No More Control Freaks

Do you know any control freaks? Are you one? Is it true that you must give up control so that God can be in control? I don’t think so. Here’s the good news that makes you free—and happy! (New!)

To watch the 6.5-minute video, click http://ralphharris.org/no-more-control-freaks/.



To read the post, click http://ralphharris.org/no-more-control-freaks-4/.



I hope this encourages you today!

You Look, He Works

If you're God's workmanship (and indeed, you are - Ephesians 2:10), then your primary part isn't to work but to relax and know Him and how He is with you. Jesus is your focus because you’re His focus. He'll take care of the building and the result, because He knows what He's doing. You don't have to. He’s the Expert. That’s why you feel better after looking at Him or talking with Him—or after reading this. You look, He works.

Life & The Struggle

Today I am identifying where the inside struggle comes from, just as the apostle Paul did. Without Paul’s perspective that commandments empower sin (Romans 7:7-13; 1 Corinthians 15:56 “. . . the power of sin is the law.”), and that it is no longer he, himself, that is the sinner (Romans 7:17-18) because he is a new creation (“the old HAS gone, the new HAS come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17), we will lead terribly confused and powerless lives and, thinking we are still evil and unchanged, attempt life by commandments—the very thing finished by Christ.

Life for new creation sons and daughters, who still know the struggle of the flesh, is by grace and the Spirit because we are now in the Spirit—in union with God—and not in the flesh (Romans 8:9). The good news is that good, and it’s vital we have it.

YOU

Why is thinking about and accepting the “new creation you” that God made so vital? Because only the real you is not subject to judgement (John 3:18). You’ve already gone through it in Christ at the cross and resurrection (see Romans 6:1-7). If you accept any kind of false YOU—you’re stupid, you’re fat, you’re bad, etc.—you will fall under judgement that requires penalty and penance. If you believe in any YOU other than the one made through Christ, you’ll have to navigate your days with lots of signposts of failure and condemnation. That’s Satan’s work. You won’t be happy. You won’t be satisfied. You’ll be differing shades of miserable, because you weren’t made for judgment (John 3:17). (See http://ralphharris.org/how-you-is-taken-captive/.)

This is why I work so consistently to remind you about YOU. The YOU that you are brings glory to God, and when you’re convinced (maybe again and again) about that YOU, brings revival to you. Getting acquainted with the real you is a joy! Everybody likes a good revival, right?

To get more doses of revival for yourself or for a friend, 1) subscribe to my new web site—ralphharris.org. It’s easy, free, regularly updated, and there are already more than 160 categorized videos and posts; 2) get or give either or both of my books—God’s Astounding Opinion of You, or my new one, Life According to Perfect (http://ralphharris.org/books/); 3) share the simple truth of the gospel you know with someone else—you’ll feel much better as you do. After writing a brief summary of the gospel he knew and believed, John wrote that, “We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:4). How cool is that?

So hang in there, YOU. Remember and remind others about the success of Christ’s cross and resurrection. You’re a whole new YOU.

If Jesus Loves Me,...?

Here’s a brand new, terrific book! Have you ever read any of David Gregory’s best-selling books? The Rest of the Gospel. The Last Christian. Dinner with a Perfect Stranger. And more. He’s a tremendous writer! He was a huge help in the writing of my new book, as well. Here’s what I wrote after reading the manuscript:

"I have never read anything like “If Jesus Loves Me Why Isn't This Working?” and I was fascinated by it. David Gregory has written an incredibly powerful yet easy way to know God's voice and His Word. This is a terrific and encouraging read for individuals and groups alike."

It has just become available, so here’s the link on Amazon to go get it: https://tinyurl.com/y7b7s94p.

Your Life As A Light

(To watch the 3.5-minute video, click: http://ralphharris.org/your-life-as-a-light/)

If, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, “you are the light of the world”, then it seems obvious that Satan’s work is to craft a sort of covering for you, an acceptable covering, and then to induce you to pull it over yourself. To hide. It’s terribly devious.

Jesus has made you salt and light, and that will never be altered. You don’t have to become salty, you don’t have to become “lighty”—He did that to you already. Satan’s game is to point out your failures and weaknesses, as though they could ever change the change Jesus made for you, and then, if you’ll accept them as identifying who you are, to induce you to hide yourself.

But still. You are a light.

The good news is that Jesus didn’t make you the light of the world “IF”. There is no “if”. The light that you have emanates from you but does not originate with you. You’re a lamp—a very nice lamp, the lamp He intended—but a lamp! And you will always be plugged in. You will always be on. Anything and everything that might imply you’re not a very good lamp does not change your lampness. It’s who you are.

So throw off the devil’s offered covering. It doesn’t fit you. It doesn’t belong. It doesn’t help. Weaknesses and failures simply make it evident that the light you have is the Son of God, who lives in you and provides the light. You are the vessel, He is the content. Sometimes that’s going to be obvious. “I might have a sloppy lamp structure, but I’m a lamp! A lamp is what I am.” And then I am revived because I am believing that Jesus’ work through the cross and resurrection worked.

So shine on, my lamp friends. It’s who you are, so it’s what you do.

Matthew 5:14-15 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Grace & Peace

The lie of religion suggests that while God has already happily given us everything in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14), we might have lost a little of the all we never earned—here’s how to get it back. Slaves are made in the "here’s how." So evil and destructive is this suggestion that the apostle Paul made a wish for those who spread the lie.

"As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!" Galatians 5:12

Most of the New Covenant letters begin with the phrase, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” for a very important reason: it is easy for us to forget how well-off we are with God, so we need to be reminded about it—first thing. If we miss the reminder or don’t know the truth, it is also easy for us to be abused by anti-Christ lies because we’re ignorant of what He accomplished for us.

Here’s a New Covenant reminder of God’s gift after the cross and resurrection of Christ: Grace is God giving you everything without obligating you to handle everything well, and peace is God assuring you that you are well, secure, loved and safe with Him at all times.

Now you’re not ignorant. Knowing the truth makes and keeps you free.