I thank God that I don't get what I deserve.
In the U.S. we are law-driven.
We will drive up to a stoplight in the middle of a city in the middle of the night with no traffic in sight and sit at a red light for 5 minutes until it turns green and then we go...
Doesn't that sound a little insane? With NO ONE in sight? Yet we do it.
The natural law finds it's way into the spiritual arena and we start doing things "just because".
Stop being a human doing and
start being a human BEING.
Often times, discussing grace is as taboo as bringing up politics or money. The religious types, who are all about the law say, "Well, grace means that you can get by with whatever you want and be stupid."
When you get saved, you don't want to sin anymore. It's not that you don't sin at all, but you don't WANT to just go out and do it on purpose. Jesus' love soaking into you makes you not want that anymore.
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You can validate someone without validating their behavior.
Adult kids are more challenging than younger kids because they KNOW better. So it's tougher to watch them do dumb things. As a parent, I have had to learn to speak to WHO they are instead of WHAT they do.
God looked beyond our behavior to WHO we are.
Where sin increased, Grace increased all the more.
Even if we act right for 7 days, we still THINK wrong things. That's our humanity.
2000 years ago, God performed the greatest act of mercy on us. So we wouldn't HAVE to perform.
The areas that you have overcome are often the ones where you are most critical or judgmental of others.
The Grace Dichotomy
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! Luke 18:11
But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner. Luke 18:13
I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Luke 18:14The Pharisee was so busy saying, I've overcome what everyone else is going through, God look at ME! Instead of, "God I look to YOU."
The tax collector humbled himself. This guy was saying, "Wow I need God!"
You aren't under the power of sin (once you're saved), but you are still influenced by sin.
Salvation is IMMEDIATE. Santification takes a lifetime.
You may BE a christian, but not look or act like one for awhile...
We are all a work in progress at different stages in God's molding of us.
Grace covers you because you CAN'T do it yourself.
Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Romans 6:14
Jesus is a shepherd. Shepherd's leads sheep.
Jesus is not a rancher. They herd cattle.
Historically, churches point out all that is wrong with man, instead of all that is right with God. Romans 4:1-5
We need to learn to extend grace to others and speak to who someone is instead of their behavior.
Compliance isn't "want to" and doing it out of obligation will begin to make a person angry on the inside.
Grace causes "want to" and replaces the law of "I have to".
God is a God of grace whether I respond to it or not.
I don't receive it until I respond to Him.
In John 21, Jesus tells Peter to cast his nets on the other side of the boat. Peter cooperated and caught so much that the boat began to sink. The fish were there the whole time, but Peter had to comply.
In John 8, the Pharisees were accusing a woman of adulter and wanted to stone her, but when Jesus said let the first one without sin cast the first stone, they walked away. When it was just she and Jesus, He said does anyone condemn you? Neither do I. Go and sin no more.
Jesus didn't say, don't sin anymore and then I'll forgive you.
She got an advance on grace.
Grace covers and empowers.
It's not His acceptance of MY work,
but my acceptance of His work on the Cross for me.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9The years that a cherry tree doesn't bear fruit... it's STILL a cherry tree. If you are a christian and you aren't bearing fruit, it might not be your season, don't condemn yourself or allow others to, but press in to the Lord.
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| Without Grace There is No Hope |
Grace motivates and empowers me to get up when I fall down.
We have "faithful" people who will consistently tell us of all of the mistakes we made.
Yet the bible says:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus... Romans 8:1
Stop and thank God that you want to seek Him out today.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13
Things work out if there is a work "in".
If there is a work IN you, then things will work out FOR you.
Fear doesn't mean being afraid of God, it just means being in AWE of God and knowing that everything is going to work out as he works in your life and my life.
You're worried about permissiveness, about how the preaching of grace seems to give permission to go out and do all kinds of terrible things as long as you walk in afterward and take the free gift of God's forgiveness.
While we seem to be afraid of giving permission, apparently Jesus wasn't.
He wasn't afraid of giving the prodigal son a kiss instead of a lecture...He wasn't afraid of giving a party instead of probation...
He proved that through bringing in the elder brother at the end of the story and having him raise pretty much the same objections that religious people do.
He complains about the party, that his father is lowering the standards and ignoring virtue, that music and dancing and a fattened calf are so many permissions to break the law. And to that, Jesus has the Father say only one thing...
Cut that out. We're not playing good boys and bad boys anymore. Your brother was dead and he is alive again.
The name of the game from now on is resurrection, not bookkeeping.
If we will stop withholding everything that we are, we will start beholding everything that He is.
You might say, what do I have to give God?
The greatest gift I can give God everyday is not what God gives me, but me giving Him my sin because that's what He asked for.
I don't wake up saying I want to sin. But I know that potential was in me when I was born but when I got saved, He was born in me and now the grace of God is greater than the power of sin in my life.
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