GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
In the U.S.A. we just celebrated our Independence from tyranny, over taxation and religious control through monarchical rule. I shudder to think what our founding father’s would think of the current state of the nation with the tax rates and separation of Christianity from public life… but that’s another topic.
I’m writing to you today to tell you a story about my trip to Washington D.C. a couple of summer’s ago. Sara and I took our kids to tour the museums and see the monuments. It was a wonderful experience, I highly recommend it. Given that we’re both artists we were overwhelmed by the art. I have to say, the most memorable part of the trip was not the art, it was seeing Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It’s a beautiful piece of property on the Potomac River.
As the guide led us through his home, we stopped in front of a room in which George held personal meetings. The guide told us that he would have met with people like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and the list goes on.
Apparently he met often with Thomas Jefferson. I don’t remember if the guide actually said this or I imagined it but I remember thinking that they would have sat in this very room to discuss the founding of our nation and the principles recorded in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
My imagination and my pastoral instincts began to take over. I could imagine conversations about freedom and personal liberty and how they were basic human values and rights. I could see them discussing how to structure the government of this new nation in such a way that the people were in charge and could vote to preserve their freedom. I could hear them discussing how difficult it would be to inspire a nation to not only value freedom but properly steward it and do what was necessary to protect it.
They had seen the effects of people’s dependencies on a governing body and they wanted to instill absolute independence in each and every American so this nation would live out its days as a free and sovereign nation.
I began to relate to these conversations as a pastor. As ministers we are to set people free from religion, the power of sin, the fear of death and carnal thinking. We are to encourage them to choose life and not be distracted by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things. We are to inspire people to properly steward the freedom from the law of sin and death we have in Christ so we don’t enter back into the slavery of sin.
This is why I believe the USA was founded on Christian principles, no other god values freedom but the Father of Christ. No other god in all the religions of the planet give people free will.
God the father, maker of Heaven and earth, giver of Christ for the redemption of mankind desires that we live totally free. He created this earth and gave dominion to mankind and said subdue and prosper.
The Declaration of Independence reflects these principles:
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
They recognized the freedom and the authority given to mankind by God over creation and wanted to structure a nation in which we could live out those God given freedoms.
Unfortunately this foundation has been corrupted and God is systematically being removed from the fabric of the governing body and even culture. But we as children of God are still free and no one can take that away.
The whole earth is waiting for the sons of God to manifest their sonship and live in the authority we have through our joint-inheritance in Christ. God’s grace is powerful enough in our hearts to strengthen us to live free from sin, fear, doubt, shame and even death.
I pray our nation finds its way back to Christian principles and once again draws on the wisdom of God to govern and protect the blessings of liberty. I pray you rely on God’s grace and live free from the pitfalls of this world and properly steward your freedom in Christ.
I go into much more detail on these ideas in this message.
Thank you to those of you who support Forward Ministries with your financial gifts. If you value our ministry, please consider partnering with me. Thank You!
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Grace and peace to you,
Clint Byars
The post Our Freedom in Christ Comes Parallels Our Freedom in the USA appeared first on Forward Ministries.
Jonathan Martin does just that in his newest book, How to Survive a Shipwreck. With the musings of a poet, the heart of a pastor and the insights of a prophet, Martin masterfully shares the story of his own shipwreck, his struggles to survive and the lessons learned about a loving God that never left his side.Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Believers have become new creatures with a new kind of life source flowing in us. Leviticus 17:11 tells us that the life of the creature is in the blood. We have been reformed into righteous, spiritually eternal beings through faith in the atoning blood of Christ.
In this process, the dead man/heart is cut out of us and the new man/heart is placed within us. Physically we’re the same person but we are exactly like Jesus in our spirit. The problem is that our minds are caught in the middle of our new hearts and our former way of thinking.
Our journey now, is to renew our minds to be in agreement with what God has done and is doing in our spirits. All of this comes together in our hearts. The heart is the deepest part of our being; it’s part spirit and part soul, it’s where our beliefs dwell and it’s where we make decisions on what we believe about God and ourselves.
Proverbs 4:23 from various Bible versions
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. NIV
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. NLT
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ESV
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. NASB
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. HCSB
Keep your heart with all caution because from it is the outgoing of life. Aramaic Bible
Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. God’s Word
Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it are the outgoings of life. YLT
God influences us through our hearts, which is the very definition of grace. It’s our responsibility to keep our hearts in confidence toward him so we will allow his influence to transform us. If you don’t, you do not lose your salvation, it doesn’t make you any less righteous and it doesn’t make you any less qualified for God’s blessings…it only limits your experience of God’s promises and kingdom in this life.
The first video in this series lays the foundation of your new heart, stay in touch for next week’s video where I go through Mark 4 and shed light on Jesus’ explanation of why we don’t always experience God’s kingdom in this life and how to stop limiting him.
Listen to the first message in my newest series, “The Secret to Experiencing God’s Kingdom In This Life.”
The post Living from the Heart – Part 1 appeared first on Forward Ministries.
What do the following people have in common: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven? Answer: You would have heard of none of them if it weren’t for their patrons. Without patrons there would be no Mona Lisa, no Sistene Chapel, no Hamlet, and no Goldberg Variations.
And frankly, a world without the Goldberg Variations is a world I couldn’t imagine.
In some ways patrons are as important as the artists they support. Consider Mozart. He had several patrons who funded him and in return he gave them – and us – some of the greatest music ever written. A world without Mozart, or Bach, Beethoven, and Handel, is a poorer world.
Which brings me to Patreon.
Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that provides us with a unique opportunity to become partners in the gospel. It works like this: A lot of people give a little each month and in return they get Mozart, or me, in this case. Just as Mozart and his patrons made the world a better place, working together proclaiming the beautiful gospel of Jesus, we can make the world a better place.
This is a really good deal. For as little as a dollar a month you get to change the world!
“But Paul, why would I pay when I can get Escape to Reality for free?”
For the same reason people pay for Netflix or Hulu when you can watch TV for free – you’ll get more and better content.
For the past six years E2R has been a one-man show. But as the blog has grown I find myself writing less and doing more admin. This is bad for you and bad for me. It’s bad because awesome articles go unwritten (I have a folder with about 200 drafts); readers’ questions go unanswered (at least eighty percent are ignored – sorry); and creative projects remain unbirthed.
I’m fizzing with ideas and so are readers like you. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t get asked: “Paul, have you written anything on the parables of Jesus?” “Why don’t you write something we can give to unbelievers?” “Got anything suitable for children?” “Why don’t you do a study guide?”
The fact is I have written something on the parables and I do have something for unbelievers and I have been working on a children’s series. But finishing these things requires time which requires money. And we haven’t even begun to discuss the really BIG ideas pertaining to platform sharing, community building, and getting the gospel into disadvantaged communities. (I discuss these on the Patreon page.)
E2R began as an email sent to a dozen friends. Sending that one email was like punching a hole in a dam wall: It unleashed a flood. It brought me to you.
Now every month as many as 50,000 people get to hear the good news of God’s unconditional love. That’s 50,000 people who are being set free from religious bondage and are learning to dance in the sunlit uplands of their Father’s favor. Within that group people of unbridled creativity are being energized and inspired by grace. There are Michaelangelos, Shakespeares, and Bachs. If grace inspires you, you may be one of them.
Grace bears good fruit. Sending that one email was like planting a tiny gospel seed which has grown into a large and fruitful tree. From that one tree there are now thousands of of seeds to sow. Opportunities to proclaim the gospel of grace are everywhere.
“This all sounds good, Paul, but what does this have to do with me?”
It has everything to do with you. Mozart, remember?
Has E2R been a blessing to you? Would you like others to experience that blessing? Would you like to see more people freed from condemnation and shame and reveling in their Father’s favor?
Here’s the choice: if you would like to see E2R go from a tree to a forest, jump over to Patreon and sign up as a patron. Do it now before you forget. Not only will you help spread the gospel of grace, you’ll get access to a bunch of bonus offerings and exclusive patron-only rewards. Patronage has its privileges.
“Paul, I believe in what you’re doing and want to help, but I’m not ready to sign up for a monthly commitment.”
I understand. Netflix isn’t for everyone. If you would like to help spread this message you can always make a one-off donation via our support page. Every dollar you give goes into making the E2R a better resource.
I encourage you to become a patron but if you don’t that’s fine. There’s no guilt here. I’ll keep writing regardless. But if you do support my work, I’ll write more and you’ll get more. Patronage is a two-way street.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get the grace-equivalent of a Sistene Chapel or a Brandenburg Concerto or a Goldberg Variation.
Why did Jesus really die? Was it to defeat sin? Was it to appease 
the wrath of an angry God? Was it so that God wouldn’t have to punish us because He punished Jesus? Was it to ransom us from the devil? Is God a child abuser? All these questions are answered within various theories as to why Jesus died. In this book, Jeremy looks at the four most popular theories: penal substitutionary theory, the moral influence theory, the ransom theory, and the Christus Victor theory. Utilizing the Christus Victor theory, he shows us how the death of God was a non-violent act from the actions of God, although it was certainly very violent from the actions of men.
Jeremy gives us a good solid understanding of the core teaching of each of them, contrasting the pros and cons of each one. His book clearly lays out a scenario in which the crucifixion of Jesus was not God pouring out His wrath on Jesus, nor God inflicting great punishment upon His beloved Son so that He wouldn’t have to inflict punishment upon humanity. His view is that God is a non-violent Father as expressed through the life of Jesus. It’s upon this non-violent view that Jeremy spends most of his time.
Don’t read this book if you are not willing to at least consider what he is saying. As a pastor, I have found that far too many Christians are close minded when it comes to looking at something that may go against what they have been taught all their lives. Most American Christians have been taught the Penal Substitutionary Theory and may have a hard time pulling away from that. As you read this book, keep an open mind and think about what Jeremy is saying, especially if you hold to any view other than the Christus Victor view.
Jeremy even explains his concept of why there is so much violence in the Old Testament. It is this subject here that I would love to sit down with him and have a conversation as I liked what he said, but I am not sure that I could totally put my views and thoughts in that same basket just yet. The violence of the Old Testament is still a concept that I am grappling with.
Overall, this is a great book. If you are looking to study the atonement and its differing views, then I would highly recommend this book. Jeremy is a great teacher and communicator. He has definitely done his research and is well versed in what he believes and why he believes it. He is definitely someone that I recommend that you follow. Through his books, blogs, and podcasts, I have been deeply challenged in my thinking, which, to me, is always a good thing!
You can find out more about Jeremy at his website: www.redeeminggod.com. You can purchase his book there or on Amazon.
Would you like to get a free 30 day devotional on Going Deeper in Grace? Sign up for our email list and it’s yours!
No one knows your failures better than you. I bet there are places where you have disappointed yourself more than anyone else. You know your track record. You know your secrets. You know how you’ve wasted time and given up more than you care to admit. You are your own worst critic.
Everyone faces the enemy in the mirror at times when it comes to where we are in life, but it doesn’t have to be as dismal as I’ve just described. You can change. It’s easier than you think.
I call it the Moses syndrome. It goes like this.
It doesn’t have to stop there. You can go forward, burning of a flame that is not limited to your past, your own strength or even your own energy. God showed Moses a picture of grace in the burning bush. The bush was burning but was not consumed. When God was persuading Moses to follow him, he promised he would be with him, he promised to inspire people to walk with him and he showed him how to do it in a way that wouldn’t burn him out. The bush was not burning of it’s own energy or strength. If it had burned in its own energy, it would have exhausted its stored, potential energy and the fire would have died. God showed Moses what it looks like to yield to grace. Burning with God’s presence rather than his abilities and strength.
Despite their best attempts, no one can teach you how to walk by faith and how to yield to grace from the heart. It’s between you and God. The Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher. But your heart most be willing to move forward before it grows in capacity to perceive and receive the wisdom and grace that God provides as you go.
God Never Withholds
He is not refusing to show you the big picture because you’ll mess it up, you just can’t see it because your mind isn’t renewed and you heart’s capacity hasn’t been influenced to the degree where you can see it. The more steps you take in faith, empowered by grace in God’s leading, the more your heart and mind will think like him and the more you’ll see of his good plans for you.
We get a heart transplant at our new birth but we still have minds that need to develop a new track record. Especially a new track record with ourselves. We’re made new, righteous and holy, hidden in him but we still think like a dead man. We still yield to the emotions of our failures and disappointments because we have not walked into this new life thinking differently.
Dream Big, They Say
Often we have a big dream but it seems unattainable. You may even think that if you believe hard enough it will magically appear and all your problems will be solved. But we live in a paradox. God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness and all of his promises are yes and amen but we must follow him into the physical establishment of those spiritual truths into our lives. Everything that he wants to establish in our lives happens by grace through faith. Not to qualify or earn, but to bear the fruit.
God has nothing but good plans for us but we still expect the worst because of our past failures. I think it’s because we aren’t taking the little steps and training our minds to feel good about trusting God. We think we’ve stepped out but often it’s in our own effort and not in his grace.
Your problem is not God. Your problem is not the world. Your problem is your lack of confidence in the kind of creature that you have become in Christ and the capacity to live from that reality. Once you know you’re God’s child, and this is the sole reason God created you, you are free to step out without the fear of God’s scrutiny. But take small steps first. Give your mind a chance to catch up by seeing small, attainable goals achieved as you put God first. It’s a process to renew/discipline your mind to think like God and see opportunities like he does. But it happens as you daily embrace your salvation in Christ, affirm God’s promises to you and maturity walk into each moment of grace that God breathes your way.
Living a systematic, disciplined lifestyle is not works if you’re doing it to get your mind in agreement with what’s already true of you spiritually. The connection needs to be made. They connection lies in you overcoming your past disappointments in yourself and being willing to step into each opportunity to change as God’s transformative power arises in your heart.
The next time you face temptation to give up or shy back from your call/dream/opportunity, turn your heart toward him, ask for grace, expect a motivation and energy to rise up, then take the step forward. You will stand on mountains of success if you take those small steps into each moment of grace.
The post Go Forward, God Will Be with You appeared first on Forward Ministries.
Have you ever wondered why you are here?
Have you asked, “what’s my purpose?”
Maybe you’ve even wondered, “what am I supposed to do?”
How you answer those questions may determine how religious you are. How you answer those questions may reveal the level of your performance mentality before God. How you answer those questions may give you insight into the kind of relationship you think you have with God and what you think God expects from you.
A created thing can not determine its own purpose. The creator of anything has its own reason for producing that object. You are here according to God’s intentions. So what are God’s reasons for creating mankind? More specifically, why did he make you?
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
God created everything for his pleasure. That begs another question; what brings God pleasure? How you answer that question reveals the kind of father you think God is. Does poverty bring him pleasure? Does sickness bring him pleasure? What about confusion? Many people seem to think God wants them confused. I hear many people talk about their life’s circumstances and ask the question, what are you doing God? As if he’s the one in control over that circumstance. God is not the author of confusion so it must not bring him pleasure for you to be confused about your life and it’s circumstances.
What brings God pleasure is the same as any other father, healthy loving relationships with their children. God is a good father, it is his good pleasure to give you his kingdom. What’s in his kingdom? Righteousness, peace and joy. It brings God pleasure when you to enjoy what he has given you, righteousness, peace and joy.
David wondered why God created mankind, he wrote about it in a psalm…
What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
Then David receives his answer…
Yet you have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. Psalm 8
The words ‘glory’ and ‘majesty’ or ‘honor’ in modern day language are dignity, worth, value and royalty. God has attributed to mankind incredible worth and value. Each human life is worth every drop of the eternal blood of Jesus. God sees mankind as kings and rulers over his creation. When God looks at people he sees a dignified, royal creature worthy to have authority over his own creation.
This is true of all mankind. This is the reason Christ died for the ungodly, because everyone is valuable. This is why Jesus remained obedient unto the death of the cross and passed into the grave while we were sinners, because God sees mankind as royalty.
Once we receive Jesus and are cleansed by his blood our royalty extends into Heaven because we’re then in Jesus but even before then, each human on this planet is worth more than all its gold and precious stones combined. The reason God created mankind was to enjoy his creation and enjoy fellowship with each other and enjoy relationship with him.
Your purpose is fulfilled when you say yes to Jesus and enjoy fellowship with God, it’s that simple.
In next week’s blog I’ll cover the difference between purpose and calling and address dreams, goals and desires. You can watch part 3 of Why Am I Here? Sunday morning at 9 & 11am EST.
Stay tuned for a book and workshop entitled Why Am I Here? Discover Your Purpose and Fulfill Your Call
The post Why Did God Create Mankind? appeared first on Forward Ministries.
Have you ever wondered why you are here?
Have you asked, “what’s my purpose?”
Maybe you’ve even wondered, “what am I supposed to do?”
How you answer those questions may determine how religious you are. How you answer those questions may reveal the level of your performance mentality before God. How you answer those questions may give you insight into the kind of relationship you think you have with God and what you think God expects from you.
A created thing can not determine its own purpose. The creator of anything has its own reason for producing that object. You are here according to God’s intentions. So what are God’s reasons for creating mankind? More specifically, why did he make you?
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
God created everything for his pleasure. That begs another question; what brings God pleasure? How you answer that question reveals the kind of father you think God is. Does poverty bring him pleasure? Does sickness bring him pleasure? What about confusion? Many people seem to think God wants them confused. I hear many people talk about their life’s circumstances and ask the question, what are you doing God? As if he’s the one in control over that circumstance. God is not the author of confusion so it must not bring him pleasure for you to be confused about your life and it’s circumstances.
What brings God pleasure is the same as any other father, healthy loving relationships with their children. God is a good father, it is his good pleasure to give you his kingdom. What’s in his kingdom? Righteousness, peace and joy. It brings God pleasure when you to enjoy what he has given you, righteousness, peace and joy.
David wondered why God created mankind, he wrote about it in a psalm…
What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
Then David receives his answer…
Yet you have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. Psalm 8
The words ‘glory’ and ‘majesty’ or ‘honor’ in modern day language are dignity, worth, value and royalty. God has attributed to mankind incredible worth and value. Each human life is worth every drop of the eternal blood of Jesus. God sees mankind as kings and rulers over his creation. When God looks at people he sees a dignified, royal creature worthy to have authority over his own creation.
This is true of all mankind. This is the reason Christ died for the ungodly, because everyone is valuable. This is why Jesus remained obedient unto the death of the cross and passed into the grave while we were sinners, because God sees mankind as royalty.
Once we receive Jesus and are cleansed by his blood our royalty extends into Heaven because we’re then in Jesus but even before then, each human on this planet is worth more than all its gold and precious stones combined. The reason God created mankind was to enjoy his creation and enjoy fellowship with each other and enjoy relationship with him.
Your purpose is fulfilled when you say yes to Jesus and enjoy fellowship with God, it’s that simple.
In next week’s blog I’ll cover the difference between purpose and calling and address dreams, goals and desires. You can watch part 3 of Why Am I Here? Sunday morning at 9 & 11am EST.
Stay tuned for a book and workshop entitled Why Am I Here? Discover Your Purpose and Fulfill Your Call
The post Why Did God Create Mankind? appeared first on Forward Ministries.
I get confused when I talk to some Christians about the Old Covenant Law and works. It’s as if as soon as you bring up the Law the conversation drifts toward works. It’s almost like some Christians don’t know that the Law was for a 1500 year period of time before the Holy Spirit was given. It’s almost as if some Christians think that God still relates to us based on our works rather than based on the indwelling of his spirit. It’s almost as if some Christians think that saying we’re no longer under the Law means our actions are of no consequence. Hmmm, go figure 
Of course our actions matter now but they don’t affect out right standing with God. Righteousness is a spiritual condition that doesn’t come through keeping laws. The OC Law was never meant for righteousness because again, keeping laws doesn’t give you spiritual life.
So…do works matter now? Of course, but why bring up the Law when we start talking about works? Do you see where I’m going? The Law is fulfilled and had its place. If you’d like to discuss Christian behavior, that’s another subject all together.
I believe the Holy Spirit is a much better teacher than external laws. Believers are under the influence of God’s inner presence that is ever present and leads us according to his truth and life. By the way, the Holy Spirit will never violate any of his previously revealed morality and justice.
Our deeds and works will be tried at the final judgment but that’s not for righteousness, that’s for reward. Even unbeliever’s works are not judged for righteousness. The righteousness issue is settled. One must understand that it’s settled when taking the conversation to how we’re to live as believers. The Holy Spirit has the power, whereas the Law did not, to empower us to live worthy of the holiness and righteousness we’ve been given in Christ. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t empower you to keep the Law, he empowers you to have life and that more abundantly.
Now that the Spirit of God has been given, let’s teach people to look to him for guidance rather than rules than only reveal sin. Let’s inspire people to trust God because when they do their hearts will be open to him and they will be infused with a power that is not their own, the power of grace, the power of sonship.
Galatians 3:23 NLT Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. 24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
I pray that when you mess up, you don’t wonder if you’ve lost position with God. I pray that the next time you mess up you rest easy knowing you’re forgiven and God still loves you. And I pray the next time you mess up you make the decision that you don’t want that behavior in your life anymore and you turn to God for grace to overcome those destructive behaviors.
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The post The Holy Spirit is a Better Teacher than the Law appeared first on Forward Ministries.
