Saturday, June 25, 2016

AM I A GRACE GIVER OR A GRACE KILLER?




Do not nullify God's Grace! This means do not make the Grace of God of no effect in our life and in the lives of our family. Gal. 2:21


Do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God! 
In my family!!!



Knowing and believing in MORE GRACE is one thing! Living it is not so easy! Do you agree?!?
As I consider the scripture above, I pause and ask myself, "Am I a grace giver or a grace killer in my loved ones lives?" If I want to become a greater blessing in my families lives and see answered prayer, I must learn to be a GRACE GIVER!!!

What is it that hinders MORE GRACE from flowing through me?  This is what I am learning:

A huge hindrance is my attempt to control and change them by using tactics which nullify the Grace of God.

Those tactics use:

  • guilt trips, 
  • shame techniques and 
  • sneaky manipulations
The person called GRACE, whom you and I are becoming, is learning to PROMOTE AND RELEASE  MORE GRACE not nullify it's effect!

How do we promote and release more grace?
  • yes, speak truth in love, from God's word,
  • but do not be-labor the truth,
  • give them space and time,
  • re-affirm our unconditional love for them,
  • refuse to play God in their life, and
  • release them to the Lord's care, timing and ways.
Indeed, this may sound simple and easy, but it is tougher than it may seem, as we wait to see our loved ones delivered from the pit and corruption. 

Nothing can change us and ours like MORE GRACE. It's effects will be profound, far-reaching and life changing!

As we dedicate ourselves to the grace tactics above, practicing them daily, we will free ourselves to give full attention to God changing us into His and their GRACE GIVERS!!! 

Enjoy Your Journey!
Blessings,
Joan <3








Friday, June 10, 2016

GRACE Hates Sin but Loves the Sinner!

Hello MORE GRACE Seekers,

I pray all is well with you and yours. I pray you are continuing your journey into MORE GRACE, receiving for yourself MORE GRACE from God your Father and Lord Jesus Christ and learning to give MORE GRACE to your loved ones. That's what this journey is all about!

That's our goal and some days are easier than others. Don't you agree?

The bible says to abhor sin but to love the sinner. Romans 12:9. This process, within my own immediate family, is one of the most difficult parts of my journey.

I am reminded of the question I considered as I began this journey, "How can I be a greater blessing to my family in this last third of my life?"

At this time, I see some of my loved ones conforming to this world, this age, fashioning themselves after and adapting to the world's customs, (Romans 12:2)
How do I judge the sin and confront the sin in my loved ones lives and love them, as God did and does? How do I allow GOD'S GRACE, unmerited favor and love flow through me to them?

As always, I pray for my loved ones to change and in the process God desires to change me! One of the several fruits of His Spirit being developed in me is God's GOODNESS. It is an attitude of moral excellence and standing up for right. And I must say, this takes COURAGE, which I was not born with! The goodness hates sin! It stands up for truth! But does not withhold LOVE and GOD'S GRACE!

GOODNESS speaks truth in love. It has the courage to confront the sin when God compels it to. Yet, with adult children or grands it doesn't belabor things. The important message to our loved ones is, yes we hate sin but we will always love them! This is definitely a time to allow GOD'S GRACE to flow through us, the unmerited love and favor of God - that He shows to all of us when we struggle with sin.

I have been praying the serenity prayer often!!! I am practicing letting go and letting God be God in their life. And.... sadly to say, letting go, giving my adult child or grand to the consequences of their sin which is extremely hard for me. Yet, I will never give up on God to deliver them from the pit and corruption and to satisfy their life with GOOD! Psalms 103

This is truly a higher level of education for me. It's a new way of living and acting, free from controlling and enabling and fixing my loved ones, which hasn't worked! I am also seeing it will be a new way of talking. Holy Spirit and I are working on that now. I'll report progress later.

GOD'S GRACE shows unconditional love and acceptance. I am learning though, acceptance of the person is not approval of the sin. Acceptance means acknowledging what is TRUE. It means acknowledging what the bible says about morality and the potential dangers involved with the sin. It also acknowledges they are my family and I will always love them! It acknowledges GOD'S GRACE is profound, and its effects on my family will be both far reaching and life changing just like it has for me!!! GOD'S GRACE never gives up and neither will I!!!

If you relate to what I am experiencing, be encouraged. We are growing in GRACE and learning how to be a greater blessing to our family!

May God's Grace and Spiritual Blessings and your Soul's Peace be multiplied to you, from your Father and Lord Jesus Christ! Galatians 1:3

Enjoy Your Journey! (no matter what the circumstances are)

Joan <3



Friday, April 22, 2016

GRACE and My Soul's PEACE

To continue the thought of MORE GRACE, MORE FREEDOM (last post) we must look at our soul and how it can hinder our receiving and giving MORE GRACE.

This is another study I have enjoy over the years, the study of the soul. How our soul is our mind, will and emotions. How our soul can be wholly filled with God's GRACE and PEACE. How our soul and God's Spirit can be in harmony and use our body as the means of expression. It's awesome knowledge that has truly helped to set me free.

You see, I am strongest emotionally. Therefore, I truly needed freedom from being so negatively affected by something unpleasant or by what others did or didn't do. I needed my soul's PEACE multiplied to me. This was spoken of in the Bible, Gal. 1:3, Amplified Bible

May GRACE and your SOUL'S PEACE be multiplied to you!

The Hebrew word for peace is "Shalom". It is a common biblical greeting that meant both the absence of conflict and God's greatest blessing. SOUL'S PEACE means the absence of conflict between our soul and God's Spirit.

What about you? Were you born strongest emotionally? Were you born with a very strong will? Or were you born strongest intellectually. Has there been a conflict going on in the area you are strongest? Most probably so. May GOD'S GRACE and your SOUL'S PEACE  be multiplied to you. This can happen! I am living proof!

Because I am strongest emotionally I get really upset when the storms of life come. When something unpleasant happens or when someone does or doesn't do something they should. And because I am strongest emotionally I must have a strong anchor! That anchor is JESUS, the ANCHOR OF MY SOUL! Hebrew 6:19. HE multiples my SOUL'S PEACE and my conflict subsides. My negative emotions change to a positive attitude that says, "JESUS WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS and NO MATTER WHAT I FEEL OR SEE HE IS WORKING MIGHTILY"! 

Be blessed! I bind up and away from you the conflict in your soul and release peace in your soul and God's greatest blessings, in Jesus name! A peaceful state in which you give Praise to God continually!!!

Enjoy Your Journey!
Blessings,
Joan <3 

P.S. I hope you will give this some thought and prayer.