freedom to act and live what I am stating now:
just, holy and perfect. Not
because I have to as if I lack of it, but because, thanks to You, Jesus, that's
what I am. Consequently, on this day, I plead myself healthy, free, prosperous
and peaceful to live the full and abundant life that You, my Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, bought for me. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Note of importance:
How do I become a Child of God? How do I establish my
relationship with the Almighty?
Simply say this prayer, placing all of your attention
and heart into what you’re saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God.
That you came to this world from the Virgen Mary to pay for all of my sins, and
I have been a sinner. This is why today I tell you, I accept. I accept your
sacrifice on the cross! Yes, I accept Your precious Blood, spilled to the very
last drop, out of love for me! I open my heart to you and invite you in,
because I want you, oh Lord Jesus, to be my one and only Savior, my God, my
King, my Lord. Thank you, God Almighty, for with this simple prayer and
declaration of faith I have come from death to Life, I have been displaced from
the shadows and into Your marvelous Light. Today I have been Reborn! God I am
now Your Child! You are now my Father! I will never again be alone! Never again
will I live defeated. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2012
Reading
and Meditating on God’s Word.
Do these daily readings
and by the end of one year you will have read all the Bible.
November 27th Gal 2 / Jer 49-50
/ Ps 143
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