FORGIVENESS!!! Why is it so hard to live in, once we receive it? We often struggle with guilt and self-loathing because of our sinful past, and our struggles in the present. How do we live in the power of forgiveness? One way to do that is to recognize your privilege and live in the gratitude you have for that forgiveness. We must remember that forgiveness is based on grace not works. We do not deserve forgiveness, it is granted! The purpose for granting forgiveness is because the relationship is more important that the restitution. In Titus 3:5 we are told that we are forgiven, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. . . ” The forgiveness we receive is a privilege that we are given not based on our ability to prove a changed life, but because of the grace and mercy of the forgiver. This forgiveness should produce in our heart a motivation of gratitude toward the forgiver, that leads us to live a different life. Gratitude for what we have been given is a key to learning to be content in the situations of life (Philippians 4:11). I must always remember … READ MORE

How do we live in the power of forgiveness? Let me suggest one of the steps to doing that. we are told in Philippians 3:4-9 that we should not have confidence in the flesh, and Paul gives a testimony of how he could have done that, but we need to understand that we are what we are by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10). It may sound strange to say that struggling to overcome the sins of our past is pride, but it is prideful to say that I do not believe that God can forgive something that He has said that He will forgive. This actually makes us more powerful that God by determining that we are the judge and executor of that judgment. Throughout Scripture God demonstrates that He does not call the worthy, He makes the called worthy. Humility is not seeing ourselves as worthless, Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us. All that we accomplish in this life is because God works in and through us! Why does He do this through us? One word: GRACE! We need to learn to accept the Biblical view of who we are in Christ, not because we … READ MORE

Have you ever felt unworthy of the gift of Salvation? In those moments try to remember that the great persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus, became the great Apostle to the Gentiles. If God can make a Paul out of Saul, just think what He can make of you and Me! You see my friends all of us are born separated from God, and there is nothing we can do to gain our position. God does not save us because we are worthy of salvation, God saves us by His will and choice. He does not love us because we are His children, He chooses to love us because we are His creation. I remind you that Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “I am what I am by the grace of God!” We have a relationship with Christ because of the Work He did in His incarnation. We need to choose to live in the power of the resurrection each day of our lives.… READ MORE