Dave Bilbrough Singing At Our Conference This Week

It was a great week with our Grace Walk Leadership Team and with friends who came from across the country and from Canada (23 people) to attend the meetings. Dave & Pat Bilbrough were great, as usual. This is my favorite song Dave has written. It's called, "I've Found A Home."

Dirty Diapers And Divine Acceptance

When my grandson, Jonathan, was a baby, I was holding him on my lap one day. I was laughing at him to see if I could get him to laugh. It worked. Every time I would laugh, Jonathan saw my delight in him and he laughed too. As we sat on the couch laughing together, I was filled with emotion and thought to myself, “It’s amazing how much love I feel for him.”

At that moment a thought came into my mind that I knew was the voice of God. “That’s nothing compared to the love that I have for you.” I was overwhelmed by the realization that my heavenly Father loves me infinitely greater than I could ever love my grandchildren or children.

As we continued to play together on the couch, I became increasingly aware that Jonathan had “sinned against me.” It was a diaper problem, a serious one. Here I was holding him on my lap, showering him with attention and affection and he goes and does something like that! What do you suppose I did? I didn’t throw him from my lap in anger, screaming, “Depart from me, you worker of iniquity!” Not at all. You see, I understand something about babies – they do that kind of thing. I wasn’t pleased with his behavior, but what he did changed absolutely nothing between the two of us.

Jonathan eventually outgrew that habit and began to act responsibly in that area of life. As I thought about the incident shortly after it happened, I was reminded of our Father’s patience and loving kindness toward us. He is always interacting in our lives with a divine determination to cause us to find pleasure in Him. Yet at the very same time, we sometimes sin against Him. We make a mess of things, despite His continuous commitment to cause all things to work together for our good.

When we sin against Him, does He cast us off? Absolutely not! “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14).

When Jonathan experienced his baby problem, his mood soon changed from happy to sad. He began to cry, instinctively knowing that he needed some sort of help from somebody bigger than himself. That is what happens in the lives of believers when we sin. We know that Somebody bigger who loves us will take care of our problem and deliver us from what we’ve gotten ourselves into at the moment. We just cry out to Him in dependence and anticipation and He does the rest.

Your Father knows you better than you know yourself. The things that have caused you to feel guilty have already been dealt with by His finished work on the cross. Remind yourself all through the day today that your sins have been forgiven and you have already been glorified with Christ in the eternal realm! Reach up to Abba. He'll clean up your mess.

Stillness

Stillness. It was into the stillness of an empty void that God spoke and said, “Let there be” and all that is came into existence. It was in the stillness of a barren desert that a man met God at a burning bush and was commissioned to lead His people to freedom. It was in the stillness of the night that a baby’s cry could be heard in Bethlehem, announcing salvation to the world. It was another still night when that same child would cry to His Father in a garden, “Not my will, but thine be done.” It was in the stillness of an early morning that a stone was rolled away and an occupied tomb would forever be emptied. Stillness — God’s showcase.

The fire of God’s love burns brightly in the stillness. It is in that stillness that the distractions and cares of the world fade away like outside noises are muted when we make love to our beloved. It is in that stillness that we are able to give our thoughts, our feelings, and our will completely to Him in uninhibited abandon.

It is in that stillness that we are able to meditate — to muse on the Person and loving words of the One whose passion burns for us until we are irreparably and eternally ignited by the Flame. It is in that stillness that we gasp with delight along with the Psalmist, “My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned” (Psalm 39:3).

Can You Go Too Far With Grace?

Those who are afraid of the message of the grace walk have sometimes suggested that you can go too far with grace. They're afraid about getting "out of balance" with the message. It is from out of that unfounded fear that this lie finds expression. The fact is that grace is a Person. His name is Jesus. So to say that you can go too far with grace is like saying that you can go too far with Him. It simply isn’t possible.

"But if you teach grace the way you are, people will think it's okay to sin," some have said to me. That kind of fear shows a lack of understanding about what grace does in a person’s life. When God’s grace really takes hold of us, it does the exact opposite of encouraging sin. It causes us to draw near in love and faith to God, which is where we find a greater desire to walk in a way that honors Him.

The idea that you can go too far with grace is an irrational fear. When a believer sins, he is acting in a disgraceful way by contradicting the very essence of the grace of God. Grace empowers us to honor our Father through our actions, not dishonor Him. It is possible to pervert grace so that it stops being grace, but it isn’t possible to go too far with it.

Paul had this to say about the effect grace has in a person's life:

For if by the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

He said that if we’re going to reign in life, there needs to be an abundance of grace, which provides the gift of righteousness. The result will be that we reign in life, which surely does not sound like “encourage more sinning.”

The word “abundance” in that verse suggests an overflow. It doesn’t mean filling something to the top. It means filling it beyond the top, so that it spills over. Paul said that is what has happened to the Christian. We have received an overflow of grace.

In Philippians 3, Paul gives his own testimony of what receiving the grace of Jesus Christ did for him. He threw away the pride he had in his religious credentials in exchange for the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. Then did he stop there? No, he says,

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Jesus Christ. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 Grace motivated him toward godliness in his actions, not away from it.

Go too far with grace? There’s no way. The fact is that most Christians haven’t gone far enough in their understanding of it. It's just a word they throw around at church. We need an overflow of grace, especially in the modern church world where legalism is so rampant. As much as we say we don’t want to live under the law, we’re often scared to death of the grace of God.

We need to boldly proclaim God’s grace to the church world — not only to the unredeemed, unsaved world, but to the church world. We need to proclaim the grace of God because the fact is that, even if you could go too far with grace, which you cannot, I’ve not been in a church yet where there was even a remote possibility of going too far with the grace of God.

Go too far with grace? Not a chance. We need an abundance of grace in the legalistic barrenness of the modern church terrain. It’s only when we jump in over our heads, into the river of God’s grace, and we experience that abundance, that we know the victory that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Aslan Is Not Safe

In The Chronicles of Narnia , C. S. Lewis wrote in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe about an occasion when Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan, the Christ-figure in the story. They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies:

Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the woods and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

Two thousand years ago The Lion of the Tribe of Judah came roaring into our small world devouring the grip that sin held on those He loved. With one swipe, He destroyed the power of Satan over your life like a lion crushes a field mouse with one slap of his paw. The authority of hell over you was demolished in a single moment. The power of the world, the flesh and the devil over the life of a believer today is no more than the final whimper of a scared rabbit who is held firmly in the great jaws of the king of the jungle.

The power of our King is awesome. Demons run like roaches in bright light at His presence. Hell quakes in fear at the very mention of His name. He is not only King. He is King of Kings. Others may be called Lord, but He is Lord of Lords. There is no greater authority; no greater power; no greater Force with which one must reckon. One day every creature in the universe will fall before Him in humble submission and awe. He will forever be the Sovereign-Of-The-Universe because He is the Son of "the great Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea."

The only thing that equals His power and authority is His love for you. You are His child. Sin stalked you as a vicious predator which would have totally destroyed you. But the Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah took note of you, His elect cub, and He came tearing out of heaven with a vengeance to defend you. That's what Christmas is all about – the roaring, relentless love of the Great King of the Jungle who came to your rescue through a stable and a cross.

Terrorists threaten and scare some. The economy causes others to be afraid. Biological warfare? Nuclear warheads in the hands of madmen? They are all field mice to our King. Is our King safe? Oh, no! He is far too powerful to ever be described that way. But He is good – very good. Bow before Him. His power would make any sane person tremble with awe, but His love makes Him irresistible. Rest in His shadow and be assured nothing will ever touch you there.

How To Forgive Somebody

For nearly four decades, I've been counseling people on how to forgive those who have hurt them. Unforgiveness toward other people is one of the most debilitating things anybody can experience in their grace walk.

We don’t forgive other people because they need it. We forgive them because we need it. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door to freedom from the effect of past hurts in our lives.

When we hold onto unforgiveness toward other people, we aren’t hurting them. We are only hurting ourselves. Comedian Buddy Hackett once said, “I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing."

We forgive people, not for their sake, but for ours. Your unforgiveness may not even affect them, but it will certainly affect you. Until you forgive a person who has wronged you, you allow them to continue to control you.

But what if they aren’t sorry? They don’t have to be sorry in order for you to forgive them. Forgiveness is the deliberate choice to release a person from all obligation they have toward us as a result of any offense they have committed against us. There is nothing in that definition that requires action on the part of the guilty party.

Forgiveness is a conscious choice you make. It is an act of the will, not the emotions. Forgiveness is the way out that God gives you to be freed from the past, to be freed from those who have hurt you. To refuse to forgive is to stay in a prison that will keep you from ever enjoying the full abundance of life Jesus wants you to know.

How are we to move forward in forgiving those who have wronged us? Several simple steps taken in faith can set us free. These steps aren't original with me, but have been used by many counselors by many years.

1. Pray and ask the Lord to show you those who have hurt you. Write their names on a piece of paper. This may take a few days or even weeks. Don’t rush it. The Holy Spirit will show you those you need to forgive. If a name comes to mind, write it down even if you don’t think you need to forgive the person. After all, you did pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the names. Don’t screen the list based on your own understanding.

2. Write a description of exactly what these people did to you. Be specific in your description. Don’t use vague generalities, but use detailed examples of how you have been offended by others. Unless you are specific, the act of forgiveness will be vague and not have the impact that you need in your life.

3. Describe exactly how you felt when the offense took place. The importance in identifying how you felt is to reattach the emotion to the incident. The reason for this is that it isn’t possible to fully forgive if we don’t recognize the extent of damage done to us. That’s why it is important to recognize how you felt at the time of the offense.

4. By faith, forgive those who have hurt you. Many have found it helpful to speak out loud, as if the person were in the room. Express your forgiveness to those who have hurt you, confessing that you are releasing them from any obligation for what they have done.

Perhaps the following can be helpful in facilitating the forgiveness you want to extend. Take your list of names and fill in the following:

“(Insert the name of the person who wronged you), I want to resolve a matter of unforgiveness toward you. You have wronged me, but I don’t want to be handicapped by this hurt for the rest of my life. What you did to me was (describe the exact incident). When you did that, it made me feel (describe how you felt, not what you thought at the time).

You were wrong and I was hurt by your actions. But, (insert the offender’s name), right now I forgive you. I release you from any obligation you have toward me because of what you have done. Just as Christ has forgiven me, I now forgive you.”

Now, pray and thank the Lord for the grace He gives you to forgive others. Ask Him to bring healing to your emotions and to fill you with a greater sense of His love for you. Complete this time by affirming that you have forgiven others at this very moment.

Will your feelings instantly change? Maybe not. But that’s okay. As you remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven those who wronged you, your feelings will gradually change. You may still find that feelings of anger or resentment arise within you at times. That’s normal. When they do, remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven. It doesn’t mean you didn’t forgive just because you may still have negative feelings at times. Simply acknowledge your feelings and then walk in the truth.

Forgiveness is a choice and you made that choice. Don’t allow the enemy to bring you back into the slavery of unforgiveness again. Through forgiveness you have been set free. So enjoy your freedom!

“If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” John 8:36

No Superstars In God's Kingdom

Looks can be deceiving. Sometimes we see people that seem to be superstars when it comes to their spirituality. They seem to always have it all together and it looks like they probably never have a bad day. It's easy to imagine that their faith is always strong, their walk is always consistent, their circumstances are always what they want and they are gushing God out of their words, thoughts and deeds at every minute.

Don't fool yourself. There's no such thing. Don't misunderstand. Many of us are very sincere about our walk with Christ, including you. I'm just making the point that none of us have arrived. It's important to know that because if you think otherwise, you'll find yourself comparing yourself somebody else, imagining them to be something they're not.

I remember when I first began to have the opportunity to be around various Christians of notoriety. I found myself thinking, "Wow, they're just like me." I don't know what I'd expected but, as I spent time with some of these people, I was struck by how -- well -- ordinary they are. Which brings me back to my main point - there's no such thing as a superstar in God's kingdom. We're all in process and if you think you know somebody who has it all together at all times in every way, you can be sure you are starring at an illusion and not reality.

Don’t think for a moment that God uses people who have worked out their spirituality to the place where they’re in a different league than you. The truth is they are more like you than you may want to know, but you need to know it because, by knowing that there are no Super Saints, you may be more likely to believe that God can use you to advance the cause of His grace in this world and, even more difficult than that these days, in His church.

One guy said to me, “If you only knew the things I’ve done, you’d know why God couldn’t use me.” “Really?” I asked. “Are the things you’ve done worse than murder? Adultery? Stealing? Lying? Drunkenness?” Read the list of those mentioned in Hebrews 11, the “faith-chapter” that lists those set forth for us as examples of faith from biblical history. Look at their lives individually. They did everyone of those things and more.

As you consider their sins, remember that the sinful things they did were, for the most part, after they had been called by God and began to follow Him. So don’t try to fall back on the yeah-but-my-sins-were-done-after-I-trusted-Christ excuse. So was theirs.

Check out that list in Hebrews 11. Then go back and look at the things the Old Testament tells us about what they did. After doing that, you may be inclined to ask, “Is this the best God can do if He wants to give us a list of people who had great faith and were mightily used by Him?” Yes, it is. So don’t think God can’t use you.

Don’t believe for one minute that anybody who sets himself up above you today, as if he has some spiritual advantage you don’t have, is telling you the truth either. This whole idea of there being super-saints in the church today who are somehow different from the rest of us is an enemy tactic meant to discourage us from thinking God can use us. When we see them we may feel like we don’t measure up, but just remember looks can be deceiving. In spite of the way some religious leaders present themselves to us, the truth is that people are just people. We all have the same kind of struggles, doubts, temptations and weaknesses. If you doubt that, then ask yourself again why God listed the kind of people He did in Hebrews 11.

Maybe there’s a higher quality of saints in the world today? Maybe back then He listed them because there weren’t so many good examples as there are today? Yeah, right. You know that’s not true. People have always been the same and God has never looked for perfect people to use. He only looks for people who will completely trust Him – nothing else. You might not be able to clean up your act the way you’ve wanted to in the past but He isn’t asking you to do that. He’s just asking you to trust Him. You can do that much, can’t you?

I’m not suggesting that the gifts the Spirit has given to the church don’t distinguish some in ways that are different from others. What I am saying is that there are no second-class citizens in God’s kingdom and that you don’t have to think for one moment that you lack anything that would keep you from rising up at this very moment to be used by God. In Jesus Christ, you have been made complete because you have all of Him and in Him resides the fullness of Almighty God Himself.

Interviews on Grace Television

Click on the links below to see Monday and Tuesday's programs I did with Peter Youngren on Grace Television. This program is broadcast all across Canada. This is a new station and Peter's goal is to eventually have pure grace on the station 24 hours a day.
http://gracetelevision.net/watch/11365
http://gracetelevision.net/watch/11651

Moving From Mercy To Grace

An article in Progress magazine reported that Billy Graham received a speeding ticket driving through a small town many years ago. He readily admitted his guilt, but was told by the police officer that he would have to appear in court.

Mr. Graham was asked by the judge, “Do you plead guilty or not guilty?” When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied that will be ten dollars – a dollar for every mile you went over the limit.

Suddenly the judge recognized the famous evangelist. “You have violated the law,” he said. The fine must be paid, but I’m going to pay it for you.” Then he took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and settled the case. After court, the judge took Mr. Graham out and bought him a steak dinner. “That,” said Billy Graham, “is how God treats repentant sinners.”

God’s mercy has been extended to us because He didn’t give us what we deserve for our sins. He paid the penalty at the cross. But He didn’t stop there. He extended His grace by giving us what we don’t deserve – Divine life.

Many times the focus of evangelistic efforts is on sharing the news that salvation means having our sins forgiven. But the complete gospel is even better than that! In His grace, God forgives us, then gives us an abundant life in Jesus Christ. Salvation isn’t only getting a man into heaven, but getting heaven into him!

Jesus Christ wants you to enjoy the fullness of being a Christian. Don’t settle for simply receiving forgiveness and anticipating your arrival in heaven one day. Your heavenly Father is rich in mercy and has forgiven your sins. Then He took a quantum leap forward even beyond that. He has given you the life of Jesus Christ and has seated you at His right hand. (See Ephesians 2:4-6). You have received every blessing in Christ (see Ephesians 1:3) and have the capability of living a lifestyle that is flooded by His goodness every day. Rest in His mercy. Know, without a doubt, that your sins are forgiven. Then revel in His grace by enjoying the Spirit-led party that the we know as “the Christian life.”

Wounded Soldiers

It was in the midst of the Iraqi War that a young American soldier made a foolish mistake that almost ended his life. It was a mistake that should never have happened. He should have known better. He had been taught the rules of engagement for battle. In Basic Training, his instructors had drilled him again and again on how to handle such circumstances as the one he was now facing in Iraq. He had even memorized the proper protocol from his manual, and could recite it without so much as a slight hesitation.

But in the heat of battle, all of his training seemed to go out the window. In a moment of carelessness, he acted the wrong way and was injured. It was a serious injury.

“You’re going home, son,” he was told by his superiors . “Your service to your country is appreciated. You risked your life here today and have paid a price. On behalf of your President and a proud country, thank you.”

When the young man returned back to his small home town, a celebration awaited him. The people were proud that their home-town boy had fought on the front line. He was called a hero, a brave soldier, and a true patriot. At his church on the Sunday after his return home, he received special recognition in a service where he was honored by the congregation. The local newspaper reporter was there and wrote an article that appeared in the paper the following day. “Young Hero Honored” the headline read.

A hero – a brave young man. That’s how they all saw him. Nobody disputed it. There was another young man from that same congregation. He had become a Christian in that church after years of addiction to alcohol and drugs. The transformation was amazing. The church nurtured him, loved him. It was in that church that he began to sense an inward stirring to go to seminary and prepare for lifelong service as a pastor.

During the years he had been in seminary, his church supported him financially and with their encouragement. They knew that he was being taught how to live the life of a pastor. He was learning how to offer spiritual guidance to others. They couldn’t have been more proud.

Then one day, a leader in the church received a telephone call from this young man. The news that followed was devastating. He began to pour out his story – of how he had been having marital problems. He told about how his grades had been slipping. He had been working a full forty hours a week at night while attending school full time.

Somehow in the midst of it all, he had allowed himself to slip back into his pre-Christ drinking patterns. Nobody knew about his relapse until a few nights before when he was stopped by the police and arrested for drunk driving. An article on page 2 in the local newspaper the next day read, “Local Seminarian Arrested.”

Within 24 hours, he was expelled from the seminary. Devastated by what had happened, he explained his decision to move back home with his family. “We will be moving in with my wife’s parents for a few weeks while we find a place to live,” he said. “I’ll plan to see you at church on Sunday.” When the church leader hung up the phone, he was stunned.

How do you imagine the events of the following weeks unfolding in this young man’s home church? How do you think he would be received when he came back to the church that week? What words would your church use to describe this young seminarian? Would it be the same words they would use to describe the soldier?

Food For Thought

1. Both the soldier and the seminarian had been trained for handling front line battle situations.

2. They were both fighting for a noble cause.

3. They both knew how they should respond in circumstances where they were at risk.

4. They both failed because they didn’t practice what they had been taught.

5. They both came back home to their church.

Would you receive them both back home in the same way? What would you say to the soldier? To the seminarian? Do you believe that to call the young man who failed to live up to his place as a soldier a hero is inappropriate? Would this be likely to cause other soldiers to conclude that it really doesn’t matter if they live up to their training and position as soldiers? Would it encourage carelessness among the ranks? Would it give them a “license” to become poor soldiers?

There are many who have been on the front lines of spiritual service who were wounded – many of them have been injured due to their own foolishness. How are we to handle those who have deliberately made wrong choices?

The Bible offers a few examples. How did the father of the prodigal receive his son who had intentionally chosen the far country? How did Jesus respond to the woman caught in the very act of adultery? How do you handle those who have made wrong choices?

Are we to be “soft on sin?” Of course not. But we are to be soft on people. Those who have been wounded don’t need our scorn. They need our sympathy. Defeated soldiers have rehearsed their failure in their own minds a thousand times. They need love, not lectures. They need acceptance, not accusations.

Pray and ask the Lord to bring to mind a soldier you know who has been wounded in battle. Then pray for that person. Maybe it would be good to call them or visit them and let them know that you love them. Remember the only way a soldier ever gets hurt is if he was in the battle. Those who never move to the front lines won’t be hurt. Only those who face the enemy up close and personal run that risk.

Some may come home bloody and broken. But remember – they were in the fight. How they are received home may set the course for the rest of their lives.

Do We Really Have Two Natures?

Remember being taught that there's a good dog (your new nature) and a bad dog (the sin nature) inside you and that whichever one you feed the most will be strongest? I used to teach that, but the fact of Scripture is that we have only one nature and that's the righteous nature of Jesus Christ. We still sin, but not because it's our nature to sin. It's because of the power of indwelling sin, which the Apostle Paul said is in our body. (See Romans 7) People who argue that Christians have two natures usually think the flesh and the old sin nature are the same thing. They aren't. If you're interested in more detail on this subject, check out the chapter called "A Dead Old Man" in my book, Grace Walk. In the meantime, here's a great video that shows what having two natures would look like. Do you really think you have "a good dog and a bad dog" living inside you? If so, you must often feel like this poor guy :)

Taking Chances In Life

The first man to climb Mt. Everest might have seemed to be an unlikely candidate to many people. Edmund Hillary had lived as a simple beekeeper in Auckland, New Zealand. Deep within him, however, was a lofty goal along with a determination and desire that refused to be stifled.

On May 29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man. It was a very dangerous mission, but his courage and determination carried him 29,000 feet straight up, all the way to the top. He took his chances and reached his goal. He was even knighted for his accomplishment.

Don’t think that a man like Sir Edmund Hillary is a totally different sort than you. He isn’t. Great successes come naturally to few of us. Like most of us, Hillary had to grow into his success. He tells his own story in his book, High Adventure. Hillary described how in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but failed.

A few weeks after his failed attempt a group in England asked him to address its members. Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure.

He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist and pointed at a picture of the mountain. Then he loudly cried out, "Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you are going to grow... but I'm still growing!"

Hillary had tapped into a truth that each of us need to understand. Where we are today doesn’t have to be the final word on where we will be in the end. Resident within you as a Christian is tremendous capability through Jesus Christ. Have you considered that your highest accomplishments may still lie ahead in your future? An important key in fulfilling the God-given plan for your career is to know that you are a great piece of work and still in process.

Taking risks is not about self-confidence, but about confidence in the One who indwells us . Once we see the Divine purpose in our endeavor, trust our hearts and determine to go forward with enthusiasm, His Spirit will cause the pieces to fall together in the way that fits His plan perfectly.

To advance, you must be honest about whether you are willing to take risks or tend to always play it safe. Your God guides your steps. He has everything already planned. There are feats waiting to be realized that were planned for you before you were even born.

The problem with most people isn’t that they are impulsive. To the contrary, many are so afraid that they might act impulsively that they fail to act at all. How many things go undone because people won’t take a chance? When is the last time you took a chance?

Are you worried about making a mistake? Just like the most flavorful steaks are marbled with fat, the greatest opportunities you will ever have will be interspersed with the potential for great failure. Seldom does the opportunity to make great strides forward not also come with the risk of failure to a magnitude that we don’t even want to imagine. Remember, though, that where there is no room for doubt, there is no need for faith.

The sultry sirens of the status quo beckon us to lie back and be passive. The call to those who want to live with a grace-empowered lifestyle is to rise up in the power of the Life that indwells you. Take chances, knowing that your Father guides you in your every thought and action as you depend upon Him.

It isn’t your responsibility to make sure that things turn out the way you want. Your only assignment is to live boldly and move forward into the unknown, knowing that there is no such place for the omniscient God who leads you forward. He has already gone ahead of you, preparing the way to ensure that you experience all that He has for you in every area of your life.

The Growing Grace Revolution

I just googled "define: revolution" on the Internet and here's what popped up first: "1. A drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving; 2. The overthrow of a government by those who are governed." I see both of these happening in the Christian community today.

Many of us are seeing a change in the way we've thought about how we practice our faith. It's affecting our behavior too. We want more than the routine religious rituals we've lived with for many years. We aren't saying that everything about it is wrong. It's just that we want more in our experience than the same-old-same-old we've known for years.

Some things are wrong and need to be overturned. The prevailing viewpoint that God is more concerned about the behavior of His children than anything else is wrong. The common belief that God blesses us because of what we do is wrong. The practice of reaching out to certain types of people with the gospel while ignoring others is wrong. The list could go on. My intention isn't to be negative, but when we love health we have to hate disease and the disease of legalism has infected the church world.

The rule of legalism in God's church needs to be overturned. It has had the limelight long enough. It has been tried and found wanting. Many of us have determined to speak up for Christ and speak out against that which opposes Him from behind a religious mask. Revolution seems to be a good word to describe what God is doing among Christian these days.

For many years I lived in a religious mindset where my greatest concern was about me and how I behaved. In 1990, when I began to understand the grace walk, I started to learn that the Christian life isn't about what I do. Christianity is about what He has already done! In the years that have followed, as I have grown in intimacy with my God, I have experienced a growing hunger to make this message known.

I know I'm not alone because I get email from people like you all the time. I meet them in conferences, churches, and small groups and even on airplanes. What I find is that they too want to do something to get the message of true grace out to the world. They're tired of the dry experience they've known for years, but they certainly aren't tired of Jesus. In fact, their passion for Him is growing every day. They want to make a meaningful spiritual difference on this planet. Whether they know it or not, they are a part of the early stages of a grace revolution that I believe is beginning in these last days.

Do you want to be a part of this revolution? I'm not so sure that the greatest potential for a mighty movement of God in our world during these last days requires "blatant sinners" to repent of their evil ways. The greatest catalyst for spiritual awakening on planet earth might happen if Christians would repent of their diluted and, consequently, polluted concept of the nature of God's love. What would happen if we were to really believe that God's love is indiscriminate and unconditional? Can you imagine the impact the gospel would have in the world when we began to share love from that viewpoint as we live our daily lives?

Here's a radical idea: Let's behave like Jesus, even if the Pharisees don't like it. Let's just love people indiscriminately. Let's love them regardless of their behavior. Let's love them whether they are pimps or preachers -- whether they are crack-heads or corporate heads -- whether they are drug addicts or deacons, whether they are moral or immoral. Let's just love them all!

Do you want to live the Christ life and be a part of the revolution of grace He wants to bring to His church and to the world? Then love people who may cause you to be criticized because you love them. Be radical about gracious love. Stop worrying about people thinking you are endorsing their sinful behavior. I can assure you that, given the judgmental attitude those trapped in sinful behavior see among many Christians, the likelihood that they will think you believe sin is okay is a very unlikely possibility.

When I one day considered the fact that Jesus was constantly criticized for loving the people He did, and realized that I had never, even once, been criticized for loving the wrong people, it pricked my heart. Not in a self-condemning way, but in a way that made me think, "I want to love people like Jesus does! I want to love indiscriminately and unconditionally!" Do you sense that desire too?

To join the revolution of grace is counter-cultural to the world of dead religion. To accept people wherever they are and love them the way Christ does is the outgrowth of intimacy with God. Do you recognize that to be true?

When we love people with the love of Christ, we may be surprised to see what happens in their lives. While we certainly don't condone sinful behavior, we must remember that we are expressing the love of the one "who came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). We neither condemn nor condone those who sin. We just love them as God loves them.

The increasing revelation of God's love to you will continue to bring transformation to your life. I encourage you to welcome the flow of living (and loving) water that is in you and flows through you to others. As His Life pours out of yours, everybody around you will get wet with the love of God!

Spend the rest of your life obsessed with your Father's love and He will use you to help change the world. Your Father's love is the most amazing thing in existence. It has transformed you and now, through you, it will transform others. Don't be embarrassed to act just like Him. What does it mean to be like Him?

He is the Father who falls on the neck of returning prodigals and with tears of joy streaming down His cheeks, kisses them and shouts with laughter, "My son is home! Let's have a party!" (See Luke 25:20-24) He is the Mother who smothers her babies in kisses as they snuggle against her breasts. (See Psalm 131:2) He is the Lover who says, "I love you so much that I'll kiss you right out in public and I don't care who sees me!" (See Song of Solomon 8:1) He is the Artist who points to you and declares proudly to the universe, "Look what I made!" (See Ephesians 2:10) He is the Composer who sings love songs to you. (See Zephaniah 3:17) He is the Wealthy Merchant who sold everything He had so that He could make you His own. (See Matthew 13:45-46) He is the King of kings and Lord of lords who left the glory of His exalted throne in heaven, waded through the filth of this sinful world, and descended into the horrors of hell -- all for one simple reason. He looked beyond the horror and saw you standing on the other side, waiting for Him to rescue you.

What is your Father like? God is love. I encourage you to be who you are in Him. Love people. Just love them. Love them radically. You don't have to have an opinion about everything everybody else does. Just love them. You don't have to condone or condemn them. Just love them. Love them when they don't deserve it. Love them whether they act responsibly or repulsively. Just love them.

(This article is taken from my newest book, Journey Into Intimacy. For more information about this resource, click this link. http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=525

Let's Party!

Everybody likes a party! Parties are usually associated with the celebration of life in some way. A New Years party celebrates the start of a new year of life. A birthday party celebrates the length of ones life. An anniversary party celebrates the years of life a couple has enjoyed together. A graduation party celebrates the start of a new life. Parties are about living. Nobody likes a dead party, but everybody enjoys being around the life of the party.

One of the most commonly used words in the New Testament referring to the relationship that exists between Christians has the connotation of a party. It is the word "koinonia," usually translated in the 1611 KJV as "fellowship". An accurate twenty-first century paraphrase could be the word "party." Through the work of the cross the Trinity has dealt with the sin issue in our lives. Now, the Holy Spirit has been sent to invite us to enjoy the divine, supernatural party which will last for all eternity. Forever we will celebrate His life! Is your life characterized by an aura of celebration? On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus clearly said that He wants His joy to fill our lives (John 15:11).

Several elements often characterize parties. Every party is filled with fun. Singing, music and laughter usually set the mood of a party. It would seem really strange to attend a party where these things weren't prevalent. Acts 2:46 says the early church were enjoying meals together in each others homes with gladness. The believer should exemplify the spirit of gladness in this world. There are far too many whiners in the modern church. I'm not talking about sincere Christians sharing legitimate burdens. I'm talking about perpetual belly-achers who have a "woe is me" mentality every time you see them. Away with moaning and complaining. The tomb is empty, remember? We won!

Remember Jeremiah the weeping prophet? How's this song for the modern church whiners?

Jeremiah was a prophet, He is a good friend of mine, I don't remember a single word he said, But he sure taught me how to whine!
If this seems familiar in a musical way, you're showing your age :)

Away with whining forever! As those who share in the very nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4), we should instead:

Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music of His grace!

Another element sometimes found in worldly parties is drunkenness. At parties, it's often a short-lived attempt to try to experience "a rush." On the day of Pentecost there was a rush alright - a rushing Mighty Wind. Those seeing the Christians there were mocking and saying, 'They are full of sweet wine' (Acts 2:13). They were indeed drunk, but not on wine. They were totally intoxicated with the life of Christ being expressed through them by the power of the Holy Spirit. They were "under the influence" of Christ's life and couldn't keep quite about Him. The reason that the evangelism of the early church was so effective is that these folks were celebrating the life they experienced in Jesus with unbridled, uninhibited joy! They understood that Christ is Life. That's the reason for saints of every age to celebrate!

Sometimes the outlook in life is dismal. When that happens, let's remember that, in reality, we are already seated with Christ and He has everything under His control. Then, with that truth firmly in mind, let's party!

A Subtle Lie: We Should Live By The Teachings of the Bible

"You should live by the teachings of the Bible." Sounds good, huh? We'll I don't believe it. I know this is where I will really get on thin ice with some people! How can anybody disagree with believers living by the teachings of the Bible? As strange as it may seem at first, the idea that you should live by the teachings of the Bible is false.

There’s a subtlety in it that is dangerous. I certainly believe the Bible is inspired by God, and I will tell you that as Christ lives through us, we’ll never live in a way that contradicts what the Bible teaches. The Bible is “profitable,” Paul said, for “instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Possession of our Bible is probably the greatest material blessing we can have on planet earth. But I still contend that God’s purpose is not that we live by the teachings of the Bible.

The Bible teaches us, yes. But if we listen to The Word, we are not living by the teaching of the Bible. We are living by the life of Christ within us. Listen carefully to the distinction there. The source of our life is not the Bible. The source of our life is Jesus Christ. The Scripture says, “In Him we live and move and exist.”
Christ is our life source. “Christ living in and through me” is how we live. Christ animates our lifestyle. We learn about the ways Jesus Christ wants to express His life through us through the written Word, but the source of our life is the living Word of God — Jesus Christ Himself. The reason it’s important to know this, is because if you believe that we live by the teaching of the Bible, then the Bible can become a guidebook, an instruction manual, and you can become like the Pharisees and study the Scripture, simply so that you can learn what you have to do.

It’s easy for modern Christians to imagine that the Pharisees were committed to being bad people who were against God. But nobody in Jesus’ time would have thought that. To first century Jews, the Pharisees were the best Judaism had to offer. They were experts in God’s Law, intellectuals, the moral leaders of the nation, and the most dedicated and self-disciplined religious people around. According the Jesus, though, they missed the point. He told them,

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life (John 5:39-40).

Jesus told them that the life they were looking for was in Him, not in the Bible. The Bible pointed to Him, but they missed that. A person may be able to read Hebrew and parse Greek verbs and still miss Jesus.

The Bible is not a textbook. Neither is it a guidebook, a handbook for living. The Bible is a grace book that points us to Jesus Christ. If we are not led to the Person of Christ and to faith in Him, we are missing the point of the Bible.

I've spent most of my life studying and teaching the Bible. I love the Bible more than I have words to express, but it’s a paradox. As much as I love studying the Bible, and as much as I love teaching it and helping other people discover how great a blessing it is, learning the Bible is not the main thing.

In fact, here’s a different way to say it: The purpose of Bible study is not Bible knowledge. The purpose of reading the Bible is to be led to know Jesus Christ, and have Christ transform our lives as He lives in and through us.

As we live in Him and He lives through us, we will approach the Bible in the right way, knowing that Christ is our life source, and the Bible points us to Him. Through the Scriptures, Christ the living Word will reveal Himself to us, teaching us how He will live his life through us. Of course, we love our Bibles, but we live by the life of Jesus Christ.

When God Rolls By

My youngest son, David, lived in New York City at the time the Twin Towers were attacked. From his apartment in Jersey City, he could see the skyline of New York. On September 11, he watched the Towers fall from outside his apartment.

David had moved there to pursue a career in acting, a lifelong love of his. Prior to the attack on America, he had already been discouraged. Things just weren’t working out for him like he had hoped. He began to wonder what God was up to in his life.

Then came 9/11, which only added to the sense of discouragement that he was already feeling. Finally, came the grand finale of his hard times. He was walking down the street one day when a stranger, obviously strung out of drugs, shoved a gun in David’s face and robbed him.

He went outside the city and in a rural area, sat alone to pray. He prayed to his heavenly Father, “I sometimes don’t feel like you are anywhere around me anymore,” he said. “Show me that you are still with me.

No sooner had he prayed that than he heard an approaching sound and looked up to see what was interrupting his otherwise tranquil setting. It was a tractor-trailer truck, which rolled right past his line of sight. There, in huge letters, printed across the trailer were the letters – “GOD.”

Underneath, he noticed the smaller words which the initials represented – “Guaranteed On Delivery,” but that was irrelevant. He laughed at his own unbelief as he realized that at the very instant he had asked his heavenly Father to give evidence of His presence, GOD rolled right past him in letters too big to miss.

Do you see God in your daily life? Your heavenly Father is with you in the midst of your circumstances, whatever they may be. At times when it feels like He isn’t involved in your situation, look beyond the superficial evidences of this physical world and recognize that He is right in front of your face. He will never leave or forsake you.

Don’t allow the circumstances of your life to be what you use to determine how your Father feels about you. Circumstances can’t tell you that. If you want to know how He feels toward you, look beyond the temporal situations of life and see the cross.

At the cross, you will find an expression of His divine love for you. He loves you so much that He paid the highest price to ensure that you were His for all eternity. Sometimes He shouts His love in large letters. At others times, he gently whispers His love in the recesses of our hearts. In whatever ways He chooses to speak into your life, you can be assured that you are loved. He does care . . . and nothing is ever going to change that. Listen for Him to speak to you this week and you will hear the words, “I love you.”

-- For a free audio copy of David's own story, click here: http://gracewalkresources.com/item.asp?cID=0&PID=394

When We Seem To Be Sinking

I remember the day I learned to swim, as a child. It was in a Sunday School class party and everybody there seemed to know how to swim, except me. My teacher, noticing that I was in the shallow end of the pool, asked, "Steve, can't you swim?" "No," I answered embarrassingly. "Do you want me to teach you?" he asked. I agreed and he began his instruction. "The first thing you need to know," he said, "is that you don't have to be afraid of sinking and drowning. If you relax, your body will float. Just try lying on your back and relaxing in the water." I laid back in the water, attempting to do what he had told me. However, every time I laid back and felt my head sinking into the water, at the moment the water filled my ears, I would lift my head. Then I would begin to sink. "Don't lift your head," my teacher encouraged me. "Just relax and let your ears go underwater. You won't sink." Again I would try to take his advice, but when I felt the water rising above my ears toward my face, I would rise up and again begin to sink.

Finally he came over toward me and said, "Lie back in my arms and I will hold you on top of the water so that you cannot sink." I began to lie back and, true to his word, I felt his arms underneath me, holding me up. As he held me there and I felt the support of his arms, I began to relax a little. After a short time, I was comfortable. Finally, he said to me, "Okay, now I'm going to move my arms from your back so that you won't feel me touching you, but they will still be beneath you, so that I will catch you if you start to sink. Do you trust me?" he asked. I expressed that I did trust him and he did exactly what he said. For the first time in my life, I floated on the water. I felt no fear because I knew that underneath me were his arms. I knew that I had his guarantee that he would not let me sink.

There is a biblical promise which is connected to our spiritual rest which points us toward the arms of God. When Moses announced God's blessing on the tribes of Israel by promising to bring them into His place of rest, He told them that "the eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). Christians are in Christ, and, says the Bible, underneath are the everlasting arms.

There have been times in my life when decisions I made caused me to say to myself, "Oh no, I'm sunk now." My assessment always proved to be wrong. Whether I felt it or not, underneath me were God's everlasting arms keeping me from sinking. The same is true of your life. You are where you are today because God has upheld you by His arms. The arms of God provide a lifetime guarantee that He will take care of the details of our lives, ensuring that we won't make choices which cause us to sink to a place where He doesn't want us to be. You can relax and enjoy the living water because God has you in His arms!

Getting Along With Other People

The newspaper report read, “James L. Ramey, 53, of Clyde, N.C., was charged with assault in November after a 15 minute brawl at the rural Full Gospel Holiness Church. The brawl began when one person wanted to occupy the back pew, which was occupied, as usual, by a church regular. The church minister's son suffered a bite to the neck that required 31 stitches.”

Getting along with people – it can sometimes be a challenge in life. Someone once described it in a poem:

To live above with saints we love,
Oh, that will be glory!
To live below with saints we know,
Well, that’s a different story!

While it is unlikely that you’ve ever been in a brawl inside a church building, the chances are that there is at least one other Christian in your life with whom you tend to have problems. How can we get along with people with whom it is often hard to live peaceably? The Apostle Paul had a word on the matter than can help immeasurably. He wrote, “From now on, we know no one according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16). Then in the next verse he said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.”

What does this have to do with getting along with people? It has to do with the way we choose to relate to other believers. To know somebody after the flesh is to decide their identity based on superficial, earthly things — such as their behavior, their position, – things like that.

Paul said that he chose not to know people within that context. Instead, he points to the fact that, in Christ, we are new creatures. When we choose by faith to look past the human flaws in other people and to see Jesus in them, it becomes much easier to “be at peace with them.” We can’t control how others act, but we can determine how we will respond to them.

When you find it difficult to get along with somebody, there are a few things you might do which could help you navigate through stressful moments.

1. Pray a quick prayer for the person. Ask Jesus to express love to them through you. When we react to the bad mood of others with a negative response, we have allowed them to control us. Why let somebody else cause you to get in a bad mood? You can choose to express love to them and not allow the circumstance to rob you of your own joy.

2. Remember that people who are hard to get along with almost always have conflict going on within themselves. A sales clerk in a store once acted like a jerk to me. My first impulse was to react the same way (I can act like a jerk with the best of them), but instead I paused, looked at the lady and sincerely asked, “Are you having a bad day?” To my amazement, she began to pour out the details of her personal life that were causing trouble for her. I was so glad that I hadn’t acted on my first impulse. Her demeanor instantly softened when I asked that question. (The question I asked could be asked in an accusatory way and add to the problem.) It was one of those “God-moments” when He allowed me to see the importance of responding in love and not reacting impulsively.

3. Recognize the fact that the problem may be within you and not the other person. There have been times when I’ve found myself irritated several times by other people before it finally dawned on me – “They aren’t doing anything wrong. I’m just in a bad mood today!” Maybe the quality in another person that irritates you isn’t a bad quality. Maybe that person reminds you of somebody else that you’ve had trouble with in your past. Or maybe you’re just in a bad mood yourself.

When you find yourself feeling irritable toward somebody else, ask the Holy Spirit this question, “Lord, is it me?” You might be surprised to find out that the problem isn’t with the other person at all.

Paul determined to look beyond human characteristics and see Jesus in every Christian. Mother Teresa was once asked about her work with the lepers – “Do you imagine that it is Jesus ministering to them when you serve them?” “No,” she answered. “When I look at them, I see the face of Jesus.”

There’s the key – seeing Jesus in others. Look beyond the grouch and see Jesus in the face of those you meet. As much as it is possible, live at peace. That choice expresses the life of Christ.

And if anybody ever wants to take your seat in church, especially if it is on the back row – just give it to them!