Astonished, Stunned, and Mouths Wide Open

“We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.”

a quote by Brennan Manning,
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

Spiritual Maturity

by Phil Drysdale Ministries

Spiritual maturity is not a process of you working on your sin - it’a a process of you discovering your righteousness!

Joy of the Lord

Georgian and Winnie Banov

The joy of the Lord is an actual substance; 

it's the core strength that sustains and enables us to 

supernaturally endure hardships.

A better medical report

I woke early this morning to a phone call from a friend in another country calling me as he has just received a not so positive report from the Doctor. Whatever you are going though today, God has a better report for you. Who's report will you believe. Your Doctor may have presented you with facts, but Jesus is the spirit of Truth. Facts and Truth are two different things!

by Chris Gore

No shame

Today I present you with a liberating article by Mick Mooney. Enjoy it and be set free. Bob Lipsys

 

by Mick Mooney

Religion thrives and succeeds by keeping people's sins the central problem within the human experience. Enter Jesus, who succeeded by making the hypocrisy of the religious leaders the central problem within the human experience.

Yes, they killed him because of it, but he did rise again, and his message is still the same. God loves you, right here, right now, and his focus in not on your sins, but on your heart, and your heart he loves perfectly—and if any religious clergyman tries to shame you with the weapon of your supposed sins, Jesus is still standing up for you, defending you against religious condemners with their stones, declaring: “Woe to you, teachers of the Bible and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Every time someone tries to shame and judge you, there is Jesus, ready to defend you. That's who he is. That's why he is our Savior. That's why he is the perfect representation of Love. Religion's interest is in keeping you submissive to its demands. God's interest is in liberating you from all fear so you can truly live a life defined by freedom and love.

It is for freedom Christ set you free, be free then. Live daringly. Love outrageously.

Living Sucessfully

The key to "living" successfully is knowing who you are in Christ. You don't need to strive to achieve this. Your inadequacies cannot take this away. Jesus Christ has achieved all this for you and has freely given all this to you. (I came across this wonderful summary by Joyce Meyer  and pass it on to you.) According to these truths you are awesome in Christ, and your life is well worth living.  Bob Lipsys

This is who you are is in Christ

I am complete in Christ Who is the Head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10).

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me (Isaiah 54:14).

I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (1 John 5:18).

I am holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:16).

I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).

I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

I have the Greater One living in me; greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

I have received the gift of righteousness and reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

I have received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my understanding being enlightened (Ephesians 1:17-18).

I have received the power of the Holy Spirit to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons, to speak with new tongues.  I have power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm me (Mark 16:17-18; Luke 10:17-19).

I have put off the old man and have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of Him Who created me (Colossians 3:9-10).

I have given, and it is given to me; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, men give into my bosom (Luke 6:38).

I have no lack for my God supplies all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

I can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one with my shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16).

I can do all things through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).

I show forth the praises of God Who has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

I am God’s child for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, which lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23).

I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10).

I am a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I am a spirit being alive to God (Romans 6:11;1 Thessalonians 5:23).

I am a believer, and the light of the Gospel shines in my mind (2 Corinthians 4:4).

I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions (James 1:22,25).

I am a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).

I am more than a conqueror through Him Who loves me (Romans 8:37).

I am an overcomer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11).

I am a partaker of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4).

I am an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

I am part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people (1 Peter 2:9).

I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit; I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19).

I am the head and not the tail; I am above only and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13).

I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

I am His elect, full of mercy, kindness, humility, and longsuffering (Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12).

I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in the Blood (Ephesians 1:7).

I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty (Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Galatians 3:13).

I am firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:7).

I am called of God to be the voice of His praise (Psalm 66:8; 2 Timothy 1:9).

I am healed by the stripes of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).

I am raised up with Christ and seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:12).

I am greatly loved by God (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4).

I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Colossians 1:11).

I am submitted to God, and the devil flees from me because I resist him in the Name of Jesus (James 4:7).

I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward (Philippians 3:14).

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20

Don't need a thing!

What happens when the Lord is your shepherd? 

In plain English, you don't need a thing.

 Georgian and Winnie Banov

transformed into good

The Christian Life in two steps

by Andrew Farley

 

The Christian Life--

Step 1: Learn who you are in Jesus Christ.

Step 2: Wake up every day and be yourself.