THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?... Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not. Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving. But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So ...

COLOSSIANS 3:15 (AMP)  And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. God has revealed His will to us in many areas through His written Word, the Bible. But there are many things the Bible does not specifically tell us, such as what person to marry, what job to do, or where to live. (While the Bible gives us some principles, it does not tell us individually and specifically what to do in these types of things.) But God has made provision to guide us in these areas of life also. The peace of God is the umpire to determine our direction. Understanding the "peace of God" (which I also identify as the "inner witness") can sometimes seem difficult. Inexperienced b...

ROMANS 5:18 Yes, Adam's one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Gospel means good news. It was not originally a religious word, but meant good news which makes people happy and excited. If what you have heard about Jesus Christ does not make you happy and excited, then you have not yet truly heard and understood the Gospel as it is meant to be understood. The basic outline is that Jesus of Nazareth, who was God in a human body, took your place in judgment, paying the penalty for all your sins, and gave you the blessing He deserved because of His perfect sinless life. God, the Creator, and Sustainer of the universe, loves you enough to die for you.Even if you were the ONLY person on earth! That's good news! Jesus took what you deserved, and gave you what He deserved! That's good news! And this is not limited to just you. Jesus died for all mankind. De...

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. Whatever you face, Jesus Christ has already faced it. Jesus knows what it is like: to be hungry to be tired to be lonely to be hurt to be hated to be beaten to be persecuted to be misunderstood to be mistreated to be mocked and laughed at to be betrayed by a friend to be tempted to sin to be responsible for employees to feel forsaken to feel hopeless to have no spouse to have no earthly father there to help to have lost a loved one to have to pay taxes to have money stolen from you to have the responsibility to provide for a family to live under an oppressive government to experience extreme pain  HEBREWS 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Don't be afraid to talk to Jesus about anything. Not only does He understand, but He knows ho...

ROMANS 12:19  Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the LORD. When people do us wrong, not taking revenge is difficult. It seems natural to fight back when someone attacks us. But the Bible tells us to let God judge them. This is not saying you should never defend yourself, or what belongs to you. But do not seek revenge after you have been wronged. Instead, let God handle it. People who try to take revenge, usually end up committing more injustice. Often a deadly cycle develops. Instead of taking revenge, God's Word tells us to bless our enemies. PROVERBS 25:21  If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; MATTHEW 5:44  "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, God is aware of...

ACTS 20:24  "But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Some believers are tempted to give up on their faith in God whenever the least thing seems to go wrong in their lives. The apostle Paul suffered many things: beatings, stoning, and shipwreck -- yet he called them "light afflictions." 2 CORINTHIANS 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9  We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -- We are in a battle for the hearts and souls of men. The devil is against us. While we know our victory is sure, we should not expect to never face obstacles or difficulties. 2 TIMOTHY 2:3  ...

Sorry, you have it backward. God is trying to get you to do what He wants, because His way is perfect, and yours is not. PSALM 18:30  As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. You don't need to get God to do anything. God knows what to do. You are the one who does not know what to do. Imagine a two year old child telling his parents what they should be doing. It is even more crazy to think we know more than God about what is best for us, and that we need to tell Him what to do. This attitude indicates immaturity. If we were so good at figuring out things, we should be running the universe instead of God. But look at what our decisions have produced -- a mess. What we need is new management, not just to get God to do something for us. Even if we were to get God to do what we think He should do for us, would it really fix our life? For example, many people think getting a lot of money would solve every prob...

Colossians 2:10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. When you look at yourself, what do you see? Do you see someone who is imperfect and lacking in many areas, or someone who is whole and complete in Christ? There are believers who see themselves as incomplete. This is because they are conscious of their lack and imperfections.They say, “There are so many things imperfect about me! How can I be complete if there are so many things I am lacking in?” They see their weaknesses, condemn themselves and feel inferior to others. The good news is that God does not see the way man sees. Man sees the flesh. God sees the spirit. He sees us already complete in Christ. In spite of our imperfections, He sees us as new creations, partakers of His divine nature and more than conquerors over our faults. And He wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us. What we think we need or are lacking in, whether it is godly character traits or physical health, ...

EPHESIANS 2:8-9God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Being saved, and in right standing with God, is a gift! It is something we don't deserve, but is freely given to us anyway. We cannot earn it no matter what we do. Deliverance from the curse, and right standing with God, is available only as a free gift. ROMANS 11:6  But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. It is not what we have done that matters, but what Jesus did for us. He was our Substitute, suffering what we deserved, so we could receive what He deserved as a gift. God Himself has done what is necessary for us to be saved and be in right standing with Him. Now we must believe in what God has done, and thank Him for it. ROMANS 4:5  But people are counted as righteous, not because of...

 1 CORINTHIANS 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am.... ROMANS 12:2 And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of God, the good and well-pleasing and complete will, and having found that it meets specifications, place your approval upon it. God is a brilliant Creator. He only makes originals -- not copies. According to Ephesians 2:10, you are God's work of art. God made you unique. So be all that God created you to be. Don't try to be someone else. Don't try to be an ear in the Body of Christ, if God made you a foot. Just be yourself. This does not mean that you cannot improve, or grow. Growth is part of God's plan. And we can certainl...

Matthew 15:27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Come as you are to the Lord with your need, and lean on His unfailing and unconditional love for you. You don’t have to pretend to be more than what you are to receive the blessing you need from God. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else to appear more deserving to receive from God. A Canaanite woman desperately seeking healing for her demon-possessed daughter came to Jesus. (Matthew 15:22–28) Knowing that He healed and did miracles among the Jews, she pretended to be a Jew, calling out, “O Lord, Son of David!” (Only the Jews addressed Jesus as the “Son of David”.) Jesus did not answer her. His silence made her drop her pretense and cry out, “Lord, help me!” Only when her pretenses had melted away did she see the grace of God extended to her. Jesus made a way for her to receive her miracle even though it was not yet time for the Gentiles to recei...

PROVERBS 22:4  By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility does not think it is better than anyone else. "I am what I am by the grace of God." 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."  A humble person is one who follows God's instructions, instead of leaning to their own understanding. Being a humble person does not mean being a loser. A humble person is one who has the proper relationship to God and grasps reality, which is: without God, we can do nothing. Humility will cause a person to remember their need to pray. A humble person is one who prefers to suffer wrong rather than do wrong. Pride will bring you low. Humility will cause God to exalt you. LUKE 14:11  "For whoever exalts himself will be abase...

PROVERBS 16:2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives.  Motives are important to God. God is interested in WHY we do things, not just in WHAT we do. Why do you do what you do? Is it to help others? To please God? Or do you live focused totally on yourself? These questions are important to ask ourselves. As First Corinthians 11:31 says, "if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." However, we must use caution when trying to judge other people. We don't know their motives. PROVERBS 21:2  We can justify our every deed, but God looks at our motives.  We often justify ourselves, but judge others harshly. We may judge ourselves based on our good intentions, but we are only capable of judging others by their actions. So, we must be very cautious about judging others in a condemning way. 1 CORINTHIANS 4:5  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is ...

JAMES 5:13  Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. The Greek word translated as trouble in this verse means to suffer trouble, be afflicted, or to endure hardship or evil. The best thing anyone facing trouble can do is pray. You don't have to know how, just pour out your heart to God and discuss the situation with Him. We are tempted to do many other things: cry, complain, criticize others -- but Scripture says we should pray when we face tough problems. Notice it does not say you should ask everyone else to pray for you. It says you should pray. There is nothing wrong with having other people pray for you. But there is something wrong with expecting others to pray, while you never pray. By praying, we do not mean begging God for help. God loves you, and always desires to assist you. What is needed is not twisting God's arm to get Him to help. Usually a part of the answer is God getting us quiet enough for l...

Exodus 13:21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. When the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, God led them by going before them in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. By day, God spread the pillar of cloud as a covering over His people in the desert to prevent the scorching sun from striking them down. The people were shaded and kept cool. Today, you are also under His covering. He will not allow you to be struck down (Psalm 121:3–8), nor be oppressed by the “heat” of the day. (Isaiah 54:14) At night, when the desert became dark and cold, God gave His people the pillar of fire to light the way for them, as well as to keep them warm and safe. Today, as you walk with God, you will not be overwhelmed by the cold, dark places in life because God’s Word says, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the n...

James 5:13-16 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. As James concludes, he shares several essentials that he wants followers of Christ to remember as they live in community together. First of all, if you are in trouble, pray! Most of us don't have a problem with this one. Even atheists pray when in trouble. In fact, many of us will even exclude God from most of our daily living but seek Him out in an urgent sort of way if a problem occurs. It is almost as if we are saying: "God, I don't really need...