THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

  MATTHEW 17:20 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 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 created this world and He k...

 HEBREWS 3:13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. Sin advertises that it will bring happiness, but fails to deliver. Deception's story is that going God's way is too restrictive -- too hard -- and won't lead to happiness. So sin tells you to throw off restraint and live for the moment -- do whatever feels right to you with no thought for the future. The only problem is that it does not work! Sin's promises are empty. All sin hurts people. So all sin will (eventually) make someone miserable. Can you make yourself happy by making others miserable? No! It may seem to work for awhile, but in the end it fails. Don't be deceived! You cannot make yourself happy by hurting people. Instead of happiness, sin actually pays out in death. ROMANS 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Whate...

EPHESIANS 4:25  So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.  People lie because of fear of loss or pain. They are afraid if they always tell the truth, things might go badly for them. So people lie to try to obtain a better result for themselves. But lies can take you only so far. Truth always prevails in the end. So a lie that was done in an attempt to help you, will always end up eventually hurting you instead. Some might argue that sometimes lies are used to avoid hurting other's feelings. Like when someone asks, "Do I look old or fat?" and you tell them "No!" because you want them to feel good about themselves. But actually you don't want them to think badly of you for telling them the truth. I would never suggest that you say anything to put anyone down and make them feel bad. But you don't have to respond directly to that type of question, either. Instead you could answer with somethi...

Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Have you heard the voice of your conscience saying things like, “You deserve hell for the sins you committed against your wife three years ago” or “Why are you surprised that your child is not talking to you? You were never around when he needed you”? You know, there are people who feel depressed all the time because of a sense of guilt, and they “pay” for their sins in terms of illnesses. In fact, doctors are discovering that many psychosomatic sicknesses are caused by guilt and condemnation because the conscience is saying, “You have done wrong. You must be punished. How can your sin not be punished?” That is why you must have an answer that will satisfy your conscience. When your conscience says, “You have sinned. You must be punished for this sin or else God is not a just God,” you say...

MATTHEW 23:8-11  "Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. 9 And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. 10 And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. These verses can seem perplexing. Yet they contain some important truths. The first is that in the Kingdom of God we are all siblings -- all on the same level. (Jesus did not specifically address gender in this passage, but it fits in perfectly. Any attempt to classify women as inferior or second-class in any way goes against the spirit of what Jesus said in this passage. And Galatians 3:28 certainly backs up this idea.)  Jesus is not telling us it is wrong to acknowledge we have an earthly parent called a father. For the Bible tells us to honor our father and mother. He ...

 Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Imagine meeting the new politician who is to represent your district or neighborhood only to discover that he is not familiar with your neighborhood’s needs and problems. You will wonder, “Can this guy really represent us? Does he know anything about our living conditions? Is he familiar with the various challenges that families here are facing? Can he help me get my child into one of the schools here?” I am sure that you would prefer someone who truly understands your challenges to represent you! In the same way, I am so glad that right now at the Father’s right hand, we have someone who came as a Man to redeem us, and who fully understands what man goes through. When Jesus walked on earth, He went through every human emotion so that He could identify with us in all points. Jesus is God, but He is in the Father’s presence as a...

1 JOHN 4:8 The person who doesn't love does not know God, because God is love.  The Bible reveals that God is Love, and that Love is at war. 1 JOHN 3:8b God's Son appeared for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.  Why is Love at war, and against whom? Love lost something very precious when Adam and Eve rebelled and followed satan. Their hearts and minds were captured by lies. Love is not warring against people, but against selfishness, hatred, fear, and ignorance. If Love went to war, how would Love fight? Love wages war not by destroying its enemies, but by winning them over, converting them to Truth. Love never harms those it takes captive. When Love wins a battle, there are no casualties, only winners. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5  Our weapons that we fight with aren't human, but instead they are powered by God for the destruction of fortresses. They destroy arguments, 5 and every defense that is raised up to oppose the knowledge of God. They capt...

1 PETER 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Don't run around spiritually naked! Clothe yourself with humility! Humility will protect you, just as clothing protects your body. Without humility you are exposed and vulnerable. Without being clothed with humility, you risk embarrassment. Humility will keep you from the mistakes of pride. What is humility? Humility is an attitude, a way of thinking. It is remembering that you only know in part. True humility is not putting yourself down, but simply seeing yourself as the Bible says you are. "I am what I am by the grace of God." Everything you have is a gift from God. So without Him, you can do NOTHING! Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride is the wrong estimation of yourself, and of others. It is forgetting that others are very importa...

1 John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  John points out the most obvious thing in Christianity: If we love God and know Him, it ought to show up in the way that we love others! John then points out that no one has seen God, but when God lives in us and we choose to love one another, His love is made complete! A visual image I get out of this passage is of two very important wires that are both absolutely necessary t...

 EPHESIANS 4:13-15 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children . . . . 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,  Ultimately, God plans for you to grow up in every way into being like Jesus Christ. But no one is born mature and fully developed -- either physically or spiritually. When we receive Jesus Christ, His life enters our inner being, causing us to be born again as a child of God (John 3:3). We enter God's family by pure grace, not because of any effort or virtue of our own. The moment we are born again, we have all the rights and privileges purchased for us by the death of our wonderful Lord, Jesus Christ. But we have to learn who we are, what is ours, and how to walk in it. We must learn to use the authority God has given us. (The only...

LUKE 6:45 A good man has stored up good things in his heart, so he says good things. A bad man has stored up wrong things in his heart, so he will say wrong things. The mouth will say what is in the heart.' What you say locates you. When you speak freely, you expose (to yourself and others) what you actually believe. You may have told others -- or even yourself -- that you are walking in faith, but what your mouth says locates you and exposes what is really in your heart. Jesus responded to the religious right of the day with this:  Matthew 12:34  Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  If you speak words of doubt, you are not strong in faith. If you speak words of hate and criticism, you are not strong in love. You cannot see what is in another person's heart. But if you listen to their conversation you will know what is in their heart. Obviously, this only works when they let ...

ROMANS 8:29 NIV  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  Just having people go to Heaven is not God's only interest. God is working to make us like Jesus. In fact, God has determined that we will be like Jesus, when we grow up.  EPHESIANS 4:15 NLT  Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. God is raising a family, causing us to mature and grow up into being like Jesus Christ. Too many people think they just need to get "saved" or born again, and then they can just go on living without giving much thought to God, while they wait to die and go to Heaven.  No! God desires to be involved with every minute of your life. The Gospel is not just about going to Heaven. It includes the privilege of knowing and walking with our Creator every day. God wants to...

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.  If you will accept it and believe it, here is a promise of Jesus that will protect you from everything harmful. The choice is yours. You can choose to believe it, and allow God to bring it to pass in your life. Or, you can refuse to believe it, live in doubt, and shut the door on what God desires in your life.  Someone might say, "But I just had an accident and my finger was cut off and it really hurt me." No, the real you, is still intact. The real you is not really harmed. For the real you is not your body. The real you is the person who lives in your body. So even if you were killed because of your testimony for Jesus Christ, the promise would still be true: it would not hurt YOU. You would simply be promoted to Heaven to be with Jesus.  (It would be wrong to limit the promise of Luke 1...

JOHN 10:10 NKJ 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  Bad things happen to people because the devil is out to steal, kill, and destroy everyone. So unless humans understand and appropriate the redemption accomplished for them by Jesus Christ, and resist the devil's thoughts and works, bad things will happen.  God cannot be blamed for any bad thing that happens, because He has provided a way all people can be protected from the devil's attacks. It is like we were drowning and God has thrown us a life preserver, but if we choose not to receive His life preserver and use it, then we cannot blame God if we drown. We can learn from observing the life of Jesus Christ, who was Heaven's perfect representative, that bad things do not come from God. Jesus fed the multitudes, healed the sick, rebuked deadly storms, and loved people. Not once did He ...