One

God isn't somewhere 'out there.' When you look up to Him or raise your hands to Him, it's emblematic. He's in you, you're in Him. You're One.

You're invited to join the Grace Roots Ning community!

Visit Grace Roots

Many of you know all about the various Ning communities that are out there, and are even members of some of them, as I am (see side column of this blog). A while back I decided to create my own social community - Grace Roots - that is based upon being established in grace, living in grace and growing in grace. I haven't done much with it yet. My "vision" of it is simply an online community where people can encourage one another in God's love and grace. There are various other excellent Ning communities, and my purpose is not to 'compete' with any of them, of course. It's simply to join people together in the pure gospel of grace and peace.

As I said, I haven't done much with this community yet, but that's where you come in! You can share your blog posts there, take part in discussions, post pictures, etc. With a Ning profile, you can have your very own page and customize it to your liking. You can become 'friends' with other people, and even share videos and music. You can send messages to others, share status updates, write on others' walls, share upcoming events, write notes, and so on and so on. Try it out, and let me know what you think! I'm open to your suggestions as to the look and feel of the site, as well as the content, etc.

graceroots.ning.com

Lord Save Us From Your Followers

This video might step on some toes, but I reckon those toes need stepping on. Jesus didn't come to condemn. He came to save. God doesn't call us to judge others. He wants to love others through us.

GIG 192 - Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Mr. Spock's Love Language?

Just had to link to this post from Ralph Harris. Mr. Spock's Love Language?

Quote:

Which is better: to believe that God makes an every day, every moment decision to love, or that God IS love and every decision of every day and every moment comes from love?

There is such a subtle but deadly difference between making a decision to love, and every decision coming from love.

I think this one difference is one of the huge reasons why there is such a focus on "how to's" in the church today. "How to love," "how to live the Christian life," etc. The church is teaching people "how to love" rather than "living from love." Again, it's so subtle, but so HUGE a difference!

What's right with you

Why is the focus in the church seemingly always "what's wrong with you?" So many things in Christianity seem to be focused on trying to fix what's wrong with people.

How about teaching the finished work of Jesus and what's right with people for a change!

Don't rush growth - baseball illustration

When I talk about 'spiritual growth' or 'spiritual maturity,' I'm simply talking about growing in grace - growing in the knowing and expressing of who we already are in Christ. I've talked a lot in the past about "slow growth" and "natural growth," etc. I've talked about enjoying where we are in our individual journeys, and not trying to rush the growth process. Last night I listened to an incredible illustration of this while I was watching baseball.

St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Colby Rasmus hit a home run - his fourth of the young season. That's great for the Cardinals, of course, but I was then floored as I listened to the commentators talk about how the team's management and trainers have been working with Rasmus to "not get too home run conscious." I was in awe of the team's logic, as they are taking time to work with young Rasmus to develop him as a Major League player.

See, Rasmus is only 22 years old. He signed into baseball right out of high school (far from a common thing). He spent his first few years in the Minor Leauges, and this is his first season (rookie season) in the Major Leagues. The commentators said that the team is still working to establish Rasmus as a Major League player. He IS a Major League player, but they are working to establish and develop his particular role as a player. And it's gonna take time. He's gonna make mistakes and he's gonna learn.

At the present time, the team is working to establish him not as a home run hitter, but as a line drive hitter. Essentially, a line drive hit can get you on base and can also advance or score runners who are already on base. The team believes that eventually Rasmus will be a home run hitter, perhaps hitting 20 to 25 home runs per season. But here's the interesting phrase that the commentators used. The team wants to "mature him into a home run hitter" (as opposed to putting a lot of emphasis now on hitting home runs). I'm sure there are many reasons for this, not the least of which would be that if he gets too "home run conscious," his overall hitting may not develop properly. If he takes time to develop his skills as a line drive hitter, his overall hitting - including home runs - will become more natural.

As our heavenly Father is rooting us and establishing us in His love and grace, and as He's developing us and forming the life of Christ in us over a period of a lifetime, it's OK to be right where we're at. In fact, it's not only OK - it's essential for our overall development that we remain right where we are and not try to force growth. Let God develop your "line drive." The "home runs" will come naturally in time. Ahhh.... relax!

GIG 191 - God Doesn't Need Us To Serve Him

Do we have a duty to serve God? Is God looking to us and our strengths and capabilities to serve Him? Is there something about us that our self-sufficient, self-sustaining God needs?

As if!

But the good news is that even though God doesn't need us or our capabilities, He wants us. He desires us, not our service. Although service is a part of our lives of love, God didn't save us for the purpose of making a bunch of servants. He saved us so we could know Him! Many have somehow gotten the idea - and live with the premise - that God's primary interest in us is what we can do for Him. Join us as we spend a little bit of time with this idea that God doesn't need us to serve Him (see Acts 17:25, NASB) but rather has saved us for an eternal intimate relationship with Him.

gigcast.graceroots.org

Missing the Point of the Scriptures (video blog)

Exploring the idea of my last video a little further. I take a look at how the wrong premise about what the Christian life is all about leads to skewed views of various scriptures. When the premise is that we're supposed to always be teaching each other "what to do," then we often miss the point entirely. I look at one passage in particular, Hebrews 7, to show how the church has honed in on a certain aspect of "doing" and has missed the point of the passage entirely! My hope in all this is to highlight the love, grace and goodness of God!

God is Good - That's the Point (video blog)

Barna: "Most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules."

In addition to the various Performance-Based Acceptance stories that were shared the other day, I came across a couple of other things that sadly put the emphasis on outward performance when it comes to "growing spiritually" or "spiritual maturity" (or really, life in Christ in general).

The other day I was listening to a Christian talk show that a good grace-man like me really shouldn't be listening to... hahaha... pardon the sarcastic irony. :) No need to mention the program itself, but the call was about a woman who had a 'roadblock' in her marriage. Her "problem" was that she was "growing spiritually" but her husband wasn't. Now I'm not oblivious at all to the desire of having our loved ones alongside us on our journey, and us with them on their journey. But I don't think that's what was being conveyed in this woman's story.

I got the impression that she was becoming more involved in the traditional outward aspects of "doing" the Christian life (" spiritual disciplines?") and he was not "growing" (so-called) at the same pace. Perhaps she was reading her Bible more, going to church more, praying more, being involved in activities more, showing more interest in the things of God, etc, etc. And gee golly, for some reason the husband was simply not as interested.

I then read a blog post called Spiritual Maturity, that links to these findings from the Barna Group. Highlighted on this blog post is this disturbing quote from Barna's findings: "Most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules."

In the various Performance-Based Acceptance stories that were shared the other day, this seemed to be touched on quite a bit as well, in one form or another, including a quote from In Christ Alone's story. Speaking of the various denominations that she'd been a part of, she said, "It was just always about rules and ways to act and be and becoming holy somehow by doing this and that."

I'm sure you have thoughts on all this. What do you think? What I believe is that growing in maturity means that a person has truly understood the love and grace of God - not just in the mind but in the heart - and is "growing" in basking in it and appropriating it and in having Christ's life in them naturally expressing itself through love and grace towards others. How's that for a nutshell definition? :) So if a person is truly maturing in the Christ-life, would the stale lives of their loved ones be a "problem," or would it be an opportunity to share the love and grace of God all the more as Christ manifests His life all the more?

More PBA links

A couple more Performance-Based Acceptance stories have been posted, and I updated the original post with links to these stories. As I said before, it's never too late! Let me know if you post your story.

Here are the latest two:

Lydia Joy (a joy to be me): Performance Based Acceptance..........

The Lewis Family (Propitiation): My Story - continued
(See also Part 1: Life)

Performance-Based Acceptance Stories - Links

Wow... these stories have had an impact on me! On the one had they've left me hurting, feeling, aching, crying and growing in compassion - knowing that our stories represent so many people around the world who deal with legalism and the bondage of performing for God and/or others to earn or maintain acceptance. But of course I've also found my heart being filled with joy as I've read how God has set hearts free and continues to help people live in the freedom for which He set them free!

On the day that all this came to my mind, the word "story" kept going through my mind. I then read Paul Anderson-Walsh's quote, "Each and every one of us has our own story to tell about the problem of Performance-based Acceptance." The words of a commenter on Aida's post stick out to me: "It is so important we share our stories with each other." Thanks to all for sharing your stories, and let's not stop doing that!

Below are the stories of those who participated in this synchroblog (that I'm aware of). It's never too late! --- If/when more stories are posted, I'll add them.

Aida (Forgetting the Former Things):
Performance Based Acceptance - my story

John Fincher (John's Grace Walk [Mysterium Tremendum]):
My Performance-Based Acceptance Story

Jamie (Better Than We Know):
Unconditional Love (Cheater! LOL)

Free Spirit (With Unveiled Face):
Performance-Based Acceptance

Bino M. (Branch of Vine):
My 'Performance-Based Acceptance' Story

Richard J. (Family: The Final Frontier):
Performance-based acceptance...

Matthew Campbell (Somewhere in my Memory):
Performance Based Acceptance Synchroblog

Chris Welch (080808 On,Now,To the Third Level):
My Performance-Based Acceptance Story

In Christ Alone (nightwatch):
My PBA Story

Ursula Kuba (Open Door):
My Journey out of works and into grace

Update - 5/13/09 evening:

Lydia Joy (a joy to be me): Performance Based Acceptance..........

The Lewis Family (Propitiation): My Story - continued
(See also Part 1: Life)

My Performance-Based Acceptance Story

"Each and every one of us has our own story to tell about the problem of Performance-based Acceptance." - Paul Anderson-Walsh

This post is part of a synchroblog today (see original details here), in which I've invited whoever wants to to write about their own issues with Performance-Based Acceptance in their lives. If you post your own story, I invite you to come back here to this post and link to your story in the comments section, or email me with your link, so I can write a new blog post that links to the various stories.

One thing that I'm very thankful for is that I've never felt the pressure to perform in front of my parents. I've always felt accepted and loved by them, even when I got into the worst trouble as a teenager and even when my choices as an adult haven't been the wisest. I think it's my parents' unconditional love and acceptance of me that has helped me to understand and to better appropriate God's unconditional love and acceptance of me, and that has helped me to grow in my love and acceptance of other people.

But even with all this, the story I have to tell has to do with a roller coaster period in my life in which I dealt with a very bad perception of how God viewed me. It was a perception of Him in which I was constantly struggling with thoughts and fears that I wasn't performing well enough for Him. Believe it or not... ha ha... all this began to happen when I entered into the wonderful world of the evangelical/pentecostal church! But with that said, I must also say that I'm not knocking any church or any individual person or people. That's not my intent here. I'm just telling my story of how my deeper performance-based acceptance issues came about - and I'll also tell how I've overcome.

A lot of wonderful things did happen in that setting. I really did learn a lot about Christ and about the power of the Holy Spirit, etc. But my issues with performance-based acceptance grew quickly there, and it really overshadowed all of the other stuff that I was learning. The sermons, the studies, the songs, the prayers, the outreaches, the activities, the services... just about everything... was all focused on doing. It was all focused on me living for God. It was all based upon me putting forth my best effort to live the life - my level of performance in front of a perfect God. At times I actually thought I was doing pretty well! Those were also the times that I looked down the most on others who I didn't think were performing as well as me.

Most of the time, though, I lived with a constant cloud of guilt and fear over me. I often felt as if I would never get this Christian life right. How many times I questioned my salvation! I simply never felt that I measured up to what I believed was "the standard" of the Christian life. But oh... my flesh could sure get pumped up! I would hear a motivating sermon, or I would attend a fiery weekend retreat, and I'd be ready to take on the world for JE-sus!!! On Sunday morning I'd be clapping my hands and praising the Lord, shouting and singing out loud, having shed ALL remnants of my sad and sorry non-performing life!!!

And then Monday came.

Hoorah.

Back to mediocrity, with the fire all gone. How it was put out so quickly.

Well, that's just the nutshell version of my story. But it was a very real roller coaster ride that repeated itself over and over again, in various forms, and it was sad and depressing.

I do remember when things began to turn around, though. I remember the words that were spoken to me that changed my life forever. It was sometime in 1995 I think, and I had been working for a while at a radio station where the program director, Mike "Kap" Kapler (who you now know as my Growing in Grace cohost) had been sharing with me bits and pieces of the things he'd been learning at a church here in town that had recently begun preaching a solid message of God's unconditional love and grace. Of the words that Kap spoke to me, these particular words jumped out at me and grabbed a hold of me like nothing before:

"God isn't angry with you."

You know, I hadn't even necessarily looked at God as being angry with me. But yet I had been wallowing around in so much guilt and fear, from feeling as if I wasn't ever going to perform well enough for Him, that those words caused this very heavy weight and burden to suddenly be lifted off of me!! I mean, it was immediate and very noticeable to me. It's not as if I was completely "cured" right away, but it was a very effective jump-start to a life of learning my true identity in Christ, and who God really is and how He really views me! His view of us is never based upon our performance. It's all based upon His unconditional love. He is love.

Your turn! I'd love to hear your story, and I'm sure others would love to as well! Remember, link to your story here or email me and I'll include your link in another blog post with all the other stories.

Tomorrow's Synchroblog reminder - Performance-Based Acceptance

Just a reminder about tomorrow's (Tuesday, May 12) synchroblog event, in case you want to participate, based on the theme of "Performance-Based Acceptance." There's still time to spread the word and see if others want to participate as well! The original details are here, but in short this will be a day to use your blog/website/social site/etc to tell your story about how Performance-Based Acceptance has been a problem in your life, and how you've dealt with it and have overcome it or are overcoming it.

I derived this theme from the following sentence in Paul-Anderson Walsh's book Until Christ is Formed:

Each and every one of us has our own story to tell about the problem of Performance-based Acceptance.

This subject can obviously be approached from all kinds of angles and perspectives, so I'm looking forward to people sharing their unique stories and experiences!

I'll post my story early tomorrow morning. Then later tomorrow or the following day I plan to create another post that links to the various stories that others post - so please come to my Performance-Based Acceptance post tomorrow and link to yours, or email me with a link to yours, and I'll include it.

GIG 190 - Our Message to the World: God is Not Counting People's Sins Against Them

This week we take a peek into the deeply rich passage of 2 Corinthians 5. Not only does it talk about us being New Creations in Christ (not simply "changed" or "improved," but made completely new), but it talks about the ministry that we have to the world as believers. Is our ministry to point out people's sins? Is our ministry to protest all the sinful behavior of the world?

What about the message in 2 Cor. 5 that "God was in Christ reconciling (exchanging sin for righteousness) the world to Himself, not counting people's sins against them?" The very same passage goes on to say that God has committed to us that ministry - the message of reconciliation. The message of reconciliation is our ministry to the world - that God was in Christ exchanging our sin for His righteousness!

gigcast.graceroots.org

The Answer is B - 5/10/09 - Tax Collectors and Sinners

Question: What is the correct wording of Luke 15:2-6? (Note: I'm asking about the correct wording of the passage, not about the actual practice in the church today). ;)

A. And the people of the church complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." But then they figured, "Well, He's probably giving them strong lectures and telling them how to get their acts together and live right, so we'll do the same and get out there and clean up our culture!"

B. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." So He spoke this parable to them, saying: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

C. "He eats tax collectors and sinners!"

Life in Christ isn't about "not sinning."

The other day, Lydia posted a couple of quotes from Ryan Rufus. I saw one quote on her Facebook profile:

"Living a holy life should never be defined as 'living without sin.' In fact sin has got nothing to do with holiness at all."

And another quote on this blog post:

"Holiness has got nothing to do with sinning or not sinning! If that is what we think, then we think WE are the cause of our holiness and I am telling you there is only ONE person who is the cause of our holiness and His name is Jesus Christ!!"

Great stuff! Being holy has nothing to do with "not sinning." We are holy because God has set us apart for Himself and has placed us in Himself - all based on the finished work of Jesus, not based upon what we do or don't do. For a long time in my Christian life, my focus seemed to be on "not sinning." If I sinned, or felt like I wasn't living righteously enough, my focus was on "not sinning." To be quite truthful, my focus was on "not sinning" quite often! My obsession was not my relationship with God. My obsession was how to overcome sin. I now realize that that obsession was fleshly and self-focused, not God-focused.

My life has forever been changed during the past decade and a half, ever since I realized that God is not obsessed with sin! He took care of the disease of sin on the cross, and His obsession (His passion) has always been me, not my sin!

Yes, it's true that "by the Spirit" we "put to death the deeds of the flesh." But that's not the essence of our lives in Christ! It's not the root of our lives in Christ, and it's not the daily obsession that we're to have. Jesus didn't come so that we would live with an ongoing focus on sin. He came so that we could be reconciled to God and have an ongoing obsession with HIM!

We all know how Jesus, in John 3:16, said that God gave Him so that people could have eternal life. And in John 17 He said that this is eternal life: That we may know God! Eternal life is NOW, and eternal life is knowing God! Let's stop making it about sin.

Volunteers to help me find some 'best of' material?

Hey all, in about 10 weeks Kap and I will air our 200th Growing in Grace program! Hard to believe it. It's been a great four years of casual discussion about God's love and grace.

For our 2ooth episode, I had the idea of basically putting together a bunch of highlights from our past programs. I've been going back and listening to some of the programs, trying to collect some material. It's a bit time consuming for our huge staff (me!) and I wondered if anyone would be willing to volunteer a little bit of time during the next few weeks to go through a handful of programs and make note of stuff that might be included?

This would involve listening on a computer or mp3 player and finding 5 to 45 second sound bites (approximately) that speak to you in some way, or that you think would speak to others, and simply making note of the times that the bites start. I would then be able to go to those programs and cut out the individual bites.

This is no big deal... just an idea I had... and if anyone's able to help out it would be appreciated. Depending upon the response, I'll kind of divvy up an assortment of programs to individuals so everyone's not listening to the same programs. Either respond here or email me at the address on the side column of this blog.

Thanks!

It depends upon what the definition of "this" is... (Repost)

First posted here.
------------------

Ps 118:21-26
21 I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.

22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the LORD's doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

"This" is the day the Lord has made. What is the day the Lord has made? What's being referred to as "this?" Sunday? Each new day?

I've heard many well-meaning people rip this line right out of context. In fact, I've heard some great theological-types, who take great care with the exegesis of the Bible, stand there and proclaim that "today" (whatever new day it may be) is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in "today."

I have NO PROBLEM celebrating today! But is that what this particular scripture is really talking about?

Look at what it says...

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone."

"This was the Lord's doing."

"This is the day the Lord has made."

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

This prophetic Psalm isn't talking about just any other ordinary day. It's pointing to one day in particular. What was the Psalmist thinking? "Hmm, right in the middle of this prophecy, I think I'll just thrown in quick props to God for "today." Not. :)

Remember what the people were shouting when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, a week before His crucifixion?

Matt 21:9
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

This was in preparation for that great day that the Lord had planned from the beginning.

"This was the Lord's doing." Right in line with another prophecy, this statement tells us that "this day" and its events were planned and executed by God Himself. Isaiah 53 says quite a lot about this great day. Isaiah prophesies of Jesus, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6). Isaiah goes on to say, "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief." (Isaiah 53:10). This was all the Lord's doing. We didn't put Jesus on the cross. God did.

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Matthew, Mark, Luke and Peter all reference this prophecy. (Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:6). The "stone," of course, is Jesus. I've preached a handful of "sermons" in my life (perhaps one for each finger on one hand), and one of them was around Christmastime, eight or nine years ago. I taught a little bit on the "chief cornerstone" and the "rock of offense." I'll see if I can dig up my notes from that.

What it all boils down to is this. This is the day the Lord has made: The day the stone the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone. The day God became our salvation. The day the sacrifice was bound with cords to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27).

If we're to give praise to God and rejoice and be glad in a certain day... let it be that day! Let it be a continuous celebration of that day!

Rooted and Established in Grace

Some of my favorite reminders of being rooted and established in God's love and grace.

Heb 13:9 (NKJV)
Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods [read: laws] which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

2 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Col 2:6-7 (NKJV)
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Col 2:7 (NLT)
Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.

Ps 92:12-15 (NKJV)
12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
15 To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Synchroblog next Tuesday - Performance-Based Acceptance

A reminder of next Tuesdays synchroblog event, which I first posted about last Sunday. There's been a positive response to this, and I hope you're able to take part!

----------

A stand alone sentence in Paul Anderson-Walsh's book Until Christ is Formed reads:

Each and every one of us has our own story to tell about the problem of Performance-based Acceptance.

I reckon that's true - and so I ask: What about you? What's your story? In what ways has Performance-Based Acceptance been a problem in your life? In what ways have you gained freedom?

In order to join together in sharing our stories (hopefully encouraging one another), I propose a Synchroblog on Tuesday, May 12 (just over a week away), based on the theme "Performance-Based Acceptance," in which we use our blogs/websites/forums/social sites/etc to post our personal stories of the problems and solutions of Performance-Based Acceptance. Consider yourself invited to participate in this!

So what's your story? Perhaps your story has to do with finding acceptance from God based on His unconditional love for you and your true identity in Him, apart from your works/performance. Perhaps it has to do with a need for approval and acceptance from others, and learning to break free from that bondage. Perhaps it has to do with your own struggle to accept others. Perhaps it's a combination of some or all of this, or something entirely different.

How long was this a problem for you (or is it still a problem for you)? How has this affected your life and the lives of those around you? How have you overcome, or how are you currently gaining victory and freedom in this? You get the picture.

I won't be "tagging" anyone to participate in this. Instead, as I said before, simply consider yourself invited to participate in this! I'll post reminders of this proposed Synchroblog event between now and May 12th, and I'll post my own story that morning. I'll then ask you to link to your story in the comments section of my post that day, and then I'll gather all the links together and write a new post, linking to all of the posts.

If you're interested in this, I also think it would be great if you would spread the word! Feel free to link to this post on your own blog and internet site(s). Let's encourage one another and help one another to break free from Performance-Based Acceptance!

GIG 189 - Already Forgiven of All Sins

Isn't it great to be forgiven! This week on our 15 minute program we touch on one of the very basic truths in our lives in Christ: We have already been forgiven of ALL sins! The Bible makes it clear that we've already been forgiven of all trespasses - past, present and future - and we have no need to keep on going back to God and confessing sins and/or asking Him to forgive us time and time again.

It's a wonderful and marvelous thing that God has done for us. "He has made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:13-14). There is no condemnation whatsoever. Your sins have been taken away, forgiven completely and forever. Why wallow around in guilt when your sins have been forgiven and taken away!

gigcast.graceroots.org

What God meant for good...

Sometimes I think we give the devil a little too much credit for the "bad" things in our lives. All too many times, when believers disagree on issues or when they're walking in uncomfortable situations in life, or when things aren't going according to the way they think God would do things, I hear them chalking it up to the devil.

I don't ever want to imply that I believe God causes evil things to happen. But instead of thinking the devil has so much control over our lives, could we sometimes, in our less than desirable circumstances, imagine that God Himself has brought about circumstances that might not seem pleasant but are a part of His overall plan to work things together for good? Do you think that sometimes the things we blame on the devil could perhaps be something that God has planned for good all along?