GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
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
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!
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
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!
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
Yay, we’re back to Romans! I love reading and studying for these blog posts! Remember though, my comments below in red are simply from what I have studied so far and/or just my own personal thoughts about these verses and my own experiences in regards to these verses. I realize that learning is progressive and I will gain more and more revelation each time I come across these same verses in the future. In other words, I don’t claim to know it all and I never will. This is not meant to be a commentary of Romans.
Romans 13:1-7 says,
1 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. 4 The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. 5 So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.
6 Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. (NLT)
I have to admit, It has alarmed me in the last number of years to see how some Christians think it’s ok to publicly gossip about those in positions of governmental authority, including the President. Of course, It’s not ok to privately gossip about those in authority over us either, but I mentioned public gossip because of some of the things I have read on social media.
I believe this attitude stems from a lack of genuine trust in God. There are some Christians out there who are trying to do God’s job. Haven’t we all done this a time or two (or 5 or 6 hundred times) ourselves? I know I have, but the truth is that when a person really believes that God can make a difference they stop gossiping and start praying and believing God to bring the changes in our Nation that need to be brought about. And just imagine all the great results that would come if every single one of us Christians started praying for those in authority over us instead of slandering them. One of the synonyms for slander means ‘to speak evil of.’
Of course, I’m not saying all Christians do this by any means, but I can write this with conviction because I was that person for so many years who was behind the scenes complaining instead of actually doing something that would make a difference.
I’m also not saying there are not certain actions we should take, such as exercising our right to vote, etc, but any action we take needs to be a Spirit-led action that comes from a heart of love and prayer, not an action that comes from a heart of hate and self-effort.
For instance, this gathering is a brilliant, Spirit-led idea that will actually bring about genuine change in our nation. Click here to check it out: Together 2016 – The Campaign
This is going to be historic. I can feel it in my spirit. I couldn’t even read through the website with my husband without choking back tears. Why will this be historic?
Because #JesusChangesEverything
Now that God has changed me by His grace and continues to do so, I see many things differently than I used to. Here’s the bottom line for me now – here is what I ask myself: Did Jesus sit around and complain about the Roman government of His day and gossip about and slander those in governmental authority? He did not.
In the midst of the corruption that was going on in Jesus’ day, He prayed, He loved, He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus understood that the things that were going on in the government and in individual people’s lives were symptomatic of a deeper problem; therefore, He spent His time getting to the heart of the issues at hand.
I really love this statement that I’ve heard a number of people, including my own pastor, say:
I’d Rather Light A Candle Than Curse The Darkness
This is what Jesus did!
We can’t forget that God is still the God of the impossible and no matter what’s going on around us, His kingdom shall reign forever and ever!
Revelation 11:15 says,
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:
“The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
OH YES HE WILL!
Instead of complaining, God needs us to spend our time praying for and speaking His Word over our government system, government leaders, and our President.
After all, Proverbs 21:1 says this:
The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it whichever way He wishes.
And look what the Bible says in Hebrews 4:12 regarding the power of God’s Word:
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (NLT)
The Word of God is the most powerful force on the planet. This is why we need to be speaking it over our nation and over our world!
The last thing I’ll say about this is that I do believe satan has some Christians distracted from what Jesus actually asked His followers to do.
Here’s what Jesus told us to do:
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” – John 13:34-35 (NLT)
and
31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you. 32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. 35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.- Luke 6:31-36 (NLT)
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Romans 13:8-10 says,
8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. 9 For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. (NLT)
I’ve got great news for you regarding this last group of verses. When you make the choice to live your life under God’s grace, His grace will change you into a person who has a desire to walk in love. The key is to receive God’s grace no matter what.
I tell a story in my book about how, through the simple act of continuing to receive God’s grace, even when I didn’t feel I deserved it, I was set free from a lifelong bondage of being late almost everywhere I went. And when I say lifelong bondage, I’m not kidding. When I was in grade school I used to chase the school bus down the street in the morning because I would frequently leave my house too late to get to the bus stop. But thank God that about 3 years ago His grace changed my heart to such an extent that it gave me the desire to walk in love with people in this area by being on time!
It’s really true that a life lived by God’s grace will take you light years beyond any place that living under the law could ever take you.
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Romans 13:13-14 says,
13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. (NLT)
If you’re reading these verses through the lens of God’s grace you’re going to see them totally different than if you read them as a rule book. As a grace girl, what immediately stood out to me is the advice that Paul gave us to clothe ourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I already know that if you and I learn to practice the presence of Jesus (which is what we were created for), the sins that Paul lists in these verses are not going to be alluring to us and even if there are things we are currently struggling with, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that as we behold Jesus we will be changed to be more and more like Him!
I’m not saying the sins don’t have to go. They gotta go, but there’s only one way they can be annihilated from any of our lives and that is by the presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit doing the work of change in us.
There are SO many ways that we can practice the presence of Jesus and behold Him. I go into this extensively in my book, I Tried Until I Almost Died, including giving you lots of practical examples as to what this looks like in your everyday life.
Next God’s Treasure Chest post will be on Romans 14
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
I’ve had to forgive so many people lately that I finally thought, maybe I need to write a blog post and call it If You Forgive, You Win.
Several times recently, people have treated me disrespectfully. You know what I mean – they looked at me or talked to me like I was stupid, like I didn’t quite measure up and definitely like I wasn’t as good as them.
Then, just yesterday we received fraud text alerts from our credit card company and once again someone out there decided it was ok to use our credit card info to purchase their stuff.
You’ve probably been through it as well. Shred the old credit card, get a new credit card, then spend hours updating all the companies with your new credit card information. My husband Steve is in the other room doing this very thing as I type. It’s a hassle for sure.
In each of these situations the devil tried to talk me into not forgiving the offender and each time I knew I had a choice to make.
The purpose of this post is not to put the focus on look what happened to me, but to put the focus on the solution because we all have plenty of opportunities every day to be offended and become bitter and resentful. None of us are exempt.
When the first situation happened, as I walked away from the person, I knew I had a choice to make. I could stand there and rehash the way they just treated me or I could ask God for His help. I simply prayed to myself, God, I know I need to forgive this person. Can you please help me?
The very next thing I purposely started thinking about was how I have talked to way too many people disrespectfully over the years as well, including my own kids and my husband. So instead of having me focus on what the other person did to me, God helped me set my mind on the fact that He has forgiven me of the very same offense so many times. This helped me tremendously in the first two situations because it immediately softened my heart toward the offenders.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of this truth in Colossians 3:12-14:
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. (MSG)
So lets analyze this scripture, if you will, and see if we can find out what right beliefs make us willing and able to forgive others. After all, right believing leads to right living and wrong believing leads to wrong living.
The very first truth that jumped out at me is that we have been chosen by God for this new life of love. You may not always feel like loving those who have hurt you, but although feelings are very real, following them is not what will set you free. It’s the truth that sets you free.
So here’s the truth about you:
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. -1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)
Something just happens to us when we know we are chosen, special, set apart.
Let’s take the example of USA women’s gymnastics. Several years ago we purchased tickets to attend the USA Gymnastics Visa National Championships. We weren’t able to attend all the sessions (we gave some of our tickets away), but we did get to go to several, including the final day of competition. It was incredible to experience it live. Wow! Witnessing firsthand what those women were able to do is beyond words!
At the end, the decision was made as to whom would be going on to London as part of the USA Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team. I don’t think there was a dry eye in that place when the girls who made it were announced. They had been picked, chosen, set apart for a special purpose.
Once they knew they had been chosen they were willing to endure several more months of, probably the most intense training they had ever been through so they could then represent the USA at the 2012 Olympics. And represent they did. Wow, what a year that was! Gabrielle Douglas won the all-around individual gold and Team USA won the gold medal for the team competition.
As much as I love to watch USA women’s gymnastics (already looking forward to Rio), I want to encourage you that, as a Believer, you have been chosen for even a much higher purpose – an eternal purpose.
You are a world changer, my friend, but you have to believe it. When you do, you will be willing to do what it takes, by God’s grace, to dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, and discipline.
Now, let’s keep analyzing that awesome scripture from Colossians.
Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.
Do you know that, as a Believer in Jesus, you have been completely forgiven of ALL of your sins – past, present and future sins? If this is new news to you, I encourage you to read Hebrews 10:1-22.
Pay specific attention to verses 10, 12 and 14. Verse 10 says once for all time, verse 12 says good for all time and verse 14 says forever. Then verse 18 says this: And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
and here’s more good news…
Hebrews 9:24-26,
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. 25 And He did not enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice. (NLT)
and even more good news…
Ephesians 1:7 says,
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. (NASB)
Notice that this last verse does not say our trespasses are forgiven according to how perfectly we behave. It says we’re forgiven according to the riches of His grace!
If this concept of total and complete forgiveness is new to you and you are like, Whoa, I don’t know about this Sandra. I want to believe it, but I’ve never heard anything like this before, I understand because I went through this same process when I first heard this phenomenal news.
If this is where you’re at right now, I encourage you to do one of two things: either get my book, I Tried Until I Almost Died, in which I explain our complete forgiveness in Christ in great detail and back it up with lots of scriptures or go to the right side of the homepage of this website and type forgiveness into the search bar. A number of posts will come up including one titled Our Forgiveness Secured.
One way or the other I encourage you to load yourself with truth about your complete forgiveness in Christ as a result of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. It’s critical to your Christian walk that you understand this Biblical truth.
Let’s just proceed on though, assuming all of us Believers have a revelation of our complete forgiveness in Christ. First, think about what happens to a person when they have guilt on their conscience. They react out of that guilt because they feel condemned for their sin. Well, it’s difficult to react to sin that has been removed from your conscience because of the precious blood of Jesus; therefore, you can go through life being assured of your forgiveness and that gives you both peace and confidence.
From my own personal experience, having a revelation of my complete forgiveness in Christ has made me SO much more secure. Referring back to the verse we are examining through further study, living with this peace and confidence has made all the difference for me in being able to be even-tempered, being content with second place and being able to be quick to forgive (as the Apostle Paul recommended in that verse).
Do you see how having the right belief that we are forever forgiven affects our behavior?
When you truly understand that you’ve been forgiven of all your sins – past, present and future sins – believe me, you will have a desire to forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you because of the change that receiving His gift of grace has made in your heart.
In all three cases this past week where I was mistreated, as a result of knowing I’m completely forgiven and having that peace and assurance in my own life, I didn’t struggle when I needed to make the choice to stop focusing on what the other person had just done to me. I was able, with God’s help and by His grace, to forgive as I have been forgiven and quickly move past each situation. In fact, I prayed for each person after each incident.
I felt like the Holy Spirit showed me that the first person reacted out of fear that they were inadequate and the second reacted out of their own emotional pain (from being hurt by others). I didn’t have a face-to-face discussion with the credit card thieves, but still prayed for them, that the deception they were living under would fall from their eyes, that they would have an encounter with Jesus and that they and all their family members would get saved. They didn’t know who they were messing with when they messed with Sandra McCollom. I love to pray! God is sending laborers across their path who will tell them the good news as sure as I’m sitting here typing this. Ha – take that credit card thieves. See you in Heaven!
See there, it’s true – If You Forgive, You Win!
Just imagine what would happen if Christians worldwide began to bless their enemies and pray for those who hurt them. Just imagine the love (and love = power) that would be released in the earth. Just imagine how many more people would be won over to the kingdom of God if we receive God’s grace to live like this.
It is only by His grace that this transition is possible. He is the only one who can help us see that this whole deal is not about what everybody is doing to us and instead help us to focus on the other person/people involved and on how they are reacting out of their own hurt, confusion, anxiety, frustration, etc.
Here’s the last part of that verse in Colossians:
And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
One last thought before we discuss forgiving ourselves. My husband and I read a really good parenting book recently called Loving Our Kids On Purpose by Danny Silk. It’s a great book for parents and other leaders as well. You can refer to my Facebook or Instagram page if you want to read the full post about the book, but there was one line part way through the book that just blew me away and has been helping me ever since.
This is not a direct quote because I want to rephrase it to fit this post, but here’s the gist of it : We are making a big mistake when we make other people’s problems our own problems. This hit me like a ton of bricks and I feel like this is very appropriate for this post.
It was important in my being able to handle the offenses I discussed above correctly that I was able to say to myself, This person has a problem, but I don’t need to make their problem my problem. I believe that is what we do when we give into bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. We essentially take on the other person’s problem ourselves.
On the other hand, when we can identify the owner of the problem (and sometimes that is us), we are then able to stay calm and be empathetic toward the other person by truly feeling sorry that they are allowing this problem to affect their life.
This concept just gives us a whole new attitude toward the various situations we face. When we stop letting other people’s problems control us, we’ve just taken a huge step toward freedom.
I didn’t know this was going to be part of my post until yesterday morning when I spent almost an hour crying after being pulled over by a police officer for going 45mph in a 35mph zone. I really don’t get mad at myself very often at all anymore, but I sure was mad at myself and disappointed in myself yesterday morning.
I think I must have also been having a blood sugar crash as well because I could not stop crying for the longest time. I was a mess.
Finally, I calmed down enough to pray and I said this, God, I don’t feel like forgiving myself. I am so stinkin’ mad at myself. But I know I need to… so I choose to forgive myself right now, in Jesus’ name, Amen. I just had to refuse to go with my feelings – because remember that it’s not feelings that set us free – and choose to let the mistake go.
It wasn’t like I was speeding on purpose and I even found out later that in this particularly small community where people turn off the highway and then the speed limit drops to 35 mph, officers give out lots of tickets.
I know why I was so mad. It was because I had been pulled over for speeding about 6 months ago and I am not normally a speeder. In fact, I feel I’m a careful and conscientious driver, but I was talking with my girls on the way to their classes and we were just having a great time. I simply was not paying close enough attention and I do obviously need to be more aware of the speed limit signs.
I have an idea though – I can use cruise control from now on to make sure I don’t go over 35mph on that road.
On top of getting a speeding ticket I got an additional ticket. I could not find our new insurance card in our vehicle. We recently paid our insurance so we were definitely covered. I just didn’t have the card. I called my husband with the officer standing right there and asked him if he put the card in the glove compartment after paying for it. He had forgotten to put the insurance card in there.
Right then and there I had another choice to make. Was I going to blame my husband and talk to him disrespectfully on the phone right in front of the officer or was I going to remember that I have done that very same thing on several occasions after paying for the insurance myself. I have also forgotten to put the cards in the vehicles.
I’m glad to say I chose to treat Steve with love, but there were so many years that I treated Steve with disrespect, treating him as if he was stupid, as if he didn’t quite measure up and as if I was better than him. I didn’t do this all the time, but far too often for as long as I had been a Christian. The problem was, although I was a Christian, my mind was filled with wrong believing; therefore, I had lots of wrong behavior.
This is exactly why I remain in awe of God’s great grace toward me and the way He has changed me over the past 4 years. I mean, I just cannot get over it. He is so good to have saved me from my pharisaical self. I’m far from perfect, but the point is, I keep receiving His grace whether I’m having a good day or a bad day and it’s His grace that keeps changing me from the inside out.
I was telling my husband last night in front of my girls the story about me crying when the police officer handed me the ticket and how the back seat went dead silent. That doesn’t happen very often folks because my twin girls love to talk. I asked the girls what they were thinking and Starr responded, I was thinking that this is the most embarrassing day of my life because I’m sitting in the back seat with my pajamas and housecoat on and wondering what in the world that Police officer must be thinking.
I started laughing hysterically. I totally forgot that it was ‘pajama day’ at their Homelink classes. I didn’t think to say anything to the officer. He must have been wondering what in the world we were doing – hahahaha!
See there, I forgave myself and ended up having a really good laugh.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most - Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)
I encourage you to walk in forgiveness with others and yourself because there is no doubt about it – If you forgive, you win. Sometimes it may not look like you’re winning and you may be tempted to take matters into your own hands and try to control the situation and all the other people involved, but take it from me, leaving it in God’s hands and trusting Him is the most effective way to live!
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
Merry Christmas Everyone! (one day late because we were having server problems)
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus with your family and friends yesterday!
Our family is believing for you to have a VERY blessed 2016.
Thanks so much for taking this journey of grace with me by reading what I believe God places on my heart to write and thank you for ALL your encouragement!
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
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised
Jesus is speaking under God’s authority and he declares God’s will to the brokenhearted, the captive and those who have lost their way. The will of God for those who identify is freedom. The will of God for those who are bruised or stuck in life due to trauma or emotional pain is emancipation. Jesus’ declaration is deliverance from the dulness and depression of life.
Salvation is best understood in sacrifice. Sacrifice is best understood as exchange. Jesus carried your sorrows, he absorbed your grief. Jesus became your failure and underwent the necessary penalty for your deliverance. You are qualified for joy and happiness because Jesus has traded places with you.
Yes, you’ve experienced failure and pain but Jesus has secured your salvation. Behold him in his glorious state and personalize his victory. He became your pain, now become his joy.
This is a season where our past is inescapable for some. Christmas is truly a wonderful time of year but it comes with baggage. I find myself still having to make the choice to let go of the past in certain Christmas situations. Of course, it’s all about Jesus but there’s still stuff to deal with. I encourage you in this season to remember why he was born, to rescue from death and the power of sin, to set you free from your failures and heal those wounds that seem to never heal. He is with you, he is for you, he knows what it’s like to be you and he is pouring his grace into you heart as you read this.
I pray you find peace in his finished work and open your heart to let healing flow.
The post Has Your Heart Ever Been Broken? appeared first on Forward Ministries.
God's first promise of the Incarnation is given in His conversation with Satan just after man's sin of High Treason. Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The Father-God realizes that man's… Read More
The post The Promise of Christmas appeared first on Positive Words.
Now that I see the Bible as a love letter from God to me as opposed to seeing it as a book of rules it seems like each time I read and study it I discover brand new treasure.
Take Romans 12:1 for instance.
Romans 12:1 says,
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. (NLT)
The way I would have read this verse with my old way of thinking, before I understood grace, was this: I better present myself as a living sacrifice to God and I better do it now…or else.
Since I now see the Bible through the lens of God’s grace, recently while reading this verse I noticed something right away that I would have missed before. The Apostle Paul was definitely pleading with us to present our bodies to God, but the motive for doing this is to be in response to what He has done for us. This time the part of the verse that says because of all He has done for you stood out to me.
Someone might ask, what’s the big deal Sandra? I may not have known how to answer that question if I had not lived out the answer these past 3.5 years, spending the moments of my days focusing on all He has done for me. This shift in focus changes everything. It changes our heart and it changes our motives. It gives us the desire to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice! You see, when we focus on what God has done for us we are focusing on His grace. The more we see His grace the more we want to be obedient because seeing and receiving God’s grace causes us to fall in love with Him!
I like this too. I found this reference verse to Romans 12:1 in the Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance online.
Romans 6:13 says,
Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time – remember, you’ve been raised from the dead! – into God’s way of doing things. (MSG)
See there, remembering that we’ve been raised from the dead – all because of Jesus – is huge. It takes us from, I have to present my body to God as a living sacrifice to I want to present my body to God as a living sacrifice.
Romans 12:2 says,
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)
Again, I love how in this verse Paul gives us a way to be able to do what he is encouraging us to do and that is to let God transform us into new people by helping us change the way we think.
I also noticed that as a result of this renewal of our mind the Apostle Paul says we will learn to know God’s will for us and that His will is good and pleasing and perfect. How many Christians are there who do not understand that God’s will for them is good and pleasing and perfect? I believe there are still lots of them. All you have to do is listen to people talk to find out what they believe about God.
Now I’m going to continue pointing out all kinds of examples throughout Romans 12 that will help you see that when the Holy Spirit gave the Apostle Paul the inspiration to write what he wrote, He always also gave the answer as to how it could be done.
Romans 12:3 says,
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (NLT)
See, I believe when we are honest in our evaluation of ourselves we will not end up thinking we are better than we really are. I am constantly asking myself, am I trusting God in this area or am I trying to take matters into my own hands? The answer is that I am learning to trust God more and more (thankfully) and I’m also learning that when I do trust God things go good and when I place my trust in myself they don’t.
I used to think of evaluating myself differently than the way I think of it now. During my first three and a half decades as a Christian I would constantly go around talking to others about my weaknesses and would often pick myself apart. I’m thankful to say I no longer do this. This doesn’t mean I don’t recognize when I have a weakness in an area because I do, but when I do, instead of becoming self-absorbed and self-focused, if I’m really trusting in God in that moment, I immediately turn to Jesus and become focused on Him. I remind myself that although I am weak, He is strong. (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
It has been very freeing to me over this last 3.5 years to see that what I need to be evaluating about myself is if I am receiving God’s grace through faith in each situation that arises or not. Am I trusting God or not? Do I really believe Jesus has it covered or not?
Let me tell you something, when I was evaluating myself by a list of rules I had a huge problem with thinking more highly of myself than I should have been. I compared myself with others almost constantly. This is no longer an issue for me now that I am evaluating myself by asking one question: Sandra, are you trusting God here?
As a Christian, even when I fail, my job is to turn my eyes directly to Jesus and remember the truth that Jesus already paid for the very sin I just committed. Because of Jesus’ willingness to shed His blood for me on the cross and because I have chosen to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior I can be assured that all my sins – past, present and future sins – are completely forgiven. Do you see how it’s all about us being Jesus-focused instead of self-focused?
I understand that living in this kind of freedom makes some people very nervous. It made me nervous as well when I first began to truly learn about the truth of God’s grace (His unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor) 3.5 years ago. I thought, NO WAY, THIS HAS GOT TO BE TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. At first I was afraid to believe that Jesus had it ALL covered.
Eventually, my husband and my kids and I decided, we’re going with this. It’s the truth. We’re totally jumping into the ocean of God’s amazing grace and we’re never turning back.
Guess what’s happened since that time?
- We’ve become more obedient because of God’s grace
- We live a holier lifestyle than ever before because of God’s grace
- We’ve been able to help more people because of God’s grace
- We have a much closer relationship with God because of His grace
- We have fallen deeply in love with Jesus because of God’s grace
- We struggle less than ever before because of God’s grace
- We live in peace the majority of the time because of God’s grace
- We’re stronger people in general because we are living our lives through God’s grace
This list could go on for a very long time but let it suffice to say, we definitely have NOT had a desire to sin more often as a result of receiving and living by God’s grace. It has been the complete opposite!
Romans 12:9 says,
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. (NLT)
It really is possible to genuinely walk in love with others, but again, this is only possible through God’s grace. The good news is, I’ve found out through personal experience that being Jesus-focused also makes us others-focused. When we are spending the moments of our day thinking about God’s great love for us and what Jesus provided for us through His finished work on the cross, we ARE going to be filled with His love to be able to genuinely love other people!
I used to think I knew that God loved me and I did in my head, but I definitely didn’t have a heart revelation of His unconditional love for me. I’m so changed in this area now. You should be inside my brain and hear what I’m thinking all throughout the day.
Yesterday I was doing dishes and I was purposely thinking about how much God loves me. I do this in some way or another on a daily basis. In fact, I’m addicted to it at this point and have developed a habit of receiving God’s love all throughout the day.
Someone recently sent us a flower arrangement for Christmas and it has a beautiful red rose in the middle of it. I imagined myself sitting on my chase with that rose and pulling one peddle off at a time while saying He Loves Me! (then another peddle) He Loves Me! (then another) He Loves Me! I imagined myself pulling off every single peddle with a big smile on my face each time I repeated, He Loves Me!
I guarantee you that if you purposely take time to receive God’s love for yourself you will find yourself being able to genuinely love others more and more. If you pay attention closely, you’ll also come to find that in those times when you are not walking in love with other people it is because you have succumbed to fear, guilt, condemnation or a whole host of other negative thoughts as opposed to remaining in God’s love for you.
Romans 12:10 says,
Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (NLT)
See here, Paul gives a very practical tip as to how we can love each other with genuine affection. We can do this by honoring each other!
Romans 12:11 says,
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. (NLT)
So instead of beating yourself up by telling yourself, I’m such a lazy person and I’ve gotta stop, consider seeing this verse through the lens of grace. Say to yourself, look at that, God loves me so much that He doesn’t want me to live a lazy lifestyle because He wants the best for me. Wow, He even gave me great advice as to how to keep from being lazy by working hard and purposely serving others!
Romans 12:12 says,
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. (NLT)
Seriously, this is so awesome. Right in the middle of this verse the Apostle Paul tells us to be patient in trouble, but he tells us how to be patient at the beginning and the end. First, we can be patient by being the type of people who rejoice in our confident hope and secondly, by continuing to lift up each situation to God in prayer!
The JB Philipp’s translation explains it good. Here it is!
Romans 12:12
Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come endure them patiently, steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer. (PHILLIPS)
Now let’s skip down to verse 20:
Romans 12:20 says,
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” (NLT)
Andrew Wommack’s Living Commentary notes are really good on this verse.
“These coals of fire are not coals of punishment or torment, but rather conviction. If this was urging us to be kind to our enemies because that would hurt them more than anything else, then that would be violating the context of this verse. Paul was telling us to live peaceably with all people (Romans 12:18) and to render to no one evil for evil (Romans 12:17). God’s kind of love is being promoted, not some scriptural way to hurt those who hurt us.
When we walk in love toward those who hurt us, it heaps conviction on them. They know what their reaction would be if they were in our place, and to see us walk in love under adverse circumstances shows them that we have something special that they don’t have.”
Romans 12:21 says,
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. (NLT)
Even in the harsh world we live in today, there is a way we can we keep from being conquered by or being overcome by evil. How? We must conquer and overcome evil by doing good! We must love when we feel tempted to hate. We must forgive when we feel we have a right to take revenge. We must let God be our vindicator when we feel like vindicating ourself. We must walk in the way of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control; but the only way we will ever be able to carry any of this out on a consistent basis is in Christ, through Christ and by Christ alone. It’s only possible by His grace my friend. Receive it afresh today… and everyday!
Next God’s Treasure Chest post will be on Romans 13
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
