Grace - It's OK...You Can Take Off Your Mask

Hi Everyone,

I finished reading "The Cure" a while ago and I want to share with you some excerpts from it.  The reason I'm sharing this is because I know how easy it is for us to put masks on which cause us to appear strong to those around us.  This mask we wear isolates from others and we are usually unwilling to receive help.  I'm concerned that some of us are refusing help from our brothers and sisters in the Lord, because we think we need to be able to get through life's issues and difficulties on our own.  We have been trained very well to live independently by our society, but this is not how we should live as Christians.  So, I ask you to lower your defenses for a moment and consider the following illustration.

The premise of "The Cure" describes the writer approaching and entering a hotel he finds along a journey.  He writes:

"After a long while, passing many more travelers by the wayside, I see a giant building looming in the distance.  It looks like a hotel.  As I get closer, I can see there's writing in bronze lettering across the front:  Striving Hard to Be All God Wants Me to Be.  Finally:  Something for me to do.  I strive after success in my career.  I strive after keeping fit.  Why would it be any less with God?

"I draw closer and notice a door:  Above the doorknob, a small, ornate plaque is bolted to the heavy wooden door.  Self-Effort, it reads.  Of course!  God does His part, and I do mine.  It's about time someone said it.

"I turn the handle and walk in.

"I'm stunned to find a huge open room filled with thousands of people.  I scan the group, trying to take it all in.  'So, these are the people really living for Jesus.'  Soon I notice there's a woman, a hostess maybe, standing next to me.  She is immaculately groomed.  Every hair is perfectly in place, her makeup accentuating her feature, her smile is wide and toothy.  nothing about her seems out of place.

'Welcome to the Room of Good Intentions'

"She says it clean and cool, like she's been greeting people all her life.  There's just the tiniest little shred about it that's unsettling, but I'm so excited to finally be here I don't think much of it.

"'You have no idea how long I've waited to find this place!'  I return her smile, grasping her primly outstretched hand.  I call out to the crowd, almost involuntarily, 'Hey, how's everyone doing?'

"The room goes silent.  It's full of beautiful people, smiling people.  Some of them wear elaborately crafted masks, which is great because I love masquerades.  This looks like my kind of place.  One man steps forward.  His smile, like the hostess, is broad.  His bleached white teeth look as if they had been lined up by a ruler.

"'Welcome,' he begins, shaking my hand firmly.  'We're fine.  Thank you for asking.  Just fine.  Aren't we everyone?'  A few in the crowd behind him nod, smiling along.  'My kinds are doing great and...um...I'm about to close some very lucrative deals at work.  More fit than when I was in high school, I'm telling you.  I'm doing just fine.  Everyone here is.'

"Before I can reflect on how strange that sounded, the hostess asks how I'm doing.  'Me?  Well, to be honest, I've been struggling with some stuff.  That's partly why I'm here.  I'm trying to figure out....'

"'Shhhh,' she interrupts me, putting a flawlessly manicured index finger to her lips.  She reaches behind a podium and pulls out a mask, handing it to me.  She nods her head with a curt smile, indicating I should put it on.  I stare at it for a moment.  Others in the room are excitedly motioning for me to do so.  Slowly, I slide the mask over my face.

"My next thought is it might be best to back off on the self-revelation.  I find myself answering, as if from somewhere far away, 'You know, I'm great.  I'm doing fine!'  And everyone in the room smiles before returning to their conversations.

"So many good-hearted people fill this room.  They have devoted themselves to God, to studying His character, to pouring themselves into spreading His word, to serving humanity in the name of Jesus.  This must be it!  Soon God and I will be close again."


For some reason, we have bought into the lie of this equation:  More right behavior + Less wrong behavior = Godliness.  As Judah Smith says, the consciousness of sin never gives us power to overcome sin.  In other words, we can never resolve our sin by working on it.

As I said above, I know people who are unwilling to share the truth issues they are facing in life.  In the end, this decision causes them to suffer much longer.  They began to believe somewhere along the line that they must be strong and independent.  They don't want others to feel sorry for them.  "I have to earn love and acceptance.  I have to prove my worth", they think of themselves.  But look at what John Lynch, author of "The Cure" writes:

"No one told me that when I wear a mask, only my mask receives love.  We can gain admiration and respect from behind a mask.  We can even intimidate.  But as long as we're behind a mask, any mask, we will not be able to receive love.  Then, in our desperation to be loved, we'll rush to fashion more masks, hoping the next will give us what we're longing for:  To be known, accepted, trusted and loved.

"This is no new phenomenon.  Remember its source?  God came in the cool of the day to be with Adam and Eve.  He called out to a hiding Adam, 'Where are You?' though He knew very well where Adam was.  Adam responded, 'I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.'"

If you've taken the time to read this, I hope it will prove helpful to you.  You may not believe it to be true, but there is always reason to hope, but God will always support you--He is faithful.

If you feel as though no one loves you, it's probably because they've only ever loved your mask; you haven't opened up to them.

If you're tired of feeling weak, it's probably because you've never allowed someone to encourage you.

One last thought from John Lynch:

"The greatest hope for any mask-wearer is in understanding all masks eventually crack and dissolve, gradually revealing what is hidden beneath.  All masks crumble because they are man-made.

"This is a good thing, though.  Imagine if the mask didn't crack.  It would forever separate us from love, authenticity, and freedom.  We could go our entire lives missing what we were created to enjoy.  Our endlessly loving God allows our masks to fall apart because He cares so deeply for us."

Grace=Peace

Grace - Making Vows to Please God

Hi Everyone,

Enjoy the following quote from Malcolm Smith:

"The branches of the vine cannot function without being vitally united to the flow of vine sap that makes the vine a living vine.  The life of the vine is the energy, the life source, that produces the fruit that is to be found on the branches.  The branches produce the fruit, but they do so from the sap that is surging through them and it is natural for vine-life to produce grapes; the branches do not labor at an impossible task of producing a fruit foreign to the nature of the vine.

The living of the love of God in our behaviors is not the ultimate marathon act of our willpower attempting to be like Jesus.  Let us accept the fact that the life that the new covenant portrays is impossible to for the unaided human to accomplish.  It can only take place by Jesus Himself living in us by His Spirit; He becomes the source and the ability to live the life of divine love that is the command of the new covenant.  When this is understood, the Christian life is not a labor to produce a lifestyle that is foreign and awkward to us.  When the center and source of our life is the fountain of love Himself, a lifestyle of divine love is not foreign and awkward, but natural.

The mark of dead religion is to be found in the dedication of the devotee to keep vows with a view of pleasing God."

Grace=Peace

Grace - His Covenant Food Fills Our Bellies!

Psalm 90:14 - "O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we sing for joy and be glad all our days."

Hi Everyone,

There are two key words in the above verse:  satisfy and lovingkindness (also translated as mercy).  The word satisfy means to fill completely, even to the point of overeating.  The second word,lovingkindness, is an amazing word that every believer should fully understand.  Before reading the rest of this post, I strongly recommend that you read these two posts first:  One of the Most Important Words in the Old Testament and Grace - God's Unfailing Love (Hebrew:  Chesed).

Is the Psalmist asking here for a revelation of God's mercy aka. lovingkindness?  Yes, I believe, but also for so much more.  The Psalmist is looking forward to something much more than knowledge or a revelation; he's looking forward to an experience--a reality.  Note that these two words, satisfy (physical connotation) and lovingkindness (spiritual and emotional) are used together.

What will satisfy the Psalmist?  Well, if you read the two posts that are linked above, you will realize that the Psalmist is anticipating a covenant experience, a meal.  The meal that satisfies IS the love of God through covenant.  Though this passage is in the Old Covenant, we know it to be the dawning twilight of the New Covenant.  And it speaks so much to us.

Look at Psalm 23:5-6 --

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

How will the Psalmist be satisfied?  Well, unfortunately, most of Christianity has emphasized an intellectual faith; to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and to understand certain teachings of the church, but covenant goes much deeper than this.  Psalm 23 shows us an interaction between the Psalmist and the Covenant-Maker.  This interaction involves the whole person of the Psalmist.  Whereas the world is accustomed to a private inner faith, we've been called to celebrate union with God with our entire, whole person.  This is symbolized by the meal.  We're familiar with the drinking of wine and eating of bread (cake) in every wedding ceremony.  This reflection of covenant celebrates two lives becoming one.  To be in covenant with one's wife, the husband cannot live by himself, isolated; the marriage must be consummated.  In the same way, one who claims to be a Christian cannot live an isolated, private inner faith, but is called to be constantly, in a life-giving way, united to Christ.  Not only is the relationship celebrated with the whole person of the believer, but as we see in Psalm 23, this celebration--this communion--takes place in the company of those who are adversely against us; we must remember covenant in times of need.

One more aspect of the love of God which satisfies us in His covenant with us is seen in the story of the "prodigal" son.  All the while after his son leaves home, the father is looking for his son.  Finally, the son returns and the father throws a feast of feasts to celebrate.  But notice something, it was not just the father and son eating, dancing, and celebrating.  The whole household, and probably some of the community members were participating.  This is another reason why covenant cannot be an isolated, inner-faith experience.  We are brought through covenant into a family.

This is why I've said that brothers in Christ are in covenant with each other.

To experience full satisfaction and the perfected lovingkindness of God, we need to give our whole person to Him and to others.  This is meant for our benefit and blessing.

May you share in the life of Christ--totally dependent on Him in a real relationship, and also share in the life of fellow believers.  Celebrating, sharing, growing, forgiving, giving and receiving.

I love each one of you.

Grace=Peace

Grace - Repentance is a Radical Change of Mind

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes I feel trapped when I fly on a plane.  I mean, you board, find your seat, put everything in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you, get strapped in and pay attention the safety instructions.  What can you do then?  Nothing.  You can't get up to use the bathroom until you're two miles up in the air and the captain has turned off the seat-belt sign.  You certainly can't get up before then, and forget about getting off the plane.  If you tried, surely there's a Federal Air Marshal on board who will take you down if you cause a problem.  Let's face it:  you're stuck on the plane until it (hopefully) safely lands.  You can't change your mind once you're on the plane.  But things are a bit different in our relationship with Christ.  For the unbeliever and the believer alike, we can change our minds in mid-flight.

We can do something about heading in the wrong direction.  We can do something about our wrong definition of life.  We can do something about the wrong image of ourselves.  We can do something about our distorted image of God.

The Bible defines this change of mind as repentance.

Malcolm Smith puts it this way:  "It [repentance] is the realization that...one's life has been wrong because it has been lived from the wrong center.  It is not repenting of a certain sin, but a change of mind about oneself, realizing that he or she is lost and does not know the way to life....  The real issue now, in fact, is not sin.  The Jesus who comes to us in the Gospel has dealt with sin.  The issue now is whether we will accept the divine amnesty, let Him send away our sins from us, and be reconciled to God.  Will we turn from our self-sufficiency and submit to love?  We are confronted with the love of God and the action of His love in Jesus, and the whole issue now is whether we will turn from our independence, our faith in the lie, and submit to the love of God and His gift of covenant in Jesus."

Every action (for good or bad) has its root in our beliefs.  And this brings us to the true definition of repentance.  With our minds so focused on the externals and our performance, we must see that we cannot define true repentance as turning from something, but rather, turning to something; in this case, Jesus, the Son of God.  It is in Him that we find the covenant and our salvation.  If a person refuses to turn from self-sufficiency and dependence and to Jesus, that person will perish.  It can be no other way, since Jesus is the source of Life.

This turning from oneself is not easy for most, because we all have been taught and even found some measure of success in our independence and self-sufficiency.  We have been married to that lie for a long time and we are accustomed to the rule that a person gets what they deserve.  The covenant that God has made "confronts us with the God who loves us unconditionally and rewards us not according to what we have done, but according to what Jesus has done.  To believe this is the first radical change of mind that believing the Gospel demands of us" (again, Malcolm Smith).

I pray that this will help you to repent (to change your mind radically), and that the reality of the covenant God has made with Himself and offered to you, His beneficiary, would become greater than the reality of your alleged strength and self-sufficiency.  May the things of earth grown strangely dim in the light of His Glory and Grace.

Grace=Peace

Grace - Forgiveness Means So Much More Than We Think

Hi Everyone,

Consider the following verses:

"I have blotted out, like a cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins.  Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."  Isaiah 44:22

"I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me."  Jeremiah 33:8

"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."  Isaiah 43:25

"...but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back."  Isaiah 38:17

"Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins."  Isaiah 40:2

Words like "blotted out", "cleansed", "pardoned", "not remember", "cast behind", and "delivered" speak to us more than just forgiveness of sin and sins; they offer complete assurance of complete restoration.  Why?  Because "forgiveness" in the original Greek means to send away, to dismiss, to forsake, to leave.  It's the same word used for "divorce" and also when Jesus "sent away" the crowds gathered around him.

"The new covenant declares that our sin has been sent away from us, banished from our presence; we have been divorced and set free from the chains that bound us, to be at liberty" (Malcolm Smith).

We know the story of the king in Matthew 18:23-35 who forgave his servant the astronomical debt he owed.  This is the type of debt that it would take 10 lifetimes to repay.  What's worse, the servant probably had no hope of paying it back ever, because, as anyone who has ever been in debt before knows, the interest keeps piling on and adding to the total sum.  When the king forgave his servant, someone had to pay the price!  What did he do?  He left his position as the account-keeper and joined the servant in indebtedness.  Then he assumed the whole responsibility for the debt and paid it off.  Jesus did the same for us; He left His place beside the Father, joined us, and then incredibly BECAME our sin.  He paid the price--the penalty--and we have been set free.

"In the blood-shedding of the Lord Jesus, sin has been dealt with finally and forever.  The term of the covenant says, "remember no more," which means sin is no longer on God's agenda, because it has been completely dealt with."

You haven't just been forgiven, ALL of your sins, past, present, and future have been sent away from you.  You are wholly pleasing to God because you are in Christ, now and forever more.

Grace=Peace

Grace - The Strongest Substance on Earth

Hi Everyone,

The diamond has classically been the hardest substance on earth, and for those who want to be technical, there are two other materials have been recently discovered which are harder than the diamond, but you can search the web for those if you so choose.  For the sake of my discussion in this post, let's just stay with the idea that the diamond has been thought to be the hardest substance on earth.

However, I've found something far harder and far greater.  It's seen in the Bible, and I reckon this trumps any naturally occurring or man-made materials:  That substance is faith!

Hebrews 11:1 -- "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (NKJV)

Now that's good stuff right there, but I want to connect faith with two more verses:

Hebrews 11:3 -- "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (NKJV)

and

John 16:10 --"Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see me." (NASB)

Here's the point:  we don't see in the natural with faith; faith calls on us to believe that the reality of the unseen is greater than what we see. This faith we have begins with believing that we are righteous in Christ.  And then this faith in the unseen convinces us of our authority to create into the seen from the unseen.  This is the power of Christ in us and it is all the work of Holy Spirit.  This is His ministry as revealed in John 16:13-15.

Since the main point of Hebrews 11 is faith, we must continue this thought into Hebrews 12 when the writer says that we should "lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us" (Hebrews 12:1).  This passage has traditionally been read to believers and heard by believers in this way:  "lay aside every encumbrance and the sins which so easily entangle(s) us".  That's a problem, because the writer is not talking about sins (stealing, cheating, adultery, etc), he's talking about "the sin".  What is that sin?  We see it in John 16:8 -- In the context of the New Covenant--Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection--Sin is unbelief.  And unbelief manifests itself as works.

Here's how to apply what I am showing you:  Hebrews calls on us to not give in to the sin of unbelief, but rather to believe in what is unseen.  As a Christian, you are now to stop working for something that you already have:  righteousness.  As a Christian, you walk your daily life in the same way you believed:  by faith.  Every attitude, every undertaking is to be under the unswerving belief that He is your provision and will not put you to shame.  Your righteousness is unseen (because Christ is unseen), but that reality is greater than anything seen.

Don't be entangled by unbelief.  You have been set free to experience freedom!  When you believe all the above, then you will also acknowledge that sinful habits have no hold on you.  You will see that you are complete in Christ Jesus:  completely forgiven, completely righteous, completely holy and sanctified forever.  It's called the Gospel for a reason, folks.

Grace=Peace

Grace - The 3 Options

Hi Everyone,

I'm convinced that when someone hears the true Gospel of Grace, they are left with basically three options:

1.  They believe what they're hearing is too good to be true and ultimately reject it as heresy.  "It can't be *that* easy", they think to themselves.  It sounds so foreign to what they've always heard, that they label it instantly as "impossible".  Joy is short-lived and soon gives way to man's effort toward holiness:  holiness being the idea that they must be on constant vigil to seek out sin in themselves.  They continue striving toward holiness and righteousness, and pray and fast for revivals.  The supernatural to them is mysterious and difficult.  Other Christians are "Super"-Christians and produce signs, miracles, and wonders easily, while the rest of Christendom must work hard to be used by God.  In their heart, Christ's effect has been supplanted, because they are experts at addition:  Christ + Performance = Something that pleases God.

2.  Those in the second option receive what they're hearing joyfully because they're tired of option one, and they continue to receive revelation of how good the Gospel is.  "It all makes perfect sense" is something they commonly think to themselves.  They see Christ and His benefit everywhere in the scriptures.  They experience freedom for the first time and their freedom doesn't cause them to sin more; rather, because they experience God's love at levels never thought possible, sin and temptation simply fall away--they no longer have to exercise "self-discipline" to maintain their behavior.  And when they do mess up, they begin to realize they did so because of a false belief, not a sinful nature.  They can differentiate between behavior and identity and seek to change the way they think...to see themselves as fully equipped and fully righteous in Christ.  They're enraptured with God's goodness and see Trust and Rest in Him as the greatest way to live.  They cease to strive to be holy and righteous because they begin to understand that God has made them to sit with Christ in heavenly places (See Eph. 2:6, KJV).  They have a great desire to share this Gospel of Grace and to them, nothing is impossible.  They begin to move freely in spiritual gifts as they realize that Jesus in them can do anything.  They have become "Revival" because they now see and experience the SOURCE OF LIFE IN them.  (Webster's 1828 Dictionary:  revival -- "recovery to life from death"). Condemnation and guilt manipulation no longer can be used against them to affect behavior change.  Never again do they tithe to be blessed, but now they tithe because they are blessed and they trust God to provide more for them to continue to bless others.  They've stopped twisting God's arm to beg for provision.


The those who fit into the third option concern me the most.  Honestly, it's where I see most lives hurt in the most despicable way.

3.  They are very similar to those in the second option and can even be described in the exact same way as those in option two, but for them, things begin to change.  They experience persecution from those who've chosen option one.  They're told to find and return to legitimacy in the customs and traditions they've always held.  They go from having been released as a worker, to be a lover, and then to return to their work, because everyone else around them is working, too.  And that's simply *how* it's done.  They may even still struggle with a sinful habit; the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13) tells them that Jesus is not enough, that they need to sweat and get back to effort and striving.  They return to striving toward holiness and righteousness because they didn't fit into the established religious system after they heard and believed the Gospel of Grace as taught by Jesus and Paul; so, they return to the Gospel of Grace as taught by the Church.  Because they begin to lose the joy and freedom they felt, they lose the desire to communicate the Gospel to others.  This includes supernatural ministry.  They begin to think that the power of God can no longer flow through them.  Jesus, the Originator of the Gospel, the very One Whose ministry of grace produced supernatural healing in those who heard with faith, no longer finds a joyful, willing, partner.  That person has listened to those in option one and has forgotten that he was never qualified in and of himself--it was Christ Who freely qualified him.  (Second Corinthians 3:6 -- [It is He] Who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers anddispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but the [Holy] Spirit makes alive.)

I know many people talk about the grace movement and are concerned about those who go "to far" with grace.  I agree that there are those who have ignored clear scripture on precisely how we are saved, but my concern lies elsewhere:  I am concerned about those who are in option 3.  How they must hurt.  The stifling they must feel.  They've experienced freedom and wonder, but system of the world (christianity motivated by old covenant principles) has sought to bring them back into line and disqualify them from receiving freely.  The institutional church and its far-reaching systematic authority puts hurdles in our paths and demands submission and obedience before any blessing may be pronounced.  Those who were free have been brought back under "control", only to give in to the illusion of legitimacy.  They now experience only a loveless marriage.

Simply put, I vote that we all select option two and stay there.

Grace=Peace

#grace

Grace - Not What We Expected

Hi Everyone,

Here's a quote from Malcolm Smith:

"We were born two thousand years after [the covenant between Jesus and God the Father] was made.  We were born into the family of Adam, crippled by the lie and ignorant of the covenant.  We lived in darkness with a distorted image of God, never knowing of His love or of His designs of love toward us.  We lived in our wilderness, lost and dead to God....  But He never gave up His pursuit of us, and finally we were summoned by the Holy Spirit to hear the Gospel.  We believed we would hear the words of an angry God; instead we were stunned by the words of His love and forgiveness.  Our track record of rebellion and disobedience had been forgiven, dismissed in the covenant made before we were born in our representative head, the Lord Jesus.  And all the riches earned by the Lord Jesus were turned over to us; we have become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.

We are not treated as individuals in isolation; we do not have a private covenant with God.  The covenant was made, its terms and promises made sure in Christ 2000 years ago; in all that He did, He acted for us and as us.  The Gospel called us to personally enter the covenant because we were in Christ when the covenant was made.

Our decision was our response to the covenant that divine love had made:  to say yes to the yes of Jesus, the covenant head, to die in His death to independence and disobedience, confessing Him as Lord and in Him submitting to the Father.  It meant nothing short of a death and resurrection, actually changing families.  We died to being part of the family of Adam, the old man, to being included into the royal household of the new Man.  Such a response meant incurring the wrath of the family of sin and darkness that we were once a part of.  They would, in fact, treat us as they treated Jesus.

This takes place by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.  We, who live two millennia from the making of the covenant, are united to Jesus, our covenant head, and made part of His history, partaking of His life.  We take our place at the royal table along with the royal princes and, basking in the love of our Father, we eat the meal of covenant."

Grace=Peace

Grace - Covenant Meal and Friendship

Hello Everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope this post finds you well and comforted in the presence of family and friends.  I know there are certain joys and certain challenges we all face at this time, but it is my sincere wish that you know of the peace between you and our heavenly Father.  I would like to discuss briefly two elements of the covenant from which we benefit.

The word "friend" is something we've lost true meaning of.  I know people who boast of the number of "friends" they have on Facebook, but we all know that most of those are acquaintances at best.  We should only consider friends as those we find trustworthy with the intimate details of our lives.  True friendship is something that lasts over a lifetime, even though we easily throw people away as they are no longer useful to us.  Consider the following quote from Malcolm Smith:  "From the making of the covenant, the two parties would be described as friends.  The word friend has been greatly cheapened in the language of our Western society; but in societies where covenant making is practiced and understood, there is no higher honor than to be called a person's friend, for it announces a covenant relationship."

And since we all will be having some sort of meal this evening, let's consider the meaning of the meal that happens as the end of the covenant.  "To eat with someone at any time was a kind of covenant, and it had a far greater meaning when placed at the end of the making of a covenant.  The meal declared the covenant, as the two representatives would eat of the same bread and drink of the same wine telling the world that they were one, partaking one of another" (Malcolm Smith).

Psalm 23:5 says "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."  I want you to know that this is a covenant table.  It's also the king's table.  I want you to understand that you are partaking of the life of the king; you have his life, his authority, and his friendship.  Sin has been removed and the God whose love needs no covenant has made a covenant with Himself in Christ Jesus and called us as beneficiaries of the new covenant.  If God needs no covenant to love you, then there is no sin you could commit that would separate you from Him.

May you know that since you have believed, you are at rest and at a position of honor at the table of the family of God.

Happy Thanksgiving and...

Grace=Peace

Grace - There are no 'ifs' in God's love

Hi Everyone,

Below is a post from a blog I follow (weblink at the end).  Enjoy, and know that you are loved!

Grace=Peace

"The core experience of Jesus, the moment that sustained him through his brief life on earth, happened at his baptism when heaven was opened, he saw the Spirit of God descend on him like a dove, and the voice of the Father said: “This is my Son,whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” The knowledge that he was loved by the One who matters most was, for him, the primal spiritual fact.

You, too, are God's deeply loved one. God loves you. This forms your core identity. You are God's beloved daughter, God's beloved son. You are God's child, and God loves you. As you embrace God's love and follow after him, this love turns from a theoretical thing to an experiential reality. You can know, viscerally, that you are greatly loved by God.

The nature of this enduring, unfailing love can be expressed like this: "God does not say, 'I love you if...' There are no 'ifs' in God's heart. God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity." (Henri Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, 68) God's love is not conditional.

A conditional statement is an "if... then" sentence. Most human "love" is conditional. Recently I received an anonymous note from a woman in my church which broke my heart. It was a prayer request, and read: "Please pray for me. My husband thinks I am too fat." It seems her husband would love her if...  "If you lose more weight then I will love you." How sad. How ungodly.

Fortunately for us God's love is not like that. His love for you is not dependent on your performance or your appearance. As this great, central biblical truth descends from your mind into your heart and becomes your core identity and reality you will find yourself sustained through all of life's incomplete relationships.

There are no 'ifs' in God's love."

(http://www.johnpiippo.com/2012/11/there-are-no-ifs-in-gods-love.html)

#grace #love #peace #grace=peace #nice #god #jesus #christ #lord #savior

Grace - Jesus Re-Presents Us

Hi Everyone,

"The old covenant is the covenant that was made with Israel at Mount Sinai through Moses, their representative.  It was the covenant of the law of the Ten Commandments, the sacrificial system of offering up lambs, bulls, and goats to cover the sins of the people; the mark and seal of membership in the covenant was the circumcision of the male.  The new covenant is called new because it made all that went before it old and of no more use as a means of salvation.  It was not just another covenant that improved on the previous one, as this year's automobile model is an improvement over the last year's.  The word "new" means new in kind, that which has never been thought or dreamed of before.  This covenant is mediated by the Lord Jesus and established in His blood.  Membership is in being sealed by the Spirit of God, who writes the law on the heart and in the desires of men and women." - Malcolm Smith

Something we've forgotten, and I've mentioned this recently, is the reality of covenant.  It is not the exchange of material possessions, but rather the exchange of a life.  The representative of each party involved in the covenant represents his people, his tribe, his family, etc.  Being of the same blood and family of those he represents, he literally EMBODIES those he represents.  His position is not an easy one, because the terms of the covenant rest upon him--he carries the responsibility to fulfill the terms of the covenant.

We come from a very individualistic society, so this is not easy for us to fully comprehend, but a person entering into a covenant can never be an individual; his very life represents the lives of all those included with him.  Think of David and Goliath.  In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath challenges the Israelites to choose a man for themselves.  He says that he and the Israelite they choose will represent their respective nation, and if the Israelites' representative wins, the ENTIRE nation of Philistines would be slaves to the nation of Israel.

Goliath and David literally BECAME their respective nation.  The entire histories and the futures of their people were at stake and the whole war would be ended by a fight between two men.

This illustrates in part how we are saved through Jesus.  Not only saved, but it shows us how we are to walk.  The Bible says that we died with Christ!  As a human, Jesus wraps up all of humanity into Himself and represents all men.  Jesus, born under the law, is our representative man, who takes upon Himself the full penalty for our failure to obey the covenant through which we were represented by Moses.  It is thus that the old covenant is ended, and the power of the Spirit has now raised Jesus up from death and us with Him!  The challenge we face in all this is the issue of faith!  We not only have to place our faith in Jesus for salvation, but we should also, by faith, believe that our perfect representative has caused us to be completely righteous.  How are we completely righteous?  Because our representative, Jesus Christ, is completely righteous.

I pray that you will see that your Representative has perfectly represented you--He has perfectly fulfilled the terms of the covenant which came through Moses.  You have been re-presented back to the Father through Jesus.  May you place your complete faith in the reality of your righteousness and sanctification, perfectly and once-for-all completed in Jesus.

"The Gospel of the covenant is presented by God to man, not as a point to begin negotiations, but for humans to accept or reject.  Love has accomplished the incredible, and all humans can do is either receive with thanks or establish themselves in their rebellion forever by refusing." - Malcom Smith

Grace=Peace

Grace - Jesus Is Better Than Milk

Hi Everyone,

Take the time to watch this video.  You won't be disappointed!

http://thecity.org/message/jesus_is_better_than_milk

Grace=Peace

#grace #mercy #love #hope #joy #peace #gladness #glad #happy #happiness #patience

Grace - From Shadow to the Light

"If you spend all your time looking at shadows, you will perpetually be in the dark.  The Light has come and it is Jesus!"

Hi Everyone,

I've made an observation and I have a question:  I've noticed that we, as people, generally like to have a list of what we should do and should not do.  I know that I am very much like this.  When someone is explaining something to me, I want the bottom-line facts.  I want to sift through the extraneous details and get to the information that I need in order to take action.  Tell me what you want me to know and to do!  I suspect that many of us have been trained to be this way--we want to know what we should do AND what we should not do!  That's very important to us, because we don't want to get things wrong.  So here's my question:

Adam and Eve were commanded NOT to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  How were they pleasing God if they didn't know what to do and what not to do?

I hope you get this question, because that screams at me!  Adam and Eve were to never take action based on knowing whether what they were doing was right or wrong.  I think we would agree that this life, based on the knowledge of good and evil, was far below God's ultimate plan for the life we are to experience.

Herein lies the problem:  we look to the knowledge of good and evil to decide what to do.  We think that makes us pleasing to God and that He desires to help us obey a list of dos and don'ts.  We constantly evaluate ourselves using the Ten Commandments.  We are ignorant that those are only a shadow.  Consider the following verses:

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship." Heb. 10:1

"The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Matt. 4:16

"These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." Col. 2:17

So, I would like to propose that we start looking to the life of Jesus in us, and this only, so we can see Him working in us and experience the partnership between us and Him as He lays hands on the sick and raises the dead through us.  He is our holiness, so we are perfectly holy.  He is our righteousness, so we are perfectly righteous.  Our mind needs to see that every need we have is fulfilled in Him.  There is no sinful habit that can withstand the life of Christ in us.  As long as we have some sort of list of things to do and not to do, we are not moving in faith.  You are pleasing and acceptable to God in the Beloved.  Make Him the focus; not yourself.

I pray that we all will stop looking at shadows, but rather see Christ in us and us in Him.

"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.  For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ."  John 1:4, 16-17

Grace=Peace

Grace – Different Audiences and the Message of Holiness, Part 1

Hi Everyone,

May I suggest that not everyone who goes to church is a Christian?

If this is true, then we must realize that while the writings of Paul, John, and the other authors of the books in the New Testament were addressed to both believers and unbelievers, those writers at times wanted to convey different messages to the separate groups.  For example, if a preacher says to a congregation “You need to be saved”, he is addressing unbelievers who are not currently saved, whereas if the same preacher were to say “You needed to be saved”, he is addressing believers who have been saved.

I know this is ridiculously simple, but that’s the problem.  We have not heard a clear separation of messages in the writings contained within the Bible.  Therefore, believers are receiving messages meant for unbelievers, and thus losing confidence in their reality in Christ.  Likewise, unbelievers can be receiving misinformation about their condition.

We simply want recognize that there are those who visit church communities who have not yet placed their faith in Christ, and the proper message should be given to the proper group for which it is intended. This is a true situation today, as it was for the churches to which Paul and others were writing. Among the receivers of all these letters were also unbelievers who were investigating Christianity.

Paul, for example, urges unbelievers to not neglect salvation (Hebrews 2:3), or in the case of 1 John 2:9, John targets the unbeliever, that he should not claim to be in the light and thus be lying. We need to differentiate in this epistle those who "claim" and "say" from those who "abide" and "are".

Consider the following fact that the Bible states about Christians:  We are ALWAYS in the light.

Ephesians 5:8 “…you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord…”

Thessalonians 5:5 “…you are all sons of light and sons of day.  We are not of night nor of darkness”

1 Peter 2:9  “…so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Additionally, in the first chapter of 1 John, John speaks to people who say (claim) they neither have sin nor have sinned. These particular people are not Christians, but rather Gnostics who are associating with the believers to whom John is writing. In other words, he is telling the unbelievers to recognize their sin condition and sinning, just as much as he tells his little children—the believers in chapter 2—that they are secure and have an advocate when they sin.

The fact that multiple audiences can be addressed by the same letter is seen in other places, for example, Hebrews 6:4-8.  Here the writer speaks to people who have not been saved, only enlightened. This means that they have heard the truth of Gospel:  that they should place their faith in the once-for-all perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ instead of the sacrifices of lambs, bulls, and goats, but they have not done so.

In the next verse, Hebrews 6:9, the writer makes it clear that he changes his audience and is now addressing a different group of readers--those who have salvation.

My point is this: don't confuse and apply to yourself what was addressed in these letters to unbelievers who were among the Christians, for there were certainly differing messages to those who were in differing conditions.

If we confuse Paul's admonition to unbelievers (or the admonition of any other writer in the Bible) with instructions to believers, then we will certainly experience confusion in our secure position in Christ, including that we would begin thinking that we are a sinners, and not saints.  This is, in part, what is meant when we are to "rightly divide the word of truth".

In my next email I will cite a few more applications of this issue.  Just remember:  if you are a Christian, then there are certainly messages in the Biblical writings that no longer pertain to you.  (If you've been saved, do you really need to be saved again?  Or, if God has completely forgiven you of all your sins, past, present and future, do you really need to be forgiven again?)

Grace=Peace

Grace - Now That Faith Has Come, the Law Is Obsolete

Hi Everyone,

Something lost in the memory of our society is the truth that covenant determines relationship.  This is also true of how God relates to us.  If we rightly divide the word of truth, then we will see that under the old covenant, God had to relate to a sinful people as a Holy and Righteous God had to:  He blessed those who did good; He cursed those who did evil.  Let's remember that good as defined by God's commands is actually perfection--not merely behavior.  The self-righteous seek to justify themselves, but they misunderstand and ignore the requirement of perfection--not just good behavior.  In the same way that we rightly divide truth and correctly understand the old covenant with it rules and regulations, we must also see that God relates to sinful people through Jesus through the new covenant.  People are reconciled to Himself and He is no longer relating through the law, since Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law on behalf of all people.  He reconciled the WORLD to Himself--faith has now come and...

the former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless, for the law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.  Hebrews 7:18-19 (See also Gal. 3:10; James 2:10; and James 4:17)

In Matthew 9:16-17 we read about the danger of combining old and new garments and the placing of new wine into new wineskins rather than old ones.  This represents the mixing of old and new covenants.  It does not work; in fact, it's deadly to do so.  Why is it dangerous to mix old and new covenant teachings?  It is here that I make my strongest point in this email:

The mixing old and new covenant teachings will produce the following:

You will begin to believe that God contributes to our problems--that He causes or allow sickness as judgment and punishment.

You will be unsure of God's Will and will never be able to be in faith.  Your "faith life" will be a rollercoaster of faith and unbelief.

You will be focus on your problems, empower your enemy, and will be unable to see the solution.

You will judge people rather than minister to them--your salt will have lost its saltiness.

You will prescribe works to people as a solution to get God to move on their behalf.

You will be in perpetual confusion and experience unending condemnation and guilt.

God demonstrated to us His righteousness (See Romans 3:25) which has now become the very righteousness of those who have faith in Jesus (verse 22).  I find that most Christians do not believe that they are completely righteous, which adequately describes the righteous of Jesus.  In other words, we are just as righteous as Jesus is, because HIS righteousness is our righteousness.

I write these things to you in hopes that you will have the righteousness that comes by faith:

Therefore 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.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:24-26

Grace=Peace

Grace - Hebrews: Consider Jesus, Part 7 - Moses Goes to a Bible Conference

Hi Everyone,

In Hebrews 1, we are introduced to the Son of God (unnamed, but understood by the writer and us as Jesus) sent from heaven above to men.  In Hebrews 2, we see Jesus in the flesh, a little lower than the angels, Who tasted death for all of us, and Who is now seated as the Son of man at the right hand of the Majesty on High.  But in Hebrews 3, this Apostle and High Priest of our faith is revealed as Christ Jesus (KJV & NKJV).  God's anointed one (the Christ) has become our Savior (Jesus).

So now, just as in Chapter 2 we are to heed the message we've heard, so now, in Chapter 3, we see that the message is a PERSON.  We are to give heed to the Person, Christ Jesus, Who IS the Gospel:  Consider Jesus, Who is the faithful Son over the house of God (us, the believers).

Of course, the writer also pays tribute to Moses.  After all, Moses had been a faithful servant to the house of God, but Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, because of Who He is and what He did.  So now it gets really interesting:

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear His voice...." - Hebrews 3:7

So what's interesting about that?  The writer is quoting from Psalm 95 and has taken an event in the past and presented it in the present.  He didn't say "as the Holy Spirit said", but "as the Holy Spirit says"!  I'll explain later why that's so interesting.

Back to Moses:

Although Moses was a faithful servant, he made mistakes.However, Jesus has greater honor as a faithful Son and the One Who perfectly fulfilled His ministry.  Before Jesus, Moses had been the the apostle to the people and at the beginning, the high priest.  It was through Moses that God initiated the sacrificial system and book of law:

For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you."  Hebrews 9:19-20

Certainly, Moses deserves some credit:

• Moses conversed with God face to face (Numbers 12:8).
• Moses entered into the very presence of God (Exodus 34:30).
• Moses was shown the true heavenly things (Exodus 25:40).
• Moses constructed the tabernacle as he was commanded (Hebrews 8:5).
• Moses even shared in Christ's sufferings (Hebrews 11:24-26).

But then, Moses went to a Bible Conference:

Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Matthew 17:1-3

As Oliver Greene says:

"The greatest Bible Conference ever held took place that day on the Mount of Transfiguration--Christ the eternal Son of God, Moses to whom God gave the Law, and Elijah the chief of prophets!  Moses stood on the mountaintop, less than the Son but sharing in Shekinah glory that clothed them all.  Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were lighted with the glory of God--but the honor and glory Moses shared was but a reflection thrown upon him from the glory of the most glorious One--the only begotten of the Father, the Pearl of great price, the Jewel of all jewels"

I hope this has been a blessing to you and helps you to understand why we must move from old covenant mentality to the glory of the new covenant reality.

Until next time,

Grace=Peace

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