HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE DIFFERENT
If you are going to overcome insecurity and be the person you are called to be in Christ, you must have the courage to be different. You are going to have to take a chance on not being like everyone else.
As believers, our sense of worth has to be rooted and grounded in the love of God. We are worth something because God sent His only Son to die for us. We are worth something because God loves us, not because of what everybody else thinks about us or says about us.
As followers of Christ, we are to be led by the Spirit, not controlled by people, doing what everybody else wants us to do because we think that will gain us acceptance and approval. We should also not try to control others, but allow them to be led by the Spirit. Don’t put God in a box. by Joyce Meyer from “NEVER LOSE HEART”
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17(NKJV)
In case you haven’t paying attention lately, Christians in parts of the world are paying a high price for not being ashamed of the “gospel of Christ.” We in this country have some of our rights being challenged as our Christian voice is trying to be silenced. We may moan and groan about our rights being taken away, but we know nothing of what it is like in countries where you can lose your life just because you are a Christian and have a Bible.
In the middle of today’s chaos you will find God’s people, the Jews. Even though they were the source of Jesus’ trouble and finally His death, He has not abandoned them. Paul says above that the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for the Jew first then us who are Gentile. When it is all said and done, it was mankind that took Jesus’ life. It was through the Jewish people that God raised a Messiah to deliver them from their sins.
God made promises to the Jewish people that He intends to keep. The hatred shown toward Israel today is clear indication of man’s rejection of the Lordship of Jesus. Man rejects God’s way because he is not willing to repent and allow Jesus to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in his life.
Man has always thought his way is better than God’s. He cannot understand how salvation is possible without his help. No one has ever been saved by anything he did for himself. It has always been the power of God and belief in Jesus’ sacrifice for the remission of our sins. Under the Old Covenant nobody was saved by keeping the law. They were forgiven their sins because of the annual blood sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. This celebration was a “faith look” forward to the time when Messiah would come and give them peace and freedom. It has always been, “The just shall live by faith.”
“ The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.” Nahum 1:7(NKJV) “Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace.” Nahum 1:15(NKJV)
These statements are awesome reminders of God’s love and grace. Paul even quotes one of them in Romans 10:15 in the midst of his expose` on faith and salvation. As always it pays to put the verses within the context of Scripture where they are used. It is interesting to me that they are in the prophecies of Nahum directed at rebellion against God and a declaration of destruction on the city of Nineveh. If you read the contents of Nahum, it will chill your blood at what God declares will happen to His enemies.
Yet, it is clear that God does not take pleasure in the destruction of His enemies as He says in Ezekiel 18:23. In the middle of divine wrath God holds out hope for those who are willing to turn to Him. In the midst of declared destruction He offers the people peace. God’s desire to save and protect far outweighs His desire to judge and destroy.
Hellfire and brimstone are real, but they are not the main message of the Gospel. But so many preachers only have that kind of message. John 3:16 is often referred to as “the Gospel in a nut shell.” If so, then what does it say? Is it hellfire and brimstone or is it the love of God for His creation.
The Bible says it is not God’s will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Repentance is turning away from sin and toward God. Some preachers seem to take pleasure in preaching sinners into hell, they would even hold the door open for them if they could. Can you imagine Jesus ever saying of a sinner, “Hell is too good for him.” The nature of God is not to destroy but to save. I was once told by a well know preacher, “If you tell someone that they are going to hell, do it with tears in your eyes.” It seems that too many people do it with pleasure and enjoy it. The love of God constrains me. How about you?
2 Corinthians 3:13,17,18 “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away…..Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed int0 his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
The law came by Moses–Grace and truth by Jesus Christ.
The law demanded righteousness–Grace delivered righteousness.
The law required–grace provided.
The law was pressure-grace was relief.
The law was bondage–grace was freedom.
Grace and truth can be modeled only in the light, in being seen. Because of the very nature of grace, we have no reason to hide.
from “The Jesus Style” by Gayle D. Erwin
“You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Gal. 5:4(NKJV)
During the many years I have been involved in the church and ministry I have heard many sermons preached and many references to this verse of scripture by many preachers and teachers. The problem is that most of them were not preaching what the verse says.
So many times it was said that this verse is talking about falling from grace back into a life of sin. This is in no way what Paul was talking about and it is clear if you read the context of this portion of scripture. The subject is about being justified by the keeping of the law.
A group of Jewish Christians had come to Galatia and were teaching the gentile believers that they must be circumcised to be saved. Paul wrote this epistle to address the problem this was causing the gentile believers. He was trying to get the Gentiles to understand that it is by believing in Christ and that alone that they were saved. It is never Christ plus anything including keeping the law.
The Gospel of Christ teaches that grace is the highest level of relationship with God. Grace is what sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins. Paul is saying that trying to be right with God by keeping the law is futile. If you add any conditions other than grace to give you salvation,Paul says “you have fallen from grace.”
Salvation is not a mixture of grace and the law. It is by grace alone. “For by grace you saved have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” Eph. 2:8-9(NKJV) Christian salvation is not found in embracing a doctrine but by loving a person, Jesus Christ and accepting the fact that He died for your sins so you could have His righteousness.
So, do not lower yourselves by trying to add the law to grace. It is by grace and grace alone that you are saved. The life you live afterwards is not a “free-for-all” without accountability for disobedience. Paul says “Shall we sin that grace may abound?” “God forbid!” When one really has a saving experience with Jesus Christ, his “want to” will change. He will not follow after sin because his new nature is not at peace doing so. One can never live a life of perfect performance no matter how hard he tries. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and makes us righteous. Check this out-Romans 6:14. Quit trying so hard and rest in His peace.
GOD’S WORD FOR NOW…. MEEK AIN’T WEAK
The word meek has a bad reputation. Most people hear it and think of someone cowering in timidity, but that’s not what the word means. It actually means “power under control.”
Meekness doesn’t come naturally. Often, we see the opposite extreme of angry defiance or wilting fear. Meekness isn’t a blend of those two traits; it’s altogether different. God has give all of us a set of abilities and character qualities. Meekness acknowledges that all our abilities and qualities are gifts from the hand of God, but we also recognize that we distort God’s original intentions when we pursue selfish aims.
Like the horse responding to the jockey’s directions, we move in concert with God’s instruction. And like the horse, we may sometimes need a little stronger motivation! When we allow God’s Spirit to direct us, a world of possibilities opens up to us. That’s what it means to inherit the earth. Zig Ziglar
“God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good word.” 2 Cor. 9:8
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5
“Knowing this, that 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” Rom. 6:6(NKJV)
“For he who has died has been freed from sin.” Rom. 6:7(NKJV)
That seems simple enough. If you are dead, you are no longer under the influence of sin. That isn’t exactly what Paul was talking about and that is something that can make a big difference in your earthly life. Paul is talking about being dead while you yet live. “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 6:11(NKJV) The life that we have in our newly created spirit is not under the dominion of sin like our fleshly life was. (I Cor. 5:17) It is important that we believe that sin has no power over us now. Since we are no longer under the law, we are no longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer is present in our new spirits which are only alive to God.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” The only strength of sin is the law. Paul says in Romans 7:8 that apart from the law sin was dead. That is why we cannot depend on following the law to give us favor with God. The law tells us what is sin but it has no power to help us overcome sin. On the other hand, grace is the power of God to overcome sin and not just the forgiveness of sin. The faith of Jesus Christ in us is the source of our dominion over sin.
Believe it or not.
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