The Power of Right Believing: 7 Keys to Freedom from Fear, Guilt, and Addiction by Joseph Prince Page B
Authors: Joseph Prince
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will keep you bound, and you willend up behaving like a dirty, rotten sinner. I wrote this book to tell you that is
not
you! God sees you in Christ. When He sees you, He sees the cross, and through the cross you look beautiful. Therefore, don’t be afraid of God’s truth and light.
God sees you in Christ. When He sees you, He sees the cross, and through the cross you look beautiful.
Do you know what happens to precious stones when light shines upon them? They sparkle and radiate with beauty. The truth is, light is a gem’s best friend because it brings out the best qualities of the precious stone. In the same way, as you are reading this right now, do you know that the light of God’s grace and truth is shining on you? It’s not here to condemn you, but to cause you to sparkle brilliantly and bring out your best qualities. It’s a light that shows the perfection of the work of Jesus in making you completely clean. It’s not a light to be feared. Grace brings out the best in you because grace always produces holiness. The more you receive God’s love and grace, and see how He sees you, the more you will arise from every area of defeat and shine gloriously for Jesus like the precious gems on the high priest’s breastplate.
It’s All about the Cross
There is an amazing secret hidden in the story of Balaam. Do you know what Balaam saw from the mountaintop when he was trying to curse God’s people? He saw this:
The Israelite encampment that Balaam saw formed a picture of the cross of Jesus.
What do you see? That’s right! It’s the cross of Jesus!
The Bible gives very specific details on how the twelve tribes of Israel set up their encampment and the number of people in each tribe (see Num. 2:2–32). We read that the camp of Judah (comprising Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun) on the eastern side of the encampment is the largest camp among them, and you can see from the illustration that it forms the longer, bottom extension of the cross. I told you that there are no insignificant details in the Bible—everything points to the person of Jesus. Isn’t this amazing? I love it when the cross of Jesus is revealed!
This means that when Balaam was trying to curse God’s people, he actually caught a glimpse of how God sees His people—throughthe cross, through the sacrifice of His Son. Of course, Balaam didn’t understand the significance of the cross, and neither did the children of Israel at that time.
But you and I do.
My friend, when God looks at you today, He sees the price His beloved Son paid at the cross to ransom you from all your sins. He sees you in Christ. In His eyes, you are forgiven, righteous, precious, beautiful, valuable, and close to His heart. It’s time to see yourself as God sees you!
CHAPTER 7
RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS AND REIGN
E ven after being in active ministry for more than two decades, I am still amazed when I see just how hard people are on themselves. I believe this can be traced to their wrong beliefs about God. When you believe erroneously that God is hard on you for your failures, you will inevitably be hard on the people around you, and most of all, you will end up being really hard on yourself.
People who are hard on themselves cannot forgive themselves for the mistakes they’ve made in the past. Sadly, they end up punishing themselves, whether they know it or not. Some end up physically cutting and hurting themselves. Some binge on food or fall into substance abuse. Others indulge their sexual appetites and spiral out of control, hurting not only themselves but also their loved ones, all because they respond to an instinct to punish themselves, albeit unconsciously.
It’s a vicious cycle of defeat. The more they can’t forgive themselves, the more they hurt themselves with all kinds of behaviors and the more they end up bound by various destructive addictions.This leads to even more guilt, which in turn drives them to punish themselves even more—and the cycle
not
you! God sees you in Christ. When He sees you, He sees the cross, and through the cross you look beautiful. Therefore, don’t be afraid of God’s truth and light.
God sees you in Christ. When He sees you, He sees the cross, and through the cross you look beautiful.
Do you know what happens to precious stones when light shines upon them? They sparkle and radiate with beauty. The truth is, light is a gem’s best friend because it brings out the best qualities of the precious stone. In the same way, as you are reading this right now, do you know that the light of God’s grace and truth is shining on you? It’s not here to condemn you, but to cause you to sparkle brilliantly and bring out your best qualities. It’s a light that shows the perfection of the work of Jesus in making you completely clean. It’s not a light to be feared. Grace brings out the best in you because grace always produces holiness. The more you receive God’s love and grace, and see how He sees you, the more you will arise from every area of defeat and shine gloriously for Jesus like the precious gems on the high priest’s breastplate.
It’s All about the Cross
There is an amazing secret hidden in the story of Balaam. Do you know what Balaam saw from the mountaintop when he was trying to curse God’s people? He saw this:
The Israelite encampment that Balaam saw formed a picture of the cross of Jesus.
What do you see? That’s right! It’s the cross of Jesus!
The Bible gives very specific details on how the twelve tribes of Israel set up their encampment and the number of people in each tribe (see Num. 2:2–32). We read that the camp of Judah (comprising Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun) on the eastern side of the encampment is the largest camp among them, and you can see from the illustration that it forms the longer, bottom extension of the cross. I told you that there are no insignificant details in the Bible—everything points to the person of Jesus. Isn’t this amazing? I love it when the cross of Jesus is revealed!
This means that when Balaam was trying to curse God’s people, he actually caught a glimpse of how God sees His people—throughthe cross, through the sacrifice of His Son. Of course, Balaam didn’t understand the significance of the cross, and neither did the children of Israel at that time.
But you and I do.
My friend, when God looks at you today, He sees the price His beloved Son paid at the cross to ransom you from all your sins. He sees you in Christ. In His eyes, you are forgiven, righteous, precious, beautiful, valuable, and close to His heart. It’s time to see yourself as God sees you!
CHAPTER 7
RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS AND REIGN
E ven after being in active ministry for more than two decades, I am still amazed when I see just how hard people are on themselves. I believe this can be traced to their wrong beliefs about God. When you believe erroneously that God is hard on you for your failures, you will inevitably be hard on the people around you, and most of all, you will end up being really hard on yourself.
People who are hard on themselves cannot forgive themselves for the mistakes they’ve made in the past. Sadly, they end up punishing themselves, whether they know it or not. Some end up physically cutting and hurting themselves. Some binge on food or fall into substance abuse. Others indulge their sexual appetites and spiral out of control, hurting not only themselves but also their loved ones, all because they respond to an instinct to punish themselves, albeit unconsciously.
It’s a vicious cycle of defeat. The more they can’t forgive themselves, the more they hurt themselves with all kinds of behaviors and the more they end up bound by various destructive addictions.This leads to even more guilt, which in turn drives them to punish themselves even more—and the cycle
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