Greetings gospel followers, curiosity seekers, & those who are just plain bored & needing something to read! :) All are welcome. My title is 3-fold today....first I am feeling "up" after consulting recent stats re. readership of my blog, which I have sadly neglected. I am glad my readers are more faithful than I have been, but I hope to have a more definitive time of blogging soon. It would be neat if you all would sign on as followers, but I can appreciate your privacy as well. No worries there. My goal is to be a beacon of light in some small way.
I am also "up" because good things have been happening lately...little good things, nevertheless a lot of them all at once. I share this as an encouragement to all who wander by here in re. to prayer. I recently asked a trusted few folks to pray...without telling them what I wanted prayer for except that it was really important. Most of my reason for that was privacy, however one day soon I will tell them what exactly they were praying for. At any rate, never ever doubt the POWER of the prayers of the believer. Whether they are short or long, no matter what language they come in, there is a power there not because of the person praying....but because of the person of Jesus who inhabits the prayers of his people & is ever an advocate with the father on behalf of his people. Someone once told me that God honors prayers uttered after a matter has been resolved....because...the Lord knows all things & has already deposited that prayer to the account of the person needing it before it was said. When prayers are said for me, even though I may not have the words to pray for myself, I pray for those who are praying for me. This is just a personal thing of mine that I feel strongly about.
Finally, I am "up" because as I was feeling those prayers in the little victories of my days & seeing the interesting ways Jesus showed up to remind me he was right there with me, I was studying the topic of GRACE. We all pretty much know what grace is in general terms, but I have discovered that there is a lot more to be learned if we wish to really walk in the grace that has come to us through the sacrifice of Christ. Many of us live under the "law" of the pre-Christ era, not seeing the freedom from condemnation there is in grace. The law has & had a purpose-it was to deal with sin, but when Christ paid the price for sin it became that which reminds us of what sin is but no longer something that condemns-the payment for sin was made at the cross-all sin-forever. Payment in the OT was in the form of sacrifice...when Jesus came, he made the sacrifice! Grace is NOT a license to sin, it IS freedom from condemnation! We do not have a list of do's & don'ts in Christianity -that is found in religious doctrines that are man made. When we don't live under a cloud of judgement for our sins we have peace, power, & victory over sin, satan, and problems. It occurred to me that remembering this when tempted to accuse someone of sin might help us out a bit-if Jesus doesn't condemn us, who are we to condemn each other? Actually, in reality, if we do become an accuser of the brethren our power in Jesus goes right out the window. Remember, satan came to rob, kill, & destroy and if you let him use you as his mouthpiece your peace & power will be zapped! Human nature (our sin nature) is to dredge stuff up & pitch it at folks when we aren't happy with them. The Holy Spirit in us & others can be quenched by judgements we should not be making! Pray for those you sense have no peace & live in a haze of judgement day to day.
Think about grace & the law this way-before Christ came the commandments were what told people what they should & should not do & there was a system of laws in place to deal with sin which involved sacrifice from the blood sacrifice of animals to the blood sacrifice of man (in the form of things such as stoning a person). This is a very simplified explanation. After Christ came the sacrifice part was over & the commandments still pointed to what is sinful, yes, however our job now is to not live under a shadow of condemnation feeling we always have to pay what Jesus already paid or we deserve less due to sin. If we are aware of the enormity of grace our propensity to sin will be greatly diminished and our freedom from feeling condemned will enhance the power of Jesus in our life. Again, this is somewhat of a simple explanation but once that realization really settles in the light bulb goes on & we start experiencing a peace we can't have when satan is beating us down with reminders of our failures. Life is easier to understand & live when things aren't going so well because we have an inner strength that really almost defies explanation.
Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (RSV) If you read Paul's entire letter to the Romans, chapter by chapter, verse by verse you will find distinct understanding about the law & grace often we zip over without really digesting the meaning of his words.
2 Cor. 12:9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (RSV) Think about it...there is POWER perfected when we, realizing our total inability,
embrace the GRACE of Christ!
James 5:16 (RSV) tells us "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."
1 Thess.5:17 (RSV) "pray constantly"...as simple as that! Paul also reminds us here to rejoice, be thankful, not to quench the spirit, not to despise prophesying...to test things, hold fast to the good & abstain from evil.
Read your Bible with attention to the verses surrounding any one verse, and when in doubt look up Hebrew or Greek meanings...if you have a computer, it is easy to do! :) Oh, look! You are reading this on a computer! Google word meanings-expand your understanding. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. It requires interaction with our beloved for maximum outcome! Have fun...enjoy the journey...we, not the pastor, are responsible for understanding the word of God. Because we can tend toward laziness in this, many who pervert the gospel have taken advantage and fed us a weak or different gospel!
Until next time, be blessed with his grace, walk in his power, and seek all of his truth! If you find anything on the blog that would help someone you know please refer them here. It's purpose is to encourage, inspire, & empower by pointing folks to the Word of God and stirring up the thought process with regard to him and the scriptures. I don't spend a lot of time proofing these entries so please forgive any errors in grammer, punctuation, etc.
I am also "up" because good things have been happening lately...little good things, nevertheless a lot of them all at once. I share this as an encouragement to all who wander by here in re. to prayer. I recently asked a trusted few folks to pray...without telling them what I wanted prayer for except that it was really important. Most of my reason for that was privacy, however one day soon I will tell them what exactly they were praying for. At any rate, never ever doubt the POWER of the prayers of the believer. Whether they are short or long, no matter what language they come in, there is a power there not because of the person praying....but because of the person of Jesus who inhabits the prayers of his people & is ever an advocate with the father on behalf of his people. Someone once told me that God honors prayers uttered after a matter has been resolved....because...the Lord knows all things & has already deposited that prayer to the account of the person needing it before it was said. When prayers are said for me, even though I may not have the words to pray for myself, I pray for those who are praying for me. This is just a personal thing of mine that I feel strongly about.
Finally, I am "up" because as I was feeling those prayers in the little victories of my days & seeing the interesting ways Jesus showed up to remind me he was right there with me, I was studying the topic of GRACE. We all pretty much know what grace is in general terms, but I have discovered that there is a lot more to be learned if we wish to really walk in the grace that has come to us through the sacrifice of Christ. Many of us live under the "law" of the pre-Christ era, not seeing the freedom from condemnation there is in grace. The law has & had a purpose-it was to deal with sin, but when Christ paid the price for sin it became that which reminds us of what sin is but no longer something that condemns-the payment for sin was made at the cross-all sin-forever. Payment in the OT was in the form of sacrifice...when Jesus came, he made the sacrifice! Grace is NOT a license to sin, it IS freedom from condemnation! We do not have a list of do's & don'ts in Christianity -that is found in religious doctrines that are man made. When we don't live under a cloud of judgement for our sins we have peace, power, & victory over sin, satan, and problems. It occurred to me that remembering this when tempted to accuse someone of sin might help us out a bit-if Jesus doesn't condemn us, who are we to condemn each other? Actually, in reality, if we do become an accuser of the brethren our power in Jesus goes right out the window. Remember, satan came to rob, kill, & destroy and if you let him use you as his mouthpiece your peace & power will be zapped! Human nature (our sin nature) is to dredge stuff up & pitch it at folks when we aren't happy with them. The Holy Spirit in us & others can be quenched by judgements we should not be making! Pray for those you sense have no peace & live in a haze of judgement day to day.
Think about grace & the law this way-before Christ came the commandments were what told people what they should & should not do & there was a system of laws in place to deal with sin which involved sacrifice from the blood sacrifice of animals to the blood sacrifice of man (in the form of things such as stoning a person). This is a very simplified explanation. After Christ came the sacrifice part was over & the commandments still pointed to what is sinful, yes, however our job now is to not live under a shadow of condemnation feeling we always have to pay what Jesus already paid or we deserve less due to sin. If we are aware of the enormity of grace our propensity to sin will be greatly diminished and our freedom from feeling condemned will enhance the power of Jesus in our life. Again, this is somewhat of a simple explanation but once that realization really settles in the light bulb goes on & we start experiencing a peace we can't have when satan is beating us down with reminders of our failures. Life is easier to understand & live when things aren't going so well because we have an inner strength that really almost defies explanation.
Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (RSV) If you read Paul's entire letter to the Romans, chapter by chapter, verse by verse you will find distinct understanding about the law & grace often we zip over without really digesting the meaning of his words.
2 Cor. 12:9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (RSV) Think about it...there is POWER perfected when we, realizing our total inability,
embrace the GRACE of Christ!
James 5:16 (RSV) tells us "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects."
1 Thess.5:17 (RSV) "pray constantly"...as simple as that! Paul also reminds us here to rejoice, be thankful, not to quench the spirit, not to despise prophesying...to test things, hold fast to the good & abstain from evil.
Read your Bible with attention to the verses surrounding any one verse, and when in doubt look up Hebrew or Greek meanings...if you have a computer, it is easy to do! :) Oh, look! You are reading this on a computer! Google word meanings-expand your understanding. Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. It requires interaction with our beloved for maximum outcome! Have fun...enjoy the journey...we, not the pastor, are responsible for understanding the word of God. Because we can tend toward laziness in this, many who pervert the gospel have taken advantage and fed us a weak or different gospel!
Until next time, be blessed with his grace, walk in his power, and seek all of his truth! If you find anything on the blog that would help someone you know please refer them here. It's purpose is to encourage, inspire, & empower by pointing folks to the Word of God and stirring up the thought process with regard to him and the scriptures. I don't spend a lot of time proofing these entries so please forgive any errors in grammer, punctuation, etc.
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