"I Set You Free"

"I am the One who rescues you from your prostitution!
I am the One who sets you free!
You cannot set yourselves free by working harder!

"You have no power to leave your bondage,
and you have no other 'way'
but to let Me do the work for you.

"Come, let Me do the work for you.
Rest in Me and trust in My hand.
I will free you from your captivity."

*****

Art: "Renewed"

"Greater In You"

"I am stronger than your hardness!
I am your root, and I am mighty to save.
I am He who overcame the world,
and I am He who lives within you.
I am He who overcomes the world
and who overcomes the evil one in you.
Because I overcame, you also will overcome.
I am He who began a good work in you,
and I am He who is faithful to finish it.
Trust in Me more than in your unchangeableness."

*****

Art: "You Also Will Live"

"Holiness"

"I am your peace—your place of rest
from temptation, confusion, struggle, and sin.

"Be still and know that I have redeemed you!
I have accomplished your sanctification on the Cross.

"Rest in what I have done for you, not in yourself.
When you need relief from the waves, look to Me."

"You are in Christ Jesus,
who has become for us wisdom from God—
that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption."
(1 Corinthians 1:30)

"In Faith, See!"

"I know how much you struggle,
how much you are trying to be like Me,
and how little progress you see in yourself.

"I know how far you feel from Me,
how guilty you feel because of it,
and how much you blame yourself.

"I know how much you long to have rest and to hear My voice,
but the only voice you hear reprimands you for not being better
and for not having a 'Christlike'-enough character.

"That is not My voice! I am He who saves you!
I know you can't see Me, but I want you to trust Me:
I never asked you to measure yourself against Me.

"Look up! Your expectations are not My expectations!
I am not who your church has told you I am,
and I do not expect what they told you I expect.

"Look in faith to Me, and I will set you free.
In your eyes you can only see darkness,
but listen to My Word and look through My eyes instead!"

"You have stolen My heart with one glance of your eyes...
How delightful is your love...!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine!"

- Song of Songs 4:9-10

*****

Art: "Peace in Difficulty"

"Under Law"

"I feel their pain! I feel their pain!
I feel their bondage! I feel them longing to reach Me but unable to!
I fell the pain of their striving, the weight of self-condemnation
for not succeding, and the pressure of expectation!
I feel the wound beneath their need to rationalize,
their need to invent excuses and gloss over problems
because they are too afraid of losing everything!

"Who will intercede for My children in Adventism?
Who will look past their defenses to the hurting children inside?
Who will reach out and love them in their captivity?
Who will give them grace instead of battle?
Who will go for Me, and whom shall I send?"

"In My Eyes"

“Don’t ever allow disappointment in your behavior to separate you from Me. I created you for fellowship, not behavior. Just come to Me as you are. Don’t worry about your standing with Me. My Son took care of all those issues. Now we can just fellowship and enjoy one another.

“You are no longer under condemnation—you are justified. You are a new creation in My eyes. I only see what My Word says about you... and you are what My Word says. Speak My Word and it will be released to work and bring forth fruit. Stay close to Me.”

- received by Lynn Golden

*****

Read Lynn Golden's testimony at GentlyBroken.com
Art link: "Eternal Gaze"

"Called to Rest"

"I have never called you to become an eagle—
instead I have simply called you to
wait on Me,
trust in Me,
and rest on Me.

"You have read that those who wait on Me
will rise up with wings like eagles,
run and not grow weary,
walk and not be faint.

"But you have not felt renewed,
and you have not felt strong.
You have tried to 'fly'
and tried to stay positive,
quoting My words while you felt 'grounded'.
You believed,
you tried,
but you just couldn't 'soar'...

"Because I never called you to soar!
I only called you to rest in Me.

"I am the One who will carry you.
I am the One who renews.
I am the One who is strong,
and I am strong in your weakness."

*****

Art: "I AM"

"Beyond You"

"I am the fire that you do not know,
beyond your reasoning and understanding.
I am the Spirit—I am He who births spirit in you,
and I am the One who testifies to whom you belong.

"You are created to be filled with My light,
but you cannot understand Me until you rest.
As long as you embrace your works to earn My approval,
you will not know the power of who I am.
Until you rest in Jesus you will not understand
the freedom of My sanctification
and the joy of My presence.

"Rest in Jesus!
Rest in the work He fully accomplished for you
instead of in the works you try to offer Him.
Rest from striving to clean up your mess,
for that is My job—not yours!
Lay down and know that He has taken your burdens.
Rest in His perfection and resurrection
instead of in your own transformation.
Believe He is your Sabbath-rest,
and I will bring you peace that cannot be extinguished."

*****

Art link:
"He Will Baptize You With the Holy Spirit and Fire"

"It is Finished!"

"I will be your calm in the storm. I will be your peace in tribulation. I will be the redemption of every thing that has been destroyed in you and taken from you. You can't see how I will redeem these things, but I want you to trust Me. Look to the cross! Look to what I have done for you for all eternity! It is finished! It is accomplished! Look! I have risen from the grave! I will redeem all things!"

"Captive!"

"I have taken captivity captive!
All the things that have held you captive, I have broken through!
I am the One who rescues you.
I am the One who comes to set you free.
I am the One who takes you home to be with Me.
Look up! Look up and see!
I am your deliverance!"

"The Tree of Life"

"I have called you to the tree of life—to the Cross of My Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other way to produce life and the works of love. The law cannot make you godly—it only brings you death. But what the law could not do, I did for you by sending My Son to die for your sins. Beholding His death you see not only the difference between good an evil, but you also see My love for you and My power that brings you out of darkness into the light of life.

"Come to the Cross! Come to life!"

"Delivered!"

"The Cross! The Cross! Everything you need has been accomplished for you at the Cross! I have finished everything necessary for your salvation! I have done everything necessary to bring you home to Me in heaven!

"Behold My Son crucified for you! I have declared to you My character in My Son crucified for you—I am love, and I love you! I have shown you My nature—I gave My Son to accomplish what you could not, in order to have you for Myself forever! My character is this: I love you so much—even though you are imperfect—that I gave you My Son to be your perfection for you!

"You have been delivered from your sins—on the Cross!
Believe! And I will take care of the rest."

*****

See also: "This is How You Know"

"Held By Trustworthy Hands"

"My child, I know that you want to give Me all of yourself. I know you want to surrender to Me completely and give me your whole heart. I know that you try. I know you are trying, and I know how far you feel. I know how far you feel from Me, and I know how frustrated you feel because you think you should be able to try harder to be close to Me.

"My child, trust in My hold on you instead of your hold on Me. I am stronger than you are. I will not let you fall. I hold you close to Me, and I bring you closer to Me. Rest here in My arms. There is nothing better that you can do than to rest in Me and trust in My hold on you. You don't need to try to get closer to Me; you need to rest and know that I already am close to you.

"In the same way, give Me your heart and leave it in My hands. You can give Me only so much of your heart. You are not able to surrender it fully. Only I can do that for you, and it is My job, not yours. As long as you focus on the degree or 'success' of your own surrender, you will feel far from Me and worry about falling to the ground. Choose to rest in Me instead."

*****

See also: "Fall Into His Arms" (art link)

"Made Perfect"

"My sons and My daughters—My children:

"I am bringing you home! All of your hopes which have seemed so distant and far away have not been in vain, but shall come to pass. I will restore what has been lost. I will reunite those who have been parted. I will bring you to paradise.

"Do not be afraid, for I have been pleased to give you the Kingdom, and you have the Kingdom, even today! Do not be afraid to be certain about 'getting to heaven', because I have already put the Kingdom in you, and in Me you are already seated with My Father in heaven. Do not be afraid of not becoming 'perfected' on earth, for the only ones I have called 'perfected' are those who have left life on earth behind and come to be with Me.

"Behold, your heaven is certain! I am your eternal life, and you who believe on Me have crossed from death into life. I am your heaven, and when you have left behind your tent you will see Me in perfection. When you see Me as I am, I will perfect the faith I began in you and I will burn up the chaff with the unquenchable fire of My love for you.

"I am the God of the living: all are alive to Me whether they are in the body or away from the body. Those whose bodies sleep await the resurrection, just as all of creation awaits its renewal. But none who sleep await the salvation of their souls, for they have already been saved by My grace through faith. I authored their faith and I am the one who perfected their faith in Me—the perfect sacrifice who clothes them, by whose blood they have been made holy.

"My perfect ones are not those who perfected themselves, but they are children who came to Me as children, hailing Me as their Savior. I am He who only asked for mustard seeds, and I am He who calls My precious jewels home to Myself when their time on earth has finished.

"I am the keeper of your soul, and I am the keeper of the souls of sinners who have been made perfect and see My face today in paradise. I am He who receives the spirits of those who fall asleep in Me, and has not lost any that My Father has given to Me. I am He who clothes them today with My own heavenly dwelling until the time comes for them to be clothed with their own heavenly body, like My own.

"I am He who keeps in the shelter of My tent those who have left their own tent behind on earth. I am He who spreads the corner of My robe over you and calls you to forget your own house, your own tent, and by faith dwell in Mine. I am He who keeps in safety those who have been made perfect and those who are being made perfect, for by My sacrifice on the Cross I have already made them perfect once for all."

*****

See also: "A Spirit of Life" and "Spirit" (study)

"Your Sins Have Been Condemned!"

"My child, I know how well you can see your sins. I know how guilty you feel for every temptation you have. I know how overwhelmed, helpless and powerless you feel in sight of them.

"Do not be afraid! I have purchased you on the Cross, and you are Mine! Though your sins seem about to overwhelm you, in fact it is I who have already overwhelmed your sins! They are no longer your 'bottom line'.

"Now, the truest 'you' is in Me, whole, clean and pure. You are a new spirit in Me, and your sins are no longer 'you'. So don't focus on them and don't let them get you down. They may seem overwhelming, but you will not overwhelmed because My blood shed on the Cross stands between you and your sins.

"Live in knowledge of this."

*****

See also: "Condemned!" (art link)

"You Have Been Sanctified"

"My child,

"You are never going to be holy enough. And you don't need to fear, because I have already loved you and accepted you! And I gave you My holiness. You are credited with My holiness, not with yours. For your sake I sanctified Myself, so that you might be sanctified in Me. Because I am holy, I have made you holy by My sacrifice once for all.

"Now that I have saved you and credited you with My righteousness, I will lovingly wash you many times—I will wash you with My words, telling you the truth of how I have loved you and saved you by My own power instead of by yours. I will take every fear hiding in the darkness, bring it into the light and give you peace by applying My love and truth to it. I will still your soul and give you rest from your fears and your striving. And so you will become more and more holy—pure and free in My love, cleansed by the truth of what I have done for you. But making you holy is My work, not yours. And your holiness is not the basis of your acceptance with Me.

"I sanctified you with My blood, shed for you on the Cross. No more sacrifice is necessary. You have been set apart as holy. You are Mine."

*****

See also: "Sanctification"

"Washing"

"My beloved,

"Come, let Me wash you in a way that you have never been washed before. Up to now you have been taught that I demanded spotlessness from you, that it was your job to wash yourself instead of Mine, and that I will reject you if you are not clean enough for Me.

"Listen to the truth: I am not washing you in order to accept you, but I am washing you because I have already accepted you! I loved you and cherished you so much that I gave My life to purchase you while you were still sinful, dirty and blemished. Now that I have purchased you, I want to make you radiant. I want to see you full of My joy, overwhelmed in My love and at peace in every way. I want you to be free to be who I made you to be. I want to set your heart at rest, casting out all fears of rejection and punishment with My perfect love.

"I want to see you smile as you see My face smiling lovingly at you! I want to see your face and hear your voice, for your face is lovely to Me and your voice is sweet to My ears. Come, be at rest. I will wash you as a husband lovingly and tenderly washes His bride."

"Finished Work"

"Yes, I am going to change you, but how much you change is not the measure of whether I accept you or not. I have already accepted you and loved you—behold, the Cross! Do you need any more proof?

"No matter how much or how little you transform, your victory will always be here at the Cross—where I won the victory for you. As you gaze upon My victory instead of the degree of your transformation, you will find rest knowing that I have already accepted you, and that your transformation is finished in Me. I am the Author and Finisher of your faith, and what I have promised to do I Myself will accomplish in you.

"Behold My victory—My victory is your victory! I have already won, I have already purchased you on the basis of My blood, not your transformation. Rest in My finished work—My victory—and let Me finish what I have begun in you in My own time."

*****

See also: "My Victory" (art link)