2 corinthians 9.8 (niv), GOD is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
grace is the answer to all your needs. GOD says i will take care of all your needs by grace. the verse right before this one says GOD wants you to be gracious, generous, a giver. what you sow you reap. the more generous you are with others, the more you feel GOD's grace in your life.
the most important question i can ask you today is, which kind of grace do you need most in your life right now?
some of you need GOD's saving grace. you need to have your guilt removed. would you like everything you've ever done wrong to be completely forgiven and forgotten in eternal heaven? would you like to have a clear conscious? totally forgiven! it is available. you don't have to go any further. you've got GOD's gracious forgiveness on the basis of JESUS CHRIST.
if someone were to ask you, "if you were to die tonight and go to heaven and GOD asks you `why should i let you into heaven?' what would you say?" "i've been a nice guy... i went to church one sunday morning..."
maybe you've been operating under the wrong assumption for months or years... that you could earn your forgiveness, earn GOD's love, earn your way to heaven. you can't. you need to throw yourself on the grace of GOD and say, "GOD, i admit it. i could never earn my way to heaven. i've done too many things wrong to earn your forgiveness. but i want to accept your graciousness."
some of you need GOD's strengthening grace which reshapes your life. you're a CHRISTian but you've gotten off track. you're just not as close to GOD as you used to be. you have fallen away a little bit. you know that everything isn't all right. so as a result you're frustrated, defeated, under stress, there are tensions in your life. you know you're not living the way that is right. you think it's so hard to get back up to the place you used to be with GOD.
it is not hard at all. just say, "here i am, GOD." just turn around and say yes. your SPIRITual strength comes as a gift from GOD. HE'll bestow on you the power you need to make those changes.
for some of you, you need to get off the performance treadmill. you have subtlety, unconsciously, replaced your relationship with GOD for religious duties. go to church, read your bible, listen to CHRISTian radio, i do my thing and i'm bored and there is no joy. you need to get back to falling in love with the LORD again. focus on the relationship, not the rituals and rules.
just a thought from the front porch…
Showing posts with label saving grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving grace. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
the biggest problem in CHRISTianity…
GOD's saving grace removes my guilt. then comes GOD's strengthening grace which reshapes my life. it helps me to become the person i really want to be, that GOD wants me to be. it molds me and reshapes me. GOD remakes my life.
listen, GOD loves you just the way you are but HE loves you too much to let you stay that way. the bible says, in jeremiah, that GOD is the potter, we are the clay. HE's got us on the potter's wheel. HE's making us and molding us and shaping our lives. we say, "thank you, LORD. i'm just going to jump off the potter's wheel. i'll take care of myself. i can shape myself into the right thing." we blow it!
hebrews 13.9 (nlt), your spiritual strength comes from GOD's special favor, not from ceremonial rules.
the biggest problem in CHRISTianity is people start with a relationship and revert to rules. they start with just being in love with GOD and then fall back into a religious syndrome of rituals and regulations.
a brand new CHRISTian is excited and happy and rejoicing how great it is to be in love with the LORD. then all of a sudden he makes the fatal mistake of beginning to watch other CHRISTians, how they dress, how they act, the SPIRITual sounding phrases. he no longer says "it was fun!" he now says, "it was a blessing." we never say "we're going to eat food" but "we partake of nourishment." we don't get angry anymore but say, "i was grieved in my SPIRIT."
you stop using english and revert back to a religious thing trying to earn GOD's pleasure by trying to keep certain rules and regulations. paul says that was the problem with the galatians. they started one way and ended up going back to a religion.
if that's not the way to live a CHRISTian life, then how do you?
colossians 2.6 (niv), just as you received CHRIST JESUS as LORD, continue to live in HIM. the way you became a CHRISTian is the way you continue as a CHRISTian.
how did you become a CHRISTian? by promising to do good? by promising to be perfect? no. how do you live the CHRISTian life? by promising to do good? no. simply by receiving GOD's grace and letting it come into your life.
the bible says grow in grace. the bible says GOD is working in your life. the more you trust in GOD – the more you let HIM work through you – the faster you're going to grow. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt and GOD's strengthening grace reshapes my life.
just a thought from the front porch…
listen, GOD loves you just the way you are but HE loves you too much to let you stay that way. the bible says, in jeremiah, that GOD is the potter, we are the clay. HE's got us on the potter's wheel. HE's making us and molding us and shaping our lives. we say, "thank you, LORD. i'm just going to jump off the potter's wheel. i'll take care of myself. i can shape myself into the right thing." we blow it!
hebrews 13.9 (nlt), your spiritual strength comes from GOD's special favor, not from ceremonial rules.
the biggest problem in CHRISTianity is people start with a relationship and revert to rules. they start with just being in love with GOD and then fall back into a religious syndrome of rituals and regulations.
a brand new CHRISTian is excited and happy and rejoicing how great it is to be in love with the LORD. then all of a sudden he makes the fatal mistake of beginning to watch other CHRISTians, how they dress, how they act, the SPIRITual sounding phrases. he no longer says "it was fun!" he now says, "it was a blessing." we never say "we're going to eat food" but "we partake of nourishment." we don't get angry anymore but say, "i was grieved in my SPIRIT."
you stop using english and revert back to a religious thing trying to earn GOD's pleasure by trying to keep certain rules and regulations. paul says that was the problem with the galatians. they started one way and ended up going back to a religion.
if that's not the way to live a CHRISTian life, then how do you?
colossians 2.6 (niv), just as you received CHRIST JESUS as LORD, continue to live in HIM. the way you became a CHRISTian is the way you continue as a CHRISTian.
how did you become a CHRISTian? by promising to do good? by promising to be perfect? no. how do you live the CHRISTian life? by promising to do good? no. simply by receiving GOD's grace and letting it come into your life.
the bible says grow in grace. the bible says GOD is working in your life. the more you trust in GOD – the more you let HIM work through you – the faster you're going to grow. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt and GOD's strengthening grace reshapes my life.
just a thought from the front porch…
Monday, April 5, 2010
what does grace mean?
see if you can finish these sentences:
there's no such thing as a free ___________.
if it sounds too good to be true it probably _____.
we make our money the old fashioned way; we ______ it.
GOD helps those who help _______________.
americans are pros at performance and we know nothing about grace. the american work ethic says, "you get what you pay for. you get what you deserve." that makes it very hard to relate to the fact that GOD is a gracious GOD. psalm 86.15 (niv), you, o LORD, are a compassionate and gracious GOD.
what does grace mean? what it means is that GOD gives me what i need, not what i deserve.
the bible says that it is GOD's nature to bless undeserving people. HE loves to do it. isaiah 30.18 (niv), the LORD longs to be gracious to you. it's his pleasure. he loves to be gracious. his grace is unconditional, unlimited and unending, the bible says.
now it is important to see that GOD's saving grace removes my guilt and that is so basic. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt. since no body is perfect we all have guilt, everybody makes mistakes. the bible says, all have sinned. we all have guilt feelings.
ephesians 1.7-8 (tev), by the sacrificial death of CHRIST we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. how great is the grace of GOD which HE gave to us in such large measure!
this is the most basic truth of CHRISTianity. JESUS CHRIST has already paid for your sins. all you have to do is accept it. there is no reason to go around with a bunch of guilt.
notice, he says, we are free. free from what? free from condemnation, free from guilt, free from worry, free from death. even if there were no heaven, it would be worth it to become a CHRISTian just to have a clear conscious. HE wipes it out. there is no reason to live in regret. there's no reason to live in guilt. that is such good news. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt.
now lf you've personally experienced that you know what real freedom is. JESUS said, i came to set you free. the saving grace removes the guilt in our lives and he forgives it.
just a thought from the front porch…
there's no such thing as a free ___________.
if it sounds too good to be true it probably _____.
we make our money the old fashioned way; we ______ it.
GOD helps those who help _______________.
americans are pros at performance and we know nothing about grace. the american work ethic says, "you get what you pay for. you get what you deserve." that makes it very hard to relate to the fact that GOD is a gracious GOD. psalm 86.15 (niv), you, o LORD, are a compassionate and gracious GOD.
what does grace mean? what it means is that GOD gives me what i need, not what i deserve.
the bible says that it is GOD's nature to bless undeserving people. HE loves to do it. isaiah 30.18 (niv), the LORD longs to be gracious to you. it's his pleasure. he loves to be gracious. his grace is unconditional, unlimited and unending, the bible says.
now it is important to see that GOD's saving grace removes my guilt and that is so basic. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt. since no body is perfect we all have guilt, everybody makes mistakes. the bible says, all have sinned. we all have guilt feelings.
ephesians 1.7-8 (tev), by the sacrificial death of CHRIST we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. how great is the grace of GOD which HE gave to us in such large measure!
this is the most basic truth of CHRISTianity. JESUS CHRIST has already paid for your sins. all you have to do is accept it. there is no reason to go around with a bunch of guilt.
notice, he says, we are free. free from what? free from condemnation, free from guilt, free from worry, free from death. even if there were no heaven, it would be worth it to become a CHRISTian just to have a clear conscious. HE wipes it out. there is no reason to live in regret. there's no reason to live in guilt. that is such good news. GOD's saving grace removes my guilt.
now lf you've personally experienced that you know what real freedom is. JESUS said, i came to set you free. the saving grace removes the guilt in our lives and he forgives it.
just a thought from the front porch…
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