My idea about this new year is that I need to act without fear as much as possible. I am tired of being on the treadmill, always trying to prove myself. I realize a lot of this comes from my desire to please people, to always have them think well of me.
What I really want is to be the Lord's "free man," without trying to be anything. I want to be free of the constraints, just interested in sharing information I find vitally important, most especially for my own continuance in this life I often find increasingly hard to be content in.
I will be getting much more serious about "finishing my book" now that the holidays are over and I don't have such physical constraints imposed by my relentless 40-hour week job.
I am ready to take the leap, making this year be the be-all and end-all of my whole life.
All I know is the time is short for someone like me to bring some God-given truth to the world and I want to give it my all, not worrying about all the massive amounts of time I have already wasted in carrying out what has, by default, been a "life mission."
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“When you’re out trying to seek the approval of men, you know what that is? That’s really idolatry. You’re giving men, people, whether it’s you or someone else, the position that only God ought to have in your life, says Richard Jordan.
“The antidote is this complete forgiveness and acceptance in Christ and you just simply resting in that perfect identity that God gives you in the beloved and in the love of God to you in Christ Jesus.
“Romans 8:35-39 is a passage, if you’ve never memorized, you ought to be getting this passage into your everyday frame of reference:
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“What does tribulation do if you’re walking in the wisdom of God’s Word, living in God’s grace? It works patience!
"If you’re thinking about it the way God thinks about it, instead of saying, ‘Here’s trouble coming into my life—God’s after me, God’s trying to get me, God’s going to nail me!’ you think, ‘Wait a minute, I’m accepted in the beloved. God has equipped me, whether it’s personal problems, economic problems, or peril, or sword, or nakedness . . . I can stay with the Word, stay with who I am and that will work some experience.’
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“Exodus 28: [36] And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
[37] And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
[38] And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.
“What’s the first thing you notice when you notice people? You’re supposed to say their eyes. So He’s going to take this plate, this little crown or nameplate, and put it right across this high priest’s forehead and it’s going to say, ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’
“Have you ever noticed you’ve got this blank space (your forehead) that would be a good place to write things? So God writes across Aaron. Every time they looked at Aaron (he’s going to go into the holy of holies, into the presence of God) he’s got ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’ That’s why it’s called the holy crown.
“Just as Aaron would go in and it’d be the holy crown upon his head, the first thing they would see (even with all the beautiful garments he had on), that stood above all the rest, was his forehead. When you and I stand before God we have on our forehead, ‘ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.’
"The burning passion that sin ignites is never to be satisfied, but Jesus Christ takes all of that--my guilt, my failure--so that I might be made the righteousness of God. That's the great exchange.
"I get His righteousness, His acceptance before God and I'm in the Beloved. I be loved and I be loved because He made me so, and on my worst day or on my best day, when I'm not lovable in myself, or when I thought I was and 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,' I have a real acceptance," explains Richard Jordan.
"To be guilty is one thing, but not to settle the issue . . . Psychology can't do that. They pull it out, you know, and wear it as a medal around your chest: 'I confess my sin.' It doesn't resolve guilt; it's still there, but Jesus paid it all. He took care of it and gave me His righteousness.
"You get a sense of being trapped by your sins; enslaved by them, hemmed in. But in Ephesians 1:7 he says, [7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
"That word 'redemption' means to pay the price and set it free. It's really freedom. You're liberated from the control of sin. It means you don't have to sin anymore. You don't have to have that irritable spirit, that nasty disposition, that lustful eye, you know, envious, jealous. You don't have to do that; you're free in Christ from all of those entaglements. Christ died to set you free. He died to MAKE your free.
"There's a great song Down South we used to sing: 'He set me free, He set me free, He broke the bonds of prison for me.' But somebody pointed out to me one time that the Bible doesn't say that. It says He MADE me free. He made me a free person. He didn't just take me and set me free; He completely transformed me into someone who's free.
Romans 6: [17] But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. [18] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
"That's what redemption is. Look, be strong in THESE things! Don't try to go out and be strong in, 'I gave money to the church, I passed out tracts.' Don't try to be strong in what you do because it always comes up short--'cut off my legs and call me Shorty.'
"What He did always answers it. He says in verse 7 we have 'forgiveness according to the riches of his grace.' Say what you will, sin haunts us. We need peace. The anger, the hurt that comes from sin. The hurt that comes from hurting others and be hurt by it.
"To know what it is to be forgiven allows you to forgive. You'll never be able to forgive until you understand how it is to be forgiven. The entanglements of sin. He says, 'I give you freedom.' The word 'forgive' means to send it away. But where do you send it? The only place you can send it where it's dealt with completely is the Cross.
"You send it into the vacuum of your memory but you know what happens? It belches back up at inconvenient times and it haunts you and you wind up hearing its footsteps. He says, 'I can show you a way to peace,' because that's what we want.
"You don't have to be angry anymore, at war with the world, or your neighbor, or your family, or yourself. He paid the penalty. The war's over and we have peace with God and when you have peace with God you can have peace with everyone else through our Lord Jesus Christ."'
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