“​Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” – Ephesians 2:12-13

Lord, as Gentiles we were not in a good state.We did not have the advantages of Your people the Jews. We were Christless, citizenshipless, covenantless, hopeless, and godless in this brutal and dark world. You did not leave us in that sad state of affairs. We who were afar off are now made near. How was that made possible? The blood of Jesus Christ. That which kept us from God was our sin. My sin kept me in a position of being  far off. The impediment, the road block, has been removed. Now I am no longer separated from Christ. He is my Messiah too. I am now a citizen of heaven. I partake of the New Covenant were Jew and Gentile are one body in Christ. I am filled with hope and I have drawn near to God as His dear Child. All because of the blood of Jesus Christ spilt out on that tree. Positionally it can’t get any better than this and it is all because of the cross. All praise be to God the Father through the Holy Spirit in the Name of the Son. Amen

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. -1 John 2:1‭-‬2 

Thank You my Lord for being my Advocate with the Father. Thank You for being my lawyer, my lawyer like no other. You enter my guilty plea and then pay the penalty for my crimes, appeasing the just demands of a Holy God. Justice  says the soul that sins must die and that the wages of sin is death, seperation from God both now and eternally. Seated at the right hand of the Father,  Your pierced hands, feet and side are visual reminders that my debt has been paid in full by You and You alone, the only Righteous One.  At Your cross justice and mercy are displayed in their fullness. The sinner that I am is provided salvation by the Savior that You are. I am in awe. In Your Name. Amen.

live-out-5-outline

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. – 1 Peter 1:18‭-‬19 ESV

Heavenly Father, I was on market. I was a prisoner to sin. I desperately needed to be redeemed, to be bought off that slave market never to be sold again. I could not redeem myself. My only resources would have been the  persishable things of this life like silver and gold. No matter how much I had of these it would not have been enough. The cost of my redemption was beyond anything any human could ever pay no matter the extent of their wealth. The price of my redemption was the precious blood of the spotless, blameless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ,Your Son. There has never, ever, ever been a greater price paid for a redemption. God, it is so hard to believe but it is so powerful to know that I’m worth so much to You that You would pay that kind of price for me, broken sinful me. It was the only way and You made it happen. Hallelujah. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my soul, my all.

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:25‭-‬26 

Lord, You have provided such an amazing path to Yourself. The New Covenant in Your blood is so incredible. Your sacrifice is not one that covers my sin for a year but  it is one that cancels my sin forever. It is not like the animal sacrifices repeatedly daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. It is a once for all sacrifice.  It’s an eternal sacrifice made by an eternal person, You Lord Jesus, to secure for us, for me, an eternal salvation. Hallelujah. What a Savior. 

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18

Lord, the world just doesn’t get it. When I speak of Your cross and the salvation found through its work they find my words foolishness. They think serious followers of Yours are fanatics.They find our faith in Your blood sacrifice offensive. Thank You that the preaching of Your cross is the power of God. Thank you that the message of Your cross changes lives, that it changed and is changing my life. Thank You that those who meet You at Your cross are never the same. Thank You that it doesn’t matter that the wise of this world find the cross foolishness. You have made their wisdom to be foolishness by what you’ve done in countless  lives through centuries. Thank You that my life is one of those lives. In Your Name I pray. Amen

live-out-5-outline

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. – Galatians 6:14 

Lord, there are so many things I take pride in, so many things I want others to know I have accomplished. Thank you Lord for Your cross. It reminds me that it is not about what I have done, am doing or will do. It is about what You alone have done! Your work on the cross accomplished my redemption and provided salvation for all who have placed their faith in You. By it the world has been crucified to me. It has nothing to offer me. It is dead to me. I have also been crucified to the world. I need not  seek it’s approval. It is only in the cross of Christ that  I make my boast. This season may my heart and mind be occupied with these three crucifixions, My Savior on the Cross, the world to me and me to the world. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies… 2 Corinthians 4:10

Lord may I never forget your death for me. Beyond that Lord may I always keep it in mind not morabidly but victoriously. Not morbidly because You willingly died for me. No one took Your life. You gave it up willingly for me.Victoriously because as I focus on Your death for my sin  I am reminded that I am dead to sin.  I can now began living for you because sin has no power over me. It need not reign in me.  Because of Your death, Your cross, I’m free from the slavery to sin. May I apply daily the freedom from sin found in the cross. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

To download the brochure click here – equipping-conference-brochure-updated