Grace: God's New Lifestyle

I present to you something to ponder on for the upcoming year. First, of all don’t let the Christmas Season get you down with the pressures of life.

Know this one thing: Jesus calls us to live life as representatives of His New Covenant. It is a lifestyle controlled by GRACE, not human expectations. The life of grace is favored with these characteristics:

·        Acceptance: No matter what your past contains, God loves you. He loved you before your birth, and He loves you now. He’s your eternal Source of Hope and Acceptance.

·        Assurance: Your salvation is eternally secure, because it is not based on something you do but what Christ did for you at Calvary. Just ask Him to forgive your sins and come into your life.

·        Availability: God is in every situation with you. Seek Him and He will give you His rest and peace.

·        Adequacy: God’s power is adequate for every situation. Through the Holy Spirit, you can victoriously meet and defeat the lies of the enemy.

·        Abundance: God’s blessings are tailored to meet individual needs. Never measure the content of your life against someone else’s. God is constantly working for your good and His glory.

·        Abiding: God abides with His people and He has promised never to leave us.

·        Accountability: God has never broken a promise. He is faithful and true. Give Him every part of your life, and by His grace you will experience everlasting joy and peace.

Remember: God’s covenant with us is not based on human performance. It is based on Christ’s death at Calvary. Our lives are rooted in His grace, not the rewards of our talents and abilities. In the Old Testament God made covenants with men based on works however, man couldn’t uphold his end of the covenant. Thus the New Covenant with Jesus offering us a new lifestyle and new beginnings. It’s not a life of rules and regulations. It is a life of unconditional love and acceptance, based upon the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

Dealing With The Pressure Of Time

Read: Luke 6:12-19 - 12) "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13) And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; 14) Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15) Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16) And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. 17) And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18) And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19) And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all".

     You won’t find a Bible passage that says Jesus rushed or ran. He never dashed to keep an appointment or scrambled to finish a task. He did exactly what He needed to do in just the right amount of time – never late. He was never too busy to meet unexpected needs.

     For a Savior with so much to do in so short a time, this unhurried approach may seem surprising. Three years was all He had to complete His ministry. And constantly the needy crowds were pushing to get to Him, desperately seeking His attention.

     What was His secret? Jesus knew who sustained Him and kept Him on track. “He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God” (v.12). It was God the Father who set His pace and directed every step. As a result, spending time with His Father was more important to Jesus than anything else. The next day He was refreshed and ready to begin the Sermon on the Mount.

     The key to time management is time spent with God. When you give Him first place each day in prayer and reading His Word, He helps you discern what’s important to Him and accomplish it on time. Are you letting the Lord set your agenda? His schedule is always best.

Confidence - 2012?

What will Our Confidence Be for 2012?

Sister Peggy Little

     Confidence is a dynamic character trait that often can spell the difference between accomplishment and failure. For the person who is besieged with feelings of inferiority, life can be a continual struggle for competence and acceptance.

     The Christian should be confident, for “the righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). Though he or she may have occasional bouts with insecurity and doubt, confidence should dominate the believer’s life.

     The reason is really quite simple. Once born again, the Christian has entered into a relationship with an all-sufficient God who is more than able to handle any difficulty, enabling Him to say to the psalmist: “Though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident” (Psalm 27:3).

     We can be confident because we have unlimited access to God. “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). For whatever you need, you have access to the very presence of God.

     Do you need wisdom? Are you searching for an answer in dealing with your rebellious child? Does your budget need divine intervention? Because of Calvary, you can avail yourself of the resources of the all-knowing God.

     We can be confident because we understand that God is in control. Listen: Though the economic outlook may be gloomy or circumstances discouraging, our sovereign God is ruling over all, working for His glory and our good. Our future is in His all-powerful hands. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Our well-being is not left to chance or fate.

     We can be confident because God is our total adequacy for any demand placed upon us. “And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5). We no longer have to look to our own initiative or training or cleverness.

     We can be confident because God assures us that He will complete what He has begun in our lives (Philippians 1:6) and that He will never leave us or forsake us in the process. (Hebrews 15:5). In other words, God is for us. Having been reconciled through the cross, and He is now on our side, not against us (Romans 8:31).

     Finally, we can exhibit confidence in this life because, through Christ, we are prepared for the next life. “And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him. At His coming” (1 John 2:28).

     Through our personal relationship with our Savior, we can be bold witnesses to an insecure world of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ who is able to supply every need from His inexhaustible resources. God is for us, God is with us. God is in control of our futures. He is at work for our good. That is, I pray, our confidence for the year of 2012.

     May you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year as each one of you do all you can for our Lord and Savior “Jesus Christ”. Remember, look to Him, for God has all of the answers. So let us pray and seek the Lord daily for our families, nation, Israel, our needs, our breakthroughs, our healings and especially salvation for all the lost souls and our loves ones. I pray you will call on Him to help you make it through those circumstances of life that comes your way.  God Bless!