“Let no one caught in sin remain, inside the lie of inward shame. We fix our eyes upon the cross and run to Him who showed great love and bled for us. Freely you bled for us!” –Matt Maher Christ is Risen

Good Friday.

Easter.

Sacrifice.

Redemption.

I’ve been on a journey lately. Wrestling with truth God was teaching me, and letting Him work through my heart and transform it. Christine Caine spoke at the IF: Gathering conference on how we settle for the deliverance of the desert, when we were meant for the FREEDOM of Cannan. We can live in such a way that the blood of the Cross saves us from hell, but does it TRANSFORM our lives? As I danced in the kitchen this morning with my girls, as I looked at their precious faces and looked deep into their eyes, I YEARN to teach them that Jesus died and SAVED us, but the cross is about so much more than NOT going to hell. It’s restoration, to the fullest. It’s about the FREEDOM we have to abide in our Jesus all day. He stands by our side, ready to defeat the enemy daily, moment by moment if necessary.

Its about moment by  moment resting in who He is, and His power in our lives. My girls are familiar with consequences. We are having a particularly rough season with one acting out in anger. I’ve recently told her to take a deep breath and run away. And not to yell at her mommy when she’s angry. I’m praying they notice the time outs that Mommy takes with Jesus. One day, they will not be under our roof and daily instruction. But we all have the opportunity to be under the wing of our Savior, walking in His daily instruction. I want them to run, calling his name, like they do mine. And boy am I thankful He doesn’t want to change His name (like many days I want to change mine!).

Its time to confess. God’s been showing me just how much I’ve lived in deliverance, settling for something other than the freedom He died for. That I live life so much in my own strength and not in His. So during this season of Lent, I’m waking up early to spend time with Jesus, to worship Him. When I begin my day that way, it’s a lot easier to begin our day as a family that way. I can live sacrificially for my family when I’m tucked under the arm of Jesus.

As we approach the celebration of Easter, I want to challenge you (and me) to bury in the grave the secret sin that so easily entangles us.

“Come awake and rise up from the grave”

Anger? Withholding yourself from your spouse? Worry? Wandering eyes? Self-sufficency? Gossip? Self-righteousness? Too much time in front of a screen?  There are so many things that keep us from the relationship with Jesus that He died for.  Let God bring them before you, acknowledge sin as sin, and let Him cast it as far as the east is from the west. Walking step by step with Jesus each day helps us then be able to conquer the temptations Satan throws our way daily.  I pray our lives, as well as our mouths proclaim: “Christ is risen from the dead! We are one with Him again. Come Awake! Come Awake! Rise up from the grave!”

Are you participating in Lent this year?