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Monday, April 30, 2007

Man Tortures Self



No this is not a headline from the National Enquirer.

This is just the sad daily story of many men and women who are holding unforgiveness in their hearts for another person. Could be for the smallest thing. Could be for a great sin done against them. Doesn't matter.

Jesus makes it clear in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant that when we are unforgiving, after having been forgiven so much by our great Lord and Savior, we will undergo torture (Matt. 18:21-35).

Such has been the testimony of many who held resentment in their hearts. And the sad thing is that sometimes hatred and self-will is such that one actually prefers the torture to letting go of the bitterness.

The answer: A greater revelation of the grace and forgiveness that the Lord has given us. Study it, meditate on it, dwell on the cross, and what it means for you. And realize that if you are a born-again Christian, you are a new creature in Christ. In your spirit, indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, you love. And forgive. Walk by the Spirit. End the torture.

"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

This Week On Grace Walk Radio


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This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Why Christ and Him Crucified?

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Every so often I have to re-read this great comment from A.W. Tozer from his Pursuit of God:

"The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do."

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Bible Trivia That's Not Trivial



Here's a little test...complete this verse:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for _______"

(Rom. 6:14)

[Jeopardy theme playing in the background...]

Pretty important verse, wouldn't you say? A verse that explains why sin shall no longer be master over us?

Important, no?

[Jeopardy theme continues...]

Give up?

Here's the whole verse:





"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace."

When's the last time you heard that verse preached? Maybe never. Why? Ask around. See if your friends, preachers, teachers, can complete the verse. You might be surprised.

What's Wrong With Legalism?

At our church Fellowship Group this week, Paul asked the question, "What's wrong with Legalism?"

There are, of course, a lot of answers to that question, but maybe the best is the one immediately offered by Diane:

"Because it takes our eyes off of Jesus."

How true.

Monday, April 23, 2007

This Week On Grace Walk Radio


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This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Mopping Up The Battlefield of the Mind.

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Monday, April 16, 2007

This Week On Grace Walk Radio


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This week's message on Grace For Life is:

So Walk In Him.

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Reflecting On Jesus' Death Under The Law

By Michele Rayburn


“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully”...(1 Timothy 1:8)

As I was reading some blog posts and comments on another blog, about the law and the gospel, the thought came to mind that Jesus died under the law which was composed of God’s law but also of man’s laws. And Jesus was subjected to man’s faulty interpretation of both God’s law and their own laws. As a result, Jesus was wrongly accused of breaking the law and was wrongfully put to death.

The Bible says “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” (Galatians 2:19) In this case, we were righteously judged by God to be unable to keep His law, and would be condemned if it were not for our faith in the Lawgiver, Jesus Christ.

But Jesus died under the law which was implemented by sinful men, so that they could not be trusted to implement the law perfectly. Then as now, the law is often, accidentally or on purpose, used to either judge an innocent man to be guilty or to judge a guilty man to be innocent.

If even Jesus can be found guilty under the law by men, then who could ever expect to be judged righteously by men?

If we as believers should ever attempt to be perfect law-keepers on this earth, it would do great harm to us, mentally, spiritually and even physically, because we could never “measure up” to God’s law. But more than that, the law as interpreted by sinful man will always have us falling short, because so often our lawgivers and “spiritual leaders” are misguided as to what is lawful and what is not, and what is sinful and what is not. And so, if we trust in men, and look to them for acceptance and assurance, we will always find ourselves under a cloud of guilt and condemnation.

But thank the Lord, it says in Romans 7:6, “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and *not* in the oldness of the letter.”

Paul the Apostle cries out in despair and asks, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

And then he answers his own question, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25)

And Paul goes on to say, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

This Week On Grace Walk Radio


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This week's message on Grace For Life is:

How Many Natures Do You Have?

Grace For Life radio archives are here.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Have A Blessed Easter!


Picture a mean bunch of guys, big rocks in their hands, hate on their faces, kicking up dust in the ancient Judean sun.

"For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God!"

With these amazing words in John 10, the Jews gave their reason for trying once again to stone Jesus.

Not yet ready to die, and certainly not by stoning, Jesus escaped Judea and crossed the Jordan River to where John the Baptist had once baptized repentant Israelites, probably Perea. He stayed there for a while, and many believed in Him there.

When word came to Jesus that his beloved friend Lazarus was deathly sick, He didn't cross the Jordan back to Bethany near Jerusalem to visit his friend on his death bed. No one could blame Him for staying . After all, hadn't the Jews repeatedly tried to seize and stone Him? So the disciples didn't blame Him, and they weren't surprised that He stayed in Perea. It only made sense. Lazarus would have to rely on the comfort of His immediate family, Mary and Martha.

But the disciples were surprised a couple of days later, when Jesus said, "Let us go to Judea again." What?!

They said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are you going there again?"

And He told them He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Do you think they believed Him? I don't. I think Thomas spoke for all the disciples when he said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." They thought this was it. The end. Crazy, but hey, He's the Lord. We will follow Him and we will die with Him if necessary.

But they didn't die that day. They went to Bethany, and Jesus spoke the words that thrill our hearts, as believers in Him:

"I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die..."


And he raised Lazarus from the dead.

And later He died on the Cross. They finally got Him. They finally put an end to the One whom they said blasphemed because He said He was God. And the brave disciples who went to Bethany with Him, willing to die, cowered behind a closed door, mourning the loss of their Rabbi, and their dreams.

We appreciate His death now. We know that it paid for our sins. We cringe at the horror of the Innocent One being beaten and scourged and crucified and separated from His Father as He took the fury of the Wrath of God on Himself. We appreciate it. But we don't exactly celebrate it.

What we celebrate is that on the third day, He rose from the dead. He authenticated that He is Who He said He was. He is the Anointed One, God the Son, the Christ, the Messiah! And He is alive! And we say Hallelujah! He is risen!

Even as a historical event, it's noteworthy. But He did it for a purpose. He was "raised for our justification". He was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, that we might live. He said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. And in some mysterious way, when He died on the Cross, we died with Him, and when He was raised, we were raised with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

We were made alive spiritually, with the promise that we will be raised physically as well, on that Great Gettin' Up Morning! We became New Creations! Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new! There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

And all because He died for our sins. He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ!

He Is Risen!

Monday, April 02, 2007

This Week On Grace Walk Radio


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This week's message on Grace For Life is:

Humility, Legalism and Self-Abasement.

Grace For Life radio archives are here.