THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

JOHN 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you…  In Israel, Jews greet each other with the words “shalom, shalom”. Unlike the English word “peace”, “shalom” does not just mean peace of mind, but also wholeness for your entire being—spirit, soul and body. It means having a sense of completeness and soundness. In other words, shalom encompasses your provision, health, safety and total well-being. When Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 14:27, He did not use the English word “peace”. He would have used the Hebrew word “shalom”, saying, “Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you…” Interestingly, the word “leave” here actually means “bequeath”, the way a rich man bequeaths his estate to his beneficiary. The disciples must have been excited when they heard that Jesus was bequeathing them His shalom. They must have known that to receive His shalom was to have His health because they had never seen Him sick. To have His s...

 ROMANS 5:1 NLT  Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. God offers righteousness as a free gift to everyone who receives the Lord Jesus Christ.  Righteousness means right-wise-ness, or being right. So righteousness is right standing, or good standing with God. It does not mean human "perfection." Righteousness is a gift from God -- not something you can earn or achieve. God simply declares that you are innocent, as far as He is concerned, because you believe in Jesus, and that makes you righteous.  1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NKJ 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God -- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption  You ARE righteous if Jesus is your Lord. In fact, Jesus IS your righteousness. As a believer in Jesus, you will never be more righteous -- no matter what you do. Romans 3:10 is a well known verse on this...

Isaiah 28:11–12 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”...  To counter stress, many people resort to tobacco, alcohol or tranquilizers. These things, besides having harmful side effects, are costly and often lead to addictions. God has something better for us. It is powerful, costs us nothing and has no harmful side effects. He calls it “the rest” and “the refreshing”. What is He referring to? Speaking in tongues—“For with stammering lips and another tongue…” One of our church members was on medication for nine long years for a host of problems: severe depression, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, chronic sinusitis, gastritis and panic attacks. Every day, he had to take up to 30 tablets to keep these conditions under control. He suffered from such bad sinusitis that he had to visit the hospital regularly to drain the mucus. He could no...

The answer to this question is that you should ask until you get the answer. When you believe you have the answer, it would be silly to ask again. But how should you determine when you get the answer? What evidence will you require to believe you have the answer? What will God have to do before you will believe He has granted your request? Will God need to send an angel to tell you your request is granted? Will you have to wait until all the circumstances change and everyone sees the answer show up in your life? Or, will you simply accept God's Word as sufficient evidence to believe God has granted your request?  Jesus said in Mark 11:24 that we are to believe we receive the answer when we pray. The key to receiving from God is not long praying, but faith. What we believe is what makes the difference. God gave us the Bible to change what we believe, so we could know His will, pray in agreement with His will, and therefore have confidence that our requests are granted. ...

 Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Some Christians mistakenly believe that God gives and also takes away. At funerals, we sometimes hear the minister say, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” I remember an occasion when I was looking at a baby who was suffering from cancer. I heard one of his family members comment, “You can’t be sure what God’s will is. He may or may not heal.” What that person meant was that although the Lord had given the parents this baby, He might later take the baby away from them.  Job displayed this very same attitude when he received the news that he had lost his property and children. Thinking that God was the source of his problems and not knowing that it was actually Satan who had come against him, he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the ...

 Mark 8:29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”  Do you know that how you see Jesus determines what you receive from Him? If you see Jesus as your healer, you will receive healing. If you see Jesus as your refuge and fortress, you will receive protection. The people of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, saw Jesus in the natural. They said of Him, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55–56) They saw Jesus in the natural. They did not see Him as God in the flesh. As a result, He could not do many mighty works there. (Matthew 13:58) Today, many people, including some philosophers, see Jesus of Nazareth as a good person who led an exemplary life. They feel that if all of us could live our lives like Him, the world would be a better place. They don’t see Jesus as the bread of God who...

Luke 7:13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”  My friend, there is no trial, difficulty or challenge we face today that our Lord Jesus cannot identify with. The moment we experience a trial, right there and then, because He “was in all points tempted as we are” (Hebrews 4:15), He feels it too and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus’ compassion for you is the same compassion He felt for the widow at Nain when He saw the dead body of her only son being carried out of the city gate to be buried. (Luke 7:11–15) It must have been terrible for her to experience the death of her only son after having already experienced the death of her husband. What a horrible thought to be left all alone in the world with no means of support! When Jesus saw her, He was moved with compassion and said to her, “Do not weep.” Now, some religious leaders might also be moved to approach her, but only to say, “Look sister, something is terribly ...