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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The Power to Change!


I along with many others have a concern for an over exuberant Gospel of Grace.  My concern doesn’t lie in the message of God’s Favor we have in Christ, in which we live in supernatural health and prosperity (although some preach it in a selfish way).  God’s Grace/Favor is so overflowing, He so abundantly distributes it, but my concern is in the way some imply that change can take a lifetime and that’s fine.  So if I have an alcohol problem and I continue to hang out in bars (and get drunk), but I preach Jesus, while drinking, then that’s fine.  Then I’m being a witness of God’s Glory.  That isn’t God’s Favor!  Being in God’s Favor is the power to change and not continue along in sinful acts.  1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

John 15:10-12
Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

1 Corinthians 5:11

Amplified Bible (AMP)
11 But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] brother if he is known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater [whose soul is devoted to any object that usurps the place of God], or is a person with a foul tongue [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [No] you must not so much as eat with such a person.
[Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as servants of God.

“If he is known”, in other words we don’t use this to look for sin in a persons life or to judge the end result of their life.  It is a process and we should not look to judge a person.  But if it is evident that one who calls himself/herself a Christian yet is living in sin, then they are not under God’s Grace. Living in sin is practicing sin continually; it isn’t an error, mistake or lack of good judgment.  It comes down to either sincerity or using the freedom in Christ as a cloak for wickedness.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
So first we seek God’s Kingdom, what does God’s Kingdom on earth look like? Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  It’s all His Righteousness, His Peace and His Joy; and it’s all a free gift, it’s there in the Holy Spirit given just by seeking. 
and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
It’s all there for the seeking, but we have to seek it! God’s Favor in Christ is God’s Power to change us, if we are truly under His Favor we will change and effortlessly.  I went from being a liar, drunk, drug addict, addicted to sex, a brawler, a complainer etc… to truly knowing the Love of God and the change was immediate and absolutely nothing that I did!!  It is a process and I’m still changing to this day.  If there is no change or if I’m still trying to change myself, then I’m not under Grace.  God’s Favor is the power to change and I am not under condemnation, guilt,human tradition or judgement, it is true freedom from the bondage of sin.    





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