Back in time.......

So, I drafted a post on Sunday, Oct. 21 that I just published to that date - so it's a new post to check out if you are interested, short but sweet.

Just wanted to say again how much I am enjoying reading through "Grace Walk", by Steve McVey. I definitely recommend checking it out. So, I wanted to post a few quotes............

This is a Quote from Charles Trumball " The great truth that so many earnest, surrendered Christians have even yet failed to see is that salvation is a twofold gift; freedom from the penalty of sin, and freedom from the power of sin. All Christians have received in Christ as their Savior their freedom from the penalty of their sins, and they have received this as an outright gift from God. But many Christians have not yet realized that they may, in the same way, and by the same kind of faith in the same God and Savior, receive now and here the freedom from the power of their sins which was won for them by their Savior on the cross and in His resurrection victory. Even though they know clearly that their own efforts have nothing to do with their salvation from the penalty of their sins, they are yet deceived by the Adversary into believing that somehow their own efforts must play a part in their present victory over the power of their sins. Our efforts can not only never play any part in our victory over the power of sin, but they can and do effectually prevent such victory.... We are to use our will to accept the gift of victory: we are not to make an effort to win the victory."

We experience victory in the Christian life as we receive God's gift in faith. And as we abide in Christ. God doesn't intend for us to struggle for the victory. As we rest in Him, we enjoy the victory of His life. It is impossible to struggle and rest at the same time!

I wish I could quote the whole next chapter "The Vice of Values", but I will restrain, here's a bit....

"It's not God's purpose that our lives be built on a system of values. It is His desire that they be built on the person of His Son. Value systems may influence behavior, but God is not interested in systems of living. He is interested in relationships. An intimate relationship with Him will produce a godly lifestyle. A focus on behavior will not create intimacy with God or a godly lifestyle."

" The definitive question in the life of the believer is not, "Would it be wrong for me to do this?" but, "Am I abiding in Christ at this moment?" An unsaved person evaluates behavior on the basis of right and wrong, but the lifestyle of the Christian is to flow from the activity of Christ. If the lifestyle of a Christian is built around a value system, there is little difference between that and the lifestyle of an unbeliever. Many unbelievers express a desire to live according to the values embodied in the Golden Rule or the Ten Commandments."

"I highly recommend that you give up your Christian values. You may find this statement startling, but I want to shake you into serious thought. I'm not advocating moral anarchy. Nor am I suggesting that how you live is unimportant. What I am saying is that focusing on a value system is not God's intended way for you to live. God never proposed your lifestyle to be built around the principle of right and wrong. To do so is damaging in several ways."

I will just list the ways and then you'll just have to read the book for yourself.......
-An obsession with right and wrong makes people self-concious instead of God conscious. (I wholeheartedly agree, and experienced this for myself!)
-An obsession with right and wrong emphasizes human values instead of godly virtues.
-An obsession with right and wrong stresses law instead of life.(this one I am dying to expound upon one of these days!!)

That's it!

.....time is on my side, yes it is

So, I spent most of yesterday, just chillin' out on my couch watching my kids play with a cup of tea in hand....been fightin' a nasty head cold,....I noticed on my tea bag a little quote..."When God made time, He made enough of it." And that struck me! There I was relaxing out of necessity tempted to complain because I was forced to slow down and only take it easy.....I thought how cool, God gives us so many opportunites to take time to just be... and I have found that this year, as crazy as my circumstances have been, and believe me they have been strange and intense, God has made the time for all of it and it hasn't been unbearable or overwhelming, just sort of slow and steady.....(let me clarify, in the midst of feeling my world emotionally crash in on me, not knowing what would come next, he poured out so much grace and kindly let things fall into place smoothly -things that seemed impossible to me, and to others, he just took care of it....)

Most of our world doesn't have enough time, most people I know are always pressed for time and stressed out to the max because they don't have enough time to do everything they think they should. I don't believe that is the heart of God for us. God made the world and that's no small task, but then he saw that it was good and rested!! Even God chills out!! And if you read about the life of Jesus, it seems as though he was always teaching and healing and walking from town to town, yet he always had time to spend with his Father, and lots of it, he always took time to pull away from the crowds who wanted to see and hear Him, to rest and sit with his disciples. It just seems to me there was an easy flow of life, I mean they got a ton accomplished but was it bam bam bam, go here do this do that, I gotta get more done, or I'm not doing enough......No!

I love the story of the time Jesus was hanging out with Mary and Martha, and I can picture Jesus sitting down talking to the people in the room, eventually everyone would have a meal together, so of course someone had to prepare it (and in those days there was more cultural importance on meals and honored guests and all that I don't really know much about) anyway, it was the ladies home so naturally they needed to get dinner ready or beds made or whatever..... but Mary was just sitting, doing nothing but listening to Jesus - Martha was overly occupied and too busy, distracted with much serving, getting kind of ticked off that Mary left all the work to her, so she presents her case to Jesus, "tell her to help me!" But the wise, patient Jesus says " Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary, Mary has chosen the good portion, that which is to her advantage, which shall not be taken away from her." She was putting the tasks aside to "be with Jesus" and sit at His feet. I just love this story! Anyway, it goes to show God doesn't need our service over our time spent with Him!

I am more and more inclined these days to just be still and not get overwhelmed with all that I think I have to do or that others may seem to demand of me. When I feel guilt or pressure creep in I have to talk myself out of it because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, none, no guilt, no pressure to perform, none!! I know God will give me grace to accomplish all he has for me to accomplish in his timing.

Anyway, this has been somewhat of a strange babbly post, but these are my spontaneous thoughts, just spurting out of my brain.............

Who I am in Christ!!!

I am currently going over and over and over who God says I am in Christ. I can't get over it! I am psyched, pumped and fired up! (haven't used any of those words since I was a kid:) Tonight, I heard a message that reiterated it and so I wanted to share it here.
The bible tells me I am a New Creation, that I am a Saint, an Ambassador for Christ, I have the perfect righteousness of Christ given to me, I have all the riches of Christ...........

I want to repeat myself again, and again over the days, weeks and coming months! I can't hear this enough! Knowing who God says I am has a huge impact on how I will want to live my life for Him!!! It also drives me to delve deep into His Word and revel in the life given to me from it!!

I am so grateful that God is revealing his grace more and more to me, I have a whole new perspective of his character as well, he's way more loving and patient than I ever understood him to be -since I was living like I was in the Old Covenant still, and had a legalistic mindset, so naturally I didn't think God was happy with me often since I could never live up to the standard of the law!! But now that I understand the New Covenant of Grace, I feel like a new creation in Christ!! God is so Amazing and so desirable, I just want to spend time with Him truly learning who He really is!!

Be true to be you....

“Be who you is, ‘cos if you ain’t who you is, you is who you ain’t!”

Quoted by Greg Haslam minister of Westminster Chapel in London.

I never knew I had a voice.....

I hate conformity, yes hate, is that too strong....isn't comformity like passivity, doesn't God hate passivity, after all he says he hates lukewarmness, he would rather we were hot or cold!!
All my life I have felt out of place, never fitting in here or there, trying to be somebody I am not, because there was always a "model" of what you should try to be like, whether it be at school, or in church life... This may not have ever been something outrightly stated, however, you were praised or applauded or looked up to if you met certain standards, or if you were a high achiever, or good at everything you put your hands to. But what about those who didn't get applauded, ever...instead they were made to feel unworthy because they couldn't measure up to that standard...... I have always been someone trying to fit in somewhere, but never could!
Now I know that conforming to what other people think you should be or think is good, normal, trendy, traditional, acceptable, etc.... is not necessary, nor is it better, nor is it freedom to be who God made you to be!! If I really thought about it I have known this all along, but the fear of man, and desire for acceptance and approval spoke louder to me than anything. Even the critiques given to me, or the "you should" statements, drowned out any chance for me to be free to speak up for myself.
Thankfully, God had an awesome plan for me, he rescued me from drowning in conformity and told me he loves ME, and he made ME just the way I am and wants ME to be free to be exactly who I am in Him and for Him!! His complete acceptance of me has set me free to speak up and say things I may never have said before, because I was afraid of what people might think of me! Now I am less and less afraid to be wrong or criticized or looked down upon, because I know God will always accept me and have wonderful thoughts about me!! Oh, and still love me even if I mess up, or royally screw up!!
God is so creative, he made us all unique, every one of us!! We could never even begin to be just like someone else, it wasn't his intent. He knit us perfectly together in our mother's womb! He made us and saw that what he made was good! Very Good!!

Colour Inside ...

I just love this poem, it so captures what I have felt for years, until now, I have begun to see and experience the color inside me, because I have fallen in love with Jesus -!! I don't think I could truly say that until recently after years of being a Christian.

Colour Inside ...

"There is so much colour inside you and me,

I wonder why we keep it in.

Isn't this grey world dying for lack of it,

like a deprived desert cracking in pain.

Why do we cringe in the corridors of conformity,

like timid little souls?

'What will people think of us?' are the shackles that bind us.

As we carry our weighted chains with earnest

but fading strength along the dismal pathways we tread.

Routine is the rut that fear demands we tread,

while freedom beckons like a lover.

But like slaves to pretence, we say 'We're doing fine'.

Tradition keeps us toeing the line, and then - 

I see the Carpenter dancing on the water. Then -

I see the Carpenter turning water into wine - 

Colours flashing in His Presence, chains snapping

In His Presence.

There is so much colour inside you and me.

I wonder why we keep it in.

Rob Rufus.

Hot Topic!

It seems like this week many folks want to discuss whether we have a sinful nature or not, so check out on the blogs on the list to the right, Grace Flood, and Voice of Grace and check out their links as well. Good stuff!

What is your nature??

I'd like to take a minute to hopefully dispel the myth that as Christians we need to talk about and focus on our sin, try and dredge it out, bring it up in every conversation we have, add it to every message every Sunday and be accountable to each other reporting our sin issues on a regular basis, or pointing out sin to each other as part of conversations and talking about how we can overcome them!! Why do we need to talk about our sin so much!!! (Okay, Okay, I know all Christians do not do this, but this is where I am coming from, it's a general overview of what went on.)

First of all, as Christians we have died to the sinful nature, the old man, it was crucified with Christ! In other words it's GONE! We no longer have a sinful nature, it was put to death with Jesus on the cross!
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" ~Galtians 2:20

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; old things have passed away(died); behold, all thingshave become new~2 Corinthians 5:17

"How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?.....Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be DONE AWAY with, that we should no longer be SLAVES OF SIN. For he who has died hes been FREED FROM SIN. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." ~Romans 6:2-3, 6-8

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says:
"This is, to me, oneof the most comforting and assuring and glorious aspects of our faith. We are never called to crucify our old man. Why? Because it has already happened-the old man was crucified with Christ on the cross. Nowhere does the Scripture call upon you to crucify your old man; nowhere does the Scripture tell you to get rid of your old man, for the obvious reason that he has already gone. Not to realize this is to allow the devil to fool you and delude you. What you and I are called upon to do is to cease to live as if we were still in Adam. Understand that the "old man" is not there. The only way to stop living as if he were still there is to realize that he is not there. That is the New Testament method of teaching sanctification. The whole trouble with us, says the New Testament, is that we do not realize, what we are, that we still go on thinking we are the old man, and go on trying to do things to the old man. That has been done; the old man was crucified with Christ. He is non-existent, he is no longer there. If you are a Christian, the man you were in Adam has gone out of existence; he has no reality at all; you are in Christ."

Okay, so it's pretty clear that our sinful nature is gone, we know that we are already forgiven for all our sins, past present and future, so why do we obsess over our sin......(I will get to that question in a later post). I am coming from a church that has over emphasized the doctrine of indwelling sin and applies it to the believer! Yikes! My desire is that all Christians would come to truly embrace and believe the truth of God's Word, we are dead to our old nature, we have a new nature. Why would God want to join His Holy Spirit to our old sinful nature, why would he allow our old sinful nature into heaven We do not have more than one nature, a sin nature and a New nature(Christs perfect righteous nature)- we are now "in Christ", we have his perfect righteousness, and we have become "partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4) We have a new nature -Christ's. We are totally righteous,(Eph. 4:24) and Holy(1 Cor. 3:17).

Does all this mean we won't sin anymore, or that we feel like our sinful nature is gone? No, and I will have to get to that in my next post. My goal is to hopefully share truth that I have never understood before now. Truth that you can truly lay claim to and in so doing renew your mind, and see yourself as God sees you!! When you begin to see yourself as God sees you, you will experience freedom and joy!

(Also, check out the link in my resource list "Do Christians Still have a Sinful Nature?", by Ryan Rufus, it's a free download of the whole book!!)

Book Recommendation....

I am currently reading through "Grace Walk" by Steve McVey, and it is very very good!! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand grace more. Anyone who is tired in their walk with God, struggling or even if you seem to have it all together- this is foundational for any believer!!
I recently told someone, who knew my husband and I had been going through a real rough season, how we had gotten a hold of grace in a way we never had and things were going much better for us. He said "Oh, well grace is good." Sorry, but grace is more than just good, it's everything, without it I am nothing! Sadly, I don't believe he knew what he was missing out on!!
So, if you are not sure what you are missing out on in your Christian life, this book could help. Of course he walks you through all of the foundational truths in scripture, which I encourage anyone to search for themselves!!
I am continuously amazed daily by grace, and my hope would be that many others would come to a place where they are too!!

"Victory over Condemnation"

This is one of my favorite messages by Rob Rufus that I have listened to recently, several times, just to let the truth of it really sink in. I will just include of few of my notes and the link so you can listen to it for yourself.

"No condemnation ever comes from God, God is for you, he has taken your side" (those who are in Christ) Romans 8:1

In Isaiah 54:9 God takes an oath never to be angry with us again.

God expressed all the fullness of his anger at Jesus

There is never any condition God will be angry at me (in Christ)

Don't let an unclear scripture rob you of the joy of a clear scripture

Right living has been preached for the last hundreds of years, this is not the gospel. Trying to live right does not produce freedom.
Right believing is the power of God, Romans 1:16, and it produces right results.

Check out this message some time if you can, it has been extremely helpful to me! 

Love

Nothing competes with love. Nothing compares to love. Even prayer that works miracles. Faith itself is nothing unless it works through love. And love is a pretty tall order.

And fortunately the One who IS love is living in us. He can and will love in and through us. Love is a fruit of the Spirit.

And remember... the key here, at least as I see it, is that this is something we grow in! It's not automatic. Love grows, not as a result of being obedient to commandments, but as a result of abiding in the Vine.

quote from someone else, not me......

Buckets and buckets of Grace

Lately I have been experiencing the Grace of God so abundantly, it's like being refreshed with cold water after a long hard race ,( I used to run cross country). I am amazed daily by His grace and can't get enough! Good thing it will never run out!
A friend of mine told my husband earlier this year when we hit a major bump in our marriage that she was praying for us and she said, I just know that God has buckets and buckets of grace for you guys. It's so true - He does and we are finally living in it! Living in the Grace of God, the New Covenant Life has so much joy and freedom -it's awesome! It causes me to want to know God more and love Him more! It's even more than buckets and buckets, it's like Niagara Falls!

Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God."

Psalm 42:7 "Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me."

Set Free!!

As Christians, those who are in Christ, we have been set free from the law of sin and death. We are no longer in bondage, or slavery to the law, we now are completely justified by Christ. Acceptable to God and given a status of joint heirs with Christ, seated on the right hand of the Father in Heaven! Our new position declares us perfectly righteous, despite our condition, we have an amazing inheritance forever!!This is the New Covenant life -freedom!
"For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse;....." Gal.3:10
"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed...."(end of Gal. 3)
Galatians 4 talks about how we are now sons and heirs and no longer slaves
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" Ephesians 5:1
This is what I am coming out of, slavery, a curse, bondage to the law, because as a Christian I submitted my life back under the law. By trying to acheive my holiness through doing things I thought would make me more acceptable to God, kind of like a right way of living for God. This is not freedom, let me tell ya.(my self efforts at pleasing God are counted as rubbish-Phil. 3:3-11)
Now I understand this, by God's kind revelation, and I want to live in freedom, and walk by the Spirit! I had fallen away from grace(even though I never understood it when I became a Christian, but more on that later!)
I am called to freedom, but not to use my freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but to love and serve others. That's it!! (Galatians 5)

The best things in life are free............

gazing at the sky, cloud formations, different each day, the moon in all it's phases, the sun (what would we do without it),

the air we breathe, the refreshing summer rain, every first snowfall of every year for the rest of my life, the ocean breeze,

sand between my toes, the amazing vast view of the ocean

changing seasons - the colorful array of leaves by October's end, a blossoming, budding, blooming variety of flowers each spring, along with their unique fragrances

summer evenings spent catching fireflies -

tickles, giggles, laughter -having fun with my kids

a great children's book from the library (as long as it's returned on time)

sleep

the body you were born with

the family you were born into

being who you are, who God made YOU to be.................

best of all, the gift of salvation, -God's love and grace to all who are in Christ!!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." ~Ephesians 2: 4-9

I love these quotes!!

Who am I?(quotes taken from Grace in Flood)

"The issue then isn't my beating myself up over all of the things I am not doing or the things I am doing poorly; the issue is my learning who this person is who God keeps insisting I already am."

"This is an issue of identity. It is letting what God says about us shape what we believe about ourselves. This is why shame has no place whatsoever in the Christian experience. It is simply against all that Jesus is for. As the writer to the Romans put it, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8v1)"

"So what does this mean for the Christian life? To begin, Christians are people learning who they are in Christ. We are being taught about our new identity. Do you see how deeply this new identity affects the life of a community? I heard a teacher say that if people were taught more about who they are, they wouldn't have to be told what to do. It would come naturally. When we see religious communities spending most of their time trying to convince people not to sin, we are seeing a community that has missed the point. The point isn't sin management. The point is who we are now."

"It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything or achieve anything or accomplish one more thing. That exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance. (Rom 8v37-39)"

"Jesus said that as this new reality takes over our hearts and lives and minds and actions, we are crossing over "from death to life". He called this kind of life "eternal life". For Jesus, eternal life wasn't a state of being for the future that we would enter into somewhere else: it is a quality of life that starts now."

From "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell - Zondervan 2005

Someone much wiser than me

"The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL.... It is free in all to whom it is given. It does not depend on any power or merit in man; no, not in any degree, neither in whole, nor in part. It does not in anywise depend either on the good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on anything he has done, or anything he is. It does not depend on his endeavors. It does not depend on his good tempers, or good desires, or good purposes and intentions; for all these flow from the free grace of God; they are the streams only, not the fountain. They are the fruits of free grace, and not the root. They are not the cause, but the effects of it." -John Wesley

Justification

God looks at me just as I have never sinned, all my sins, past, present and future have been dealt with on the cross....And, all the righteous obedience and holiness of Christ has been credited to me!!
This is a free gift!!
I have been a Christian for 9 years, (maybe longer, I remember having faith in Christ as a teenager) a churchgoer most of my life, and this truth has never sunk deep into the core of my being- I don't remember hearing it expounded upon much over the years, but now my heart is open to it and I am dumbfounded!!
May we all be refreshed and reminded of this awesome status God has granted us so undeservedly, yet so freely!! He is so Awesome and he's my Father!!

Benefits of the CROSS

All sin -past, present and future sins were placed on Jesus! This had to include all future sins otherwise everyone that died after the cross would never be forgiven. We are all after the cross. Because God is just, he will never punish the same sin twice, he has already punished Jesus!
You are forgiven even before you sin, you have already been cleansed! Grace looked ahead from the cross at all the sins that could ever be done and dealt with them, all, once and for all!!

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our inquities; upon him was the chastisement(or punishment) that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."

Psalm 103: 2-3, 12 "Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases... as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.."

Sin NEVER reigns over grace!!

What joy means to me............

Joy is elation, bliss, pleasure, ...it's explosive!! JOY is a gift, a treasure to be well guarded but enjoyed! Joy fills my belly full of butterflies!

Joy makes me want to dance and sing...Psalm 92:4 "For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy!" -Psalm 95:1 "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!"

Joy is loud, it's noisy...Psalm 66:1 "Shout for joy to God all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!"

Joy is knowing the Lord and all the awesome things he has done, Psalm 4:7 "You have put more joy in my heart that they have when their grain and wine abound."

Joy is being in and experiencing the presence of God, Psalm 21:6 "For you make him most blessed forever, you make him glad with the joy of your presence."

Joy is active, it's not sit in your seat and be still -it puts a skip in your step!!

Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and it vibrant and active in my life!! (Galatians 5:22)

Dictionary meanings that I like
=a state of happiness of felicity
=intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness
=emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying

joy is passionate!!! it can't be otherwise...

Joy is contagious like laughter and good medicine for your heart!!( Prov. 17:22)

Last but not least, The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!!!! (Nehemiah 8:10)