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Giving makes us feel good!
God is in a good mood, because
He so loved the world that He gave…
the end result:
God is no longer holding your sins against you!
Jesus was condemned and punished
so you would never have to be!!
Jesus came to love you!
Let Him!!
Gary Marchinke
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"For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself,
no longer counting people's sins against them.
This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others!
(11 Corinthians 5:19)
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LOVED, VALUED, ACCEPTED
AND
FORGIVEN FOREVER
"I have loved you with an everlasting love"
(Jeremiah 31:3)
"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1)
"He has made us accepted in the beloved!"
(Ephesians 1:6)
"For by one offering He has perfected
forever those who are sanctified."
(Hebrews 10:14)
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My Loving Heavenly Father;
Thank you for grace,
your eternal, unmerited favor!
The door to your Kingdom,
your heart, and your love is wide open!
You call me your child and your beloved.
I call you my father and the lover of my soul.
According to your glorious Word,
I am loved and not despised.
I am valued and not unworthy.
I am accepted and not rejected.
I am forgiven and not condemned.
I am now free from all condemnation in Christ!
I come to your throne with reverence and boldness,
to receive healing, liberation and restoration
for every area of my life!
Thank you for forgiving all my sins.
Thank you for supplying all my needs.
Thank you for my liberty.
Thank you for your love.
Thank you for new life,
abundant life,and eternal life.
Thank you for Jesus, the sweetest name I know!
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WE ARE THE FORGIVEN!
"He who hears my Word and believes in Him who sent me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment,
but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24)
"There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
God is Love – Love Always Forgives!!
Salvation is innocence by association.
Forgiveness is our inheritance in Christ.
Forgiveness is liberation from all condemnation.
Forgiveness is God's declaration that He will never stop loving you!
We are forgiven for yesterday, for today, for tomorrow and forever!
Forgiveness comes by simple grace.
God forgives all our sins.
God always forgives because His mercy endures forever!
Forgiveness is the good news that God is not mad at you!
Forgiveness is the very nature, character, and essence of God!
Forgiveness is one of God's basic benefits!
Forgiveness means canceled debt!
Jesus is the God of the fresh start!
Jesus is forgiveness!
Forgiveness is a liberating spiritual force!
Forgiveness is born of God and overcomes the world!
God forgives and forgets!
God forgives and remits our sins!
We are the forgiven, liberated and righteous Body of Christ!
Good News:
God is not holding our sins against us!
Recipe for Success:
I receive God's forgiveness!
I forgive others – I forgive myself!
You don't have to live in condemnation!
You don't have to live in defeat!
God forgives – Let Him!
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THE RACE: WE WIN IF WE STAY IN!
"The race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong…"
Ecclesiastes 9:11
Praise God for His mercy and grace,
This is a different kind of race.
We don't have to be the biggest.
We don't have to be the strongest.
We don't have to be the fastest.
We can be the smallest, weakest
and slowest, and still win!
We just have to finish.
We just have to stay the course.
We just have to keep going.
It's not about a major effort.
It's about a simple decision –
a simple commitment!
Here's the secret:
Just stay in the race and you win!
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BOUNCING BACK
"Bretheren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13-14)
We all fail, fall, flip and flop.
But, if I go down I don't stay down.
If I get out of fellowship, I don't stay out.
If I compromise, I don't keep compromising.
If I sin, I don't run away from God, I run to God.
At my Heavenly Father's House the welcome mat is always out. At my Father's House, it is never the end, it is always the
beginning!
Who is my father?
He is the God of the fresh start!
"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
For His mercy endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1)
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ENTERING GOD'S REST
"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
(Matthew 11.28)
"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God"
(Hebrews 4:9)
Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father:
Thank you for the finished work of the cross – your love gift to me. The New Testament is not about do, do, do. It's about done, done, done!! It is finished, and God is love, and Jesus is Lord, and Salvation is mine, and I am liberated! It's all about grace – your eternal unmerited favor!! I embrace grace, not as a license to sin, but as my one and only chance to succeed. Grace produces rest. There is rest for me. There is rest in peace for the living! I believe in the peace that passes all understanding. It's the peace that the world did not give to me and cannot take away from me. I resist the urge to worry. I resist the urge to be anxious. I resist the urge to fear. I resist the urge to be a religious workaholic. I cast all my cares on you because you care for me. I cast my cares and I keep on casting them; every day, every hour and every minute. The Lord is my shepherd and my needs are met; every day, every hour and every minute.
Peace and rest are my inheritance in your Kingdom. Father, thank you for the gift of righteousness. I can rest in my righteousness, knowing I am not condemned at any time, but loved at all times.
"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength."
(Isaiah 30:15)
"The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places."
(Isaiah 32:17-18)
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THE WAYWARD SON
The parable of the Prodigal Son is an insight into Father God's heart and character. It is a revelation of God's exceedingly abundant mercy and grace. It tells us of one of the reasons the apostle John proclaimed that God is love.
"I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, 'Father I nave sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But, when he was still far off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." (Luke 15:18 - 20)
THE TEN LESSONS OF THE WAYWARD SON
- The wayward son did not realize how much his father loved him. After he rebelled, he was willing to settle for the status of a servant. But, his father wanted nothing but the best for him.
- The father never stopped loving his wayward son. Father God's love is unconditional and eternal.
- The father always loved his wayward son more than the son loved himself.
- The son did not have to earn his way back into his father's house. He was under grace - loved, valued, accepted, and forgiven forever.
- God is our father - personal and always approachable.
- When we fail, this parable tells us where to run - to God rather than from God.
- The father never punished his child. The son was not met with anger and wrath. He was greeted with joy and excitement. Father God's house is not a place of punishment. It is a place of redemption, restoration, and honor.
- The father never loved his younger son any less than he loved his older son. God is not fair. God is full of mercy.
- Our heavenly father is the God of the fresh start - ready, willing, and able to embrace us no matter what.
- This parable is about my life, your life, and everyone's life. At one time or another we have all been wayward children - rebellious, but never rejected, abandoned or forsaken by Father God.
"Jesus proclaimed unmistakably that God's law is so perfect and absolute that no one can achieve righteousness. Yet God's grace is so great that we do not have to. By striving to prove how much they deserve God's love, legalists miss the whole point of the gospel, that it is a gift from God to people who don't deserve it. The solution to sin is not to impose an ever stricter code of behavior. It is to know God
What's So Amazing About Grace?
Phillip Yancey
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Healing For Damaged Emotions
"Many years ago, I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these; The failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness: and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people... Grace is not a commodity but our Lord himself coming to us in His graciousness. A loving, gracious God accepts us as we are, offers Himself lovingly to us right here and now, not when we shape up... Here is the good news of the gospel for people with damaged emotions; God loves us, not because we are good, but because we need His love in order to be good."
Healing for Damaged Emotions,
David A. Seamands
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Recommended Reading
GOD LOVES BROKEN PEOPLE
(And Those Who Pretend They're Not)
by Sheila Walsh
HE LOVES ME!
(Learning to Live in the Father's Affection)
by Wayne Jacobsen
GRACE PLUS NOTHING
(Building Godly Character Through Grace Alone)
by Jeff Harkin
WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
by Philip Yancey
THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD
(The Lies Religion Tells About God)
by Darin Hufford
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YOU ARE LOVED!!
GOD WILL
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER
STOP LOVING YOU!!
LOVE IS WHY
GOD'S KINGDOM OPERATES IN OUR LIVES TODAY
GRACE IS HOW
GOD'S KINGDOM OPERATES IN OUR LIVES TODAY
"If my relationship with God depended on my being
righteous and good,
I would never make it,
I have failed.
Grace is being accepted by God,
even though I don't deserve it,
even though I am not worthy of it."
WHY GRACE CHANGES EVERYTHING
Chuck Smith
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THE FORCE OF GRACE
"The law is holy, just, and good.
But it cannot make you holy, just, and good...
The law condemns the best of us.
Grace saves the worst of us."
-- Joseph Prince--
"Receiving God's fullness gives us
grace upon grace.
The law was given through Moses.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
(John 1:16,17)
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GOD'S GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
"...those who receive an abundance of grace
and
the gift of righteousness
shall reign as kings in life..."
(Romans 5:17)
"I do not set aside the grace of God.
For if righteousness came through the law
then Christ died in vain."
(Galatians 2:21)
"Our new testament righteousness comes to us by grace and grace alone.
Righteousness is a gift from God. It gives all believers the status of
permanent right standing with God. All believers have received the
gift of righteousness because Jesus is our righteousness
(1 Corinthians 1:30).
We don't have to spend our entire Christian lives struggling to get right with God.
All believers are righteous in Christ. All believers have right standing with God.
Christianity is the gift of righteousness. We can never earn our righteousness.
We can never lose our righteousness."
Gary Marchinke
RECOMMENDED READING
Two Kinds of Righteousness
(The Most Important Message Ever Offered to the Church)
E. W. Kenyon
Captured by Grace
No One is Beyond the Reach of a Loving God
David Jeremiah
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