Graham Cooke has a great saying (well, many great ones, but this is one):

>>Just because something is true doesn’t make it truth.<<

Like many of his great sayings…i nod uh huh…then wait, what??

I’ll explain with an example: someone says “i have an anger problem.” Oh really? Have you been redeemed by the blood of Jesus? If so, we know that from 2 Corinthians 5.17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

What are these new things that have come? The Holy Spirit has come, for one. John 14.16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

And what does the Holy Spirit bring to us? TRUTH. And…Galatians 5.16/22 “walk by the Spirit…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

So, lets bring it together…if my anger was dealt with on the cross, and i’m a new creation in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, which embodies patience…then God is not dealing with my sin, he is calling out my righteousness! i’m gonna repeat that….God is not dealing with your sin (that was already dealt with on the cross), he is dealing with your righteousness! When we hold onto the negative stuff (anger, bitterness, fear) then we give the enemy legal right to use those things against us, instead of giving them back to The Lord.

So, when you are in a situation where you would normally loose your temper, God is not giving you opportunities to be angry, he is giving you opportunities to practice patience! WHOA! He sees you through the blood of Christ, so he isn’t seeing your sin. He is helping you walk in your new nature. In the Spirit. In truth.

This relates to many of us because we are busy trying to “manage” behaviors (like anger management!) and we are not accessing the freedom available in Christ. We are not realizing that the old is gone and the new has come. Oh that we could learn to live in the freedom and truth that God has given us!

What do you do? First, make a list of those bad habits or behaviors….then make a second list of the opposite of each one (anger -> patience, negativity -> joy, these are just my examples…but find a truth in scripture about who you are in Christ that is the opposite of the old nature) Then BURN the first list and keep the second one with you to remind you of what the Lord is calling out and what you are practicing.

PS, this is totally ripped off from Graham Cooke and written in my own words. I take no credit for these ideas. But I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter?

The final step is to pray according to the new information. Here is how I pray for this truth in my life:

Heavenly Father, I praise you for who you are and how you love us. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for our sins and taking on all our junk so that we may be free and know you personally. Thank you that you have buried our old nature and we receive your Spirit of Truth to guide us. Thank you that you desire the best for us, Father. I ask for your Truth to resonate in my heart and mind. Help me not to drudge up my old self and focus on the part of me that is dead. Instead, help me see what is inside of me that is a reflection of YOU. Call out my righteousness, and do not let me resolve myself to a life of bad behaviors and contentment with old lies. I want to know what YOU see in me. Call out my righteousness. Awaken my awareness to the Spirit living inside of me. Call out my righteousness. Stir my heart to recognize and practice the fruits of the Spirit daily. Call out my righteousness. Do not let me get distracted by the old but live in the new. Call out my righteousness. Lift my spirit and breath your life into me. breath your truth into me. I choose today to practice patience. I choose today to BE patient. I choose to tap into the deep well of patience that lives inside of me and call it out! Father, may my thoughts and actions bring you glory and honor today. In Jesus name I pray, amen.