'grace' Tagged Posts
Is Jesus The Illegal Immigrant’s Ticket to Ride?
“To be clear, the blood of Jesus and the power of His resurrection did not buy a ticket of entry into any sovereign nation in the world.” For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9 A Gallup poll (2013) of people in 154 nations found that the USA is a desired permanent destination for…
What was…and What Will Be
“New wine is being released into those with a new wineskin, a wineskin that is pliable, flexible, and willing to be stretched by kingdom dynamics at work in the church.” Ezra 3:12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of the temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. We live in a day when many in the church are praying and…
Somewhere It’s Snowing…
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ~ Gal. 1:3 As I sit at my desk this Sunday, it is still snowing after 36 hours of white stuff falling from the sky. It’s beautiful yet hard to believe that it continues,…
Keep the Gift!
In my last post I encouraged you to completely unwrap and embrace The Father’s gift of grace; imputed righteousness, power, knowledge, readiness, and insight into the Father’s heart of grace. Assuming you have opened, unwrapped and embraced the free gift of grace by faith in Jesus, you have all the enrichment spoken of in 1 Cor. 1:4-9. Many believers receive the gift grace and open it, but as time goes by begin to fall into old patterns of belief and…
Grace – The Enriching Gift of God
The Apostle Paul began each of his letters to churches by speaking grace and peace to the churches. For example, he said to the church in Corinth, ‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’(1 Cor. 1:3) This frequent greeting was Paul’s way of undergirding and reinforcing the doctrine, value, and position of grace for the believer under the New Covenant. He reminded the Jews that they were no longer under the law. He…
The New Covenant Prophet…..Preparing, Watching, Revealing
Eph. 4:9-13 It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the fullness of Christ. All 5 of these ministry gifts are NECESSARY in preparing…
Time: The Currency of the Kingdom
As we enter 2013 the Holy Spirit has been impressing upon me the importance of time. ‘Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil’ (Eph. 5:15, 16). The Apostle Paul is telling us to be careful with our time; how we value it and how we spend it. Time is a key currency in the Kingdom of God. Because the days are evil, the devil…
Remnant, You Are Chosen By Grace
The prophet Ezra wrote this a few years before Nehemiah began repairing the walls of Jerusalem. But now for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in His sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage( Ezra 9:8). While the concept of a ‘remnant’ is primarily used in regard to Jews returning from exile, there is…
Keeping in Step with the Holy Spirit
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Gal. 5:25, 26 People who have a deeper understanding of grace know that their very life only exists by the Spirit. They know their spirit is alive, they have eternal life, and they have empowered life, only because of the undeserved favor and blessing sealed by the Holy Spirit. Their spiritual life is by the Spirit. However…
Deep Roots, Good Fruit
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Col. 2:6-10 In this one sentence, written by Paul the Apostle, we have a picture of the three levels of maturity in a believer. The three levels can be symbolized by a tree. The first level of maturity is the root system, being ‘rooted’ in Christ, i.e.…
The Grace To Grow
God gives us a picture of the mature Christian in 2 Peter 1:2-9. It’s a picture of progressive transformation beginning with faith. In this transformation our soul (mind, will, emotions) progresses from faith through the character qualities of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and culminating in unconditional love. It is our faith in Jesus that brings the divine nature into our spirit and creates the possibility of transformed character. This is a picture of the kingdom of God…
Does Your Message Bring Glory to God?
Does your message bring glory to God? There are many things for which we believers should be thankful, but the one thing that stands above all others is ‘GRACE’. Were it not for God’s grace, He would not have sent Jesus to die in our place. If it were not for God’s grace, we would have to obey the Law of Moses to gain access to the Father. If it were not for grace, we would never have an assurance…