Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus!

Our precious Lord desires to have a deep and intimate relationship with us. To touch grace is to touch Jesus. To touch Jesus is to touch grace. Grace is all that we need. In Christ every need is met. Be confident and expectant because His grace is sufficient for you today!

The below page is from Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince. I hope you get a chance to read it!

Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince

Read more...

I'm Hanging My Gloves

Note to Self: Focus on Christ!

Over the past few years, I have come into the understanding of God as a gracious and loving Father who isn’t angry at His children. My upbringing never taught me anything on grace. My religious upbringing confused me when it came to the image of God. He was sometimes good and sometimes…well he would be angry and judgmental.  My walk into grace and living in it has resulted in so much freedom in my personal life. While I am not perfect in my actions and still working through (by believing in His grace for) many other areas of my life, the Lord enabled me to walk in victory in the most tormented area of my life. I was free from many ungodly habits, consistent demonic attacks in my dreams and panic attacks. It’s been over 3 years now and none of this has affected me simply because I believe and have confidence in the fact that God is for me, in vital union with me and I am in Him being loved by Him who has an eternal commitment to love me unconditionally.

        
 I was so excited by this message that I started sharing this awesome gospel of grace with everyone around me. Some loved it and received it with so much joy. They experienced the freedom in being loved by God unconditionally.  Then there were those that got offended. What I said was misinterpreted as encouraging those to go and sin more. I would get into debates in an effort to understand what those who disagreed with me and clarify but to no avail. In addition, lies were usually spread and at times I didn’t respond very gracefully. I began to loose the joy and the excitement that I experienced when I first started believing these truths. My focus was not on Christ but rather trying to convince those who disagreed with me. I would get upset at those preachers, pastors who taught the stuff that I used to once believe. I was upset mainly because I knew in my hear t of hearts that what they preached was distorted and a diluted to a point where it wasn’t the gospel anymore. It very very very sad to see these things happening in the body of Christ.

Additionally I was upset that because “they weren’t getting it”. I realized I was trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit. Frankly, I’m tired. I forgot the fact that I once was in that position until the Holy Spirit revealed it to me personally. Grace will never cause a change until the Holy Spirit reveals it. And He will if you sincerely desire for it. I want to rest from all this and just focus on Christ. Grace is not trusting in my own effort by in His empowerment and His will. I have let offense and bitterness affect me instead of letting the same freedom I experience in Christ for myself that God gives me and I have failed to give it to others. However, it is God’s unconditional love to me that humbles me to write this. My pride wouldn’t allow me to do so.

God loves His church. He will work in all of us. My prayer is that God will open the eyes of those that are struggling and toiling. My prayer also is that I would learn to sometimes let this grace affect me when it comes to my relationships. I refuse now to be offended if you don’t share my view. The unconditional love of God to me enables me to accept you as He accepts you! I say this again my dearest brothers and sisters, let our eyes be on Christ and let Him work in us by His precious Holy Spirit. I ask for your forgiveness if I have offended you by the ‘way’ I communicated these truths. I will choose to continue focusing on His unconditional love and grace for me and show it to those in need.

 

May grace and peace abound to you through the knowledge of our loving Christ!

Read more...

Jehovah-Jirah

" God My Provider"

I was wondering the other day at how much many of us stress and worry about how we are going to meet our needs. We struggle and strive, we compete and crave to go ahead in life - to make more money so we can meet all our needs and even wants. Some may end up in a lot of debt buying things that they cannot afford. In all of this one thing is common, we're operating from fear.

Now don't get me wrong. God isn't against any of the things I mentioned above (well except for Debt - it isn't Father's will for us to be in debt and keep worrying about how we can pay it off). He isn't against us making money, having a good house and having the best education. It is in our Father's best interest to provide us anything and everything we need and want.

But the trouble is when we start operating from fear. Fear has its roots in unbelief. Unbelief not only in the ability of God, but also in his willingness to bless us. So we take matters in our own hands. Instead of depending on God, we depend on our strength. God calls us to a faith rest in Him. God says - " Come to Me all those who are weary and I will give you rest" To operate in rest is to depend on Him.

Anything we do outside of our dependance in Him is our attempt to be like Him. The bible teaches us that anything outside of faith is sin.  Also Paul says- "It is not I who live..." why? Because the old self died! The new self is in union with Christ. This new self is dependent on Christ's life.

So let God be God in our lives! Let him do the job of providing for us. Let us therefore learn to sacrifice our bodies (our strengths) and live in and operate out of a dependence on Him. Quit striving and stressing and start resting in  His strength (His resurrection power in us). It is God who provides. Its less burdensome to quit playing God and let Him be our provider. God will provide! GOD will provide! God WILL provide! God will PROVIDE for all our  needs.

Read more...

Jesus-Based Acceptance

Hey guys, I just decided to post a portion from a book that I am currently reading. The book is called Lifetime Guarantee by Bill Gillham. I strongly recommend this book for you to read if you are on a journey to understand God's grace.

One of the best-kept secrets in Christianity is that God accepts us. True, He can't stand our sinful acts, but He loves us. He doesn't have us on performance-based acceptance; He has us on Jesus-based acceptance. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Father has accepted  you completely. Performance has nothing whatever to do with it. Performance is important to God, yes, but it has to do with winning His approval, not His acceptance. It has to do with hearing Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" one day at the Judgement Seat of Christ, but it has nothing to do with hearing Him say, "I accept you as My beloved child" (John 1:12)

You can be the greatest performer on the block at keeping God's standards, and you'll still be totally rejected by God if you are unsaved. One of the major purposes of those standards (the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, etc.) is to frustrate you to the point where you'll see that there's no way you're ever going to earn His acceptance. You've got to change methods. You've got to come to the Father through Christ's perfection, just as He said.

To demonstrate how deeply entrenched Satan has made the performance-based acceptance syndrome, consider this biblically based illustration. On a one-to-ten scale, where ten is the best, put a number on how well you accept yourself, your spouse, and your kids, assuming all are born again. Let's suppose you selected a five for yourself. You're saying that you still have five additional points to climb before you can accept yourself perfectly.

But God accepts you perfectly in Christ already. God doesn't grade on a one-to-ten scale; He grades pass-fail. His acceptance of you and me is not contingent on our performance, but on what we have done with Jesus Christ's performance for us. If you have surrendered to Jesus as Lord and Savior, then God has already accepted you completely. He couldn't love or accept you more if you had never sinned. And He'll never love or accept you less no matter how often you do sin.

Actually, any Christian who accepts himself or any other believer at less than ten has higher standards that God! He sees himself and his loved ones falling short of the standard for acceptance. THis person is using performance as the criterion for acceptance. God, however, uses Christ's finished work for us as the criterion for acceptance. Thus, any Christian who is striving for acceptance is fighting a battle that's already been won.

Read more...

Acceptance/Rejection

We live in a world system where our acceptance comes off of our performance. Be it in schools, workplace or even in christian families, our acceptance of ourselves as well as others' acceptance of us comes from our actions. This has been so ingrained in our understanding that sometimes it takes a while to recognize the problem.

Parents for example can be so strongly reprimanding the child for his or her wrong action, but end up destroying the child's identity and confidence. Instead of addressing the wrong action, parents associate what the child does to who he or she is by nature. The child soon picks up on this and later in life struggle with many issues (i don't really want to expound on these issues)

Culture plays an important role as well. In my Indian culture becoming a highly educated and earning big money is the dream and goal of every parent for their child. In and of itself, it is a good desire. The problem is when the child's identity and family honor depends on the child amounting to be something in terms of the career or profession. Some succeed in living up to the culture's pressure while others' fail. Those that succeed have confidence in their abilities and their own strength while those who don't succeed feel miserable and many times a failure deep down on the inside. Sure many wont verbalize it. We then bring this into our relationship with God where we think God's acceptance of us is based on our obedience or lack of it.

God doesn't see us the way we see ourselves. God never makes a mistake. He creates value. In fact he created man in his own image. That is how much he wanted man to be in communion with man. Sadly, mankind forgot their own value and fell prey to the lie that they weren't all that and they need more - they wanted to be like God. The enemy has not stopped using this age old lie.

We have people trying to live upto the Jones-es because somehow they still feel inadequate. We have children who turn to gangs just in order to be accepted. You have Christians who acknowledge that God is loving with their mouths, but yet their lives and actions cry out - " I don't really believe it - i don't really believe that He accepts me, that He can love me despite my repeated mistakes, my incomplete love for him and my inconsistent discipleship." And so in choosing to believe the lie- that God rejects me, I choose to reject myself. Its far more easier to go with "God rejects me" rather than "God accepts me". The latter even though is the truth, is something that one has to accept it by faith because of Who he is rather than our actions.

So what does God think of us? God is the definition of value. If he created man in his own image, he created something of value. To reject oneself  and have a poor negative self-image is to reject God and believe the age old lie of Satan - that man is not like God. God sees us as valuable. God loves us because He is pure love. To come to the realization of one's worth in Christ based on what God did - not only in creating this value (i.e., you), but also sending His only son to show us how valuable and dear we are to Him and that He wants to have this deep and intimate relationship with us defeats the lie of the enemy.

God wants us to now derive our sense of worth and identity from Him. Since we are so in union with God, we take our identity from Him. Those who are born-again are now in Christ. And since we are in Christ God accepts us in the Beloved (Jesus). God's opinion of Christ becomes His opinion of you. And since He says of Christ - "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased..", He says of you - 'You are my beloved Child, and I am so pleased with you and I accept you. You don't have to measure up to receive you sense of worth and identity. You are as Christ. Be free to live your life in my unconditional love and acceptance for you."

Read more...

Man’s Aversion to Grace

Dr. Charlie Bing, GraceLife Ministries 

Man’s Aversion to Grace
To those who have been profoundly changed by a clear understanding of God’s grace it is often puzzling why more people, unsaved or saved, do not accept that message. After all, if grace gives us salvation and all its benefits absolutely free, why do so many unbelievers reject it and why do so many believers try to compromise it with conditions? It will help to see the biblical and historical pattern of this aversion to grace and then offer an explanation. 

A Pattern of Rejecting Grace
The biblical history of God’s chosen nation, the Jews, shows that they consistently rejected His provision for their spiritual needs. In Acts Stephen told how the Jews rejected Moses and the Promised Land and wanted to return to captivity in Egypt and worship a golden calf instead. About the calf idol Stephen said they “rejoiced in the works of their own hands” (Acts 7:39-41). Later, the Apostle Paul explained why the Jews rejected the gospel of grace: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). The common denominator in Stephen and Paul’s assessments is that the Jews rejected God’s grace in favor of their own merits.

The New Testament amplifies the same pattern of rejecting grace. Jesus was bitterly opposed and persecuted by the self-righteous Pharisees who insisted on stringent law-keeping for righteousness. Paul was opposed by legalists wherever he preached the grace message. Sometimes the Christians strayed shortly after Paul departed from them, as in Galatia (Gal. 1:6). Paul warned that enemies of the gospel would corrupt the believers from without and within (Acts 20:29-31), that is why he commended them “to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Countering legalism (defined here as the keeping of laws and rules to exalt self) was a common theme in Paul’s epistles to the churches.

Church history since the New Testament shows that the free grace of God was corrupted before the church got out of its first century. Many early church fathers taught the necessity of baptism and a holy life in order to be or stay saved. For many centuries after the early fathers the dominate Orthodox and Catholic religions both taught the necessity of baptism, penance, and other sacraments for salvation. It was not until the Reformation in the early 1500’s that Christianity reclaimed the free grace of God—though those Christians who did so were violently persecuted.

Even Calvin, a leader of the Reformation who taught that grace was free and faith in God’s promise assures us of salvation, was shortly afterward reinterpreted to make works indispensible to one’s assurance and salvation. By the time of the Westminster Confession (1647) works were solidly embedded into faith and the gospel, not on the front end (in order to be saved), but on the back side (to prove you were saved). Today a resurgence of this brand of Calvinism has swept through the Christian world with the same intrusion of works and merit into assurance and salvation.

A Natural Response to Grace
Why hasn’t the wonderfully liberating grace message swept the world? We can only suggest why so
many people reject or pervert the free grace of God.

Conditioning. We live in a world of un-grace that has always taught us we must earn our own way. We are promised rewards for potty training, good grades for studying hard, and a paycheck for working. Apart from biblical Christianity, every world religion offers salvation only through performance. Grace, which promises us salvation free and secure, sounds too good to be true. When Jesus told some curious Jews that eternal life was a gift, their natural response was “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God.” Jesus did not concede to their inclination to work for salvation, but in a play of words responded “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:27-29). Ask an average person today how one can have eternal life and the prevailing answer will include something that must be done. Salvation that is truly free is difficult to comprehend or accept.

Pride
Doing something to contribute to or prove our salvation appeals to the natural impulse of our pride. The gospel of free grace separates works entirely from the offer of salvation. We are saved by grace through faith “not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Pride appeals to our sinful flesh. The flesh likes to exalt self and boast of what has been done, but the gospel of grace points only to the cross as the means of obtaining and keeping salvation. Paul said, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 5:14). Grace humbles our pride.

Insecurity.
Doubtless there are some who are not comfortable with the freedom grace brings. The controversy in Acts 15 was caused by Jews who demanded observable performance-based criteria from the Gentiles who had been saved by grace. This reflects a desire to depend on a system of black and white laws or behavioral measurements that would make these legalists feel secure in their spirituality and reserves them the right to declare certain others unsaved. The insecurity of uncertainty about others can lead to a fear of ambiguity, which in turn can breed a desire to control. Control leads to the assertion of laws or measurements that make some feel comfortable. On the other hand, grace looks to faith in the Word of God, submission to the control of the Holy Spirit, and the compulsion to love God and others as that which determines one’s spirituality. Grace is risky because freedom is always risky.



Conclusion
Man has a natural aversion to grace. A persistent turning away from grace is demonstrated biblically and historically. Even so, God has always preserved a remnant that fully embraces grace. The unconditional free grace of God that brings us to the cross of Christ for all and any merit before God keeps us humble, which allows us to experience more grace: “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, butgives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6). The slave woman of legalism and her son will always persecute the free woman of grace and her son (Gal. 4:29). The two cannot co-exist or mix. Paul’s advice is to throw out the slave woman and her son (Gal. 4:30). Watch carefully for the natural drift away from grace. Don’t try to compromise with legalism or anything that threatens the absolute free nature of grace. Rather, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).

This GraceNotes may be copied and distributed freely. For a full set of GraceNotes or for more resources about growing in grace contact GraceLife at GraceLife.org or write to P.O. Box 302, Burleson, TX 76097.

Read more...

Back from a long writing break..!

Hello Folks,
Its bee a while since I posted. For all I know, its probably me just reading my own blog..lol.. But if you're out there ...even if your from the outer space, another galaxy, or whatever..holla back so I know ur reading it. Here's the updates of what's going on in my life in my walk in grace - I have been so intrugued about the way we perceive God. Where does this negative views of a loving God come from? Also another thing that has made me think is about the concept of trinity! Is it just a mere head knowledge or does it have any impact in the way i relate to God on adaily basis.. stay tuned.. i'll post updates on what i learn as soon as i can.

In the mean time, here's video my friend Alex sent me. Its a real good one and i think you'll enjoy it!


Good Friday from ROCKHARBOR on Vimeo.

Read more...

Dead Man Raised by Famed Doctor's Prayer

Read more...

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.  

Read more...

The Unconditional Love of God!

Read more...

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?

Read more...

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.

Read more...

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)

Read more...

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.

Read more...

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

Read more...

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? 

Read more...

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)

Read more...