GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
The value of an item is determined by two people – the buyer and the seller. The buyer actually has more weight in this equation because they are the ones that are handing over money for the item. If the buyer feels that the item is worth the asking price, then they will pay for it. The seller, on the other hand, sets the price and has to determine the lowest value he will take on that item.
The point of this is that the item never sets its value. Because it’s inanimate, it cannot get offended over the seller’s asking price or the buyer’s paying price. It cannot demand that more money be paid, nor can it argue that the buyer paid too much.
I use this example to show us that God is the one that gets to determine our value, not us. Yet, we so often times devalue ourselves and feel as if we are nothing. We look at the mistakes in our lives, what others say about us, how we compare to others and a whole host of other things to determine the value we place on ourselves.
As our Creator, God is the only one that gets to determine the value of a person, His creation. The highlight of this is that God places unmeasurable worth and value on human beings.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…..(John 3:16)
In Psalm 8, the Psalmist declares that God crowned man with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5)
Jesus died for humanity in order to show them the incredible lengths God would go to in order reconcile them to Himself as their Father.
Before a baby is born parents place great value on their child. While I realize that this is not true in every single case, it is the way things are supposed to be. That baby has never accomplished anything great, has never done anything of value for its parents. That baby will actually cost his parents more than he can give back. That baby may even grow up and disappoint his parents because of wrong choices and actions.
Yet, the parents would die for that child. They would do anything for him. If that child was in trouble, those parents would do anything in their power to help save their child . . . no matter the cost.
Why? Because the child doesn’t set its value, the parents do.
That child could come to his parents and tell them how bad he is, how rotten, how much he has messed up and how he doesn’t deserve to be called their child. The parents would tell him to stop talking like that. They would encourage him, build him up and tell him all the good things that he is and has to offer. They wouldn’t hold his mistakes over his head. They would tell him what he can be, what they see in him.
Why? Because the child doesn’t set its value, the parents do.
Why, then, do we do the same with God?
We come to God in prayer and tell Him how awful we are, what a rotten sinner we are, and how much we have messed up. We feel as if we have to beg Him for forgiveness. We tell him how unworthy we are of his love. We go to great lengths to remind God of how messed up we are.
Some of it is because we believe that’s how he sees us. We believe that God sees us in that pitiful state and that as we beg for his mercy and forgiveness he takes pity on us and extends mercy. I know this is how I saw him for a large part of my life.
Sometimes, we listen to the lies of condemnation from the devil, the accuser of the brethren. We end up believing what he says more than we believe what God says.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15) we see how God is because the parable is really about the father. In this parable the youngest son asks for his inheritance and then proceeds to go off and blow it. He ends up losing everything — money, home, friends, and his dignity. He winds up feeding pigs which would have been the lowest point a good Jewish boy could have ended up at.
When he finally came to his senses he decided to return home. He didn’t feel like he could be his father’s son anymore but he believed that he could at least be one of his father’s servants. He had set his value and it was very, very low.
However, the story has a different outcome than he thought it would. As he is approaching home his father sees him, runs to him and begins to joyfully kiss and hug him. The boy tries to explain what he has come home for but the Father won’t listen. The father reestablishes the value of the son by putting on him the best robe, a ring, and sandals on his feet. For time’s sake, I cannot explain the deepness and richness of this parable. What we need to understand is that the father set the value of the child and it was high.
The son’s mistakes and rebelliousness did not change his value. Neither does yours.
Please, I beg of you, if you tell God how awful you are . . . stop! Just begin to thank Him that you have great value to him. Thank him that you are loved and worth everything to him. Thank him for his grace and mercy. As you do this, you will begin to see yourself as he sees you . . . valued and loved!
Stop devaluing yourself. Stop listening to the devaluing voices of others.
You don’t get to set your value. Your Father in Heaven does and he sees you as immensely valuable, worthy of dying for! He would have rather died for you than to be without you.
That, my friends, is what amazing grace is all about.
Hebrews 12:1-2 says,
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (NLT)
Jesus is always working in us as we keep our eyes fixed on Him!
Don’t make the big deal about what you do (how you behave). Just a warning though: This may make some people (self-righteous people) mad.
Make the big deal about what Jesus has done for you through His finished work on the cross. This way of doing life will remove the heavy weight you may be carrying of trying to fix yourself. It will also bring you great peace and cause your behavior to improve. Yes, you read that correctly. This way of approaching life will cause you to grow in Christ. Why? Right believing leads to right living! You will be changed by the Holy Spirit as you keep our eyes on Jesus! See 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Here’s an example from my own life that just happened today:
I was sick today and had to miss the last day of volunteering at JUMP Camp. I started getting a sore throat yesterday about mid-day and it turned into a cold and flu type thing. I’m sitting here in my bed in the same pajamas I woke up in, just to give you an idea.
I do not believe God puts sickness on us or that He allows it, but I do believe there are times when we experience negative things in our life as a result of the natural consequences that come along with our poor choices. This is what happened to me today.
I explained in my last blog post about the importance of getting enough sleep and admitted that this has been a difficult discipline for me. So during this past two weeks while volunteering at JUMP camp I was hoping to get on a better sleeping schedule, but I didn’t follow through as I should have. I may have gotten a full 8 hours of sleep 2 out of the 7 nights. This left me with 5 other nights where I got less than 8 hours and on two or more of those occassions I got between 4 and 5 hours of sleep.
Not cool. Thank God the lack of sleep didn’t affect my interactions with the kids or adults at camp because it could have caused me to be crabby. I shouldn’t have taken that chance. I’m very thankful I wasn’t crabby, but felt peaceful the whole two weeks (whew). I did experience some tired spells at different times throughout the day though.
Then yesterday about midday it hit me, I started getting a sore throat. I get sick so very little that this was a surprise to me until I remembered how very little sleep I had gotten. In fact, as I am typing this I am recalling that the last time I got sick was during a time when I wasn’t getting the right amount of sleep either. And I have no excuses. I could have gotten in bed earlier if I really wanted to. So I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I need help in this area.
Something very important I want to point out though, is that I have had zero guilt and condemnation over this. I have been sad that I disobeyed God by not getting in bed when I should have, that I had to miss my last day of JUMP camp and also had to miss another very special event tonight that our family was invited to, but no guilt or condemnation. I have a closer relationship with God than I have ever had before so, of course, it makes me said when I disregard His leading.
But that was it. My genuine act of repentance didn’t take all day and it never does for me anymore. I already know I’m loved, righteous and forgiven in Christ and I think about that A LOT. In fact, everyday and all throughout the day.
The Bible says it’s God’s goodness that leads us to repentance, which is why I’m more genuinely repentant now than I have ever been before. It’s the natural result of having my mind on God’s goodness more than I ever have before. I hope you’re experiencing this same freedom!
As a believer in Jesus your position of being loved, righteous and forgiven never changes according to what you do or fail to do. It was never established based on you to begin with. Your position in Christ is established on what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you and your acceptance of that.
Even though I know I opened the door for the sickness through my disobedience, I’m fully expecting to get over this very quickly. It’s not like I have to be sick for a certain amount of days to pay my dues and then I’m clear. This is not a punishment from God. In the new covenant of God’s grace we don’t get punished for our sin, thank God. Jesus already took all the punishment for all of our sin in His body on the cross. Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross changed everything!
I also want to be sure I clarify that every time we are sick or have a negative circumstance, this does not always mean we’re living out natural consequences from some choice we made. Many times these things just happen as a result of us living in a fallen world. The devil will continue to attack us until that glorious day when God throws him into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.
Seriously, I’m just sayin’ – this is going to be one of the happiest days of my life!
Revelation 20:10 (NLT)
Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Until this day arrives, we have to fight the good fight of faith and remember that we have authority over the devil.
Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses. –1 Timothy 6:12 (AMP)
Ok, I just got a fresh revelation on the importance of us knowing we are completely forgiven in conjunction with us walking in our authority in Christ from reading this next scripture.
Colossians 2:14-15 (NLT)
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Jesus paid our debt and by paying our debt and securing our complete forgiveness, he disarmed and shamed the devil and his demons by His victory over them on the cross.Then He gave this authority to us, His followers!
And then He gave this authority to us, His followers! Through the cross, what Adam and Eve had handed over to satan was now being handed back to us believers – all because of Jesus. I told you the cross changed everything!
Luke 10:19 (AMP)
19 Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on [a]serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.
My good friend Cally had to fight the good fight of faith and remember her authority in Christ recently as she got some routine blood tests and her numbers were really high, indicating possible cancer. Her doctor wanted to do an exploratory surgery on her. I watched her rest in Jesus’ finished work and all that He has provided for her. From that place of rest I also watched her follow through on a specific protocol that the Holy Spirit led her to follow.
She received grace to implement this protocol AND she just received the great news last week that every one of her numbers are completely normal. Her doctor cannot explain it, but Cally can. No surgery needed. And Cally has already been able to speak into several doctor’s lives as a result of this miracle!
Cally didn’t carry the burden of her healing because she understands that when Jesus said, it is finished, He meant it is finished! She stayed in peace, relied on the power of prayer and God’s Word and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.
This is not the first time Cally has received a miracle either. Another one of her miraculous stories is in my book and in this blog post titled Victorious Living.
God is still in the miracle working business folks. In fact, I’m convinced if we wrote down all the good things God did for us we would be astounded by the way He miraculously watches over us! Just this week on the first day of camp my right eye was bothering me really bad. I almost never have eye problems. Sometimes, don’t you just want to say, “you’re so obvious devil.”
I even had to borrow eye wash and saline solution from the first aid station at camp several times during the day to get rid of the pain, but it started hurting again after getting home. I simply prayed over my eye and commanded the pain to go and my eye to be made whole in the name of Jesus and I received the healing that Jesus provided for me through His finished work. It never hurt after that. Healed!
Now, do we perfectly understand everything that happens in this life. No we don’t. Sometimes we have to set aside what we don’t understand and stick with what we do understand and one thing we know is what Jesus Himself said here in John 10:10.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – John 10:10 (NKJV)
One thing we know is that the devil is bad, but God is good.
Referring back to the title of this post, I refused to carry the weight of my poor choice to not get enough sleep, even after I started living out the natural consequence of that choice today. I still turned and looked at Jesus and thanked Him once again for His love, His gift of righteousness and His forgiveness.
I’m not sitting here feeling guilty or condemned for my wrong choice. I’m still believing wholeheartedly in the healing power of Jesus for my body and am ever so grateful that it is not based on my actions, but on Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
The more you understand your position in Christ, the more immovable you will be, no matter what storms come along.
My friend, always remember you can rest in Jesus’ finished work for every single thing you need!
Make the big deal about Jesus and His perfect life of obedience to His Father. Refuse to make the big deal about you and your failures. When you do this, you will see as I have, that it is 100% possible for you to enjoy a life of peace and rest and in addition, you will notice your spiritual life taking off like a rocket!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
Hebrews 12:1-2 says,
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. (NLT)
Jesus is always working in us as we keep our eyes fixed on Him!
Don’t make the big deal about what you do (how you behave). Just a warning though: This may make some people (self-righteous people) mad.
Make the big deal about what Jesus has done for you through His finished work on the cross. This way of doing life will remove the heavy weight you may be carrying of trying to fix yourself. It will also bring you great peace and cause your behavior to improve. Yes, you read that correctly. This way of approaching life will cause you to grow in Christ. Why? Right believing leads to right living! You will be changed by the Holy Spirit as you keep our eyes on Jesus! See 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Here’s an example from my own life that just happened today:
I was sick today and had to miss the last day of volunteering at JUMP Camp. I started getting a sore throat yesterday about mid-day and it turned into a cold and flu type thing. I’m sitting here in my bed in the same pajamas I woke up in, just to give you an idea.
I do not believe God puts sickness on us or that He allows it, but I do believe there are times when we experience negative things in our life as a result of the natural consequences that come along with our poor choices. This is what happened to me today.
I explained in my last blog post about the importance of getting enough sleep and admitted that this has been a difficult discipline for me. So during this past two weeks while volunteering at JUMP camp I was hoping to get on a better sleeping schedule, but I didn’t follow through as I should have. I may have gotten a full 8 hours of sleep 2 out of the 7 nights. This left me with 5 other nights where I got less than 8 hours and on two or more of those occassions I got between 4 and 5 hours of sleep.
Not cool. Thank God the lack of sleep didn’t affect my interactions with the kids or adults at camp because it could have caused me to be crabby. I shouldn’t have taken that chance. I’m very thankful I wasn’t crabby, but felt peaceful the whole two weeks (whew). I did experience some tired spells at different times throughout the day though.
Then yesterday about midday it hit me, I started getting a sore throat. I get sick so very little that this was a surprise to me until I remembered how very little sleep I had gotten. In fact, as I am typing this I am recalling that the last time I got sick was during a time when I wasn’t getting the right amount of sleep either. And I have no excuses. I could have gotten in bed earlier if I really wanted to. So I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I need help in this area.
Something very important I want to point out though, is that I have had zero guilt and condemnation over this. I have been sad that I disobeyed God by not getting in bed when I should have, that I had to miss my last day of JUMP camp and also had to miss another very special event tonight that our family was invited to, but no guilt or condemnation. I have a closer relationship with God than I have ever had before so, of course, it makes me said when I disregard His leading.
But that was it. My genuine act of repentance didn’t take all day and it never does for me anymore. I already know I’m loved, righteous and forgiven in Christ and I think about that A LOT. In fact, everyday and all throughout the day.
The Bible says it’s God’s goodness that leads us to repentance, which is why I’m more genuinely repentant now than I have ever been before. It’s the natural result of having my mind on God’s goodness more than I ever have before. I hope you’re experiencing this same freedom!
As a believer in Jesus your position of being loved, righteous and forgiven never changes according to what you do or fail to do. It was never established based on you to begin with. Your position in Christ is established on what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you and your acceptance of that.
Even though I know I opened the door for the sickness through my disobedience, I’m fully expecting to get over this very quickly. It’s not like I have to be sick for a certain amount of days to pay my dues and then I’m clear. This is not a punishment from God. In the new covenant of God’s grace we don’t get punished for our sin, thank God. Jesus already took all the punishment for all of our sin in His body on the cross. Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross changed everything!
I also want to be sure I clarify that every time we are sick or have a negative circumstance, this does not always mean we’re living out natural consequences from some choice we made. Many times these things just happen as a result of us living in a fallen world. The devil will continue to attack us until that glorious day when God throws him into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.
Seriously, I’m just sayin’ – this is going to be one of the happiest days of my life!
Revelation 20:10 (NLT)
Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Until this day arrives, we have to fight the good fight of faith and remember that we have authority over the devil.
Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses. –1 Timothy 6:12 (AMP)
Ok, I just got a fresh revelation on the importance of us knowing we are completely forgiven in conjunction with us walking in our authority in Christ from reading this next scripture.
Colossians 2:14-15 (NLT)
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Jesus paid our debt and by paying our debt and securing our complete forgiveness, he disarmed and shamed the devil and his demons by His victory over them on the cross.Then He gave this authority to us, His followers!
And then He gave this authority to us, His followers! Through the cross, what Adam and Eve had handed over to satan was now being handed back to us believers – all because of Jesus. I told you the cross changed everything!
Luke 10:19 (AMP)
19 Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on [a]serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.
My good friend Cally had to fight the good fight of faith and remember her authority in Christ recently as she got some routine blood tests and her numbers were really high, indicating possible cancer. Her doctor wanted to do an exploratory surgery on her. I watched her rest in Jesus’ finished work and all that He has provided for her. From that place of rest I also watched her follow through on a specific protocol that the Holy Spirit led her to follow.
She received grace to implement this protocol AND she just received the great news last week that every one of her numbers are completely normal. Her doctor cannot explain it, but Cally can. No surgery needed. And Cally has already been able to speak into several doctor’s lives as a result of this miracle!
Cally didn’t carry the burden of her healing because she understands that when Jesus said, it is finished, He meant it is finished! She stayed in peace, relied on the power of prayer and God’s Word and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit.
This is not the first time Cally has received a miracle either. Another one of her miraculous stories is in my book and in this blog post titled Victorious Living.
God is still in the miracle working business folks. In fact, I’m convinced if we wrote down all the good things God did for us we would be astounded by the way He miraculously watches over us! Just this week on the first day of camp my right eye was bothering me really bad. I almost never have eye problems. Sometimes, don’t you just want to say, “you’re so obvious devil.”
I even had to borrow eye wash and saline solution from the first aid station at camp several times during the day to get rid of the pain, but it started hurting again after getting home. I simply prayed over my eye and commanded the pain to go and my eye to be made whole in the name of Jesus and I received the healing that Jesus provided for me through His finished work. It never hurt after that. Healed!
Now, do we perfectly understand everything that happens in this life. No we don’t. Sometimes we have to set aside what we don’t understand and stick with what we do understand and one thing we know is what Jesus Himself said here in John 10:10.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – John 10:10 (NKJV)
One thing we know is that the devil is bad, but God is good.
Referring back to the title of this post, I refused to carry the weight of my poor choice to not get enough sleep, even after I started living out the natural consequence of that choice today. I still turned and looked at Jesus and thanked Him once again for His love, His gift of righteousness and His forgiveness.
I’m not sitting here feeling guilty or condemned for my wrong choice. I’m still believing wholeheartedly in the healing power of Jesus for my body and am ever so grateful that it is not based on my actions, but on Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
The more you understand your position in Christ, the more immovable you will be, no matter what storms come along.
My friend, always remember you can rest in Jesus’ finished work for every single thing you need!
Make the big deal about Jesus and His perfect life of obedience to His Father. Refuse to make the big deal about you and your failures. When you do this, you will see as I have, that it is 100% possible for you to enjoy a life of peace and rest and in addition, you will notice your spiritual life taking off like a rocket!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
Good always triumphs over evil. Even though it doesn’t always appear that good is winning, ultimately, good always triumphs.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Romans 12:21(NASB)
Love triumphs over hate.
see Luke 6:27-28
Forgiveness triumphs over unforgiveness.
see Ephesians 4:31-32
Humility triumphs over pride.
see Proverbs 11:2
Patience triumphs over impatience.
see Colossians 1:11
Gentleness triumphs over harshness.
see Proverbs 15:1
Generosity triumphs over selfishness.
see Acts 20:35
Mercy triumphs over judgement.
see Luke 6:36
Sandra McCollom
The devil is a liar which means the things he lies to us about… we should be believing and speaking the exact opposite. I’ve begun to practice this a lot in the past couple of years.
Here are some examples:
If I’m walking through my house and the devil lies to me by saying, “What if someone breaks into your house and tries to harm you and your family?” I don’t think or say, “Oh my goodness, what if someone breaks into our house and tries to harm me and my family?” Instead I immediately open my mouth and say something such as, “No, nobody will even be able to step a foot on our property with the intention of harming us. God, I thank you that according to Psalm 91:9-11(MSG), Because You are our refuge and You are our very own home, evil can’t even get close to us and harm can’t get through the door. In fact, You ordered Your angels to guard us wherever we go!”
OR
Let’s say I’m just doing some office work while my girls are running around the house playing with their dogs and the devil lies to me by saying, “What if your kids have a serious accident? They could fall down the steps and hit their head and get a brain injury.” Instead of gasping and thinking, “Oh my gosh. What if? What if? What if?” I respond immediately by saying, “I thank you God that Angel and Starr will live a long, healthy life in the name of Jesus. (see Psalm 91:15-16) In fact, I’m so glad Your blessing them with long life so they can enjoy their sibling relationship for lots and lots of years and even grow old together.”
OR
True story: The devil lied to me recently by saying, “Remember that person who said that really unkind thing to your face while questioning your motives for why you do what you do to help others. Well, they’re right. You’re just doing all these posts to get attention.” This did actually happen and the person’s comment hurt me so bad that it nearly shut me down. I cried for days and thought, This is stupid. All I’m trying to do is help people by setting their eyes on Jesus so forget it. I may as well just close up shop and quit trying if people are going to misunderstand me like this.
I know that’s exactly what the devil wanted me to do – close up shop. He wanted me to throw up a huge wall and just lay there wounded on the side of the road of life for the rest of my life. But guess what? The devil did not get his way.
God used the very thing that the devil meant to hurt me and tempt me to enter into a state of passivity and He showed me how to go even deeper in placing my identity in what He thinks of me as opposed to what others think about me.
In addition, God showed me how to forgive the person, after I asked for His help, by reminding me that I have also said some very hurtful things to others over the years, while judging their motives. He reminded me how He had extended His mercy and forgiveness to me every single time.
Once I got my eyes on the grace God had extended to me it was easy for me to get my eyes off what this person had done to me and forgive them. I even found myself believing the best of them as 1 Corinthians 13 encourages us to do. The transformational power of God’s grace never ceases to amaze me!
As a result of this incident, God is also helping me get free from a longstanding fear that I have had of being misunderstood.
Our God is simply a Master at taking what the devil intends for our harm and turning it and working it together for our good!
You can see, and I’m sure you have personally experienced, that the devil attempts to lie to us about a wide variety of things.
He says:
What if you get sick?
What if you get hurt?
What if people reject you?
What if you run out of money?
What if your marriage falls apart?
What if your kids hate you when they grow up as a result of all the mistakes you’ve made?
And this list is just the tip of the iceberg.
You should hear me though. I literally respond to the devil’s what if’s all day long with promises from God’s Word! It’s a fun game I play, but I’ve noticed that the devil doesn’t like the way I play the game; therefore, he doesn’t even bother lying to me very often anymore. When he does, he usually gets about a half a sentence out and I’m already interrupting him by responding with the truth – the reality – of what’s really going to happen which is the opposite of his lies.
Here’s what Jesus said about the devil in John 8:44b – “He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (NLT)
We could even get on the devil’s last nerve by actually thanking him when he lies to us for reminding us of what’s really going to happen which is THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what he’s spouting off. Hahaha – I’m sorry, but I get the biggest kick out of this game!
My friend, always remember that Jesus stripped satan and his personal assistants of their authority through His finished work on the cross and the moment you choose to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, satan’s authority over you ceases to be a reality!
He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross He won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see. – Colossians 2:15 (ERV)
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
I thoroughly enjoy processing my grace journey by thinking through how God’s grace plays into every single part of my life. I had a pretty rough period of time for about 12 weeks earlier in the year, but God has really given me some huge breakthroughs recently. I’ll tell you more about those in the future, but my whole experience got me thinking about how our breakthroughs come.
How do our breakthroughs come? By God’s grace!
How do we receive God’s grace? By Faith!
Faith is not a feeling we have to work up. It’s simply trusting God.
So God is always extending His grace to us, but if it’s true that we receive His grace by faith – by believing – then it would also be true that we could stop receiving His grace through unbelief or wrong believing.
This doesn’t mean God stops extending His grace. He is always supplying grace to us, but we still have to do our part which is to receive His gift of grace by faith.
There are many ways we can stop-up the pipeline of God’s grace through unbelief. Maybe, after you read this post, God will show you something specific that you’re doing to stop up that pipeline. One way I used to do this was by receiving guilt and condemnation. Instead of receiving God’s forgiveness provided to me through His shed blood, when I sinned I would try to pay for my own sins by feeling guilty and condemned. As a Christian, I was believing wrong by thinking I had to pay for my own sins.
I very rarely ever mess with guilt and condemnation anymore because… (see Romans 8:1)
If the devil does try to bury me with guilt and condemnation I turn away from it and turn instead to God’s grace once again by believing (trusting) that I am:
1.) Unconditionally Loved (see Romans 8:35-39) and (Psalm 36:5)
2.) Completely Forgiven (see Matthew 26:27-28) and (Ephesians 1:7)
3.) Righteous through Jesus!! (see Philippians 3:9) and (2 Corinthians 5:21)
So remember that the breakthroughs in your life come by way of God’s grace and you can always choose to receive God’s grace through faith!
You can’t earn it. You can’t do enough to deserve it. You’ll never be able to merit it. But THAT’S O.K. because God’s grace is His unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor and it is a free gift to you. It’s for your salvation, when you trust in Jesus and receive Him as your Lord and Savior, and also for your everyday life, as you choose to receive it by trusting in Him to help you through the circumstances of your daily life instead of trusting in yourself and your own efforts!
Have a great weekend living in God’s grace!
#FreedomLiving
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
It was my first day of school. I was in first grade, going to a consolidated school out in the county where there was no kindergarten. The teacher asked, "Who can spell your name?" I was sitting by a distant cousin who raised her hand. I leaned over to ask her if she knew how to spell my name. She misunderstood the question and told me how to spell her name. I enthusiastically raised my hand just as the teacher looked my way. "Okay, Dudley, spell your name for us." "J-o-y." I proudly exclaimed.
I should have kept my hand down.
Back around 740 B.C. Isaiah the prophet raised his hand. It happened like this. King Uzziah had been a good king. His death was quite a blow for the whole nation, but especially for Isaiah, who had loved him greatly. It was during this time of shock that he had a life-changing vision. (Isaiah 6) He saw the Lord in glory so magnificent, the temple could hardly contain it all. There is no description of God Himself here, just the majesty of the worship surrounding Him. The hem of His robe was enough to fill the whole temple. Angelic beings proclaimed His glory over all the earth. The smoke of a holy fire filled the air. A loud voice shook the temple to its foundations.
What would your first reaction be, if you found yourself in the middle of all this glory? For Isaiah it was his own desperate sinfulness. The Lord was prepared to meet him in grace, though: Isaiah had barely spoken his guilt aloud when an angel took a burning coal from the altar and purged his lips, signifying his total forgiveness and cleansing.
Then the Lord asked, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And immediately Isaiah's hand went up. "Here am I. Send me!"
This was no easy job that God was assigning. He knew the people were hard-hearted and wouldn't listen, and He said so. He told Isaiah they would reject the messenger along with his message.
Still they needed to be told the truth, and Isaiah volunteered to speak it. It wasn't expectations of applause or visions of popularity and success that had captured Isaiah. He had experienced the grace of God.
Everything changed for him, you see, when he saw God’s greatness and goodness. He had been anxious over the death of a good king and the prospect of a wicked successor following him on the throne. He was well aware of the lax spiritual condition of the people. All that anxiety was dissipated at upon his recognition that God was still on His throne, and that He still had control over everything.
Through the looming hopeless, Isaiah saw God, and was assured that human sin is never greater than the Lord's sovereign grace -- not even his own sin, of which he had became so painfully aware. God took the initiative and cleansed him, the moment Isaiah confessed it. From here on nothing would matter but trusting God and obeying Him.
Of course he raised his hand. He knew he was heading into a tough assignment, but he also knew his God would sustain him.
Today's spiritual leaders wonder how to motivate people to commit to God and his ways. Some use guilt tactics. Some use fear. Some promise rewards for faithfulness. All leaders want volunteers to raise their hands to serve. We could all learn from Isaiah. When people get a clear vision of God's greatness and goodness, their hands will go up.
There may be other ways to attract volunteers for service, but none like leading them to experiencing the majesty of God’s grace. Those who raise their hands without that knowledge of God will likely be doing it for the rewards of worldly success. They will expect God to show them favor because they volunteered.
Does God have an assignment for you? Are you finding it hard to raise your hand for it? Maybe you're afraid He has some trick up his sleeve, or you'll be making a mistake like I did when I spelled J-o-y. You need not worry. Look long and hard at the beauty of Jesus. Just as God forgave Isaiah and prepared him spiritually for service, so also will He do for you, if you will accept the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. He gives you access to the very throne room of God. He shares His own resurrected life with you.
Jesus is better than you realize. Find out for yourself. The one who created and redeemed all things is worthy of your trust -- even the trust it takes to raise your hand.