Dead Man Raised by Famed Doctor's Prayer

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What kind of a Christian are you?

God is the absolute source of righteousness, but there is an absolute source of unrighteousness – the devil. All human activity derives from one or the other of these two origins.

That is why the bible says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom 18:23). Whatever does not derive from your attitude of total dependence of God, whatever does not release God’s activity through your life, is sin. It is sin because it stems from an attitude of independence that makes you open to any and all of Satan’s deceptions in his long history of usurping God’s authority.

Every step you take, every attitude that you adopt, every decision you make, everything you do and all you hope to be, is either in dependence upon the God who created you as His own dwelling place, or else the byproduct of the demon spirit of this world, “who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2), and who perpetuates his lies through a mindset of self-reliance in fallen humanity.

The bible calls this attitude of independence a “carnal mind” (Rom 8:7). It is a mindset that is set “on the things of the flesh” rather than on the “things of the Spirit” (Rom 8:5). It means exercising the faculties of your personality in ways that are not dependant on the God whose presence alone imparts to you the quality of true humanity that He always intended for you.

It means thinking godlessly. In other words, thinking lightlessly, with a mind still in darkness. You take a step, you make a decision, you conceive your plans, you assume responsibility, all without relating the situation to God and to His light and to all that He is within you.

This carnal mind can be in the believer just as much as in the unbeliever. Carnal or fleshly Christians have been regenerated by the restoration of the Holy Spirit to their human spirit, but in certain ways, they still repudiate the Spirit’s legitimate right to reestablish the rule of Christ in their minds, in their emotions, and in their wills. Although they profess Christ as redeemer, their actions and decisions are typically taken for the sake of their own interests and for who they are in themselves, rather than for God’s interests and for who He is. Their minds are still the plaything and the workshop of the devil, for the devil is smart enough and cunning enough that he can always persuade countless numbers of professing Christians to try and be Christians without Christ. They are willing to do anything for Jesus’ sake, but they fail to understand that His Presence is absolutely imperative to do it, that without Him we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing.

To be a carnal Christian is to still claim the right to exercise your own jurisdiction, make your own decision and plans, choose your own pathway. But you will be useless to God, and you will make it into heaven “as through the fire” (1 Cor 3:15)

What kind of a Christian do you want to be? To choose to be a carnal Christian is to choose spiritual oblivion. But if you decide genuinely that Christ must be everything and have everything in your life, if you say in your heart, “I want nothing less than to be all that for which the blood of God’s dear Son was shed,” then He is ready to lead you into discoveries that can completely revolutionize you whole humanity for time and eternity.

Here’s a verse to ponder upon: “He who sins is of the devil” (1 John 3:8)

Taken from The Indwelling Life of Christ by Major Ian W Thomas.  

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The Unconditional Love of God!

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You serve a Loving Father!

I have often thought that if God could forgive my sins (past, present and future) and deal with sin completely on the cross once and for all, if  He could take this huge unbearable sin on Him, and gave me His life, then how hard is it for God to supply my needs which are so tiny in His eyes. After all He is my father and He owns everything in this world. So I can say that I have a rich Father and I don’t have to worry about my needs. I just thank Him in advance because He who knows my needs will come through for me. 

How about my needs other than financial? Could He who reconciled me back to Himself because of my inability to reconcile myself back to God, could He not take care of those issues in our lives that our concerning us. Remember He cares even for the smallest things that bother us because a loving Father always does. He is intimately acquainted with us and numbers even the the very hairs on my head (LK 12:7). 

Once I am so convinced of His love and goodness toward me and my inability to do anything by myself without Him, then its easy to have faith! Wouldn't a  little child who knows that his or her dad loves them so much and would never ever hurt them trust Him completely? So now faith is nothing so mystical or something we have to muster up, but just a response of knowing He is a loving Father who promised NEVER to leave us or NEVER to let the righteous be moved.  That is why I read the Word, not to get this mystical faith as many have said...but I read the word to really get to know how good and gracious He is and as I meditate on that....my heart out of responds in faith!

So why worry when we have a loving gracious rich Father who knows us intimately. He who promised is faithful and He is not a man who should change His words. None of us should ever think that its because of what we do (our obedience etc) that God decides to meet our needs..No, on the contrary its because of who He is and HE IS LOVE! 


IF we can accept that He is our savior by faith and immediately our debt gets wiped out (remember all by faith and trusting Him wholly to be our savior) then why is it so hard to accept the fact that He is also or provider. 


Think about the following verse for sometime: 

Romans 8:32 (Amplified Bible)

³²He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?

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Victory is a gift!

As surely as Christ was raised from the dead, so also we have been set free from Sin and alive in Him.

As true and real as Christ's death and resurrection was, so also IS our freedom from sin and life in Him.

Now the only problem is whether we believe it or not... satan (the father of lies) would love for us to not believe this truth..hence he will try his level best to deceive us by attempting to make us focus on our actions/perfomance and let that influence our belief....

The truth is what should influence us.

Romans 6:11 (English Standard Version)

¹¹So you also must consider yourselves^(A) dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.


Notice the word 'consider': in other words we need to see ourselves this way. We are to purposely focus on the truth even despite our failures . Why? Because truth will always be truth. It will never change. It is always constant. The only thing that is not constant is our actions. Our actions change once we change our what we believe.


Romans 12:2 (AMP) (italics - my addition)
"....but be transformed (changed on the outside) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]..."


Lets be open to what Jesus has to say! Christ has changed us and freed us from sin. On the cross two things happened: Christ set us free from the penalty of sin. Guess what? We don't do anything, but we just accept this by faith, and immediately the burden of guilt is lifted off. Why? Because we realize that Jesus death was the eternal payment .


But not only did Christ set us free from the penalty of sin, he also set us free from the power/dominion/control of sin. When we accept this truth by faith... we see change on the outside. Immediately the control is broken on the outside. Remember the battle is in the head! Its all about what you and I believe!


Freedom on the outside happens when we understand and believe that we have already been set free. and now the only control sin can have over our lives is the control we give to it! 


Let me reiterate: if you believe that Christ's death and resurrection was real, then freedom from sin IS a reality. We are free!! Victory/Freedom is thus a gift received by faith. Its not something we earn or work hard to attain. So lets stop struggling for something we already have!


Know this truth and it will set u free!


Hope this blesses you.

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Coming up...

Why is it that we want to do good but end up doing bad ?? Do we really have a good nature and a bad nature??
All this and more in the upcoming article "Dual nature?"  


** (title is tentative and subject to change...content will defintiely remain the same..lol)

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The spirit (Inward Man), Soul and Body

Many writers and preachers have already addressed this topic of the “inward man”. I don’t intend to add anything more but I hope to highlight just a few basic things.

Man is a spirit. In the beginning when man was created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore if God is spirit then man too is an eternal spirit. Man also possesses a soul. The soul of man is his reasoning faculties – his intelligence, his mind, will. The outside of a man is called the body. It is the flesh with the five senses. So to summarize, Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and is in a body (earth suit).

Before sin entered the world, man was in communion with God. His spirit was in fellowship with God. When sin entered the world it caused spiritual death. In other words, the human spirit/ man was disconnected from God who is life. Man was now in communion with the devil and thus was dead.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. When we accept Christ, we are “in Him”. Therefore if we are in Him, old things have passed away. What is this old thing? This old thing is the old sinful nature or the spirit in communion with the devil. When someone says that  a person has passed away, what does it mean? It means that he or she has died. So when the bible says that the old man ( or the spirit in communion with the devil) has passed away it means that the old nature was DEAD.

Well if the old man died, something new was recreated in its place. That was our new spirit. This new spirit is reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18). In 1Peter 3:4, Peter calls the spirit as the “hidden person of the heart” Why hidden? He calls the spirit hidden because it is not possible to for the flesh (5 senses) to access the spirit of man. We can neither ‘feel’ nor sense the spirit physically. The flesh or the ‘carnal/natural man’ cannot access the things of God nor does it have the ability to do so. God can only speak to our spirits and fellowship with our spirits. I Cor 5:7 help us understand this concept. Jesus said I have come to give life and life more abundantly. He was talking about our spirit being given the eternal and abundant LIFE.  Also Jesus said about the Holy Spirit to the disciples that He is with you and will be in you. So the Spirit of God comes and dwells in our spirits

This implies that the spirit of man has the nature of God. The spirit of man has a desire to obey God. Paul talks about the spirit of the man calling him the “inward man” in Romans 7:22. If you read the whole chapter of Romans 7 you will understand that the spirit man desires to do good. Paul even says that the evil tendencies that he face is not really him but the flesh that he has, implying that the real him is His spirit. (Note: I can already hear religious folks screaming “oh does that mean we don’t have a responsibility over the flesh? Does that mean you can do whatever we want and blame it on the flesh?” I never ever said we don’t have a responsibility for the actions of the flesh. Read Romans 12:1-2 I address that in another article). This was prophesied in the Old Testament by Ezekiel - Ezekiel 36:26-27 we read “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” So when God’s Spirit is in us He CAUSES us to walk in obedience to God’s ways. This desire to obey God is an inherent part of the new recreated spirit whether you choose to believe it or not. We may not even physically or even emotionally feel like obeying God. But the spirit does! In addition, the spirit has been united with Christ in his death and resurrection. When Christ died, our old man died. When Christ was resurrected, our new spirit was formed into his likeness / nature (Romans 6:5).

When we say we are “born again” surely it is not our flesh. Is our flesh born all over again? Let us go to John 3:5 When Nicodemus asks how can he go back into his mother’s womb in order to be born again , Jesus says that Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. Obviously Jesus was saying it is the ‘spirit’ that is born again / recreated.

Neither is it our reasoning faculty (soul). For example a person who doesn’t do so well in Math doesn’t all of a sudden become smart because “He is a new creation”. Our old way of thinking remains. The soul (reasoning faculties) is influenced easily by the flesh/body (five senses). For example if I have to study a subject, I have to read a book, I have to listen to a teacher etc.

While the body cannot influence the spirit (since it born of God), vice-versa is possible although not directly. This is how the spirit influences our body: Soul is influenced by the five senses inherently. It is safe to say that the spirit can directly influence the soul if we allow to do so. We must train our soul to respond to our spirit by the renewing of our minds (reasoning faculties).  Once the thoughts have been influenced the spirit, our external actions (body) get influenced by our thoughts (soul). Read Romans 12:1,2

All that we need for our walk on earth toward godliness and Christ-likeness has already been deposited by God in our spirits (2 Peter 1:3) This is something that will radically change your thinking when you understand and realize all the spiritual things that you have been seeking externally is already inside of us (the spirit).  The spirit man having the nature of God who is LOVE has the ability to love another person unconditionally.

For those that say the spirit and soul of a man are the same thing please read  1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12. You will notice “the division of soul and spirit”. I hope I was able to briefly help you understand on the topic of the spirit, soul, and body. Hopefully I will talk more about the inward man or the spirit. Obviously this is not an exhaustive article but a brief summary of my understanding on the topic. In addition to reading the bible, I suggest reading books by Watchman Nee especially The Spiritual Man for a detailed study this topic.

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Escaping the Performance Trap by Charles Stanley

A treadmill is one of the most effective tools for burning calories, despite the fact that the person exercising stays in the same place. Similarly, many workers worry and grope through each day, without actually making headway. Isn’t it ironic that in both pursuits, people must give great effort without really going anywhere?

So it is with people who try to work their way to righteousness. Many Christians grow stagnant in their faith because they expend tremendous energy trying to attain some lofty ideal of the “Christian experience.” They usually understand that grace is what saved them but believe they must pay God back with good works in order to remain saved.

Have you become a modern-day Pharisee? Do you maintain a mental or psychological checklist to ensure that you do what you should and resist what you should not? Are you closer to living under the law than under God’s grace?

When you act outside of God’s will, your life runs on finite “fumes”: your own strength. The result can be exhaustion, withdrawal, and bitterness. The real Christian experience requires only that we have faith in Jesus Christ and abide in Him, the true Vine (John 15:5).

You can’t do anything to make God love you more. Nor can you do anything to make Him love you less. This is a liberating truth! Your heavenly Father isn’t keeping score—we can’t pay Him back for His grace. In fact, no amount of good works can pay the debt of love we owe. The apostle Paul wrote, “The Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal. 3:24-25). He explained that there is no way we can keep God’s moral code perfectly. We need a Savior.

Even after we become Christians, God doesn’t want us to add law to His grace. He wants obedience, of course. But obedience is the overflow of a heart full of love, not legalism.

When Jesus tells us to keep His commandments, He emphasizes that obedience shows others we love Him (John 14:31). The moral law shows us our need of a Savior. But we cannot obey the Lord Jesus without His help. We are children wanting to please the Father because we love Him. This delivers us from legalism and keeps us grounded in grace, not only for salvation, but also for living the Christian life.

Living by Grace
The Scriptures compare our relationship with God to a race. Paul calls us to run so that we may win (1 Cor. 9:24)—and the author of Hebrews adds that we are to do so with endurance (Heb. 12:1).

Only by running on the wings of grace can believers triumphantly finish the course God has assigned for each one of His children. The legs of performance eventually grow weak. The muscles of legalism and religion weigh us down and become rigid hindrances. Our main problem is that we can understand the need for grace in salvation, but we tend to rely on other means for process of sanctification.

How can you cease striving, get off the performance treadmill, and learn to walk in grace? Here is the key: the more you humble yourself before God, the more you will receive the fullness of His grace.

God “gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Not to the strong, but to the weak. Not to the self-sufficient, but to the dependent. Grace belongs to the poor in spirit—in other words, those who humble themselves by recognizing God’s majesty and worshipping Him. The more you adore and praise the Savior, the more highly you’ll think of Him.

Humbling yourself won’t reduce your self-esteem or diminish your worth to God. Rather, it positions you to receive your sustenance from the source of all good things, Jesus Christ. As a humble believer, cast yourself on the grace of God, leaning on Him with your full weight. Draw all your strength, peace, joy, and security from the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit living within you.

Be strong in grace. Throw off the chains of works and “religion,” and receive the remarkable power of God’s merciful lovingkindness.

Adapted from Charles F. Stanley’s “Into His Presence” (2000), “Seeking His Face” (2002), and “Handbook for Christian Living” (1996)

http://www.intouch.org/site/c.cnKBIPNuEoG/b.5307575/k.46BC/Escaping_the_Performance_Trap.htm

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The Blessing of His Presence

Scriptures to meditate on:
Psalms 27:4,8 
Philippians 4:7 
Romans 12:1-2 
Luke 10:41-42

There is something about the presence of God that if we are so sensitive to, victory comes in easily. Jesus asks us to be vitally dependent on Him (John 15:4-5). Often times while we go on in our busy lives we forget to put God first. The thing is if its not God in the first place in our lives it would be something else. The first place in our lives is never left vacant. And sadly if it is not Jesus, then there is no order and confusion creep into our lives.

In his presence we find direction.  Where His presence is, there is overwhelming peace. We find His Will in His presence. There is nothing more beautiful than to know that we are walking in the will of God. There is the rest and peace that we enjoy. When we offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice there is no chance we can miss his will.  I like what a preacher once said about this kind of living . He said that if a car goes at 100 miles per hour, there is no way it can do a u-turn. So when we are busy offering ourselves completely to God by spending time in the Word, praying and having this constant desire to know Him more all of which is a response of His love toward us, it is impossible for us to not walk in His will. 

So today let us cut distractions and focus on Jesus and His love. The moment we do that, all other love starts disappearing from our lives and prefect peace sets in. The love of sin, the love of things that are distracting us from God starts to leave when we focus on Jesus solely. If God were to ask you today to seek His face (Psalm 27:8), what would be your response? 

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It is always ALL of Grace -- by Mike Quarles

When we learn about grace we learn what life is all about. We learn about who we are. But more importantly we learn about who God is, what the gospel is and our relationship with Him. We enter into a dimension of life we never dreamed possible. Nothing is changed and yet everything is changed. Grace is not just getting what you don’t deserve. Grace is getting the opposite of what you deserve. Grace is not just another doctrine. Grace is the way God relates to us. Grace is the gospel as the bible says (Acts 20:24). What is grace?

Grace is knowing that…

1.      there is no more guilt, condemnation and punishment (Rom 8:2)

2.      God loves me and accepts me just the way I am not because of what I do, because of the cross (Roma 5:5-8)

3.      Satan was defeated at the cross and has no power over me and the only weapon he has is the lie (Col 2:15)

4.      because I died to the law and have been released from it (Rom 7:4,6), I don’t have to live up to anyone’s standards.

5.      I am not under law but under grace (Rom 6:14) and that Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:14), it is not up to me to live the Christian life, but to trust Christ in me to do it (Gal 2:20)

6.      there is nothing I can do to make God love me more and nothing I could do to make him love me less (Rom 8:39)

7.      Jesus said that all who come to Him will find that the Christian life is easy and heir burden is light (Mt 11:28-30)

8.      it is not up to me to do or die or strive and strain, but to believe that He will do it all for me (1 Thess. 5:24)

9.      my sin and failure cannot overcome grace of God (contrary to the popular belief)
(Rom 5:20,21)

10.  no matter what I do or how I mess up, God is going to love m through all eternity
(Rom 11:6; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:6)

11.  I have all I need because Christ is in me and I am in Him and He is in the Father
(John 14:20)

12.   freedom is my birthright as a child and not something that I have to attain
(Gal 5:1; John 8:32,36)

13.  I am dead to sin and alive to God because of what God has done and nothing that I do
(Rom 6:4-7)

14.  I am righteous because God has place me in Christ and not because of anything that I do
(1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21)

15.  I have died to the world, its customs, ways, values and people’s demands and expectations of me. (Gal 6:13)

16.  the important thing is not what I do or don’t do, but faith in what God has done and who I am in Christ ( Gal 6:5,14)

17.  I am secure in Christ, that I donot have to fear any person and that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5,6)

18.  Christ is my life; that my life is hidden in Him and I have everything I need for life and godliness (Col 3:3,4; 2 Pet 1:3)

19.  victory is not something we work for, but it has already been given to me.
(1 Cor 15:56; Eph 2:6; Eph 1:19-21)

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Strive for perfection/Christ-likeness?

After having a serious debate with a pastor friend of mine I have been thinking about an issue I was having trouble with. Its about striving for Christlikeness. I have listened to so much of the "holiness preaching" and did not find any results in my personal life. All I ended up is living in so much condemnation. The day I started to understand grace, I can say that condemnation started to leave me and immediately I sensed a new-found freedom in my walk with the Lord. I won't elaborate much on that for now but it is important to really really understand the unconditional love and favor of God. It is important to understand that when Jesus said that it was finished He really meant it! Once i became more solid in the knowledge of grace and I understood my position of perfection in Christ , I wasn't quite sure on how to address this question: As a Christian, should I or should I not strive for perfection. I mean should i live out of my position of perfection or should or should I strive for to live the perfect life? The answer is both!


What every Christian needs to understand is that he or she is on earth as Christ is in heaven (read 1 john 4:17) . Therefore all of us in Christ are holy. We are in Him perfect. Honestly, a clear understanding of this itself would automatically impact our actions/practice. We strive to do His will not because we have to but because we want to, as a response to His unconditional love and mercy for us! We love Him because He first loved us. However, sometimes people don't quite understand grace and having understood a part of grace they might think in that case i don't have to do anything since i am already perfect in Him. Many critics of the grace message also think grace causes a person to be inactive! Honestly, a clear understanding of grace actually "produces"  good actions/works automatically. 


But for those that feel that whatever they do is okay since their position in Christ is perfect, they are actually in error (or we need to pray for your salvation!). After all possessing a little knowledge is more dangerous than no knowledge at all. The fact is sin hardens the heart. (disclaimer: this is not for those who maybe in some type of addiction and you are crying out to God to set you free. what u need to understand is Christ doesn't condemn u no matter how many times u fail) You see grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Why?  Because God has already forgiven us and defeated sin on the cross. Why would somebody want to go back into that which they were delivered from?


After reading Philippians 3, I am convinced that while our position is perfect in Christ we also have to strive for perfection/Christ-likeness in our actions.  For example in Ephesians Paul talks about "let there not be a hint of sexual immorality among you". Obviously in God's standard this is not just keeping your zippers up! And yet God wouldn't have mentioned this especially in the New testament if we weren't able to do it. We must strive for personal holiness because in Him we are holy and He who is in us is also holy. The bible clearly says "be holy for I am holy). And the best part is we are not striving without Him. "Christ in us"  helps us and gives us a desire to do His will and obey His standards in our lives (read Philippians 2). And when we strive for Christ-likeness we may mess up as humans. That is when we can rest in the fact that "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). We fail outside because we haven't renewed our minds to the fact that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and we are no more the old creation but a new creation.


So yes we are perfect in Him and therefore in our works we must strive to be perfect. But we do the striving because of 'Christ in us' and His resurrection power working through us leads us to strive while we rest in Him and stay yielded to His grace and its workings in and through us. We don't strive to be perfect so that once we get to a point God would be so pleased with us but rather we strive for perfection because He is already pleased and not angry with us since Christ paid it all for us.   We don't do the striving for perfection in and of ourselves (which by the way this type of thinking is a disastrous result of the holiness preachings). And when we do stumble (due to lack of renewing the mind) and its during those moments we rest in the fact that God has forgiven all our sins and we boldly approach the throne of God for mercy and grace! We don't need to feel guilty and condemned because the cross was outside time and all our sins (past, present and future) were forgiven. So we run to Him because He doesn't condemn us!

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God doesn't make junk

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Can sin cause sickness?

John 5:14 

"But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you." (NLT)

I am not an expert in this area but I think that the reasons for sickness are- 1.) God's Judgement  2.) Satan's attack.

In the Old testament God judged the sins of the people. Sickness was a result of His judgement many times.What about us in the New testament? Is it God putting sickness on us? No! Does that mean that God has changed His stance on sin? NO! It is important to understand that it is not God judging us for our sin. (Romans 5:9 , 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9)  Jesus already took the judgement (Isaiah 53:4-6 ) for all our sins- past, present and future. When we sin we open a door for the enemy to attack us. (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10) Therefore sin sometimes causes the enemy to attack us with sickness. 

So sin maybe the cause of sickness comes upon a person. However, sin is not always the reason that healing is delayed. Note that Jesus healed the person while he was still in sin.  This should not cause a person to continue in sin but rather stop sinning (After all Christians ought to want to live like Christ!) and  give the boldness to approach God. We can do that because healing based on Who HE is and what He did on the cross. Have faith in His grace!

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Why the change?

I have decided to change the name of the blog from "dead seed" to "Grace" for one simple reason. Too many times we try to live the Christian lives by our efforts. The end of that is failure and frustration.  Denying self is important. However, we must keep in mind that we cannot deny our flesh in our own strengths. Flesh cannot defeat flesh. Let us let Christ in us live through us. 

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