Welcome to my randomized study & miscellaneous thoughts about the Awesome God of the universe, who He is and what He wants us to be.

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Verse of the Day

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Today's Quote

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The Freedom of Grace

What do you think of when you hear the word "grace" ?
A trained ballerina? An eloquent speaker? Good manners? Heads bowed at the dinner table giving thanks for the meal?

How about the following: To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who does not deserve it, can never earn it and can never repay it.

Some truths about God's grace:
A. True grace is totally and absolutely free.
B. True grace will set you totally and absolutely free.
C. Another way to say it is: "Grace is what God may be free to do, and indeed what He does, accordingly, for the lost after Christ has died on behalf of them.

What can we do to deserve grace?
A. So, you say, "I'm a basically good person. I give to the poor, I go to church, I speak well of people. When the day of reckoning comes and I stand before God, He will look at all the good stuff that I've done and say, 'Welcome to heaven, buddy! Enjoy eternal life with Me!'" Sounds reassuring doesn't it. Sounds like something man would come up with...not God. When we perform well at work, we get raises and promotions and acclaim. When we excel in sports, we get adoration, we get fame and fortune. But when we walk without God through life, performance not withstanding, in the end we get death, we get to spend eternity in hell. That goes for the individual who attempts to live morally pure exactly the same as the individual who has made a wreck of life through unrestrained disobedience. Like it or not, we have no spiritual redeeming qualities on our own, nothing that gives us favor in the eyes of the Lord on our own merit.
Rom 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one." (NAS)
Rom 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)
B. So I might as well give up then, I've already blown it!
Rom 6:23a For the wages of sin is death, (NAS)

Woe is me! I cannot receive grace due to my present sins!
A. Isn't this what many people who are lost either feel or are told? That is absolutely and utterly FALSE! What a horrible idea! Must be a man-made concept.
B. Remember that grace is a free gift..offered to all who believe through faith.
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (KJV)
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)
Rom 3:22-24 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Rom 6:23b but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NAS)
John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV)

Grace is setting me free! Spiritual Emancipation Proclamation
A. 'An Alabama slave had said in 1864 when asked what he thought of the Great Emancipator whose proclamation went into effect that year. "I don't know nothing 'bout Abraham Lincoln cep they say he sot us free. And I don't know nothing 'bout that neither."'
B. Many Christians have the same attitude. And Satan loves it! A slave that has been freed that continues to act as a slave, remains a slave.
C. Satan uses shame, guilt, fear, ignorance and intimidation to keep us "pinned" down.
D. Grace gives us the freedom to be ourselves. To cast off the cloak of legalism and expectations. To live above fear, guilt, shame and defeat. The freedom to grow and worship as the Lord wants you to without wondering what others might say or think.
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)
E. Breaking the bond of continual sin. Instead of thinking, "I know that I will sin today, so I must be ready to ask for forgiveness of it. I will fail I just know it," why do we not invoke the power of Christ and pray, "that this day be lived by Christ in me. Guiding and directing me with the Holy Spirit to live in such a way that my thoughts and actions will be Yours. When I face temptations, Lord, I will present them to You and claim the strength You give to handle it. Sin has no authority over me."
F. Romans 6
1. Know (verses 3,6,9) He lives in me and I in Him. His life became mine, guaranteeing that His victory over sin is mine to claim (vv 8-10) We are dead to sin..
2. Consider (reckon) (verse 11) By calculating or considering what we know to be true, we refuse to obey our earthly lusts or temptations any longer.
3. Present yourselves (verse 13) Since we have been freed, start living like it.
Intelligent consideration (consider) based upon true information (know) leading to a positive action (present).
Rom 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. (NIV)
Rom 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (NIV)

Grace killers
A. Outside influences
1. Legalism
2. Tradition
3. Negative attitude
4. Control and manipulation
5. Criticism
6. Pettiness
7. Competition
8. Comparison

B. Internal attitudes
1. Guilt and shame Ex 3 (Moses)
2. Pride John 13 (Peter)
3. Fear
4. Resentment and bitterness (Jonah)
5. Hypocrisy
6. Gossip
7. Fleshly effort
8. Unforgiving spirit

Grace never comes from anything man has done. It is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered and God-originated. It has nothing to do with our love for Him but instead for His love toward us. Man has the most needs, God has the most resources. And God has a way to use His resources to meet our needs. Jer 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV) Now, grace never means that we are free to live any way we wish. It means that we have the freedom to choose righteousness or disobedience. And if we do choose righteousness, then as the Bible says in John 1:16-17 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (NIV)

In the parable of the two sons (typically called "The Prodigal Son") which son or daughter are you?? Will you allow the Father to bring you home? If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life right now, the Father is weeping for you. But the Son is standing right before you offering to carry you home. Jesus Christ is standing at the door of your heart knocking...if you open that door and invite Him into your heart He will come in. He will transfer the debt of sin from your account to His and He has already paid it in full. You cannot make it into heaven alone. Let the grace of God lead you there.

scribbled with crayon by dr. larry at 10:49 AM