Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead our Father displayed a power which goes beyond forgiving our sins and getting us safely to heaven. I have no desire to diminish these well-known works of the cross—they are stupendous sources of joy impossible to reduce. I do, however, want to draw your attention to an all-too-often overlooked and unclaimed power always available, ever at work…
“Let’s put it in the pot!” is a very funny line in the movie Cold Mountain, referring to a rooster which was acting like a barnyard terror and that badly need to be captured and cooked. But it applies to us—that is, anything about us that doesn’t match up with Jesus. The first stage of crucifying the flesh is containment. Realize what shouldn’t be released into the world around you and put it in the pot instead. Are you getting angry…
The wrong kind of fear of God will eat your lunch. It is the true playground bully, who robs every believer that he can of the peace and joy of knowing we are being watched over by an ever-loving God. This demon-inspired fear makes Christians afraid of what God might do, or of what He might allow, or of what He might ask of them. Consequently, they try to stay within the moral boundaries (because of their fear of punishment), but they…
How does the flesh get such a strong grip on us? Strongholds of the flesh can show up in an instant and pin us to the mat, but they don’t jump on us “out of the blue.” We almost always have had a long history of giving way to them, or of traumatic past issues that spawned them. This means that what came in can also go out! Knowledge is power. Whenever it is placed under the Lord’s leadership, it leads to liberation (as in “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”).