This is a quote from the book " Disciplined by Grace" By J.F. Strombeck.
"The discipline of grace brings to mind and the soul the goodness and beauty of God, His unfailing lve, and His all inclusive provision. When the heart sees this goondess of God and riches of His grace; the pleasures, preferment, and honor and wealth fo the world lose their glamour. They are seen as temporal in contrast to the eternal values of God. The believer who realizes that through grace, and grace alone, he has been saved out of the lost and condemed world unto an indescribably glorious eternity with God sets his affection on thins above-- not ont hings of this earth. It is the work of grace to create and sustain this attitde.
Ethics can teach men to deny the dishonest, immoral, and debased things of this world; but grace alone can teach the believer to deny himself the beautiful, attriactive and pleasant things with which God is not identified. By grace the believer has been called out of th unglodly world and delivered form the condemnation resting upon it. By grace he is alos delivered from the things of the world, and his desires become centered in Christ and the things of Him. ......... True Christian liberty is delieverancefrom the law of sin in the body with its desires for the pleasures of the world."
The topic of God's grace has been something that has been rocking my world. This page in this book says it all. God's grace is bigger than I think it is and bigger than I could ever imagine!!!
PRAISE HIM!!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Enablement
God has also been teaching me a lot about His ability and my inability. I have heard one definition of grace put this way, " God's grace is the encouragement and enablement of God to live and serve God."
How true that is. God's grace is sufficient. It is not only sufficient to forgive out sins. But it is sufficient to enable us to love and serve others. In and of ourselves we are not able to love. In and of ourselves we are not able to serve. In and of ourselves we are not good.
In the book by J.F. Strombeck "Disciplined by Grace" grace is defined another way. Stombeck says, "Grace is more than love; it is love operating righteously in view of the fact that the penalty for sin has been paid for." God's grace enables us to love others on the basis of HIS forgiveness. God's grace enables us to love others by looking past their shortcomings. How amazing is that!
I am learning that God's grace is so big and it is so vast. There are many ways God's grace is displayed, especially in the lives of believers. God's grace is manefested IN us becuase Christ is IN us.
Just some nuggets I've been mulling over.
How true that is. God's grace is sufficient. It is not only sufficient to forgive out sins. But it is sufficient to enable us to love and serve others. In and of ourselves we are not able to love. In and of ourselves we are not able to serve. In and of ourselves we are not good.
In the book by J.F. Strombeck "Disciplined by Grace" grace is defined another way. Stombeck says, "Grace is more than love; it is love operating righteously in view of the fact that the penalty for sin has been paid for." God's grace enables us to love others on the basis of HIS forgiveness. God's grace enables us to love others by looking past their shortcomings. How amazing is that!
I am learning that God's grace is so big and it is so vast. There are many ways God's grace is displayed, especially in the lives of believers. God's grace is manefested IN us becuase Christ is IN us.
Just some nuggets I've been mulling over.
Monday, November 7, 2011
God's Love
The Lord has been teaching me so much about His love and His grace the past few weeks. One thought I was mulling over is how we are called to love as Christ loved. Jesus was whipped, beaten, spit on and crucified by the ones he created. The ones he loved the most and were so dear to His heart. He WILLINGLY went to the cross. Can you imagine not only the physical pain but the emotional pain as well?
The only way that Christ finally died (physically) was when the Father turned his back. It was when God forsook him that He died and since Jesus is God, this shows that God forsook himself on behalf of the human race. He forsook himself to show his love. He forsook himself to shed his blood. And In scripture we are called to love and God has loved us. We are called to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. WOW. I don't know about you but that renders me speechless and totally inadequit. And thats a good place to be. God's love is so big and so great that I can't even begin to think about loving somone else like that. Thats where the Holy Spirit comes in. If I yeild to Christ, who lives in me, he will manifest his own life through me. Galatians 2:20 says, " I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
I am nothing apart from HIm.
Another thought that came to mind as I was typing this out was that Christ died because the Father forsook him. That shows the relationship that Christ had with the Father. They were so one that Christ died without Him. Shouldn't our reliance on God look the same? That we would died with out the Father?
I challenge you to dig into this. To dig into the love of God in the Word of God. He loves you. Experience it. Live in it. Dwell there. There is no better place to be.
The only way that Christ finally died (physically) was when the Father turned his back. It was when God forsook him that He died and since Jesus is God, this shows that God forsook himself on behalf of the human race. He forsook himself to show his love. He forsook himself to shed his blood. And In scripture we are called to love and God has loved us. We are called to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. WOW. I don't know about you but that renders me speechless and totally inadequit. And thats a good place to be. God's love is so big and so great that I can't even begin to think about loving somone else like that. Thats where the Holy Spirit comes in. If I yeild to Christ, who lives in me, he will manifest his own life through me. Galatians 2:20 says, " I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
I am nothing apart from HIm.
Another thought that came to mind as I was typing this out was that Christ died because the Father forsook him. That shows the relationship that Christ had with the Father. They were so one that Christ died without Him. Shouldn't our reliance on God look the same? That we would died with out the Father?
I challenge you to dig into this. To dig into the love of God in the Word of God. He loves you. Experience it. Live in it. Dwell there. There is no better place to be.
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