How to Effortlessly Stop Misbehaving

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  Dr Steve McVey 

  To:james

  Tue., Jul. 7 at 6:02 a.m.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Hi, james

  “That Crepe Myrtle tree is going to look bad all season,” I commented to my wife, Melanie, one day as we left home. The tree was right outside our front door. I kept intending to prune it during the winter, but neglected the job all season. A few days earlier I noticed the beginning of new, green growth on the tree. But the old, ugly, dead pods from last year were still clinging to the limbs.

  A few weeks later as we backed out of our driveway, I noticed the tree again. In a few short weeks, an amazing transformation had taken place. Most of the dead pods were gone, lying on the ground beneath its limbs. New growth now filled most of the tree, reaching out to the tips of the branches where blossoms would soon appear.

  As I looked at the transformation that occurred, the thought came to me: That’s exactly what happens in our lives! We have Christ's life, but at times the old wrong behavioral patterns are still clinging to us. They are ugly and obviously dead but they are there nonetheless.

  What are we to do when we see ugly remnants of a past season of our lives still hanging on? The most common legalistic approach would involve putting forth serious effort to rid ourselves of those ugly deeds that won’t let go. Many have been made to believe that the problem is simply that they aren’t trying hard enough or trusting hard enough. Or, worse yet, they’re taught that it’s up to them to prune away all the dead growth they still see. That kind of teaching is far removed from the grace of God.

  Depending on your religious tradition, you may have been told to read your Bible more; to pray more; to memorize Scripture; to fast; to verbally renounce the sins; to cast out devils; to fast; to see a Christian counselor. The only answer empty religion can offer is yet another prescription for moral behavior modification. The problem is that it never works. Only Jesus Christ works.

  As we yield ourselves to Him and focus our attention on Him and not on our sins, His life rises up in us and changes everything. We don't have to struggle to change our misbehavior. What religious determination can’t do, He can do. When our effort fails, His life can prevail!

  Have you found that to be true in your life? Grace offers good news when we find ourselves in the place where we know there is nothing left for us to successfully do to get rid of the things that need to go. As you grow in grace, a transformation takes place in your life. The life of Christ surging through you will begin to fill you to such an extent that the old behavior will begin to drop away. The ugly remnants of a season gone by will be eliminated one by one as New Life fills you. You don’t have to prune it away. Instead, just look to Christ and trust Him to transform your lifestyle!

  Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” That verse offers real hope. As we trust in Him, we will discover that it isn’t necessary to try to prune our own life of the ugly things that still are holding on to us. Legalistic religion will tell you that it is up to you to do away with the dead deeds of your lifestyle, but the reality is that you don’t have the ability to do that. He will do it for you.

  Simply depend on Him and you’ll experience a real expression of grace. You will be overjoyed to see that when you truly know you are rooted and grounded in the love of the Father, the remnants of the old life will lose their grip and fall away. Ultimately, His life will fill the branches of your behavior. And it will have happened without a struggle on your part.

  As surely as the seasons change, our heavenly Father will finish the job He has started in you. You have been predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Romans 8:29 says, “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him” (MSG).

  Nothing, not even dead pods from a nasty old lifestyle, will stop His work in you. God always finishes what He starts. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 say, Faithful is He who calls you; and He will also bring it to pass.

  Do you see ugly things still in your life? Let your roots grow deep in His grace and watch the transformation. His grace really is sufficient! New life will replace dead pods from yesterday’s bad behavior. You will experience the grace walk as you trust Him, not try harder.

  If you'd like to help us spread the good news, click : https://pushpay.com/g/gracewalkministries?src=hpp

  Love to you,

  Steve McVey

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  Unsubscribe | Grace Walk PO Box 817, St Petersburg, FL 33731

  

Those two-faced Christians.

Those two-faced Christians.

This crossed my email and thought it was worth a read and is written by Frank Viola Author/blogger.

Several months ago, I was sitting in the lobby of a business waiting for an appointment. I could hear a conversation going on in another room between two women. They had no idea I could hear them, but the door was open, and they weren’t whispering.

From the sound of their voices and their vocabulary, I presume both women were in their mid-twenties. During the conversation, one of the women were talking about a friend of hers. She was clearly distraught. The conversation went like this, “Yeah, she stabbed me in the back. I couldn’t believe the things she was saying about me. And she’s one of those Christians. They are so two-faced.”

The other woman responded, “I know what you mean! I’ve had the same experience. And they are the ones who think they are so righteous, judging everyone else for what they’re doing wrong.” The other woman replied, “I know, right?”

Around the same time, a young man in his late twenties was sharing about how he gave his life to the Lord in his teens at a youth group. He was involved in the group for a time, only to leave it when one of his “Christian” friends in the group trashed him with lies behind his back to the others in the group.

When word got back to him, the young man was devastated. He not only left the group, but he stopped following the Lord. He didn’t want to be part of a faith where such vile behavior went on and no one stood against it.

I’m friends with a man in his mid-sixties. He’s not a follower of Jesus, but he’s more upright, kind, generous, selfless, and encouraging than most “Christians” I’ve met. He used to attend church in his youth but quickly left. The reason – all the gossiping, backstabbing, and defaming by “two-faced Christians” he observed.

I wish I could tell you that these three incidences were exceptions. They’re not. Not by a long shot. This business of Christians gossiping, backstabbing, slandering, and defaming other Christians happens frequently, even by those who are perceived to be Christian leaders.

The motive behind it is usually jealousy. Sometimes it’s vengeance due to an offense taken. Other times it’s the desire to control someone who refuses to be controlled. The fleshly default is to defame them.

“When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you.”

~ Dumitru D. Coman

This problem is so pandemic that the mantra of modern-day Christianity can be: “Join the family of God. But be forewarned: You’ll be spending a lot of time removing knifes from your back, knives plunged there by fellow Christians!”

That’s all prologue to a direct challenge.

We are living in an hour where God is raising up a tribe of His people who will stand against the tide of this sort of reprehensible behavior. Those who refuse to give an ear to the gossiping tongue … who refuse to demean and degrade others … who refuse to let jealousy and envy enter their hearts … who have chosen to never speak ill of anyone or abide those who do.

When the Scripture talks about the righteous shining like the sun, I believe these are the kinds of souls it’s speaking about (Matthew 13:43).

I invite you to be part of that number.

Tozer’s words are fitting:

“Never pass anything on about anybody else that will hurt him … The talebearer has no place in God’s favor.”

Majesty(hear I am) by Delirious

Majesty

Here I am humbled by your Majesty. Covered by your grace so free. Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man. Covered by the blood of the Lamb. Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine. Since you laid down your life. The greatest sacrifice. Majesty, Majesty. Your grace has found me just as I am Empty handed, but alive in your hands. Majesty, Majesty. Forever I am changed by your love. In the presence of your Majesty. Here I am humbled by the love that you give. Forgiven so that I can forgive. Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire. Sanctified by glory and fire. Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine. Since you laid down your life. The greatest sacrifice


 "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
"Jesus" FULL MOVIE!
Movie

The grace of God

The grace of God is as vast as God himself and something that I`ll never be able to comprehend fully. Grace has been extended to us through Jesus and is more powerful than anything else that we can experience as it expresses the very essence of God's love toward us. I pray that everyone will come to freedom by knowing what grace has done for them and who they are in Jesus.
Paul the apostle says that in Jesus we are free from condemnation being that we are no longer subject to the demands of the law or effects of sin. Being free is a powerful reality that the new covenant Christian needs to fully experience as it has by the grace of God been secured for them. I will deal longer on the Christian's relationship to the law as I think this is a confusing area in most Christians lives and also believe that most Christians understand the significance of Jesus dying in our place. Taking the sinful state of mankind on God has forgiven us for every sin we have or will ever commit and says he has nailed the list of charges against us to the cross of Jesus that through his blood they are taken away.
Colossians 2:13 NKJ
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses

Colossians 2:14 NKJ

having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross

So we are free from sin and any judgement coming by Gods grace sending Jesus to die in our place that we would be called the righteousness of God in Him. We had nothing to do with this as at the time we were enemies of God. Therefore salvation is entirely of God not of human merit.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJ
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him


So totally forgiven are we that the bible says we are justified so we can consider ourselves as if we had never sinned ever.
Romans 5:1 NKJ
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have* peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ


Not only that but we are also considered to be sanctified which means set apart or holy.
Hebrews 10:10 NKJ
By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.


Forgiven, free, righteous, justified and holy, do you get the picture now, you are nothing like you once were so why is it you still tend to act like it. I would like to suggest that it is simply that we don`t know who we are in Jesus and consequently have not had our minds renewed which is the basis for real transformation.
Romans 12:2 NKJ
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Not knowing our identity is the fundamental factor that keeps us from experiencing the freedom that Jesus wants us to enjoy and so I want you to know that we are not only righteous but according to the bible we are no longer under the law code either.
The whole purpose for the law being given was to magnify our sin. You see until there was a law telling me that something was wrong to do I was ignorant of my sinfulness. But once the law came to my attention now my sinfulness was apparent. Not only that but now that it was forbidden it somehow became very interesting to me and even desirable.
Rom 7:7,8 NKJ
I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.


So although sin has been dealt with through the cross of Jesus, unless we understand we are no longer under the law because we have died to it we will continue living as before, still trying to measure up to an old covenant standard. Anyone who try's to keep the law to please God after becoming a Christian is saying that Jesus died in vain.

Galatians 2:21 NKJ

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.

Galatians 2:16 NKJknowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified


This idea that we have died to the law is not entirely clear to most of us in that when we become Christians we don`t drop dead obviously so what dies. The Christian perspective and understanding of a person is that he is essentially a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. The soul breaks down into three further components which are the mind, will and emotions. Since the soul and body stay the same at conversion the belief is that at conversion its our spirit that dies and gets replaced by a newly created spirit which is joined with Gods Spirit.
Ezekiel 11:19 NKJ
Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them..
1 Corinthians 6:17 NKJ
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.


For a new Christian to hope to keep the law is ridiculous as this is the very reason God had to send Jesus as our sacrifice for sin. Only Jesus could keep the law perfectly which qualified him to be our savior and when we accepted Him as our savior God takes our life and puts it in Jesus on the cross putting it to death. At this point we have died to the laws jurisdiction over us and then God includes us in the resurrection of Jesus giving us new life completely free from the law. Our spirit has been newly created and is fully righteous. Our ties to sin and the law have been severed thru death and we are alive to God.
Romans 7:6 NKJ
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.


The reason we can hope to live separate from the laws guidance and not go off the rails spiritually is that we trade one tutor, we were never going to please, the law, for another one who is already pleased with us through Jesus. The Holy Spirit becomes our new tutor and convinces us of his path of righteousness for us from within.
John 14:26 NKJ
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you

summation

So If we are free from sin and no longer under the law then we are no longer under any condemnation either as these two elements were making us guilty.

I don`t know about you but I`v felt guilty in the past based on my inability to perfectly keep the law after I was saved. I was taught that keeping the law was a requirement that proved my love for God. The bible however teaches that Jesus who lived a perfect life thereby fulfilling all the requirements of the law offered his life in our place as a sacrifice for all the sins of mankind. Because God loved us so much He accepted that sacrifice, and although the bible states that we deserved to die for our sins He declared us not guilty of sin and pardoned us, forgiving us completely. This act of God toward us is called grace as we did nothing to deserve it. Because of God's grace, we are now able to live free from any penalty. To experience this we only have to believe it to be true and accept this free gift from God. God's grace is bigger than all our sins and it is only because of God's grace that we can respond to God at all. The sheer magnitude of his love for us in removing everything out of the way that made us feel condemned and fearful before Him is what softens our hearts and allows us to respond. Now that I have responded to God He makes it clear that he is my friend and since Jesus has fulfilled the law's demands completely satisfying God's just demands it is no longer necessary for me to. My job is to simply believe I am forgiven and let Jesus live his life in and through me. As Jesus does this my experience is going to be that I will be keeping the law not by trying to meet its demands but by surrendering my will to His daily. The Life of Jesus satisfies God and produces Love, joy, peace , patience, kindness, goodness,gentleness, faithfulness and self control in us. We are subject however to Satan's attempts to derail us spiritually and our old sin patterns or self sufficiency better known as the flesh are present so we must look to Jesus to be our life now as He is our only hope for a victorious experience. I no longer experience any condemnation as long as I am trusting in Jesus for the victory and not my own self efforts.

Romans 8:1 NKJ
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.
Ephesians 2:8,9 NKJ
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

John 6:29 NKJ

Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

The secret

Some time ago I had a complete breakdown that hospitalized me for two weeks and even though I was put on medication the trauma surrounding this event left me unable to control my nerves. I discovered that many things I used to be able to do easily before now mysteriously caused me to begin physically shaking all over and lasted for sometime. So I tended to shy away from any type of situation that would potentially stress me out and that played havoc with my life. I was told I would never work again by my doctor which didn`t sit well with me but I had lost my business income as a result of my symptoms.
Job interviews were a nightmare so I did`nt apply for work fearing that I would not be able to handle the pressure and start shaking and even when I did finally get hired severe anxiety forced me to quit after only a few months. Thankfully I qualified for CPP assistance as this problem has stayed with me for years and defied all my attempts to get it under control.
Feeling that my life was now over after a number of years of failed attempts to overcome this problem  I finally hit the end of my resources and bottomed out feeling suicidal and useless.

One day I had a bottle of pills in my hand and I was staring at them trying to work up the courage to take them all but I started to think about what my death would accomplish and as I started to think of my wife and two kids and what they meant to me.
I decided I couldn'tt do it but what I would do was unclear to me. At some point after, still struggling with suicidal thoughts and no change in my situation, I decided to give my church's healing service one last shot. I made my way there wondering what might happen.
 This is where God started to overtly work in my life because just as I opened the door to the sanctuary in walked the pastor who knew me as I had attended his church for some time and we had even talked about my challenges. Our eyes met and he asked me how I was and I decided to be honest with him. I had nothing to lose but my life so I told him of my suicidal thoughts and he looked incredulously at me and said "not you!".
So I went forward to receive prayer and when he prayed for me he said "I rebuke the spirit of suicide" and that was it. I went home and have never seriously thought of suicide as an answer to this day. What I did start thinking about was why did he have to say what he did out loud, now everybody will know my problem I thought.
In hindsight I think it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me because it showed me that pride was a big part of my problem. Over the years dealing with this condition I have slowly come to the conclusion that if I am going to get better it is going to come from some other source then my own efforts. Choosing to humble myself before God by presenting myself all but completely broken to him that day was a good start down a long road.

My nervous condition remained however and my guess is God wanted to leave it in my life to push me to continually search for the answers I was`nt finding in anything else. I never lost faith in believing that God was the answer but still tried various different types of medications which have actually helped a lot but nothing totally worked until recently I discovered the secret.

The secret is to know who you are in Christ Jesus, giving you an Identity separate from your situation. The bible tells me that if I put my faith in Jesus then God makes me a new creature in Him. Now nothing from my past, present or future is my problem anymore. The bible says that old things are past away and all things are new again. Who I used to be and the things I used to deal with and am currently dealing with in my own strength are no longer an issue. According to the bible I died to them in Jesus when he died. The new creature I have become is empowered by the life of the resurrected Jesus now. The bible says that "I can do all things through Jesus who strengthens me." So now I know I`m no longer expected to produce any results, as a matter of fact Jesus said that "apart from me you can do nothing." So the secret was that I needed to totally let go of trying to solve my problems because I couldn'tnt anyways. I learned that I just had to put my trust in Jesus to meet all my needs.
 Walking away from the fight and trusting in God to procure the victory as I rested in Him didn`t seem right. All my life I had been led to believe if you want something done you did it yourself and now I was being told God does it through me. I felt like I was being put out of a job again if I tried this approach but the idea of being able to rest emotionally was very appealing.
 One of God's promises was to be able to experience peace at all times not just when things were going well. I don`t believe this only because the bible says that Jesus is my source of peace, I believe it because it has worked for me. I`m still new at this so my mind's defaults still put me into a fight/flight mode when the usual stresses present themselves. When I start to feel this happening I tell myself to remember who`s life is living in me and that peace is not determined by my circumstances but by knowing who I am in Jesus. Total commitment is crucial as any doubt can lead to moving into a self effort mode.

As I experience more and more positive outcomes pretty soon I believe my mind is going to accept the truth and give me a new default. Until then I`m going to trust Jesus to be all that he is for all that I need. My life experience has proved to me that Gods word is true and can be applied to many areas of my life and no amount of self effort can produce what God can if I will only believe him. This verse says it best I think... 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
Update...
Since I wrote this post I have been able to return to work helping my wife with her cleaning business. So far it is considered therapy by my doctors and is only partime but it gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I have anxiety when I work but as I turn this over to God it has become manageable. It seems that God works with us over time as we allow his word and healing power to impact our minds. exchanging his truths for the lies we used to believe.
Working for and with Wendy has given a whole new perspective and taught me a whole lot about my pride issues which were huge. Now she's the boss at work and to be honest I kind of like it that way. She`s good at what she does and is a real source of inspiration to me.

This song has been part of my walk to freedom.

Did God Die?

Did God die? If Jesus was God, and Jesus died on the cross, does that mean God died?

 Did God die when Jesus died on the cross? The answer depends on how we understand the meaning of the word die. To die does not mean to go out of existence. Death is separation. Physical death is when the soul-spirit separates from the physical body. So, in that sense, yes, God died, because Jesus was God in human form, and Jesus’ soul-spirit separated from His body (John 19:30). However, if by “death” we mean “a cessation of existence,” then, no, God did not die. For God to “die” in that sense would mean that He ceased to exist, and neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit will ever cease to exist. The Son, the second Person of the Trinity, left the body He temporarily inhabited on Earth, but His divine nature did not die, nor could it.

Jesus is truly God and truly man. His physical body did die; His heart stopped beating, and “he gave up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). Just as our physical bodies will someday die, so did His. But as Jesus died physically, He remained alive spiritually. Jesus made good on His promise to the believing thief on the cross—He and the thief both went to paradise, not physically, but in spirit (Luke 23:43).

So, Jesus died physically on the cross, as was plain for all to see (John 19:34). But there is also the matter of spiritualdeath. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He experienced death on our behalf. Even though He is God, He still had to suffer the agony of a temporary separation from the Father due to the sin He bore. After three hours of supernatural darkness, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). So, could it be said that Jesus also “died” spiritually? Again, it was only His human nature that was separated from God, not His divine nature. God did not “die.”

The question for all people to ask is “what will happen to my soul/spirit when it leaves my physical body?” This is the most crucial question in life. As we saw with Jesus, our spirits will leave our bodies and travel on to somewhere else. We will either follow Him to heaven to spend eternity with Him, or we will go to hell to spend eternity in “outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). There is no other option. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the way for all who would ever believe in Him so that we can know for sure where our spirits will reside for eternity. His death provided us spiritual life, both here and in heaven. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9wIP9Ahykc

Amazing grace

"Grace is not a commodity... it is a free gift."

These words were given to me as I started to wake up one morning. I was on my way to a men's breakfast that morning and all I could think about were these words. When we had our devotional time I shared these words and asked if anyone knew what they meant. No one spoke up...
It was some years later that I learned the truth about these words and why no one at that men's group spoke up. These words were given to help me get free from a life time of legalism that defined not only my religious endeavours but my personal life philosophy.
I learned that grace was given to me not as a response to my behaviour but as a gift. It wasn`t dependant on anything I did or didn`t do...it was unconditional.
Grace was for the lost and for the found alike and because of it you could rest from your efforts. Efforts to try to please God and efforts to please men.
As it can`t be earned just experienced it qualifies solely as a gift. It comes from God and was paid for by Jesus and can never be returned.
It seems to good to be true and for a long time legalist like me it was hard to realize that it didn`t demand anything in return. All I had to do is receive it.
Once I started to understand grace better and the legalistic shackles started falling off I started to begin to love God in a more intimate grateful way.
Now that I wasn`t under a compulsion to perform in any certain way I found myself wanting to read my bible and study more about grace. Reading my bible wasn`t a chore anymore or just a religious habit like it used to be.
The more I studied the more the old ways of thinking were exposed and that was the start of an internal battle that has taken a number of years.
Am I completly free or reached some lofty spiritual level? No I just know that because of Jesus I`m free to be whatever He wants me to be and that is because of God`s grace.

Ephesians 2:8-10New International Version (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.