THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

JAMES 3:9-10 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. It seems that respect has gone out of style. But God's unchanging Word teaches us to treat people with respect. Not agreeing with someone is no reason to treat them disrespectfully. Just because they are wrong does not make them unworthy of respect. By His death for them, Jesus showed us He considers people valuable and precious. So, we should not treat people as insignificant or worthless. Disrespecting people is actually disrespecting God who created them. God considers this so vital for wives, He gave a specific command to respect their husband. EPHESIANS 5:33  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.Certainly, we should respect all people, but Scripture gives special emphasis to wives re...

ACTS 20:32 "And now I entrust you to God and the word of his grace--his message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.  Many shy away from the Bible because they think it's just a bunch of rules to keep them from enjoying life. Although many have misused the Bible -- to tear people down, its true purpose is to build people up. Tradition makes us think a good sermon should "skin 'em alive" and make the listeners feel guilty. But God is on your side and He loves you. So He gave you His Word for your benefit, to build you up and give you things -- not to take anything good away from you. Certainly God's Word can, and will, correct you. But primarily, if you understand it correctly, the Word will build you up -- not beat you down and make you feel guilty. Yes, there are passages in the Bible that will not encourage you. They are needful at certain times for certain people who need to be ...

Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? Do you have a problem believing that the moment a sinner receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he is saved? I believe that you will say, “No.” Let me then ask you which is harder for God (though in reality, we know that nothing is hard for God): To save a soul from hell or heal a sick body? Of course, it is “harder” to save a soul from hell because God had to send His Son to the cross. So if God has already given you the greatest miracle that you can ever receive, which is to pluck you out of the clutches of eternal damnation and give you eternal life, what is healing your body, saving your marriage, turning your rebellious teenage son around or giving you that business deal to Him? Therefore, don’t think that when you come to God with a headache, He says, “No problem,” but should you come to Him with cancer, He says, “Cancer? Wow! Not that easy. This is more problematic...

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. You are probably a responsible person who is concerned about providing well for your family—making sure that there is food on the table, money for the children’s needs, comfort and education, and so on. What does God have to say to us about these legitimate concerns? According to Matthew 6:31, He tells us, “Do not worry.” Now, He is not saying that we don’t need all these things because in the same portion of scripture He says, “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:32) So God cares about us having these things. He wants us to have all these things. In fact, He wants all these things added to us. And He tells us that the way these things are added to us is by us seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Therefore, our number one priority every day is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is not to ...

 1 THESSALONIANS 5:18  Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do. There are many things in life we may not understand. But we can understand this verse, and know that God gave these instructions for our benefit, to help us -- not because God is so insecure that He needs constant thanks. When bad things happen, what should we do? Will it help to gripe and complain and feel sorry for ourselves? No. That only makes things worse. When bad things happen they seem to contradict belief in the goodness and care of God. But we must remember that there is an enemy, the devil, who is out to steal our faith, our peace, and our joy. We are commanded in Scripture to resist him, staying strong in our faith. Giving thanks is a powerful way to resist the devil. Even when we do not understand, and it seems like things are out of control and going downhill fast -- we should force ourselves to stay in faith and be thankful. (I...

  Fortunately for us, God is not motivated or moved or controlled by His feelings. But that does not mean God has no feelings. We are made in His image, in His likeness. Just as we have feelings, and can be hurt, God also has feelings, as the following verses show.  GENESIS 6:6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. EPHESIANS 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. It is inevitable in human relationships that there will be misunderstandings and hurts. When we are hurt, the natural response is to strike back, to retaliate so they will know we are hurt, and they will also hurt. (Doing that, we hurt not only the other person -- but God Himself. Just as a human parent is upset when they see their child acting badly, God is hurt when we act badly.) But the way of God is different. God's command to us is to walk in divine love.  JOHN 13:34  "A new co...