THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

EPHESIANS 3:18-19  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  How can words describe, or humans fully understand, something that is as deep as God Himself? God's love is greater than words have the ability to communicate. It is impossible to put into language. How can you explain the unexplainable? How can you know something that is beyond the ability of human knowledge to comprehend? You would have to be God Himself to fully understand why He loves you the way He does. Don't expect to ever understand it. But you can accept it. You can believe it. You can experience it and enjoy it. God's love for you was demonstrated in redemption. God took your place and suffered what you deserved, so you co...

1 TIMOTHY 2:1-2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,  for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.  Believers have a responsibility to pray for their leaders. If you live in a country where you have the privilege of voting on your leaders, then you need to take that responsibility seriously, be informed and vote as the Lord directs you. Don't allow yourself to be swayed by the emotional tactics used in political campaigns, or vote based on your selfish interests. Vote as you believe the Lord would have you to vote. Vote for godly leadership. Vote the Bible!  But don't stop at voting. Pray for public officials, especially those in high office whose decisions affect many people's lives. PROVERBS 29:2 With good men in authority, the people rejoice; but with the wicked in power, they groan.  Father, I pr...

 I JOHN 5:4  for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Yes, we do face difficulties in life, but they only give us an opportunity to trust the Lord and overcome. Without problems we would have nothing to overcome, and thus not be able to receive all the blessings promised to those who do overcome. There are seven promises given to overcomers in the second and third chapters of Revelation. Here is the last one: REVELATION 3:21  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.  As you face the problems of life, keep your eyes on your destination, just as Jesus did. Walk close to God and depend on Him. He will not fail you.  I JOHN 4:4  You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.   I am an ...

1 JOHN 4:4  You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.   There are two vital points in this verse, which is addressed to believers. (If you have not welcomed Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your life -- none of this applies to you until you make that decision.) FIRST, God is IN you -- not far off somewhere. Yes, God is in Heaven -- but that is not the only place He is. By the Holy Spirit, God now has His dwelling place in you! You don't have to "try to reach God." He is right there! What you need to do is to cultivate an awareness of His presence. This, along with communication, is the way to develop a closer relationship with God. Knowing that God lives in you, and that He loves you, should banish all fear from your life. Fear of failure should have no place. Fear of what other people think should not bother you. Fear of problems that may come up should be of no concern. ...

1 CORINTHIANS 3:9 We are only God's coworkers. You are God's garden, not ours; you are God's building, not ours.  We discovered that God's Word is a seed (Luke 8:11). Now we see that the Bible says that we, as believers, are God's garden -- the place where seed is planted. The question for you to consider is: who determines the harvest? God, or you? (The harvest I speak of is the fruit, or result, of the Word of God. The harvest of blessing that God's Word produces in your life.) I suggest that the harvest is mainly controlled by the one who determines what seed is planted. Would you agree?  If wheat seed is planted, it is unreasonable to expect a harvest of corn. If only a few seeds are planted, it is unreasonable to expect a large harvest. Wouldn't you agree? Yes, you are God's field, but He allows you a lot of freedom to choose what will be produced in your life. And the main way you choose is by choosing what seed will be planted in yo...

JOHN 8:31-32  Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  Notice carefully what Jesus actually said. It is not those who "start in the word" or "try the word for awhile" who will be made free. You must continue in Jesus' message -- His Word. It must be His accurate message -- not just someone's idea about it, or religious tradition. Some translations use the word "abide" instead of "continue." Abide means to stay somewhere continually. Either way, the meaning involves staying with it. Note what Jesus said in verse 32, "and you will KNOW the truth . . ." Just hearing truth does not necessarily make you free. You must KNOW it is the truth. When you KNOW something, you will act on it. If you are not acting on something, you do not yet truly KNOW it. You act on what you know. H...

1 Samuel 13:11-12 "When I saw that the men were scattering and that you did not come at the set time and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor. So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offerings."  His own army was frightened and many began to retreat and hide from the enemy. The enemy was assembling to fight and outnumber the Israelites. Saul panics. He offers the burnt offerings to God. Samuel returns and gets angry with Saul for not trusting God and taking matters into his own hands. Why does Samuel get so upset? Two reasons: 1. In Deuteronomy, it was a law that only the priest could offer the burnt offerings in certain times and in certain places. 2. Samuel said that he would surely offer the burnt offerings when he returned and Saul had not waited. In the midst of difficulties and challenges, we can sometimes panic. Our fears get ...

MATTHEW 9:24 KJV  He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. Do others think you are crazy for being a follower of Jesus? Do they think you are too extreme for believing the Bible literally? Well, don't feel lonely. Jesus faced the same type of problems. As we see in Matthew 9:24, sometimes people derided Jesus. They did not just laugh at Him -- they laughed Him to scorn. They made a big deal out of it. It is the same today. When we believe what Jesus said, there may be times when others think we are crazy. They may laugh at us. They may even mock us for believing God's Word. That is nothing new. But why should you let it affect you? Often we are too concerned about what other people think. After all, they are not our Judge. Nor are they our Provider. But God is, and we should care what He thinks.  That was the stance that Jesus took. We must remember that we are not in a popularity contest. Yes, to some ...

 EPHESIANS 6:16  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Isn't it good to know you can withstand whatever the devil throws at you? Although the devil may attack, your faith in God's Word will shield you from being harmed.  1 PETER 5:8-9  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  How do we resist the devil? We resist the devil by refusing to think, speak, or act in accordance with his suggestions and ideas. We choose rather to think, speak, and act in line with God's Word, the Bible. Refusing to accept less than the perfect will of God is resisting the devil. Standing against sin, sickness, poverty, and fear is resisting the devil's plan, which is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10...

1 SAMUEL 2:12  Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD   Eli was a priest of Israel who did not train his sons to obey. Eli's failure to properly train his children affected not only his own family very negatively, but also caused disaster for the nation of Israel. (see 1 Samuel 4:10-11) If children are not trained to respect the word of their parents, they won't properly respect anyone -- including God -- without first experiencing the painful consequences of their actions. How important God considers training children to obey can be seen from the story of Eli and his sons. 1 SAMUEL 3:13 "For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 1 SAMUEL 2:17,22-25  So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD's sight, for they treated the LORD's offerings with contempt. 22 Now Eli was very old, but he was aware ...