Tag Archives: grace

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What is the Value of God’s Ministry Grace Gifts to Us?

Podcast: Light on Life Season 9 Episode 19

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What is the Value of God's Ministry Grace Gifts to Us?

In this week’s episode, we will look at just one of God’s ministry grace gifts to us via the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s gifts are nothing, and I mean nothing, like the gifts that men give to one another. How’s this story as an illustration of this fact? “It’s not the gift; it’s the thought behind it.” You’ve heard that before. Well, these two brothers put a lot of thought into the giving of a pair of pants that they gave back and forth to each other every Christmas. First, the pants were tied to a car wheel and run over snow and ice, then removed from the wheel, wrapped in a lovely box, and presented at Christmas time. When the other brother got them the following Christmas, he placed those same pants in a form where wet cement was poured and allowed to dry. They were presented that year along with a sledgehammer. So, the following year they were placed in the framing of a small tool shed, and the entire shed had to be ripped apart to get to the pants. The following year, the same old sorry, miserable pair of pants sat in the front seat of a demolished car, compressed into a flattened piece of metal. It took a tractor and crowbars to get to that same pair of pants. Again, it wasn’t the gift—it was the fun and joy in giving it.1 I am so glad Jesus didn’t put salvation in a demolished car or bury it in concrete where you would have to work to obtain it. No, Jesus’ gifts are free and clear and easy to access. What is the Value of God’s Grace Gifts to Us? — that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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The Value of Humility and Consecration in the Miracles of God

[Tweet “God’s gifts TO men is the gift OF men — special kind of men — anointed men — Holy Spirit empowered men.”]

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Why the Name of Jesus and Gifts of the Spirit Is All God’s Grace

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 50

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Why the Name of Jesus and Gifts of the Spirit Is All God's Grace

In today’s podcast, we take up the Name of Jesus and its connection to God’s grace and power. The medieval theologian John Duns Scotus was visiting Rome, and the Pope took him into the Vatican treasuries. Running his hands through the silver, the Pope said, “No longer does the church have to say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” The theologian replied, “That’s true, but also no longer can we say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk.’” 1 That’s an impactful and telling story that illustrates what happens when money becomes the focus of one’s life. We must cling to the Name of Jesus and hold it in high esteem in our lives. There is nothing like the Name of Jesus for restraining anger, assuaging the swellings of pride, healing the wound of envy, restraining the course of wantonness, quenching the flame of lust, moderating the thirst of covetousness, and putting to flight all lasciviousness. For when I name Jesus, I set before myself the image of the Man, meek and lowly, kind of heart, sober, chaste, merciful, peerless in purity and holiness, and at the same time, the Almighty God, who heals by His example, and strengthens us by His help.2 Having access to Jesus’ Name and the power invested in it is our focus on today’s Light On Life.

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#S4-039: How to Use the Name of Jesus to Live A Miracle Life [Podcast]

[Tweet, “The Name of Jesus, can and should permeate every aspect of your spiritual life.”]

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More of Why You Should Latch on to God’s Grace

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 49

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More of Why You Should Latch on to God's Grace

Latching on to God’s Grace is the thought today as we continue our focus on the book of Ephesians. We began to look at the subject of grace in a previous podcast, and there is just so much that we can come to know and understand about the magnitude of God’s favor toward us. God’s grace is universal to all men. One Sunday many years ago, a particular gentleman was part of a touring party in Cairo, Egypt. We were strangers in a strange land. We were separated from the nationals by language, dress, culture, and different economic and political systems. Furthermore, we were Christians; they were Muslims. We had heard the people talk with one another all day, but not one word did we understand. That evening in a little Baptist church, we were welcomed, not as American tourists but as fellow Christians. The first song we sang was “Amazing Grace.” They sang in Arabic; we sang in English. Overriding it all was our mutual love for Christ and one another. Truly God in Christ had made of two, one new people.1 So, you see, grace connects in multiple languages. It connects but are we grasping all that grace is? So, in this podcast, we hope to add to our understanding of this vital subject: More of Why You Should Latch on to God’s Grace — that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#045: Why is the Throne of God a Merciful Place? [Podcast]

 

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Why Grace Is a Place to Which You Can Cling

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 48

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Why Grace Is a Place to Which You Can Cling

We have heard about the grace of God. One of the first verses that you ever learned is ‘by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. We’ve heard of it, but do we understand it. You know, it’s not so easy to grasp. Chuck Swindoll and his wife Cynthia were on vacation at Sea World with some of their children and grandchildren. These are his words about that trip. “It is always amazing to watch those brave men and women who dive in the tank with Shamu the whale and other big creatures. I thought, “That whale is so gracious not to put them into eternity with just a nudge of her nose.” You get the feeling at times that they are fed handfuls of fish just to appease them, to keep them in an excellent mood so that when the trainers get in the tank, they’ll be able to get out of the tank a little later. And I watched as they hung on to their fins and tried to get their arms around those big bodies. The subject of grace is like that—a big subject to try and get your arms around or to get a hold on.” 1 We are talking about grace today: Why Grace Is a Place to Which You Can Cling — that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Becoming The Good Man God Wants You To Be

 

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Why You Should Thank God for Delivering You from Your Ginormous Mess

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 47

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Why You Should Thank God for Delivering You from Your Ginormous Mess

Every day is a new day to thank God. So, we are again approaching another Thanksgiving week and day. Don’t you love and enjoy this time of the year? We are in the book of Ephesians – in chapter two, and today we will focus and set our sights on being thankful for God’s great deliverance. Two girls one day were acting one day very badly. They were misbehaving. It was on Thanksgiving Day, and their father told them, “Girls, go to your room. You are dismissed from Thanksgiving dinner.” The girls went dejected and sad to their rooms. A few moments later, they heard their mother calling, “Girls, girls, come down to dinner, girls.” A little baffled considering what their father had said, they sheepishly walked down to the dinner table and sat down. But they noticed something. Dad was not there. So, they naturally asked, “Mother, where is Dad?” “Dad went to his room.” “But why, Mom?” “Because Dad loves you so much. He couldn’t change his standard, but he didn’t want to deny you dinner. So, Dad said he would go and pay the price so that you could come and eat the meal. So, while you enjoy the meal, remember that your dad has picked up the tab and is paying the penalty.” Brothers and sisters, when you forget to say thanks this week for everything else, don’t forget to say thanks for Jesus.1 Why You Should be Thank God for delivering you from Your Ginormous Mess — that’s our focus on this week’s Light On Life.

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How to Keep from Being Sidetracked

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What Is The Lord’s Strong Opinion of Legalism?

An Introduction to the Epistle to the Galatians

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Chuck Swindoll shared this story illustrating the foolishness of legalism in his book, ‘The Grace Awakening.’ He said, “I heard about a fellow who attended a legalistic college where students were to live according to very strict rules. They weren’t supposed to do any work on Sundays. None! Guess what? He spied on his wife and caught her hanging out a few articles of clothing she washed on Sunday afternoon. Are you ready? The guy turned in his wife to the authorities! I’ll bet she was fun to live with the next day or two.” 1 Legalism has no pity on people. Legalism makes my opinion your burden, makes my opinion your boundary, makes my opinion your obligation. 2

[Tweet “In the New Testament, God calls legalists, dogs, evil workers, and mutilators.”]

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What is the Answer to Legalism?

An Introduction to the Epistle to the Galatians

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Legalism teaches that in order to get to heaven, you must obey the law of God and live a good life. In other words, your good deeds will get you into heaven. I once served as a trainer for Evangelism Explosion, taking trainees out into the community once or twice a week, talking to people, and asking the diagnostic questions. Afterward, we correlated the answers we received. Ninety percent of the answers fell into the category of works righteousness. When we asked people what they would say if God were to ask them why He should let them enter heaven, most people replied, “I’ve lived a good life,” “I gave a tithe to the church,” “I worked with the Boy Scouts,” or something along those lines. Their confidence rested on some kind of performance record that they had achieved. Unfortunately, a person’s works are a counterfeit basis for assurance. The Scriptures make very clear that no one is justified by the works of the law (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 3:11). 1

[Tweet “There are modern day Judaizers both of the saved and unsaved variety.”]

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What Is Legalism and Why Is It Deadly?

An Introduction to the Epistle to the Galatians

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The essence of legalism is trusting in religious activity rather than trusting in God. It is putting our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person. And without fail this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.1 Legalism has many faces. Paul’s dealings with the Galatians over this issue was a major theme of his epistle to them. Let’s take a closer look as we continue our study on the Epistle to the Galatians.

[Tweet “Per Jesus, it’s more valuable to heal a man today than to legally wait to heal him tomorrow.”]

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Do You Look Like the Galatians?

An Introduction to the Epistle to the Galatians

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Most commentators would agree that quotations from the Jewish Scriptures play a key role in the argumentation of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. From there, it is only a short step to the conclusion that the Galatians possessed a fairly broad knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures.1 How’s your knowledge of these same scriptures? In this series on the Epistle to the Galatians, we will take a verse by verse look at Paul’s strong case for justification by faith and how that helps us in our everyday life.

[Tweet “Certain sins exist in every city. Whatever is going in the world often gets into the church.”]

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Why The Gospel of Jesus Destroys the Gospel of Performance

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Are you saved by grace or just a Christian performer? The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking acceptance from their fathers. A whole world of people are hungering for this basic idea of approval and acceptance. People have tried to acquire it though through an avenue other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have tried to attain it through performance thinking. Does it work? Are you accepted in the courts of heaven because of what you do?