Tag Archives: forgiveness

Happy Independance Day

04 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in Blood of Jesus, Bride of Christ, Christianity, Emotions, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus, Blood of Jesus, New Covenant, redemption, Sin, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood

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HEBREWS 8:10-12 AMP For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint their laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. And it will nevermore be necessary for each one to teach his neighbor and his fellow citizen or each one his brother saying, Know (perceive, have knowledge of and get acquainted by experience with ) the Lord for all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds no more.

The Lord is describing the New Covenant, and that we no longer must live with the aid of the Mosaic laws, but that He Himself has put in each of us an innate ability to know right from wrong, and that understanding will come through His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is imparted to us by Jesus Himself when we accept by faith that He is the Son of God and understand that His sacrifice was required to pay our sin debt. Equally important for us to note in this passage, not only are we being given the Holy Spirit but God’s statement that He will remember our sins no more. God has established a higher and better, and more fair approach for those that believe in Jesus. We are not to be sin-conscious, but filled by and with faith as righteous children of God, our righteousness paid for by Jesus Himself. Righteousness could mean Right Living – but like the Ten Commandments, we could never live right enough so we look again to Jesus who paid for our righteousness. Romans 1:17-19 AMP – For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live by faith. For God’s (holy) wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness make it inoperative. For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God Himself has shown it to them.
In other words, live by faith in the Gospel and stop your sinning because you know that you are doing it.

Colossians 2: 13-15 AMP And you who were dead in trespasses and in the un-circumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful, carnal nature), (God) brought to life together with (Christ) having (freely) forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This (note with its regulations, decrees and demands) He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to His cross. God disarmed the principalities and power that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, triumphing over them in Him and in it (the cross).

Most calling themselves Christians have a clear understanding that when Christ was crucified, that He paid for their sins. God being Holy and Perfect, can never look upon sin so He placed all of the sin of the entire world committed from its beginning to its end on His Son. Jesus took all of His Father’s wrath so that we would never be judged for our own sin. Colossians 2 refers to the nailing of laws to the cross of Jesus, because they were hostile to His people. These refer to the Laws of Moses. How could laws that seem so perfectly just be viewed as hostile to God’s people by God Himself? Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, Honor your Father and Your Mother, Do Not Murder, Do Not Commit Adultery, etc… you know them. Remember, the Holy Spirit wrote the bible and this is all in there. It is not the laws themselves that were hostile, but that for them to be fulfilled – ALL of them had to be adhered to perfectly for us to remain out of God’s judgment. This was an impossible exercise for His people to accomplish making these decrees and demands HOSTILE and also making His people SIN conscious rather than GRACE conscious. (Grace is undeserved, unmerited FAVOR)

And because God is God, He knew we would miss this one, and so planned from the very beginning in agreement with His Son (before the earth was formed in fact) that Jesus would return and walk out this agreement on earth that would complete a new, more perfect and everlasting covenant. This is the Gospel and the (very) Good News – because what Jesus gave us as the gift of grace, no man can boast. He freely gave up His life of His own volitional will (now if that’s not more grace, I do not know what is) to open the door so that all the blessings promised to Abraham, as his seed, are given to us.

Because God recognizes a legal system, His covenants can only be ratified through blood which always results in death. A person’s Last Will and Testament only becomes activated at the time of that person’s death, and the same with God’s New (and Final) Covenant for His people, which too became active at Christ’s death. His resurrection signified that the actual exchange at the cross took place proving to everyone that He had completed His assignment. After showing His disciples that He was ok and that His work was finished, He filled them with His Holy Spirit, giving them passion and momentum to forward what He had taught but now with holy, dunamis power. He then went back to Heaven, to hang out and rest next to His Daddy where He prays for us and mediates His covenant. His return to earth after his crucifixion demonstrated to all of the (now former) powers and principalities that previously ruled the earth that He had successfully completed the job of disarming them and He was now heading Home, but not before He released His Spirit which would give them an additional kick in the pants. There was no one ranking higher than Jesus, the sinless, blameless Son of God, that could pay for our iniquities; addictions, adultery, thefts, lies, envies, lusts, slanders, unforgiveness ….. you get the picture. It had to be Him – this was a very big job!!!

In recent months, I confess, that I have pondered the practice of churches offering their attendees the opportunity to “nail to the cross” their unforgiveness, shame, porn addictions and various other muck and weaknesses. I am now so grateful to understand that Jesus has already taken away all of this JUNK on His own body. A person nailing an iniquity to a cross in their own strength may not be truly aware of the magnitude and the complete truth of what Jesus has accomplished. “It is Finished!” – their acts do not count against them as sin. What we are left to manage is our own emotional condemnation; guilt, shame, or a weakness of will (unforgiveness) etc but God is not seeing any of these iniquities (iniquity means to go your own way) because He now sees all of us through the lens of the Blood of His Son. Jesus’ perpetual flow of blood never stops, constantly cleanses, purifies and even sanctifies those that belong to Him. Christ is in you, you are in Him and you are the righteousness of God through Jesus. If there was anything you could do in your own strength – even nailing your bad actions to a cross – then that act would be more transformational and more effective than Christ’s own sacrifice. Turn by faith to God and speak His promises to yourself ALOUD and thank Him and Jesus for what they did for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse you from unclean spirits and torment that plague your soul and body. You yourself are a One Stop Deliverance Shop! Jesus has already released us from oppression! Freedom is in the simple Gospel message – Jesus has paid it all. Believe and you can receive. Happy Independence Day!

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My Journey with Jesus part one

01 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Blood of Jesus, Christianity, Emotions, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Tracy Gatewood, Tracy Gatewood Alabama, TracyLGatewood

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I was a late bloomer in knowing Jesus. As a child, I grew up attending church every Sunday, sitting there week after week believing I had everything necessary to get to heaven when it was my time to “pass” (I never liked that term – still don’t). In college and in my 20’s I steered clear of churches but in my early 30’s I lived on an Atlanta street that bounded the largest Presbyterian church in the country. The pastor was an older gentleman and great communicator of masterfully crafted moral essays that made my sharp young mind really think about moral virtue, where I was headed and why, but he rarely mentioned Jesus.

Time wore on and 4 days shy of my 35th birthday, I married a quiet, reserved man unknowingly that was hiding a profoundly advanced addiction.The next 1.5 years were chaotic adjusting into newly married life, moving twice and for him – trying to slay this addiction before I found out about it. Did I mention advanced. Three years into the marriage, after his repeated job losses, I was well fed up with the bizarre, unexplained behavior. The confrontation finally occurred, the truth came out and the magnitude of the circumstances were beyond anything that I could understand or imagine. We attended a great church but were not deeply involved and I was a base level believer. Immediately following the “exposure” he moved out to live with his Sponsor (I had no idea what that meant), living away from our home for over a year. It was during that time of total devastation that my walk with Jesus started as does this story.

At 37, I had no friends that had been divorced and had waited late in life to marry, determined never to end up a divorce statistic myself. My parents divorced while I was in college so I fully understood the damaging impact on families and individuals that walk through that trauma and wanted no part of it. I became acutely aware that I needed a place of belonging and began to search earnestly for answers to all of the pain. I was told of an evening bible study that was meeting up the street from my Dunwoody home; it was called 7:22 and geared toward college students and younger singles. I knew no one going there but heard that the teaching was sound, and it was taught by some guy named Louie Giglio.

I had also tried out a church a few times that was meeting on Sunday evenings while they raised the funds to build their own. It was called North Point Community Church with a pastor named Andy Stanley. He was an excellent speaker. I watched him actually teach straight from the bible, at times word for word,making sense of the bible for me for the very first time. I was hooked, learning about Jesus. He was cool. (I mark this as the time that I accepted Christ and began my relationship with Him and was baptized shortly thereafter in a North Point elder’s swimming pool) Both of these meetings were occurring at the same church about 2 miles from my home. Within 4 months, I was working for North Point and about 6 months following that, became responsible for non production aspects of 7:22 (volunteers, prayer, resource sales, customer service, etc.) 7:22, an interdenominational service for Atlanta college and single adults, quickly grew to a weekly attendance of 2800.

Although the Lord had miraculously opened a door of grace for me through this dark time, I was still actively searching for answers. Jesus seemed very far away, He was up there with God, but I needed Him down here with me ~ desperately. My marriage had imploded ending 12/1999, I could no longer afford my home, my now former husband had no job and had returned to his south Alabama family. When I went to work for North Point, I decided to close my successful staffing business. I had no active relationship with my own family. Jesus felt way “out there”, and I needed Him to be way “inside”. My prior idea of personal success had always been defined very differently. I felt as if I was treading water with no sign of moving upward, little understanding of my identity in Christ.

During this very confusing time, I left my position at the church in 12/2000 and began to prepare to leave Atlanta which felt like a tremendous relief. I put the house on the market and watched as month after month passed – no one came to look at it. I was desperate to leave the city that I associated with so much pain. In the waiting, I was told of a 28 week program that would assist with my healing and felt the Lord’s confirmation to me to take that direction. The house came off the market and I took the course. Each week, a guest lecturer spoke on an important topic of healing and then our leaders prayed over us for one solid hour each week- we were not allowed to speak, and prayers of deep healing were prayed over each of us and our individual circumstances.

I am convinced that the reason that I am healed and restored today over this situation is because 1) I forgave my former husband and 2) from the effects of these healing prayers. I am free of that damaging wound purely by the grace of God and the active working of the blood of Jesus. (the latter of which I have not understood until the last six years).

  To God Be the Glory.

http://www.268generation.com Louie Giglio
http://www.northpoint.org Andy Stanley

Twitter – @TracyLGatewood
Website – http://www.sacredramblings.com
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Author: Doorways of Grace: My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
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Faith, Forgiveness, Favor

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Blood of Jesus, Bride of Christ, Christianity, Emotions, Gospel of Grace, Grace, Healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus, Blood of Jesus, New Covenant, redemption, New Covenant, Sin, the Spirit

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https://soundcloud.com/tracylgatewood/a-time-to-dream-interview-tracy-gatewood
A Time to Dream radio interview   Topic: Forgiveness   Time: 28 Minutes

Hebrews 9:11-14  AMP
“When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, He went through a greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal (not temporary) redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

When Christ was crucified, His Blood served as the total redemption for every sin committed from the beginning of time to every sin that would ever be committed. God’s wrath was taken out on one perfect sacrifice in strategic points on Jesus’ body, redeeming every known sin; perfectly and completely. This sacrificial act also had the power to cleanse our consciences from actions that lead to death so we can get about the business of building His Kingdom. (read the verse).  Jesus has sprinkled His own Blood on the Mercy Seat of Heaven, allowing us access to the power of Heaven to work through any obstacle. Now Heaven is actually in you – your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit does not simply vacation at your address ( you are not Aspen) He lives in you  ALL THE TIME.

Jesus’ sacrifice was perfect and complete, it had to be done this way because we cannot purchase our own freedom from sin or acts of sin. There was no higher sacrifice than God’s own Son. Jesus never struggled with sin so we look to Jesus as our hope to destroy the power of sin (in this case unforgiveness)  instead of our own willpower. Willpower could be renamed ‘Soulpower’ because our souls are comprised of our mind, will and emotions. It takes God’s supernatural grace to overcome unforgiveness and other sin. When partnering with your faith, God can transform and release you from unforgiveness and sin, when your soulpower will not. When we accept Christ, we access His nature; He is in us and we are in Him. We must have a higher degree of faith in His character and His willingness to heal, deliver and transform us,  than faith in ourselves.

Romans 5:20 NKJV
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more!
Romans 5:20 AMP
But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, resting in His own work, and praying for all of His Saints.  If you are “in Christ” you are no longer a defeated Sinner but a very precious Saint in the eyes of God. His Spirit lives in you – would He call His Spirit a Sinner? Would God who created the Universe put His very Spirit in someone that was a Sinner that could still be sinning?  Yes, He did. And that person, after accepting by faith that His Son paid for all sin,  is now called A SAINT. If that is not grace, I do not know what is.

Ephesians 4:32 states, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Bring each unforgiven person before the Lord and tell Him that because you are forgiven by Him through Jesus’ sacrifice without deserving forgiveness for your own sins, that the person that hurt you is now forgiven in your sight, then release all anger in Jesus’ Name and believe that God will do the transforming work. Forgiveness by faith (not through emotion), puts God in the driver’s seat. Forgiveness is not for people that deserve it.  Extending forgiveness is simply extending grace ~ undeserved, unmerited favor.

Tracy Gatewood
All Rights Reserved  Doorways of Grace
Twitter: @TracyLGatewood
Amazon Author: Doorways of Grace, My Uncommon Journey to Healing, Wholeness and Meeting Jesus
FB: Tracy Gatewood Writer Teacher

Related Articles on Sacred Ramblings:
The Assignment   http://wp.me/p1zoxs-4C
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I drove down to the Bay Revival in Mobile AL 11/30/2012 to hear Steve Hill teach on ( I assumed) the subject of healing because he has spent the last 3 years battling melanoma and appeared to be well. Instead Pastor Steve spent well over an hour talking about sin.  Bummer. It was a good sin sermon but nonetheless, it left me flat. At the close of the service, he asked everyone to raise their hand that needed forgiveness from sin and then asked everyone that had raised their hand to come to the front for prayer for forgiveness of their sin. I started working through this;
(1)  I am forgiven of all sin through Christ’s final sacrifice that also redeemed me back from Adam’s fall and an Adamic nature (2) That Holy Spirit lives and works in me as partner to conquer all sin (3) The veil in the temple was torn signifying that I can come into the very presence of God to speak to Him and repent from any sin issue. (4) I have Jesus Christ as my High Priest seated at God’s right hand advocating me to God. (5) When I have a sin issue, I can repent (change my mind/ change direction) with the assistance of accountability partners or in partnership with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Certain pastors possess an anointing to break spirits and yokes that bind. It is beneficial for us to recognize them and take these opportunities for healing and deliverance.  Sin is no small issue. Sin matters greatly to God because His Son had to die to defeat its power. Holiness matters greatly to God, too and
I AM FORGIVEN.

Tracy’s Prayer returning from the Bay Revival ~

Dear Father – I love you so much and thank you for this day. Thank you God for forgiving me for every sin I have or ever will commit because you see me through the lens of the sacrifice of your Son. Jesus, I am so grateful today for what you did for me on the Cross. I am filled with such joy and gratitude and hope because your actions defeated Satan, and sin cannot control me and your Father sees me clothed in a white robe of righteousness. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, an heir and Offspring of the seed of Abraham and every covenant blessing has been redeemed for me. I rest in the work of Christ and so very grateful that I am cleansed and protected by His holy blood.  Holy Spirit, I ask you for favor today in every place I go – and thank you for being my teacher, my comforter, my counselor and best friend. Please administrate and coordinate every area of my life today in a way that is pleasing to God.
I pray all these things in the Mighty and Supreme Name of Jesus Christ My Lord – AMEN.

 

The Crimson Flow of Freedom

29 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by in Blood of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Blood of Jesus, New Covenant, redemption, New Covenant, redemption, Sin, Tracy Gatewood Prayer

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Jesus on the Cross

Hebrews 9: 11-18  AMP

11 But (that appointed time came) when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. (Then) through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with (human) hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, 12 He went once for all into the (holy of) Holies not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves (by which to make reconciliation between God and man), but by His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us). 13 For if (the mere) sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body, 14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, who by virtue of (His ) eternal Spirit (His own preexistent, divine personality) has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the (ever) living God? 15 (Christ, The Messiah) is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an (entirely) new agreement (testament, covenant) so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance – since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the (old) first agreement. 16 For where there is a (last) will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established, 17 For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive, 18 so even the (old) first covenant of God’s will was not inaugurated without the shedding of blood.

Jesus’  Blood is different, it is very different. The precious Blood of Jesus is the single most powerful tool (and weapon) that we have as Christians. We do not need to yell or pontificate to win our battles but acknowledge and apply the Blood of Jesus for Him to take us through the process to claim a victory already won.  Many people were put to death on a Cross, the universally recognized symbol of Christianity – but as important as Jesus death was for the activation of the eternal covenant (binding, unbreakable obligation between parties) the equally active power of Christianity resides in the Holy Blood of Jesus.  Jesus’ blood is alive,  it has infinite power when applied by faith – power administrated by the Holy Spirit. The work has been finished – Hallelujah!

Leviticus 17:11 AMP states –
“For the life (animal soul) is in the blood and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the Blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life which it represents. ”

So what is this saying?
That the soul and life is carried in blood
Blood has atoning power
The value of blood corresponds to the value of the life in which it rests

As a sacrifice, the life of an ox, bull or a ram has more value than the life of a sheep or goat.  The life of a bird is of less value than the life of a lamb or a goat. The life blood of a man has more value than any animal –

How much worth, redemptive, atoning  power does the Blood of a Perfect Deity carry ?   The Blood in which rests the soul of the Most Holy Son of God whose sacrifice establishes an unbreakable Covenant saving all of mankind from eternal death, releasing benefits that cover the scope of every human need.

Jehovah –
Shammah (His Presence, Ezekiel 48:35)
Shalom (Peace, Judges, 6:24)
Ra-ah (Shepherd-Pastor, Psalm 23:1)
Jireh (Provision, Genesis, 22:14)
Nissi (Banner of Victory Over Darkness, Exodus 17:15)
Rapha ( Healer, Exodus, 15:26 )
Righteousness (Tsidkenu, Jeremiah, 23:6)
M’Kaddesh (Sanctifier, Leviticus, 20:6)

Even the most glorious Blood of Jesus is incomplete without the Spirit – as the two work together,  actually there are 3 that work together: water, blood and Spirit. Water represents repentance and the laying aside of sin, blood is the cleansing agent for sin and even the stain (guilt) of sin and the Spirit activates the power of Jesus’ blood when appropriated by faith (the leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness). This lesser recognized Trinity comprises the essential ingredients for freedom from every form of bondage  – a Crimson Flow of Freedom.

Every single drop of Jesus’ blood is powerful and holds infinite worth.  The process of scourging then execution by crucifixion allowed for the greatest amount of blood loss which for our benefit covered the greatest amount of sin. If Satan could have known the end result of this process, would he not have simply left Jesus alone to die a more likely death from a natural cause? The sovereignty of God’s will prevailed –

Isaiah 53:10 AMP
Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him, He has put Him to grief and made Him sick. When you and He make His life an offering for sin (and He has risen from the dead, in time to come) He shall see His (spiritual) offspring, He shall prolong His days, and the will and pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see (the fruit) of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself (which He possesses and imparts to others) shall My (uncompromisingly) Righteous One, My Servant justify many and make many righteous (upright and in right standing with God), for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt (with the consequences, says the Lord).

Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great (kings and rulers), and He shall divide the spoil with the mighty, because He poured out His life unto death, and He let Himself be regarded as a criminal and be numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore (and took away) the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors (the rebellious).

Father, I thank you that by the power of the Holy Blood of Your Son Jesus that no good thing will be withheld from us because we can dwell in Your presence and live uprightly because we are forever righteous in Your sight.  AMEN

 

Tracy Gatewood
Copyright All Rights Reserved
http://sacredramblings.com
Twitter: @TracyLGatewood
Tracy Gatewood Amazon Author: Doorways of Grace
FB: Tracy Gatewood Writer Teacher

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