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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

The God Of The Impossible

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When you face seemingly impossible situations you can trust the God of the impossible to see you through…it’s a promise!

I hope this short video blog brings you encouragement!

The God Of The Impossible

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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

We Are Fed the Glorious Riches of God as Our Hearts Become Rooted in His Love

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Do you understand the doctrine of Grace but have difficulty living under the power of grace at times? You’re not alone.

There is no secret and no mystery you need to learn to be nourished and sustained by God, you just have to have faith in your heart toward Christ in every situation. Faith just means trust or confidence. We can have confidence in Jesus, therefore we can experience the power of grace.

I want to give you an illustration regarding how we can experience the influence of his power in our hearts. As with all word pictures, this is not a perfect example but I believe it will help you understand the direct connection you have with God as a believer.

The Mother’s Womb

Baby-in-womb

The first 9 or 10 months of our lives we’re in our mothers womb. In the womb we are fed and nourished because we are organically, directly connected to our mother. The environment is a perfect balance of nutrients and safety in the amniotic fluid. When we become born again we are hidden in God with Christ. It’s like Christ is our twin in God. As he is, so are we in this world ~ 1 John 4:17. God has chosen us in Christ to receive the same quality of life that Jesus inherited.

When we become born of God we have a direct spiritual connection that sustains us just like we used to have a direct organic connection with out mother. In God, the environment we’re in is the promise of the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus but the active nutrients of that place are his promises. In the womb we receive oxygen, vitamins, minerals through the umbilical cord. In God, we receive righteousness, peace, joy, wisdom, provision and strength through our hearts by his spirit.

Just like a baby in the womb doesn’t have to convince the mother to feed it, we don’t have to try to motivate God to bless and provide for us. It’s a natural aspect of being born of and being made one with his spirit. The way we experience all of those benefits is by grace through faith.

Allowing Christ to Dwell In Your Heart by Faith

Everything God has for us is ours already in Jesus, we just have to let Christ dwell in our hearts to engage the process of being nourished and sustained by God.

God wants us to have and experience his steady stream of life and health but we must keep our hearts aware of him. He doesn’t withhold from us when we’re not in faith or trust toward him, we’re just turning our hearts to a different source of sustenance, which is the world.

But the world doesn’t give life, it actually sucks the life out of us. When we’re not in faith toward God in our hearts, we’re like a tree that pulls up its own roots from fertile ground and plants them in a desert. The world is like a desert to our hearts, it only has death. But if we all the roots of our hearts (our beliefs and expectations) to grow deep into God’s love for us, we can become whole emotionally, mentally and physically. Our physical and soulish being will begin to enjoy the same state of life as our spirit that is safe in God.

Believers are not on a journey to complete our holiness by staying out of sin or enduring suffering, we on a journey of transformation through renewing our minds so we live yielded to God and allow his life to bear fruit within us.

I believe this passage beautifully states these concepts. This passage is an excellent description of the function of grace. Take some time to meditate on the powerful truth that we are strengthened, nourished and provided for by God because he loves us. As we allow him to strengthen us, we become emotionally, physically and mentally whole; whole to the point that this world can no longer affect us with fear, worry and doubt. I pray you find a new way to live in God as you discover the powerful truth of his indwelling spirit that is seeking to bless, nourish and sustain you.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ~ Ephesians 3:16-19

 

The post We Are Fed the Glorious Riches of God as Our Hearts Become Rooted in His Love appeared first on Forward Ministries.

The Devil Is A Liar – Don’t Believe Him

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The devil is a liar which means the things he lies to us about… we should be believing and speaking the exact opposite. I’ve begun to practice this a lot in the past couple of years.

Here are some examples:

If I’m walking through my house and the devil lies to me by saying, “What if someone breaks into your house and tries to harm you and your family?” I don’t think or say, “Oh my goodness, what if someone breaks into our house and tries to harm me and my family?” Instead I immediately open my mouth and say something such as, “No, nobody will even be able to step a foot on our property with the intention of harming us. God, I thank you that according to Psalm 91:9-11(MSG), Because You are our refuge and You are our very own home, evil can’t even get close to us and harm can’t get through the door. In fact, You ordered Your angels to guard us wherever we go!”

OR

Let’s say I’m just doing some office work while my girls are running around the house playing with their dogs and the devil lies to me by saying, “What if your kids have a serious accident? They could fall down the steps and hit their head and get a brain injury.” Instead of gasping and thinking, “Oh my gosh. What if? What if? What if?” I respond immediately by saying, “I thank you God that Angel and Starr will live a long, healthy life in the name of Jesus. (see Psalm 91:15-16) In fact, I’m so glad Your blessing them with long life so they can enjoy their sibling relationship for lots and lots of years and even grow old together.”

OR

True story: The devil lied to me recently by saying, “Remember that person who said that really unkind thing to your face while questioning your motives for why you do what you do to help others. Well, they’re right. You’re just doing all these posts to get attention.” This did actually happen and the person’s comment hurt me so bad that it nearly shut me down. I cried for days and thought, This is stupid. All I’m trying to do is help people by setting their eyes on Jesus so forget it. I may as well just close up shop and quit trying if people are going to misunderstand me like this.

I know that’s exactly what the devil wanted me to do – close up shop. He wanted me to throw up a huge wall and just lay there wounded on the side of the road of life for the rest of my life. But guess what? The devil did not get his way.

God used the very thing that the devil meant to hurt me and tempt me to enter into a state of passivity and He showed me how to go even deeper in placing my identity in what He thinks of me as opposed to what others think about me.

In addition, God showed me how to forgive the person, after I asked for His help, by reminding me that I have also said some very hurtful things to others over the years, while judging their motives. He reminded me how He had extended His mercy and forgiveness to me every single time.

Once I got my eyes on the grace God had extended to me it was easy for me to get my eyes off what this person had done to me and forgive them. I even found myself believing the best of them as 1 Corinthians 13 encourages us to do. The transformational power of God’s grace never ceases to amaze me!

As a result of this incident, God is also helping me get free from a longstanding fear that I have had of being misunderstood.

Our God is simply a Master at taking what the devil intends for our harm and turning it and working it together for our good!

You can see, and I’m sure you have personally experienced, that the devil attempts to lie to us about a wide variety of things.

He says:

What if you get sick?
What if you get hurt?
What if people reject you?
What if you run out of money?
What if your marriage falls apart?
What if your kids hate you when they grow up as a result of all the mistakes you’ve made?

And this list is just the tip of the iceberg.

You should hear me though. I literally respond to the devil’s what if’s all day long with promises from God’s Word! It’s a fun game I play, but I’ve noticed that the devil doesn’t like the way I play the game; therefore, he doesn’t even bother lying to me very often anymore. When he does, he usually gets about a half a sentence out and I’m already interrupting him by responding with the truth – the reality – of what’s really going to happen which is the opposite of his lies. 

Here’s what Jesus said about the devil in John 8:44b – “He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (NLT)

We could even get on the devil’s last nerve by actually thanking him when he lies to us for reminding us of what’s really going to happen which is THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what he’s spouting off. Hahaha – I’m sorry, but I get the biggest kick out of this game! 

My friend, always remember that Jesus stripped satan and his personal assistants of their authority through His finished work on the cross and the moment you choose to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, satan’s authority over you ceases to be a reality!

He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross He won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see. – Colossians 2:15 (ERV)

If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!

Sandra McCollom

547. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 4): The Law Increased Sin

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Part 4 in the series lays more foundation about the law and the Old Covenant and the many differences between the New Covenant which began after the death of Jesus. Most Christian teachings have assumed the commandments were meant to decrease sin, but we find just the opposite is true. It was designed to bring hopelessness and despair. Since fault was found with the people for not fulfilling their end of the agreement, God's grace and mercy would allow for the covenant to end, instead of punishing them for their sins.



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The Atonement of God: Building Your Theology on a Crucivision of God (book review)

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Why did Jesus really die?  Was it to defeat sin?  Was it to appease atonement of godthe wrath of an angry God?  Was it so that God wouldn’t have to punish us because He punished Jesus?  Was it to ransom us from the devil?  Is God a child abuser? All these questions are answered within various theories as to why Jesus died.  In this book, Jeremy looks at the four most popular theories:  penal substitutionary theory, the moral influence theory, the ransom theory, and the Christus Victor theory.  Utilizing the Christus Victor theory, he shows us how the death of God was a non-violent act from the actions of God, although it was certainly very violent from the actions of men.

Jeremy gives us a good solid understanding of the core teaching of each of them, contrasting the pros and cons of each one.  His book clearly lays out a scenario in which the crucifixion of Jesus was not God pouring out His wrath on Jesus, nor God inflicting great punishment upon His beloved Son so that He wouldn’t have to inflict punishment upon humanity.  His view is that God is a non-violent Father as expressed through the life of Jesus. It’s upon this non-violent view that Jeremy spends most of his time.

Don’t read this book if you are not willing to at least consider what he is saying.  As a pastor, I have found that far too many Christians are close minded when it comes to looking at something that may go against what they have been taught all their lives.  Most American Christians have been taught the Penal Substitutionary Theory and may have a hard time pulling away from that.  As you read this book, keep an open mind and think about what Jeremy is saying, especially if you hold to any view other than the Christus Victor view.

Jeremy even explains his concept of why there is so much violence in the Old Testament.  It is this subject here that I would love to sit down with him and have a conversation as I liked what he said, but I am not sure that I could totally put my views and thoughts in that same basket just yet. The violence of the Old Testament is still a concept that I am grappling with.

Overall, this is a great book.  If you are looking to study the atonement and its differing views, then I would highly recommend this book.  Jeremy is a great teacher and communicator.  He has definitely done his research and is well versed in what he believes and why he believes it.  He is definitely someone that I recommend that you follow.  Through his books, blogs, and podcasts, I have been deeply challenged in my thinking, which, to me, is always a good thing!

You can find out more about Jeremy at his website:  www.redeeminggod.com.  You can purchase his book there or on Amazon.

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Michael Brown and his Grace Controversy

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The hyper-grace gospel that Jesus revealed declares that God loves you with an unconditional love. His grace for you is, to quote the apostle Paul, hyper- or super-abounding (Rom 5:20). The gospel of God’s grace is the good news that this world needs to hear, but according to some this message is controversial, divisive, and […]

546. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 3): The Law Shut Boasting Mouths

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This is the third in a series of why Jesus taught two covenants, this week looking at some specifics within the Mosaic law from the first covenant. That was a covenant made with Israel and those of us who are Gentiles were not included. Ultimately the law brought a curse because it required all of it be kept perfectly. The New Covenant would not be anything like the Old. The first covenant resulted in death and condemnation, whereas under the second covenant, we've been removed from that and placed into life. The law was meant to shut mouths, stop boasting, and bring people to the end of themselves.



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Our God Reigns!

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As I was laying in bed last night I began to meditate on the truth that Our God Reigns. I woke up again at 2:30 am this morning with the same phrase on my heart so I got up and began looking up scriptures.

Friends in Christ, I believe this is our time to shine like never before. We’re up to bat and together we need to hit a grand slam for the Kingdom of God. To accomplish this, it’s going to be critical that we keep our minds extremely focused on the Word of God instead of the news of the world.

We’re here, for such a time as this, to carry out the plan of God here on earth. We know it’s His will that we blanket the entire planet with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here’s how we know this.

2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

We are here for God’s purpose. It’s all about Him. It’s all for His glory.

Thankfully, because of His matchless grace, God has invited us in on this amazing adventure. It’s such an exciting time to be alive!

We have the privilege of maintaining a very close connection with our Heavenly Father, with our Savior Jesus Christ and with our awesome helper, the Holy Spirit.

We’re up to bat, but we will only be able to accomplish what we need to accomplish from a place of close communion with our triune God! As we do, the Holy Spirit will work in us and through us to carry out God’s plan. Our God Reigns!

I believe these powerful scriptures will bring you great hope, as they did me.

Psalm 47:8
God reigns over the nations
God sits on the throne                                                        

Exodus 15:18
“The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”
(NASB)

Daniel 4:34
“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
(NASB)

Psalm 93:1
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
(NASB)

Psalm 146:10
The Lord will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
(NASB)

1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (NASB)

1 Peter 5:6-11
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. All power to Him forever! Amen. (NLT)

Revelation 12:10-11
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. (NASB)

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

God’s Treasure Chest – Romans 16

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Here we go – the final chapter of Romans! I have thoroughly enjoyed this book of the Bible and enjoyed recording my thoughts of the treasure I discovered while reading and studying it. What an incredible book of the Bible!

Romans 16:16a says, 
Greet each other in Christian love. (NLT)

The Apostle Paul says this after 15 verses of greetings to his friends in a letter. These greetings were much more than a “hello.” As Paul was sending his greetings I noticed he was also speaking  words of affirmation over his friends. I think it’s pretty evident that he was calling them out one or two at a time, not just to greet them, but also to honor and encourage them!

Then, in verse 16a Paul encouraged them all to greet each other in Christian love. How blessed they were that he had just given them a living example of how to do this in his letter to them. There’s definitely a lesson to be learned here, by watching how Paul communicated to his friends. 

Here are some examples:

Romans 16:1-2 (NLT)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. 2 Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among God’s people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.

Romans 16:3-4 (NLT)
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches.

Romans 16:6 (NLT)
6 Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit.

Romans 16:7 (NLT)
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.

Romans 16:8-9 (NLT)
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.

I personally read though verses 1-16 three times because I was so inspired by Paul’s great leadership example. 

I’ve never understood why leaders think they’re going to get the best out of their team by yelling at them, insulting them, intimidating them and making them feel as if they are never good enough. That form of leadership is such a deception.

After reading verses 1-16, I’m sure we would all agree that there is no possible way Paul’s friends could have felt anything other than encouraged by his greeting. In addition, I’m sure we would all agree that Paul’s respectful treatment of them would only serve to make them want to work even harder because they felt valued by him. Now that’s good leadership!

25 Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed His plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time. 26 But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey Him. 27 All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.

Verse 25 – God is able to make us strong. How can we be sure? The Good News says so!

Verse 26 – One of the most important things that I have learned on my grace journey is how important my believing is and how right believing leads to right living and wrong believing leads to wrong living; therefore, I always notice something when reading the Bible now that I never noticed before. I notice the phase believe and obey. So they too might believe and obey Him. (from verse 26) Right believing has to come first, then obedience will follow. 

For example, if I believe the Bible is a book full of rules and I believe I need to find out what rule there is in each verse for me to follow and and I also believe that I’m going to be punished by God if fail to follow those rules, I am not going to be very enthusiastic about reading it. On the other hand, if I believe the Bible to be a love letter from God to me and a book full of His amazing grace and His promises, then I will be enthusiastic about reading it and I won’t have to be talked into reading and studying it because I will want to as a result of having a right belief system.

Here’s another example. If I believe I have to accomplish a certain amount each day and I believe if I don’t, then that means I’m a failure, that wrong belief will lead me to live in anxiety and frustration. That wrong belief will result in me living in works (self-effort) much of the time instead of being free to trust in God’s grace to carry me through. On the other hand, if I understand that my worth and value come solely from the fact that I am a child of God and He loves me unconditionally, I will be able to receive His grace to help me do my best everyday and not feel better about myself on days I get more accomplished or worse about myself on days I get less accomplished. Believing this way will actually free me to get more accomplished because I’ll be working from a place of rest and peace, assured that I am already loved and valued, instead of trying to work for my worth and value!

Do you see how wrong believing leads to wrong living and right believing leads to right living? It really made a difference for me when I understood this. Now that I do, if I’m living in disobedience in a certain area of my life, I go to the throne of grace (see Hebrews 4:16) and ask God to show me what area my believing is off in so I can begin to believe correctly in that area again, according to His Word, knowing that obedience will naturally flow out of my right believing (out of my renewed mind)!

To find my other God’s Treasure Chest posts on the book of Romans, just click here on My Grace Journey and then scroll down to the topic that says God’s Treasure Chest – Romans!

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

545. Why Jesus Taught Two Covenants (Part 2): From Adam to Moses

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Our second in the series of why Jesus taught two covenants lays a further foundation on why Adam fell and how the covenant began through Moses with the Jewish people. A covenant must be agreed upon by at least two parties, so the law within the first covenant was not forced upon Israel, but they agreed to do all of it as required. They declared with pride it would be righteousness for them. They would have been better off humbling themselves by saying they couldn't do it. They chose to trust in themselves and their ability.



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My Book Is Now In The Korean Language!

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So excited to announce the release of my book, I Tried Until I Almost Died, in the Korean language! I’m grateful to my publisher, WaterBrook & Multnomah, for working with Kyujang Publishing to help this become a reality.

Last night I found out from Wikipedia that about 80 million people speak Korean worldwide!

Please believe with me that the Korean people will be greatly helped, encouraged and blessed as they read and receive a personal revelation of the grace of our Lord Jesus. 

I attribute this wonderful news to God’s grace, His unmerited favor, working on my behalf!

Click here to go to a Korean retailer

Click here to check out more about the English edition

Click here to watch a 2 minute video synopsis of I Tried Until I Almost Died

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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 Was Shouting At The TV In Agreement

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Over a month ago my husband Steve listened to this teaching by Judah Smith, Pastor of The City Church in Seattle. He said he wanted us all to watch it as a family during one of our weekly family rallies.

I was literally shouting at the TV in agreement while my family and I watched this teaching. It will help you understand how grace works in your life. That’s why I was shouting. He was explaining the journey that I have been walking out for the past 4 years.

This message is about how to see our impulses, appetites and desires become more like Jesus!

While watching, I was shouting, “That’s right. That’s exactly how grace works. People have got to hear this. It’s gonna help them!” Then, the minute we finished watching it, I emailed The City Church and asked permission to post a link on my website. I’m thrilled to say that they said yes!

If you have ever heard Judah Smith preach you already know this, but the man is hilarious so get ready to laugh and be helped at the same time! This link leads straight to the church’s website where you will find all of Pastor Judah’s other teachings as well.

The Six Week Journey – Part Two 

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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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