Letting Go of Your Limitations

I just finished reading Dr. Sandie Freed’s book Letting Go of Your Limitations – Experiencing God’s Transforming Power.

While I thought the book was a little dry the last chapter finished it with a bang. (Maybe she should have just written an article instead of trying to stretch it out.)

But here’s the good part: Jesus is not a “law giver”, but a “life giver”. The law was given so we would realize our need of a Savior. As believers there is now no condemnation in those who love the Lord. Jesus fulfilled the law. All the commands in the Old Testament that promised blessings if we do and curses if we don’t can be stamped “paid in full.” He did it. We can rest and be blessed!

She wrote, “The only “if you” we have to worry about is if you want Jesus. If we do that the blessings are ours.” And “Jesus took every curse with Him to the cross. Everything I had coming to me under the Old Testament curse, Jesus took so that I could receive everything coming under the New Covenant promises. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Yes, He took what I had coming so I could have what He had coming.”

We do not have to wait to get to Heaven in order to experience Heaven. Unbelief kept the Israelites out of the Promised Land for 40 years. Don’t refuse His gift of grace. We can have Heaven on earth!

Disclosure: I was given this book by Chosen Books to review on my blog. They did not ask for a positive review; only an honest one.

 

http://www.cafepress.com/givitup/6375365

 

It Is Finished - Finding Lasting Victory Over Sin

I just finished reading David Wilkerson's book 'It isFinished - Finding Lasting Victory Over Sin'.  His message is basic Christianity, but it’s a message that so many people just don't get.

We can never hear this truth too often. Salvation is not by works. It is through faith alone. Yet Christians try and try and try to be good enough.

Pastor Wilkerson points out that the new covenant was made between God and Jesus. That Jesus would save mankind from their sins. He did this by living a sinless life and dying as a sacrifice for us on the cross and then 3 days later walking out of the tomb. When we try to earn our way into Heaven it's like saying the cross wasn't good enough. But God says it was!

The author also warns Christians not to be stumbling blocks to other believers. Too many churches tell their congregations you must do this or that. Pastor Wilkerson uses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:6-7 6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!" to show us how serious this is! He was expressing His wrath toward those who teach the cross is not sufficient to save.

Pastor Wilkerson says once we are saved and we are obedient to God it will be God (the Holy Spirit) in us who gives us victory over sin. But we must give up all struggle to get to that point. When we do we will be free. Share this book with people you don't think "get it". They will thank you!

I received this book from the publisher to review. All they asked was that I be honest about what I thought of the book.

What John 10:27-29 Tells Us About Being a Christian

Pastor Kurt Gebhards continued his series: Signed, Sealed and Certain today.

John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

The first thing this tells us is we are His sheep. In other words, we are under His care. We are His and He guides us.

The second thing is: we hear His voice and we immediately act in obedience to what He says.

And third: He knows us! Salvation includes an intimate knowledge and relationship with Christ. John 17:3 says that to know Him is eternal life: Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

We also learn that we are saved forever, protected by Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit!

Jesus says that NO ONE can snatch us from His hand. We will never perish. John 5:24 says, 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. And Romans 8:1: 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And God has given believers to Jesus who says “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” So God is holding us tightly too.

We can look at Ephesians 1:13-14 to see the Holy Spirit’s part: 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

I think we’re pretty secure! Don’t you?

Jesus Christ Did It All

My husband thought he would save me time by using the electric trimmer on our hedge. I usually trim it by hand because the electric one chews up the leaves and they turn brown. But, I'm having a 4th of July party this Saturday and am way behind so I let him do it and hoped for the best!

I almost cried the next day when I looked at it. It was far more "chewed up" then I had ever seen it. I hauled out my small clippers and so far have spent 11 hours trying to make it look better!

While I was working I thought of all the other times I had hired someone to do something for me, or things John or my daughter had done. I couldn't think of one that I didn't have to go back and neaten up, fix up or pick up!

It was a depressing thought. But, it made me remember that Jesus did something for me. And it was perfect. And it was enough. And I don't have to add a thing to it!

Only Christ

I’ve been carrying around a piece of an article in my Daytimer for years and thought I would share it. I have no idea where I got it from, but I love it.

Salvation comes from Christ alone. That means it’s not Christ plus your good behavior, it’s not Christ plus the years you taught Sunday School; it’s not Christ plus your tithe; it’s not Christ plus the church you attend.

It’s not Christ plus the size of your Bible; nor Christ plus the number of verses you memorize. It’s not Christ plus the title of deacon’ it’s not Christ plus a good driving record; it’s not Christ plus well-behaved children.

It’s not Christ plus a 40-day fast; it’s not Christ plus the right job; it’s not Christ plus the right spouse; it’s not Christ plus wisdom from the latest Christian seminar. It’s not Christ plus a college education.

It’s simply Christ. Christ plus nothing.

For more on this topic:
Read "One Way"

Following Him Women’s Conference

I went to a great Women’s Conference last night and this morning at First Baptist Church in Hickory. Haven Parrott was the guest speaker and was very inspiring and also very funny.

She talked about putting Kingdom principles into earthly practice using the Bible passage Philippians 2:12-13 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, both to will and to act for His good purposes.”

God doesn’t need us, His work will get done. But His work is most often done through human hands. We don’t work for our salvation, we work because of it. Salvation is a rescue; if we could do it ourselves we wouldn’t need a rescue.

She also pointed out that salvation happens all at once (called Justification) and also moment by moment (called sanctification). Every day we should make fresh confession. Fresh repentance every day so we stay sensitive. Salvation isn’t just about going to Heaven, it’s about the here and now.

What God is working out in and through us is not a what at all. It’s a who, and that who is Christ.

Are we practicing who we are in Christ? Are we sharing our relationship with Him?

More on Romans 1:16-17

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed — a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

These two verses are really the whole theme of Romans. They are the heart of Biblical religion. The gospel is power. It’s not about God’s power and it doesn’t point the way to power. It is the power by which God accomplishes salvation in those who are being saved.

Hebrews 4:12 says “The Word of God is living and active.”

Of all the things going on in the world this minute, the preaching of the gospel is the most important. The spirit of God is a work.

When the gospel is preached, people are delivered from the bondage of sin and set free spiritually. Lives are transformed. God isn’t simply just telling us about salvation. God Himself is providing salvation through the gospel. And Paul is saying that his trust in God’s power and goodness has not been misplaced, nor his hope in Christ’s redemptive sacrifice been disappointed. (That’s what he means by “not ashamed”.)

The second part of verse 16 is equally important to everyone who believes. In the book of Acts, Peter declared at Pentecost, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The entire Bible actually ends in Revelation with the verse, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come” “whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the water of life.”

God doesn’t reveal His righteousness so that we look at Him and try and try and try to be like Him and fail and fail and fail. It was revealed as God’s free gift through Christ. The only work involved is opening your hand to receive it.

General Background on the Book of Romans

Paul wrote this letter from Corinth about AD 56-57. Unlike the other letters he wrote, he didn’t start this church. He didn’t know the people there and hadn’t even been to Rome yet. It was probably started by Jews who had come to faith during Pentecost. So he introduces himself in the beginning.

His aim was to convince his readers that whether they came from Jewish or pagan backgrounds, they face the same issue – how to enter a right relationship with God.
The gulf between human sin and guilt and a divine holiness and perfection cannot be bridged by any mortal effort, only by Christ.

Based on scripture, Paul argued that by God’s action in Christ, the church has become the new Israel, receiving both the promises and the mission of the old Israel: the gift of salvation and the call to proclaim it and lead others (both Jew and Gentile) into a common community of faith.

Because God shows no partiality and values us equally, we likewise should treat one another as equals. Though human sin has a variety of expression, all are rooted in a common rebellion against God.

The basic breakdown of Romans is:

- Paul introduces himself
- He presents the facts of the Gospel
- He declares his allegiance to it
- He tells of the lostness of all mankind and the necessity of God’s intervention
- He presents the good news, “Salvation is available to all.” “We are saved by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work. Only through Him can we stand before God justified.”