538. Freedom from a Sin Consciousness
Major Breakthrough!
First thing I want to say is Thank You All For Your Prayers in regards to my health situation that I talked about in my last post, Going Through A Trial? Here’s Some Encouragement!
Since that post was published on February 18th, I have received a major breakthrough!
If you have not had a chance to read that post I encourage you to do so before you read this one. I linked it above for your convenience.
As I mentioned in that blog post, I have been dealing with paresthesia for probably the past 6 weeks. In addition to this, I’ve had neck pain, jaw pain, ringing in my left ear that seems to be getting louder, bouts of nausea with the neck pain, periods of disorientation, headaches (which I almost never get) and so, so, so much trouble focusing and concentrating.
As I have continued to do the things I recommended to you in that blog post I have received a breakthrough in regards to my health!
I’ve had a history on and off with iron deficiency, but several years ago my doctor recommended a supplement called Iron Complex from Integrative Therapeutics. I wasn’t currently taking this supplement, but as my symptoms became worse and worse I began taking it again one week ago. The difference in the way I felt within just 24 hours was so significant.
The first thing I noticed is that I could think again. Wow, was that nice!
I’m thrilled to say that at this point almost all of the symptoms I was experiencing have been greatly reduced.
Oh, and I didn’t even tell you that whatever was going on with my health seemed to be attacking my nervous system. Especially over the past couple of weeks, before I started taking the Iron Complex, I had felt an increasing amount of nervousness, to the point where, on several occasions, I basically flipped out. Not that I haven’t flipped out before in my lifetime because I certainly have, but this was different. I knew something was really wrong. I was getting overwhelmed so easily from feeling like there was too much information coming at my brain. Believe me, I was NOT myself. It was a horrible feeling.
In fact, 2 weeks ago while driving my girls to Friday night church I was having one of my flip out sessions. I was having a super hard time feeling overwhelmed and even screamed out on the way, I don’t want to go to church. I don’t want to do this. Those of you who know me know how much I love my church and actually count down the hours until church every week, so this was not normal behavior.
It’s funny now, looking back on it and remembering how I was acting, but it sure wasn’t funny at the time. In fact, I even threatened to not go into church and just sit in my car in the church parking lot while my girls were in their middle school class. I knew I wasn’t really going to do that, but I came close.
Right in the middle of my meltdown I asked my girls (who were sitting in the back seat hearing all of this) to pray for me. My daughter Angel prayed the most beautiful prayer over me. I’m getting choked up right now as I type this, recalling her prayer.
CeCe Winans was at our church that night leading worship and oh my goodness, that’s exactly what I needed. I needed to worship God right in the middle of my storm. Indeed, God answered Angel’s prayer that night as well as my own. The only thing I could manage to get out of my mouth before I walked into the church was, God, please help me. Please give me a breakthrough tonight!
It was not an immediate breakthrough, but only one week after that awesome night of worship I’m thankful to be able to sit here and type that the nervousness and feeling of being overwhelmed is now completely gone. I am so relieved to be feeling like myself again.
This coming Monday I am scheduled to get an MRI of my c-spine. After my symptoms started decreasing I prayed about if I should cancel my MRI or not, but I did not feel led to cancel it. I am still having some symptoms and I feel it’s wisdom to go ahead and get the test done as I probably needed this test several years ago.
And the good news is, I’ve already had an MRI and an MRA of my brain to check for tumors and aneurysm’s in conjunction with the ringing in my left ear and both tests came out perfectly fine. Praise Jesus!
I also went to my regular doctor last week and explained everything to him, including how much the Iron Complex seemed to be helping me. I had only been seeing my chiropractor for this issue up to that point. In fact, he is the one sending me for the MRI. But my regular doctor sent me for a blood test and I am waiting for those results. He also wrote a prescription out for me to get a type of physical therapy called Myofacial Release which I start in a couple of weeks.
So, I’m not all the way there yet, but as you can see, God is bringing me through and God is Who I give all the glory to! God may have used an iron supplement to help me and I believe He is leading me to get this Physical Therapy, but, no matter who or what He chooses to use, it is God who gives the breakthrough!
Someone may say, Sandra, since you still have some symptoms, how can you title this blog post Major Breakthrough? Believe me, if you knew how bad off I was, you would know why I feel like I have received a major breakthrough…and besides, my total breakthrough is on it’s way!
As I said in my post last week, when we continue to trust God in the midst of our trials, He will work everything together for our good. It’s a Biblical promise.
I have actually had issues with my neck and jaw for years now, although the pain was greatly elevated recently. I have also had ringing in my left ear for a little over a year. So some of the symptoms I am experiencing have been around for a while, BUT you better believe this girl is not giving up for anything. Healing is mine. Jesus already paid for it and He said It Is Finished.
I told my Mom the other day, wouldn’t it be cool if I got this physical therapy and it not only took care of my current set of health issues, but also resolved the longstanding problem with my neck pain, jaw pain and the ringing in my ear?
That’s what I’m believing for. In fact, I’m convinced that God will once again take what the devil intends for my harm and turn it around and work it all together for my good!
My trust in God has really grown over the past 4 years, since I have come into a revelation of His grace. I’ve begun to play a little game when I have trials. When I do, I immediately think, Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to see what good God is going to work out of this situation. And guess what? GOD NEVER FAILS. Every single solitary time I go through a trial I am able to look back and clearly see all the ways in which God has worked on my behalf. I’ve already seen it over this past week and know that I will continue to watch God bring me through to a complete breakthrough and actually to a place of being better off than I was before!
I invite you to play this game along with me. What shall we call it? The Believing God Game? The Trusting in Jesus Game?
Regardless of what we name it, let’s determine that no matter what the devil tries to attack us with, we will never stop believing in God’s goodness, love and grace toward us!
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13 (NASB)
Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. – Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)
Overhearing what was being said, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; only keep on believing [in Me and my power].” – Mark 5:36 (AMP)
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
– Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV)
For when we believe we enter God’s rest. (see Hebrews 4)
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
537. Resting in the Finished Work
Going Through A Trial? Here’s Some Encouragement!
I’ve been up since 2:30 am with symptoms of paresthesia. Paresthesia, by definition, is an abnormal sensation, typically tingling or prickling (“pins and needles”) caused chiefly by pressure on or damage to peripheral nerves.
This has been going on for about a month and yes, I am seeing a doctor for it.
As I was laying in bed and couldn’t go back to sleep I thought, since I can’t sleep, maybe I can write a post on what to do when we go through trials and maybe it will help others who are also going through something right now.
So here’s some encouragement for you!
When you’re going through a trial here are some things I recommend.
1.) Remember that God loves you and that He didn’t give you the trial to teach you a lesson
I know there are many different schools of thought on this issue and I’m not here to argue with anyone, but if your reading my blog, you’re never going to hear me say that God gives us trials or even permits them in our lives. My belief is that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. See what Jesus Himself said here is John 10:10 .
I sincerely feel what we believe about God and His nature is critical to our lives. If you would like to hear a really good message on this subject click here to listen to a teaching by our pastor, Jeff Perry: Does God Cause Or Permit Bad Things In Our Lives.
2.) Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus
This past month Jesus has reminded me over and over again to keep my eyes fixed on Him.
Matthew 14:24-33 says,
24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”
27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Take courage. I am here!”
28 Then Peter called to Him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped Him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. (NLT)
This Biblical story is so amazing as it so clearly proves the difference Peter experienced when He was keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Jesus as opposed to when he started focusing on the wind and the waves in life – the storm going on around him.
I’m so glad this is in the Bible for us to look back at over and over again to remind us what to do when we’re in a storm…like for me, right now. The paresthesia symptoms have lessened a little over the past couple of weeks, but not at any kind of lightening speed as I would like. But a few weeks ago the tingling was so bad that it was literally going all over my body. Crazy. I called and texted a few people for prayer and I knew I had a decision to make right then and there. Was I going to focus on the storm of my circumstance or was I going to trust Jesus by keeping my eyes fixed on Him and His finished work on the cross? I knew from experience that one would result in me having to fight fear and the other would result in me being able to stay in peace right in the middle of the storm – symptoms and all.
It’s not about trying to work up more faith. It’s simply about us choosing to trust in Jesus and trust that He will see us through. I’ve said this before in a previous post, but I love what my pastor, Jeff Perry, said one time about faith at Friday night church. He said, “Faith is just reliance on how good God is.” This helped me so much because it simplified it and made it more practical for me.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says,
12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NASB)
I LOVE what the Amplified translation says here in the first part of verse 2:
[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity] Hebrews 12:2a (AMP)
3.) Refuse to be moved by what you feel, see or hear. Instead, be moved by the promises in God’s Word.
I certainly had to put this into action the day I had that severe paresthesia all over my body and I still do right this very minute as symptoms are happening while I type.
I’ve had to ask myself a number of times: Are these symptoms going to dictate to me my outcome or is God’s Word going to dictate my outcome. It’s almost like I’ve had to get obstinate against what I’m feeling and purposely hold my head up high and fight the good fight of faith by continuing to rest in the finished work of the cross. To me that’s what not being moved by what I feel means.
Then, when I heard several doctors say to me in the beginning of this, If you keep having the tingling you need to get back in here. That’s not something you want to mess with,” I had to choose to not be moved by what I was hearing. This doesn’t mean I have ignored what the doctors have said. In fact, I am going in and getting treatments. But to me, not being moved by what I hear simply means I don’t let the doctor’s report unnerve me and send me into a panic. How can I do this? By keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus and the truth that He already paid the price for my healing on the cross.
I really can’t be looking around in anxiety thinking, Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do. I have to do something to make these symptoms stop. No. What I have to do is keep believing that God’s got this no matter what I feel, see or hear…because He actually does!
So many times people (and I’ve done this many times before) launch forward in their own efforts in a situation like this and instead of trusting God and being perceptive to the leading of the Spirit, they are led by their own mind, will and emotions. But self effort is never going to produce the same result that resting in Jesus and His finished work and following the leadership of the Holy Spirit will produce.
4.) Recall past victories
When we are in pain or discomfort it’s easier to say we should be in faith than to actually do it. I have been in the hospital on numerous occasions with high fevers and infections and was in such a delirious state that I didn’t even feel I had strength to pray for myself. All I could get out of my mouth through my delirium was, Dear God, please help me, but guess what…that was enough! In fact, this is now my favorite prayer to pray. I pray this every day, all throughout the day when I need God’s help…which very is often!
This past month I have felt somewhat discouraged at times. I believe this is partially because of the pain I’ve been fighting. I’m sure you would agree that pain has a wearing affect on us. One of the things I have done to combat this discouragement is to purposely recall past victories over unpleasant circumstances that God has delivered me from in the past.
For instance, from 2009-2011 I went through what I refer to as a 2.5 year health nightmare, but guess what? – God brought me through it. Here’s that story if you would like to read about it or listen to it via audio post: The Value of Trials.
Just like David looked back and recounted the victories God had given him with the lion and the bear to prepare him to conquer the giant, we also need to purposely recount all the things God has helped us through in the past to help us have the strength to fight against discouragement during a trial.
The McCollom family has what we call our book of remembrance. In it, we record the things God does for us, the prayers that have been answered in our lives and our friends’ lives and the trials God has brought us through. We haven’t recorded anything in our book of remembrance for a while, but not because God hasn’t done anything. We have just gotten busy and not taken the time to record anything lately. Let me go on record by saying this bugs me.
I told my husband the other day, just imagine if we recorded every single thing the Lord did for us, how big our book of remembrance would be and how encouraging it would be for us to look back on in years to come!
Here are just a few recent blessings that come to mind.
- The medal part of a chair fell on Angel’s head this morning while she was laying on the floor, but she is totally fine. I believe God protected her from what could have been a serious injury.
- We made a change in our girls’ schooling situation recently and although it was a little hectic (time wise) while working through the transition, God’s grace is totally on the change and things are going great!
- Sophie, one of our dogs, had a bad rash recently. We scheduled an appointment with her Veternarian, but then prayed that she would get better so we wouldn’t have to spend the time or the money on this appointment. The rash cleared up very quickly and we were able to cancel the appointment.
I am inspired after writing these few, very recent, breakthroughs, to open up my book of remembrance this weekend and catch up on recording all the things I can remember since the last time I’ve recorded in it. I seriously DO NOT want to forget all the awesome things that God does in my life, the lives of my family members and my friends’ lives!
5.) Remember Romans 8:28
Don’t forget what Romans 8:28 says:
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. (Romans 8:28 – AMP)
I believe this Biblical truth with all my heart. This is why I am able to say to myself, when going through a trial, God is gonna work this whole thing together for the good… for sure. This blog post is one example. No, I don’t believe God gave me paresthesia. What I do believe is, the devil hates me and wants to stop me from helping others. But look at how God is helping me have the stamina to write this post and causing all things to work together for good! In fact, I just noticed that the symptoms I had when I started typing are gone! Thank You Jesus!
So I really encourage you to hold onto Romans 8:28 as a promise.
6.) Receive Communion to honor Jesus for His sacrifice for you
Well this may be the last piece of encouragement I’m giving, but it certainly is not the least. I really enjoy receiving communion on a regular basis as a way to honor Jesus for the sacrifice He made for me through His finished work on the cross. It’s a great way for us to receive afresh everything Jesus provided for us through His death and resurrection. In fact, I tell Jesus every time I receive communion that I am going to receive every single solitary thing that He died to provide for me, leaving no stone unturned… and guess what, sometimes I say this while experiencing negative symptoms at the same time. Again, we CANNOT be moved by what we see, feel or hear. We have to decide that , by God’s grace, we are going to hold our heads up high, even when the devil is trying to beat us down, and only be moved by the truth of God’s Word.
I have posted about the privilege of honoring Jesus through receiving communion before and have had quite a few comments from people saying, Oh wow, I didn’t know I could do this on a regular basis.
If you would like to read a wonderful mini-book on the power of communion, I recommend Pastor Joseph Prince’s book titled Health And Wholeness Through The Holy Communion. This is such a good book that I’ve given away numerous times when visiting and praying for people in the hospital and I believe it dispels some common misconceptions about communion that will help you!
Well, 2,435 words and 6 hours later… I pray this blog post brought you encouragement.
Special note of thanks to my daughter Angel, who made me a great breakfast of her own free will so I could finish this post. Also, Angel said Starr made Angel’s breakfast so Angel could make mine – haha. Thank you Starr!
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
10 Ways Religion is Bad for You
Every story needs a villain and the villain I most often employ is religion. Grace is good, but religion is bad. Grace promotes trust in God, but religion is all about trusting self. Grace says, “God helps you,” but religion says, “God helps those who help themselves.” Some have said that I’m giving religion a […]
We Are Weak…But He Is Strong
I was singing the song Jesus Loves Me by Anna B. Warner the other day. As I was singing in first person, this one line really stood out to me: We Are Weak, But He Is Strong. I’ve been singing this all week long and loving it!
Recently, after watching one of my TV interviews, a Christian woman asked me why I get to live in peace and wanted to know where her peace was. I love being asked these types of questions because it forces me to think through my answers and I learn a lot in the process. Questions from other people about my grace journey have actually been a major help to me.
Here is a portion of my answer to her question:
I believe God created each person with a free will because He loved us so much that He didn’t want to have robots that served Him and loved Him because they were forced to. With free choice came the option to choose good or evil. Even though I was a Christian, I chose the wrong path for many, many years by choosing to rely on myself and my own effort and by trying to solve my problems without God’s help. This approach to life left me very anxious and frustrated – almost constantly. I believe the reason I now live in the peace that passes understanding that the Bible talks about is because I chose to give up on my own self effort and I told God that I was done trying to live this life in my own strength. When I made the choice to receive His Great Grace and came to the understanding that only through Him was I going to be able to successfully live the Christian life, His peace came over me and it has never left. Just like me, the way you’ll know if you’re trusting in God instead of trying to figure things out on your own and working everything out in your own strength is that you will have peace, even when all of your circumstances are not lining up correctly. You’ll have peace in the midst of the storm. You’ll find yourself relying on God’s ability instead of your own to solve your problems. Now, this doesn’t mean there will be nothing for you to do in regards to your specific circumstances and situations, but whatever actions you take, they need to be Spirit-led actions and not self-led actions.
I’m happy to say that my reply to her question encouraged her. Thank God!
I’ve posted it here with the hope that it will encourage many others as well.
Let me make one clarification to my response: Of course, what I said to her doesn’t mean I’m living in perfect peace 100% of the time because there are still times when I choose to trust in myself and my own ability to solve my problems instead of trusting in God and receiving His grace for the situation at hand. But life has become pretty simple now for my family and I because when things begin to get chaotic, we simply stop and ask ourselves several questions:
1.) In what area are we not trusting God that is causing this anxiety and frustration?
2.) In what area are we doing our own thing instead of following the leadership of the Holy Spirit?
We’re convinced that the Holy Spirit would never lead us into chaos so if our lives begin to get chaotic, that’s a sign to us that we haven’t taken the time needed to hear God’s heart in one area or another.
There’s an extreme amount of safety in remembering:
WE ARE WEAK…BUT HE IS STRONG
There’s also an extreme amount of danger in us putting confidence in our own flesh.
I love these scriptures that remind me of this truth.
In Philippians 3:3-4 Paul says,
3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! (NLT)
Have you ever heard someone say “Jesus is just a crutch?”
Ha! No way: Jesus isn’t just my crutch. For me, He’s the entire hospital AND everything in between!
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says,
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” (MSG)
So let’s sing it out my friend. Let’s sing it loud and clear:
We Are Weak, But He Is Strong!
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
533. Carry Your Own Cross?
Pure Religion (James 1:27)
Religion is bad. By definition, religion is a kind of bondage, which means there’s no such thing as good religion. But what about James who said this: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. […]
God’s Treasure Chest – Romans 14
Here’s some treasure I discovered while reading and studying Romans 14. I hope this post brings you encouragement!
Romans 14:1 says,
Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. (NLT)
This is such great advice the Apostle Paul gives here. I’m sure we’ve all been in conversations with other people where we didn’t quite see eye to eye. I know I have. Sadly there have been times when I have tried and tried to convince the other person to see things my way. It wasn’t wise and I’m thankful the Holy Spirit showed me how to handle these kinds of situations through love and prayer.
I really believe that walking in love is the bottom line. I don’t believe the bottom line is being right or convincing someone else that they are wrong. It’s whether or not we handle each situation in love.
Why is love the bottom line? God is love and Jesus came to show people the Father. Everything Jesus did was done in love and we are Jesus’ disciples!
Let me encourage you about the love walk. If Jesus lives in you (if you’ve received Jesus as your Savior) you have the epitome of love living inside of you. You really do have the ability to love people – even people who aren’t acting lovely at the moment. This is 100% possible when we live our lives through the life of Christ that is in us and allow Him to live His life through us. On the contrary, a life of love is 0% possible (to live out on a consistent basis) when we’re just trying to carry out the love walk in our own ability – in our own strength.
I hope this is giving you hope because for you and I to be world changers there has to be something different about us. I believe that us choosing to love other people with God’s love, which is unconditional love, is one of the striking differences that God intends for the world to see in us.
Again, although we won’t walk in love with others 100% of the time simply because we’re imperfect, it is 100% possible for us to live a life where God’s love eminates from us if we are taking the time everyday, all throughout the day, to receive God’s unconditional love for ourselves and reminding ourselves that we need to stop trying to be something in our own strength that we already are in Christ Jesus.
Often, we can shoot ourselves in the foot (so to speak) by trying to live our Christianity through our own strength and self effort. Believe me, I did it for years. Then God helped me make what seemed like a subtle change, but it was actually one of the most significant changes I had ever made in terms of me being able to really, truly live out this Christ life inside of me.
Here’s the shift that God helped me make and I continue to grow in daily:
When a situation comes up where someone else isn’t being loving toward me, yet I know I am to respond in love I don’t reach down into my own ability, my own discipline or my own self-control to help me do the right thing. I reach into the life of Christ within me to help me respond correctly. And really, more than anything, I make the choice (by His grace) to surrender right in my moment of need by allowing Jesus to live His life through me rather than trying to handle things on my own. I get out of the way (so to speak) and simply allow Jesus to shine.
I’m telling you, when you begin to live your Christian life by continually relying on and surrendering to the life of Christ that is in you… it’s game on!
You may have heard me say in a number of my TV interviews that since I’ve been on this grace journey I feel like my spiritual life has taken off like a rocket. Well, I believe this is one of the big reasons why. It’s really just us learning to live a life of staying connected with God no matter what’s going on around us – no matter what’s going on in our circumstances.
Now, here’s Romans 14:1 again:
Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. (NLT)
I know for me, I had to learn to trust God and am still learning to trust Him to reveal to other people the revelations He wants to give them and at the same time I have learned to purposely continue to ask that God would keep me on the right path so I don’t fall into the ditch on one side of the road or the other. This new mindset helped me stop trying to change people and instead, receive God’s grace to love people, pray for them and trust God to bring about any needed changes.
Romans 14:13 says,
So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. (NLT)
There it is – the love walk! Thinking about others first and considering how what we’re doing is affecting them is the very best way to live. It’s taking the high road in life.
Taking the high road of love leads to a much better outcome than taking the low road!
We won’t always feel like taking the high road, but at some point we have to ask ourselves if the way we’ve been handling things all along is really working. I know I sure had to ask myself this question.
Sometimes us Christians can be guilty of living our Christian lives the same way we’ve always lived them without ever stopping to ask ourselves if we are experiencing the overcoming life that the Bible promises us. I was a classic example of this.
I went through the same motions day after day, year after year, but it wasn’t until 34 years later (as a Christian) that I stopped and realized, oh my gosh, what I’ve been doing is not working. I’m not free. I struggle with so many of the same things I did on day one. I definitely was not living the overcoming life in Christ that I could have been had I understood God’s grace as I do today.
I highly encourage you to ask yourself the same question I had to ask myself. Is what I’m doing working? Am I living the overcoming life in Christ that the Bible promises?
And just to clarify, when I say the overcoming life I don’t mean you will be perfect or never struggle with anything. I also don’t mean you won’t have any problems or trials. I just mean that if you had a bad temper the first day you got saved 20 years ago and you still have just as bad of a temper today, then you should start questioning some things.
Ask yourself if the teaching you are listening to at church, through podcasts and through the books you read is setting your eyes on Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Is it reminding you of the person you are in Christ? Is it reminding you that your righteousness is a gift and not based on your works? Is it showing you God’s true nature – His great and unconditional love for you and the riches of His grace toward you? Is it showing you practically how you can successfully live your life through God’s grace?
My friend, it is critical that you are hearing the Gospel of Grace in every message you are listening to because it is God’s grace that will transform your heart.
Once you’re finished trying to live this life by your own efforts and you’ve come to the end of yourself, you’ll clearly see that the best thing you can do is throw yourself, full force, on the grace of God!
If you’re hearing the right teaching, it will result in you having right believing and right believing leads to right living.
For so many years, as a Christian, I spent all day, every day, running on my treadmill of accomplishment, forever trying to do it all right. At the same time I would assess everyone around me to see if I thought they were doing it all right. I spent a fair amount of time doing what the first part of Romans 14:13 tells us not to do – condemning others.
Thankfully though, now I’ve discovered that living a life of love is far superior and that love leads me to do what the second part of verse 13 recommends which is to live in such a way that I will not cause another believer to stumble and fall!
See here what Romans 14:19 says:
So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. (NLT)
Amen. A thousand times – Amen!
Next God’s Treasure Chest post will be on Romans 15
To find all my other God’s Treasure Chest posts just click here on My Grace Journey and then scroll down to the topic that says God’s Treasure Chest!
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
532. God Justifies the Ungodly
The Key To Humility
I woke up this morning thinking about humility and this came to me.
The key to humility is knowing that any good thing that we’ve ever done or ever will do is because of God’s grace alone. JESUS is God’s grace personified; therefore, it’s really all about JESUS.
- If we’re able to live effective lives it’s all because of JESUS
- If we happen to have discipline in a certain area it’s because of JESUS
- If we choose to walk in love in a specific situation it’s because JESUS helped us
- If we are willing to forgive it’s because JESUS forgave us first
- If we happen to be helping people in any way it’s because JESUS made us able
- If we’re experiencing success in any area it’s because we’re with JESUS
I’m sure you would agree, this list could go on forever…
When we really understand it’s ALL because of JESUS we just want to brag about JESUS and point people to JESUS and be forever grateful to JESUS!
Made Alive in Christ
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. -Ephesians 2 (NASB)
What else is there to say.
IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS.
When we remember this we hold the key to humility.
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
Time Spent With God Produces Tremendous Results
I listened to this teaching titled Prayer That Makes A Difference by my Pastor, Jeff Perry, recently and knew I wanted to share it with you. It’s only 45 minutes long and I believe it will really help you like it helped me!
Here’s a quote from the teaching:
“As I’m preaching my preaching is aimed for the result of you being a bit more tuned in, a bit more receptive. This will help you and give you incentive about the life of prayer. It won’t be like, “I gotta pray, I’m a Christian and I have to pray.” No, because you’re a Christian you connect with God, you voice things, you learn things, you see things, you’re in touch with God, you’re intuitive, you’re perceptive. The Bible says those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” - Pastor Jeff Perry
Click below to listen to Pastor Jeff’s teaching and be encouraged!
Prayer That Makes A Difference
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
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