THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

HEBREWS 2:10a NLT  God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. If you want to understand life, and the Bible, then you need to understand God's plan and purpose. We're here because God wants a family. This is what life is all about. The best description and summary of what is going on is that God is raising a family. It is happening in a realm where there is free choice and temptation to do wrong, but God has provided everything necessary for our complete victory and maturity. If you keep this perspective clearly in view, it will give you the right framework for your thinking about God. Every thing God does has this purpose in mind.  2 CORINTHIANS 6:18 NLT 18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." We are in preparation for eternity, and this life on earth is just first grade in our learning experience.  MATTHEW 5:45 NLT 45 In that way, you will be acting...

Deuteronomy 28:4  “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Would you want to buy a chair that Jesus made? I would, even if it cost $1,000 because it would be of superb quality. Whatever Jesus did, He did it with perfect excellence. And because Christ is in you, the things which you produce will be of exceptional quality too. That includes your children, who will be champions.  Deuteronomy 28:4 says, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks”. God was using terms that the Israelites understood since they were farmers and shepherds. Today, “your ground” is the place of your work. This means that “the produce” of your work shall be of excellent quality. That is not all. God promises that quantity will always follow quality becaus...

LUKE 12:4 NKJ 4 "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. Since Jesus defeated death and removed its sting, believers should no longer be motivated by fear of death.  1 CORINTHIANS 15:55,57 NLT 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? " 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Death has been defeated by Jesus. Now the death of a Christian believer is just a transition from this lower reality to a higher, more perfect, and lasting reality. For anyone trusting in Jesus, there is no reason to be afraid. I believe that death is now like birth: just an entry into an unknown but better place, a place of more freedom and consciousness, where we will continue to learn and grow, as we enjoy the goodness of God.  LUKE 20:38 NLT 38 So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him." Death is not t...

Ruth 4:15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age… Famine impoverished the life of Naomi, an Israelite. But it was the deaths of her husband and two sons that left her completely destitute. (Ruth 1:1–5) Or so she thought, until Boaz, who was a wealthy and close relative, entered her life. As her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz married Ruth, Naomi’s widowed daughter-in-law. And through that union, Naomi had a grandson. The birth of her grandson gave her a new lease of life, causing the womenfolk in her village to declare that the restorer of life and the nourisher of her old age had come into her life. (Ruth 4:14–16)  Boaz is a picture of Jesus, our kinsman-redeemer. Jesus became our kinsman when He was born into this world as one like us. And He became our Redeemer when He paid with His life and blood at the cross to redeem us. Jesus gave Himself to us as our restorer of life and nourisher of our old age. When the restorer of life is in our lives, w...

Creation Can’t But Redemption Can!   John 9:7  7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. When Adam sinned and fell, everything about creation fell. Yet, people today are still putting their trust in creation. For example, they try to become healthy by eating what is called the “Eden diet” — vegetables and no meat. They are acting as if creation did not fall. They also forget that there are people who eat well and exercise regularly, and still drop dead in the prime of their lives! Thank God that what creation cannot do, redemption can and did. Jesus demonstrated this when He spat on the ground, made clay with the saliva and put it on a blind man’s eyes.  (John 9:6–7) Now, it is certainly unusual to put clay on a blind man’s eyes because he would become doubly blind! So why did Jesus do that? He was demonstrating to us that all our body parts come from the ground and that be...

MATTHEW 6:19-20 NLT 19 "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. When I was young my family had a wall plaque which said: "Only one life, will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last." 1 CORINTHIANS 3:13 NLT 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. If I buy a vehicle for myself it will last only a few years. Then it will rust, wear out, and break down. But if I buy a vehicle for someone that will enable them to preach the Gospel to more people, the blessing and memory of that purchase will last for eternity.  This is not to say it is wrong to have nice things for ourselves. (For it does not bring glory to God for us to be in lack.) But we should n...

Philippians 4:6 6    Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  You would probably have read this verse before, but would you like to know how to apply it in your everyday life? Let me give you an illustration to help you. Let’s say that you are one of those in your company eligible for a promotion and you will know tomorrow whether you get it. You want the promotion badly because it means more income for your family. So you lie in bed at night tossing and turning. You pray, “Father, please take away all my worries about this promotion. Give me faith.” One hour later, you are more anxious than ever. It seems like God is not answering your prayer! How come? Because you are not doing it God’s way.  Pray like this instead: “Father, I cast all my worries about the promotion into Your loving hands because You care for me and love me.” The Bible tells us to cast all ou...

Deuteronomy 28:5   Blessed Are Your Baskets, Kneading Bowls And Nets! 5“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. In Bible times, reapers carried baskets on their backs to collect the harvest from the fields. They had to ensure that their baskets were strong and sturdy, so that what they collected would not fall out. The women of that day used kneading bowls to knead dough for making bread. If they used poor-quality bowls which broke easily, they would not be able to make bread. So baskets and kneading bowls in those days represented the means by which one got his tangible blessings. Beloved, your Father in heaven does not want you to worry about the means by which you get your blessings. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, He says to you, “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.” This means that if you are a cab driver, your cab will not break down on your rounds because God says to you, “Blessed shall be your cab.” If you are a businessman,...

 Luke 5:4 4  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” God wants to bless you — big-time! It was for this reason that He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” The deep is where you will find a whole lot of fish. You won’t find them near the shore in shallow waters. But to launch out into the deep is to move away from the comfort of the shoreline.  My friend, God wants you to break away from your comfort zone and step out in faith to do what He has put in your heart. It may be something simple, but which you have never done before or only dreamt of, like attending a care group. A church member did just that and found love. Today, she is happily married. Now, our Lord Jesus who said, “Launch out into the deep…” also said, “… let down your nets for a catch.” Notice that He used the plural “nets” and not the singular “net”. Beloved, God wants to give you m...

John 11:41–42 41… And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42And I know that You always hear Me…   After Jesus had said these words, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And the man who had been dead for four days came out of his tomb! This is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus raised him to life. Wouldn’t you agree that death is indeed an extreme problem? Having no money in the bank, being sick and losing your job, bad as they are, are not as bad as being dead! But what I want you to see is this: If Jesus, in the most extreme of problems, shows us that the solution is still, “Father, I thank You,” then how much more should we thank God in the midst of the less serious problems we face.  If thanksgiving can raise the dead, then let us give thanks in spite of the negative circumstances and we will see victory. Unfortunately, we tend to do the oppo...

MARK 11:25 NKJ 25 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. Forgiveness is a choice -- not a feeling. Your feelings may not change while you are praying, but you can choose to forgive at any time. It does not take long to make a choice. How long does it take to forgive? How long can you stand and pray? Jesus never said anything about the person deserving forgiveness. Nor did He say to forgive only after they asked for forgiveness. Anytime you talk to God, Jesus said to forgive if you had anything against anyone. That would include people who hurt you without even realizing they hurt you. Even people who were still trying to hurt you. "Anyone" in this verse includes everyone, no matter what their attitude may be. Why should you forgive them?  Not because they deserve it. But because of the harm it will cause you if you don't forgive. The reason you are t...

 John 16:23 23“… Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Do you always end your prayers with “in Jesus’ name”? Maybe your Sunday school teacher taught you to do this, or maybe you have heard church leaders and other believers utter it at the end of their prayers. I used to say “in Jesus’ name” very quickly as if those were magic words that would get my prayers answered. Then, one day, I heard the Lord asking me why I was doing that. The Lord wanted me to realize that whenever I pray and say “in Jesus’ name”, I am putting my entire faith for my prayer to be answered not in who I am or what I have done, but in the person and name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and what He has done at the cross! Whenever we ask God for anything in Jesus’ name, Jesus says to us, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” This means that in your prayer for healing, when you say “in Jesus’...

MATTHEW 17:20 NKJ 20 So Jesus said to them, . . . if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. While I won't question that what Jesus said is literally true, I think the primary lesson He meant for us to understand is that a mountain is anything standing in our way -- which we would call a problem. Lots of people speak to God about their problems. But not many people speak to their problems and tell them to be gone. It's not wrong to discuss things with God. But that is not all we should do. Jesus spoke to problems and He instructed us to speak to things we want removed from our lives. LUKE 17:6 ESV 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. You may think it's strange to speak to things. But God ...

PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4 NKJ 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Selfishness, not hate, is the opposite of divine love. All the problems in the world today are the result of selfishness. The problems in our governments and with our economies are all the result of selfishness. The problems in our families are the result of selfishness. JAMES 3:16 TEV 16 Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. The answer is for each of us to desire the best for others, even to the point of sacrificing our own benefit to see others blessed. This describes divine love. That's how Jesus lived. His aim was to benefit others, not to please Himself. Jesus suffered so we would not have to suffer. This love is a commandment for all Christian believers. But this commandment ...

Luke 5:9 9For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; As a young Christian, I grew up hearing preachers say that God only supplies our needs, not our wants. Yet, in the Bible, God clearly shows us that He wants to meet not just our needs, but also our wants. For example, the famous “shepherd psalm” begins with “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”. (Psalm 23:1) Another psalm says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34:9–10) One of the names of our God is Jehovah Jireh, which means “the all-providing One”. He provides more than enough. The God of more-than-enough came in the flesh and walked among His people. And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He did not give His disciples small blessings. That is why He said to Peter, “Launch out into the deep and let down your...

Leviticus 2:11 11‘No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire. When I was a young Christian, I heard of an illustration for Psalm 23 about shepherds who sometimes break the legs of sheep which habitually stray, so as to teach them not to stray. That erroneous teaching — “The Lord is my Shepherd, He breaketh my legs” — stuck with me for years, causing me needless fear of God’s punishment when I felt that I had strayed from Him. Such erroneous teachings are what God’s Word refers to as “leaven”. That is why Jesus cautioned His disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6)  The leaven of the Pharisees was their doctrine of legalism, which judges and condemns people who fail to keep God’s laws. The leaven of the Sadducees was their doctrine of humanism, which discounts the supernatural and teaches that ever...

 EPHESIANS 2:8-9 NLT 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. If salvation is based on our performance -- on what we do -- then it is not by grace. Our salvation is based on what Jesus Christ did. Our part is simply to receive the gift!  ROMANS 4:1-4 NLT 1 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God's way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. Salvation cannot be a free gift and also be something we must earn. Either we earn it, or it is a gift. It cannot be a mixt...

ROMANS 16:20 NLT  20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Many don't know it yet, but the New Testament reveals that God has given authority over the devil to all Christians. Therefore we have a responsibility to exercise that authority and stop the devil. Here are some of the verses that make that clear.  LUKE 10:19 NKJ 19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  MARK 16:17 NKJ 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  EPHESIANS 4:27 NKJ 27 nor give place to the devil.  JAMES 4:7 NKJ 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But one verse in the New Testament, Romans 16:20 (see above), seems to give a different message. It seems to say we must wait on God ...

1 Timothy 6:3-12 Amplified Bible (AMP)  3 But if anyone teaches otherwise and does not [a]assent to the sound and wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and the teaching which is in agreement with godliness (piety toward God), 4 He is puffed up with pride and stupefied with conceit, [although he is] woefully ignorant. He has a [b]morbid fondness for controversy and disputes and strife about words, which result in (produce) envy and jealousy, quarrels and dissension, abuse and insults and slander, and base suspicions, 5 And protracted wrangling and wearing discussion and perpetual friction among men who are corrupted in mind and bereft of the truth, who imagine that godliness or righteousness is a [c]source of profit [a moneymaking business, a means of livelihood]. From such withdraw. 6 [And it is, indeed, a source of immense profit, for] godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of [d]inward sufficiency) is great and abund...

God Is Raining Blessings On You Deuteronomy 28:12 12  The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  In the Bible, rain usually speaks of blessings. Even today, Israelis thank God when it rains because they know that when He gives them rain, their blessings will be plentiful. Their cattle will feed in large green pastures and eat cured, winnowed fodder. And when they see rivers and streams of water flowing from their mountains and hills (Isaiah 30:23–25), they know that times of refreshing have come.  Likewise, you can expect God to rain His blessings on you and bless the work of your hands. Then, you will come to a place where you will “lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow”. In fact, Jesus wants you to know that this is a blessing which He died to give you because when He died, He did not even h...

1 THESSALONIANS 4:9  9 But we don't need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. If you want to understand why people do what they do, realize that we are created to need love. It is not just a desire, but a need. If humans are not getting love, they will do whatever they can to try and get it. Many foolish and harmful things are done simply because people are craving love. We want someone to value us, to even delight in us. We are driven by our need for love and acceptance. All of us want to be special to someone. Insecurity is fear -- fear that you are not good enough, that you will not be loved if it is known what you are really like. But God knows everything about you, and He still considers you so valuable that He was willing to die for you! When you KNOW God loves you, lesser opinions are not as important.  1 JOHN 4:18 NLT 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. I...

 Acts 3:20–21 20… that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things... As a believer, you have a right to expect restoration of the things that the devil has stolen from you. It may be your health, marriage or finances, but payback time is definitely coming!  Acts 3:20–21 tells us that before Jesus comes back for His church, we will experience “the times of restoration of all things”. What a hope that gives us, knowing that God will restore to us all things before Jesus returns! My friend, if the devil is attacking you in any area, tell God, “Father, I will not allow the devil to rob me of my health, marriage, children or finances. These blessings are blood-bought and paid for by Your Son!” Claim your restoration in Christ and heaven will hear you. There will be such times of restoration of all things to the body of Christ that His people will only get better, stronger, healthier...

 LUKE 8:50 KJV 50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. The KJV Bible tells us 63 times to "fear not," and 31 times to "be not afraid" or "not be afraid." Obviously, God is trying to tell us something! If it makes no difference whether we fear, or not, then God wasted a lot of time in Scripture telling us to not be afraid. Fear is the absence of faith. It can be understood as faith in the devil. Fear is the opposite of believing and trusting in God. Fear stops faith from working. You could say that fear is faith in reverse. Fear is the cause of all worry, for worry is meditation on fear. Some may think some fear is healthy, but no true fear is good. We don't have to fear something to have a healthy respect for it, and thus to act wisely. Fear makes people do irrational things. Reverence for God, sometimes called the "fear of God" is healthy, but it has nothing to do ...

1 PETER 5:6-7 NET 6 And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand 7 by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you. Worry is associated with pride, as these verses reveal, for being humble is the opposite of pride. And pride will, sooner or later, cause you to fail, instead of lifting you up. A person who worries is proud because their action shows they think they are better and more compassionate than God. When you analyze it, the thinking behind worry is really "God is not doing a good enough job taking care of me, so I better take over and figure something out on my own." Pride makes us think we can handle things on our own -- apart from God. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing -- at least nothing that amounts to anything. (We certainly can mess up all by ourselves.) One way to humble ourselves is to just put our lives in God's hands and trust Him. It's like getting in a car someone else is drivin...

 Matthew 18:21 21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”  Peter asked the Lord how often he should forgive his brother. The Lord’s answer to him was simple: Up to 70 times seven times. (Matthew 18:22)  In other words, all the time! “Well,  he does not deserve my forgiveness.” Neither did you deserve God’s forgiveness. There is not a single person alive or dead who did not break all 10 of God’s commandments. There is no such thing as a “partial sinner” or “great sinner”. All of us were great sinners when Jesus saved us. And when we realize that we are forgiven much, we will love much. (Luke 7:47)  But how can you say that I have broken all of God’s commandments? I have never committed adultery.” My friend, Jesus said, “If you lust after a woman in your heart, you have already committed adultery with her.” (Matthew 5:28) That is God’s standard. Man looks outward, but...

Ephesians 6 :10-20 The Whole Armor of God  10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Wi...

MATTHEW 7:7-8 NIV  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. In Matthew 15:22-28 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.  T...