Receive All That Jesus Died for You to Have | 30 Days To Becoming A Woman Of Prayer by Stormie Omartian

Receive All That Jesus Died for You to Have

Without Jesus we are dead.

This is true in so many ways, because without Jesus we are separated from God. We need the resurrection life of Jesus in us so that we can be right with God and raised up to be with Him when we die.

However, Jesus not only gives us life for eternity—which is reason enough to receive Him—He also gives us more life in this life, for He resurrects the dead areas of our earthly lives in countless ways as well.

In my twenties, after I had finished my third year of college at UCLA and had returned from a tour of the United States with a well-known singing group, I started working as a singer/dancer/actress on musical-variety television shows popular at that time. It was through the people I met on these television shows that I got into alcohol and drugs. Neither I nor the people I worked with ever used drugs or drank while we were working. We were all too professional to do anything irresponsible like that. These jobs were coveted, and no one would jeopardize them for something so stupid. But at private parties and social events, alcohol and drugs were always plentiful. And not for sale, I might add. At least I never paid a penny for anything I indulged in. However, I found that drugs and alcohol provided only a temporary relief from the emotional misery I experienced every day of my life. I needed something permanent.

I wanted to be close to God because I figured He was the only one with the power to lift me out of the pit I was living in—or I should say dying in. So I tried every religion I could find except the Christian faith. The Christianity I had known—mostly through my mother—seemed somewhere between dead and a little crazy to me. While I thought the Christian thing was a really nice idea, I didn’t see any power in it. Plus, I believed I would have to suspend all intellect in order to believe what Christians did. And the few times I went to church in my life I didn’t feel any closer to God, and I didn’t see anything change in me or my life. So Christianity was a non-issue to me.

In my search for God—and a way out of feelings of rejection, hurt, sadness, fear, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts—I went full speed into one Eastern religion after another. In each one I found their god to be cold and distant. Unless, of course, you could do the things that religion’s literature and leaders suggested in order to bring yourself closer to god. These religious to-do lists were either impossible or they just simply never worked. At least they didn’t work for me. With each disappointment, I became more despairing of ever finding any solace in God.

I went deep into the occult as well. Too deep. That experience turned out to be stranger than any of the others. I was certainly having some kind of spiritual experience, but it was scaring me to death— literally. Looking back, I now recognize that the spiritual beings I was communicating with were definitely not of the Lord.

Finally, I got to the end of my rope and myself, and I contemplated suicide as the only way out of my pain. I had persistent suicidal thoughts. It was not that I wanted to die; it was just that I didn’t want to live the way I was living. And I had found no way I could change myself or my circumstances. I felt I had tried everything I knew to find a way out of my misery, and nothing had worked.

At that time a Christian friend and coworker, Terry, invited me to meet her pastor. I went because I saw a quality in her I really admired.

She had something that made her life work, and I was attracted to whatever it was. To make a not-too-long story extremely short, Pastor Jack Hayford led me to receive Jesus. I never dreamed I would be doing such a crazy thing. But as it turned out, it was the best decision I ever made.

Right away things began to change. I felt hope for the first time in my life. Hope for a future. Hope for a lifelong purpose. Hope for freedom from the pain, depression, fear, and anxiety I had begun to believe was the way my life would always be. I discovered that while there was no way / could change myself and my circumstances, God could change everything. That’s because I now had a relationship with Him through Jesus, His Son, who had paid the price for my freedom. Now, because I had chosen to have humble faith in Jesus, I had secured the avenue through which God’s blessings could flow. But it was just the beginning of learning about all that Jesus did for me.

Receiving Jesus Is Just The Beginning

It’s not enough to initially receive Jesus; you must also be daily mindful of all He did for you and receive that too.

Accepting Jesus as God’s Son and your Savior gives you eternal salvation. When you die you will spend eternity with the Lord. That would be amazing enough if it were all He did, but He accomplished so much more. You need to have a clear understanding of the full extent of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and, as a result, what He has done for you. You must truly comprehend the many ways He has saved you. For example, you may know He has saved you from death and hell, but do you know and believe with all your heart that He has also saved you from infirmity, torment, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and fear?

What Jesus has saved you for is to be with God forever and serve His purposes in all you do. What Jesus has saved you from are the consequences of living apart from God and His ways.

The Bible refers to Jesus as one “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works’ (Titus 2:14). He is purifying you as one of His special children in order for you to do good things for Him. The knowledge and sense that He loves you that much will make you eager to do what pleases Him.

Because Of Jesus In You

It’s vitally important that you understand all you really have in Jesus, because if you don’t you will not be able to fully receive it. When life’s circumstances challenge you, or the enemy tries to destroy you with his lies, you must know what authority you have in Jesus’ name.

Below is a list of some of the things you have been given, because of what Jesus accomplished.

Because Of Jesus, You Can Be Completely Free Of Guilt

Guilt is something we all have, whether we feel guilty about the things we know we have done wrong or regret over what we feel we should have done better. Our shoulders were not built to carry guilt. It weighs us down and breaks us.

Most of us have a longing to “do over” some things in our life. My own list is long. We think, If only I would have done this. Or, If I hadn’t done this, then that wouldn’t have happened. Unchecked, the guilt we feel about the things we regret will destroy us. And until someone comes up with a time machine that works, we are not able to do anything to change all that has happened. We can refuse to think about it, but it will surface at some point in some manner anyway. And it will make us sick, miserable, angry, or depressed. However, when we receive Jesus, we are cleansed completely from our past. That means every mistake or violation of God’s rules, ways, or laws is completely forgiven. The slate is wiped clean.

Again, you may be thinking, I already know all this. But you need to

be convinced without a doubt that this is true, especially when the enemy tries to fill you with condemnation about things that have happened in your past.

The Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Notice it says, “No condemnation.” That means none! It doesn’t say, “Not very much condemnation.” Nor does it say, “If you are in Christ Jesus, the condemnation you will feel is quite minimal.” It says, “No condemnation.”

When you receive Jesus, He takes away the condemnation of all your sins and mistakes of the past, and you are free from all that guilt. If you continue to feel guilt for the same things after that, you are not receiving all Jesus died for you to have.

If you have received the Lord and are still feeling guilty about the past, bring that to God and say, “Lord, I still feel tremendous guilt over what happened in the past. Please help me to live in Your full forgiveness and be able to forgive myself. Take away these feelings of guilt.” God hears that prayer and will lift that guilt from you because Jesus already paid the price for that to happen.

If we do something wrong after we receive Jesus, He gives us a way out of that condemnation through confession of the wrong deed and through repentance. Repentance means we decide to turn away from wrongdoing and never do it again. It is important to know that the enemy will always make us feel condemnation about our wrongdoing. The Lord, on the other hand, will cause us to feel convicted. There is a big difference between the two. Condemnation leads to paralysis and death. Conviction leads to repentance, confession, forgiveness, and life.

Too often we continue to live with condemnation—which sucks the life out of us—and we must not allow it to do so. We must recognize that condemnation is one of the ways the enemy tries to separate us from God. The barrier of separation is not from God, however. We

put it up ourselves. When we feel guilty about something, we hide from God. We don’t want to face Him, so we don’t pray as much or as effectively. The only way to stop that and clear the slate is by confession and repentance.

Because Of Jesus, You Have The Holy Spirit Of God Dwelling In You

When you receive Jesus, He gives the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. The power of God flows through the Holy Spirit, and now you have

access to that power because He resides in you. (More about that in chapter 3, “Welcome the Holy Spirit’s Presence.”)

Because Of Jesus, You Are Guaranteed Eternal Life With Him

When Jesus died and rose from the dead, He broke the power of death over you. When you receive Him, you also receive His resurrection life in you. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). God promises to raise you up when you die, and the Holy Spirit living in you is the guarantee that He will keep His promise.

In addition to that, you also have access to His resurrection power whenever and however you face death each day—in your relationships, your health, your finances, your work, your dreams, or your abilities. Not only can God resurrect your dead body, but He can resurrect any dead area of your life as well. He is the only one who can give you life before death as well as after.

Because Of Jesus, You Inherit What He Inherits

When you receive Jesus, you become a son or daughter of God. “If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”

(Romans 8:17). Being a joint heir with Christ means that whatever the Father has given His Son, He will also give to you.

Because Of Jesus, You Can Now See Into The Realm Of God

We cannot see anything from God’s perspective without receiving Jesus. We may believe with all of our heart that we are enlightened, but without accepting Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit of God, we are spiritually blind. Once we have the Holy Spirit within us, we are now able to have godly discernment. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). All the intellect in the world will not allow you to see God and His kingdom.

Because Of Jesus, You Can Rise Above Your Limitations

Jesus enables you to do what you could not do without Him. Jesus said, “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He doesn’t just help you to barely survive. He enables you to be liberated from the things that hold you back from all He has for you.

Because Of Jesus, You Have Hope For Healing

Jesus is your Healer. He would not have come as your Healer if He didn’t know you would need to be healed. This is such an important aspect of what Jesus does that I have devoted an entire chapter to it later in the book. (More about this in chapter 21, “Trust in Your Healer.”)

Because of Jesus, You Can Enjoy Greater Abundance in Your Life

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Again, having abundance

doesn’t mean we will be rich, famous, and accomplished. It means He will give us more than we need.

Because of Jesus, You Have Become New

We all need a second chance—a new beginning. To be able to let the past go and become a new person is a miraculous gift. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17) . When you receive Jesus, you are destined to become more like Him (Romans 8:29).

How Do I Know For Sure That I Have Received Jesus?

Your relationship with God is the very foundation upon which you build a life of freedom, wholeness, and true success. It begins when you receive Jesus and your relationship with God is firmly established. Peter said of Jesus, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Jesus gives us salvation because we have faith in Him, not because of the good things we have done (Romans 9:31-32). He died for us because we are sinful, not because we are perfect. So we can come to Him the way we are. He wants us to come humbly to Him, knowing He did it all and we did nothing to deserve it. For it is “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

When you receive Jesus, it is because God the Father is drawing you to Himself. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). Receiving Jesus doesn’t just happen by chance on a good day. It is not an accident.

If you want to receive Jesus, take these four simple steps:

1. Believe that Jesus is who He said He is. Jesus said, “I am the

way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Say, “Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, as You say You are.

2. Declare that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Say, “Jesus, I believe You laid down Your life on the cross and were resurrected from the dead to live forever so that I can have eternal life with You.”
3. Confess and repent of your sins and failings. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Repentance means turning away from sin and signifying that your intention is not to go back to it again. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Say, “Lord, I confess my sins and failings and I repent of them. I ask You to help me live Your way now so that I can become all You created me to be.”
4. Ask Jesus to live in you and fill you with His Holy Spirit, and thank Him that you are now God’s child. ‘He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). Say, “Jesus, I ask You to come into my heart and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can become all You created me to be. Thank You for forgiving me, securing my position as a child of God, and giving me eternal life with You and a better life now.”

If you said this prayer from your heart for the first time, indicating You are receiving Jesus, you are now adopted into the family of God. You have been forgiven; you are free from death, both now and eternally; and you have a secure future with the Lord. Write the date in your Bible so you can always remember it. It is the most important decision you will ever make.

Jesus accomplished so much for us, but too often we act as though He didn’t. We live as if we have no hope, as though He is not the Healer or doesn’t do miracles anymore, as if we are not made new and cannot ever have abundance of life in any form. We let ourselves become weighed down with guilt, afraid of death and living powerless lives all because we don’t trust that we are truly a child of God and that we have the Spirit of God living in us. Don’t let this happen to you. No matter what is going on in your life, remember that salvation is not only something Jesus did for you, it is also Jesus living in you. Therefore, you have whatever you need in order to face the past, present, and future of your life.

Prayer Power

Lord Jesus, I know You came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) . Thank You that You saw my lost condition and have saved me for Yourself and Your purposes. Thank You that because You died for me, I have eternal life and Your blood cleanses me from all sin (1 John 1:7). Now I can live free of guilt and condemnation. I believe “there is no other name under heaven” by which I could ever be saved (Acts 4:12).

Thank You, Jesus, that I am a joint heir with You of all our Father God’s blessings. Thank You for reconciling me to Yourself (2 Corinthians 5:18) . Thank You that I have the Holy Spirit within me and am no longer controlled by my flesh. Thank You that I have access to a life of hope, healing, power, love, freedom, fulfillment, and purpose.

Help me to understand all that You accomplished on the cross. Enable me to live like the new creation You have made me to be. Help me to see my life from Your perspective. Teach me how to receive all that You died to give me. Now, whatever I do in word or deed, help me to do all in Your name, Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through You (Colossians 3:17).

In Your name I pray.

Word Power

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.

John 11:25-26

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Revelation 3:20

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:14-15

If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 8:10

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3