Your Wonderful Face

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.” Ephesians 3:17 NLT

When I have hurt others
Strayed from Your loving ways
You empower me to change
And be Your living embrace

Your heart, so compassionate and loving Jesus
Your very essence, through and through
You have given to me, it is mine now too
Your Spirit within me, empowering me to live You
Your love and forgiveness flowing in and through me
Bringing healing and freedom, new life eternally
Your faith, Your joy, Your peace, my dwelling place
Your kingdom flowing into me as I behold Your wonderful face

When others hurt me
Accidentally or intentionally
You empower me to forgive
Just as You forgave me

The hurts that I’ve made
And the ones I’ve received
Are healed in Your loving Presence
And in their place You give freely

The loneliness I’ve felt
The rejection I’ve received
Are healed in Your loving Presence
And in their place You give freely

All the burdens I’ve carried
As my responsibility
Vanish in Your loving Presence
And in their place You give freely

The walls of stone I’ve constructed
To protect myself from others
Vanish in Your loving Presence
No longer needed in Your embrace

All the fears of being a failure
Of never been good enough
Vanish in Your loving Presence
As I receive Your righteousness

All that separated me from God my Father
All that kept me from living as His beloved child
Vanish in Your loving Presence Jesus
As I receive Your relationship with God

I Declare A Death

I declare a death
To sin’s hold on me
For it died on the cross
With Jesus you see
He took it to the grave
By His blood washed away
And raised us both to New Life
To live fully God’s way

I declare a death
To my old sinful man
For it died on the cross
With Jesus as one
He took it to the grave
It’s power all gone
And raised us both to New Life
To live in Jesus righteousness

I declare a death
To illness in me
For it died on the cross
With Jesus you see
He took it to the grave
In the stripes on his body
And raised us both to New Life
Fully healed and healthy

I declare a death
To rejection of me
For it died on the cross
With Jesus you see
He took it to the grave
So it’s power was gone
And raised us both to New Life
As God’s beloved sons

I declare a death
To fear in me
For it died on the cross
With Jesus you see
He took it to the grave
Fear was silenced that day
And raised us both to New Life
Filled with His love, joy and peace

I declare a death
To a fruitless life
For it died on the cross
With Jesus as one
He took it to the grave
Let it die away
And raised us both to New Life
To live heaven’s blessed way

I’m remade to be like Jesus
A full son of God
Healthy, holy and righteous
Living His kingdom in this world

Jesus death paid for much more

When I’m lying around
Feeling sick yet again
Wondering if this is it
Will this struggle never end?

I remember Your promises
The words you gave to me
About harvests of nations
And lost years more than reprieved
Of fruitfulness that blesses many people
And releasing captives to be God’s children

Jesus death paid for much more than this
For our healing, every cut of His flesh
Every drop of His blood, cleansing us from all sin
His resurrection raising us to new life in Him

When I see what is happening in my nation today
Our indigenous people ignored and cast away
And refugees who need our help instead incarcerated
And climate change ignored and farms devastated

I remember the promise
The words you gave to us
About a Spirit filled nation
And I lean on You in trust
For Your fruitfulness that blesses many people
And releasing captives to be God’s children

Jesus death paid for much more than this
For our healing, every cut of His flesh
Every drop of His blood, cleansing us from all sin
His resurrection raising us to new life in Him

When I see bad things happening all around the world
Wars, slavery, starvation, man’s inhumanity to man
People grasping for power in anyway they can
Our planets struggling to survive the greediness of man

I remember Your promises
The words you gave to me
About harvests of nations
And lost years more than reprieved
Of fruitfulness that blesses many people
And releasing captives to be God’s children

Jesus death paid for much more than this
For our healing, every cut of His flesh
Every drop of His blood, cleansing us from all sin
His resurrection raising us to new life in Him

Rules and regulations will not rescue, will not save us
Laws have their place but can’t remove our fears or change us
Governments and ideologies cannot save us from our sin
And our hurts and grief’s can’t be healed by wars or incarceration

A full revelation of the glory of Jesus
In the hearts minds and lives of all of His people so precious
Is our only hope, our only salvation
The only way forward for this planet and its nations

Seeing

I look at a blind man
And what do I see?
Someone blinded by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To see all of this world

With one word of authority
You heal the blind and so to see they are free

I look at a deaf man
And what do I see?
Someone deafened by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To hear all of this world

With one word of authority
You open deaf ears so to hear are free

I look at a mute man
And what do I see?
Someone silenced by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To speak in this world

With one word of authority
You open mute mouths so to speak they are free

I look at a lame man
And what do I see?
Someone chained by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To walk through this world

With one word of authority
You heal lame legs so to walk they are free

I look at a sick man
And what do I see?
Someone attacked by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To live healed this world

With one word of authority
You heal sick people so to live they are free

I look at demon possessed man
And what do I see?
Someone overcome by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To live Your kingdom this world

With one word of authority
You release the from demons so to live they are free

I look at those untimely dead
And what do I see?
Someone defeated by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To live again in this world

With one word of authority
You raise the dead so to live they are free

I look at a poor man
And what do I see?
Someone stripped by darkness
And not able to get free
But Jesus You see
A whole child of God
Who you can set free
To prosper in this world

With one word of authority
You can feed the poor so to prosper they are free

All the obstacles
That we meet in this life
Are not permanent things
To which we must subscribe
For when we see with your eyes Jesus
We’re God’s whole and holy children
With your authority and power
To free us all to live in heaven

With your words of authority
We change the world so in Your Kingdom all live freely

Matthew 12:22-23 Meditation

“Then a man was brought before Jesus who had a demon spirit that made him both blind and unable to speak. Jesus healed him instantly, and he could see and talk again! The crowds went wild with amazement as they witnessed this miracle. And they kept saying to one another, “Could this man be the Messiah?” Matthew 12:22-23 TPT

“Then a man was brought before Jesus”
This man had friends or relatives
Who cared about his plight
Perhaps they had known him
When he had his speech and sight
They heard that Jesus was near
And knew of His reputation
They brought this man to Jesus
In hope of healing restoration

“who had a demon spirit that made him both blind and unable to speak.”
If we could see with Jesus’ eyes
Perhaps we would see
This demonic spirit binding
This man’s eyes and mouth
Was it this man’s sin
That gave the demon this hold?
Or was it a curse?
We are not told.

“Jesus healed him instantly,”
Jesus’ compassion
His forgiveness for sin
And His power to break curses
Were seen in this instant healing
Jesus did not hesitate
To free the man from bondage
For Jesus had a mandate
To set all free from satan’s kingdom

“and he could see and talk again!”
Jesus power and authority
Were easily enough to set the man free
To talk and see as humans should
As we are made in the image of God
Healed and restored
The man was free
To see and speak again
Like a child of God should be.

“The crowds went wild with amazement as they witnessed this miracle.”
The crowd was really excited
To witness Jesus’ healing power
And His ability to free us
From demonic powers
For they had seen with their own eyes
God acting through a man
To bring healing and freedom
As only a true Son of God can

“And they kept saying to one another, “Could this man be the Messiah?””
This demonstration of power
Raised Jesus up in their sight
For they had never seen before
Someone weird such might
So it lead them to conclude
That Jesus came from God
And question if He could be
Their awaited saviour and lord.

Jesus miracle working power
Was and is a revelation
Of the kingdom of God
It’s healing and freedom
When we see it at work
It’s most exciting to behold
And point to Jesus as our Saviour
Jesus as Son of God

Dealing With Sin

Confession of sin is only mentioned in the Bible as being important in the context of becoming a Christian (1 John Chapter1:verses 8-10) and continuing sickness (James 5:14-16).

What we do, whether sin or not, is a result of what we believe, think and feel (Matthew 12:35; Romans 2:29).

The core of sin is unbelief, a failure to trust in God and His Word (Genesis 3:1; Matthew 4:3, 5, 9).

The problem with unbelief is that it makes sin look attractive and even good (Genesis 3:6; Romans 1:18-32).

When we sin our perception of our relationship with each other and God is broken so we hide in fear and shame (Genesis 3:7-8; Romans 1:18-32) even when God is still clearly seeking and talking to us (Genesis 3:9; 4:9-16).

God’s solution is to cleanse us from sin with Jesus’ blood (Hebrews 10:22) kill off our old broken sinful nature on the cross (Romans 6:6-7) and replace it with Jesus righteousness and powerful holy eternal life (Ezekiel 36:26; Ephesians 1:3-5) forgetting ALL our sins (Hebrews 8:12; 10:10, 17-18).

God credits us with Jesus righteousness effectively making us part of all the good things Jesus has done (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:3).

God implants in us the power required to live like Jesus (Ephesians 1:18-20; 2 Peter 1:3).

But to learn to trust God in doing this we actually have to get to know Him personally and intimately (Jeremiah 4:22; 9:24; 31:34; Ezekiel 36:26-28).

Thus the main teaching of the New Testament is about renewing the heart/mind through repentance (repentance means changing your mind) and turning to God and receiving the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2; Acts 2:38; 20:21).

The real solution to the unbelief which is at the root of sin is being with God, listening to Him and letting Him personally transform our inner person and thinking (Exodus 33:13; Ezekiel 36:26-28; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 3:6-19).

Our response to God’s offer in Jesus:

Lord Jesus, I praise and thank You that You died on the cross to pay for all the things I have ever done and will ever do wrong. I thank You for that and accept now Your free forgiveness for all my rejection of You and God and cleansing from my sin. Thank You that You took that old me on to the cross and it died with You. Fill me now with Your Holy Spirit, raising me from the dead to eternal life now with God and You. Thank you for the new heart and new spirit You have placed within me that is founded on the character of God and physically joined to Your Holy Spirit. I praise and thank You that in You I am made totally new, whole and Holy, a full and complete child of God. Amen.

Name:………………………………………………………………………………………Date: / /

As a Christian we are new creations (John 3:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Colossians 3:9-10; Ephesians 2:10; 4:24). The old person that was sinful by nature died on the cross with Jesus (Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:24; 6:14; Ephesians 4:20-24; Colossians 3:1, 3, 9-10; 1Peter 1:23) because it was too damaged to renovate (Matt. 5:13-48).

You and I have been given a new identity which results from Jesus Personal Presence in us and our presence in Him, the Holy Spirit’s Presence in and around us, the physical union of our spirit with the Holy Spirit, and the gift of a new heart (mind, emotions, will, imagination) that has God’s laws of love as it core (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Luke 15:31; John 3:5-6, 16; 4:9; 5:11-12, 21; 17:3, 20-23; Acts 11:15-18; 15:9; Romans 2:29; 5:2, 5, 21; 6:4-5, 22; 8:2, 10-17, 30, 32; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 3:17, 21-23; 6:11, 14; 2 Corinthians 3:3, 6, 17-18; 4:16; 8:9; 10:4; 12:9; Galatians 4:7; 5:22-23; 6:8; Ephesians 1:3-4, 11, 13-14, 19-20, 23; 2:5, 22; 3:6, 8, 19; 4:23-24; Philippians 3:12-14; 4:19; Colossians 1:27; 2:12; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 2:6-7; 6:19; 8:10; 9:15; 10:10; James 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:2, 4; 2:24; 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 2:20, 27; 4:4)

That nature is sinless because it is Jesus own eternal life and He is sinless. But we still have the choice of which nature we identify with and live from (Romans 8:13; 13:14; Ephesians 4). And because the world around us is based on rebellion against God, we actually have to choose to immerse ourselves in the nature and culture of God and heaven (Eph. 1; Col. 3:1-2) so we can see and learn how to live God’s way, so we can see Jesus and be transformed by the experience (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Ephesians 1:18).

If identify myself as a sinner I am only seeing the old dead nature and living in that. If I identify myself with my new sinless nature in Christ I will be looking at Jesus and being transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18).

Your Forever Love

For I trust endlessly in you, and I will never stumble, never fall. Your forever-love never fails and holds me firm. (Psalms 21:7 TPT)