1 january, 2015

and

Dr. Larry Ollison

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Articles Grace and Holiness So, What About Grace?

Amazing Grace Understanding the Grace of God Empowered by His Grace The Kaleidoscope, See Yourself as God Sees You

Dr. Larry Ollison Dr. Bill Hanshew Rev. Dan Corse Leon Gosiewski Kim Miller Rev. Richard H. Hanshew, Sr

Column AIM – An Inspirational Message

Kathy Weddle

Books Apple of His Eye and Hiding in His Love The Fig Tree Has Sprouted and Awake! Rise & Glow The Crocked Legged Foal

Kim Miller Leon Gosiewski Danielle Norris

KIDZ SECTION What is Grace?

Anna Martin

In 2015, live your life pleasing unto the

Lord

GRACE and HOLINESS by: Dr. Larry Ollison

Recently, a very famous musician died in the United States. This musician had won multiple Grammy Awards and even though her lifestyle had good moments and bad moments, she proclaimed to be a Christian. The funeral was to take place in a church overseen by the singer’s pastor. Because of her fame, the funeral was broadcast worldwide and much of the secular news media broadcast the service in its entirety. The pastor is a very strong evangelical Christian, and he proclaimed the singer’s commitment to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Other famous evangelical Christians gave eulogies and proclaimed their faith also.

Although I was saddened by the death of this famous musician and a life cut short without reason, I was excited that the good news of the gospel was being proclaimed on national news networks throughout the world. Near the end of the funeral, a world-famous actor, who was known for his movie role

played opposite the deceased singer, stood behind the pulpit and began to tell a story of how, as a young man, he felt that God had called him to be a preacher.

Throughout his life he had this tug on his heart by the Spirit of God, but he had used his talents and anointing to become a world-renowned Hollywood actor. During his eulogy, he made a statement and in his statement he said a mild curse word. I’m sure that to him, the word was not all that bad.

Being from Hollywood, it was probably a word common in most of his conversations. But I could hear a hush come upon the congregation of Christians because it was not common to hear this type of word used in a church, especially from the pulpit.

The funeral ended and I went on about my day. Later that evening, I had a Christian ask me this question: “How can this Hollywood actor claim to be a Christian and use curse words from the pulpit?” And

then they said, “Is he really a Christian?” This brings us to the question that has been asked and debated in the church for centuries. Paul dealt with this problem and every pastor since then has wrestled with the issue of how sin or an unholy lifestyle affects our salvation. Or another way to phrase the question might be, does sin have anything at all to do with our salvation?

Although the answer to this question is extremely simple as found in the Word of God,

theologians, denominations, and theories have brought great confusion to this issue.

The Word of God must be rightly divided (2 Timothy 2:15), and when it is not, the result is great confusion. If we are admonished to rightly divide the Word, it stands to reason that it can be wrongly divided. Most error is derived from not understanding the basic foundational principles of Scripture.

to His children. It is strength that enables us to accomplish the impossible. Faith (our trust in His Word) activates the grace in our lives.

However, the Bible is the manual that instructs the believer on how, when, and under what circumstances this grace is to be activated.

Without a clear understanding of the Word, we are like children playing with dynamite.

The Word of God is powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). It divides the light from the darkness and can bring judgment or victory. The Word of God is the one true standard by which life is measured. The Word contains the truth spoken by the Creator of the universe and gives answers for every question that exists. It begins with eternity and ends with eternity and the creation of time lies in between. If the Word is rightly divided and the instructions are followed, a life of victory is the result.

Together, the chemicals sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) make sodium chloride (NaCl), or salt, which is required for our bodies.

However, separately they are toxic and of little benefit to our bodies whatsoever. In the same way, operating in grace without faith or operating in faith without grace will not bring the desired result in our lives.

To operate solely in grace is expecting God to do everything and to operate solely in faith is pointless without the power of God.

Unfortunately, there are those who take portions and phrases from the Word and use them for manipulation and personal gain. The Word of God must be treated with holiness and respect and understood by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Grace is the ultimate power of God that He willingly imparts

The study of grace must be balanced with faith and rightly dividing the Word.

Only the Holy Spirit can bring revelation to the Word of God. Place your faith in the Word of God by hearing, believing, speaking, and acting upon His Word. Your living faith will activate His grace and empower you to do the impossible.

Now I want to give you a clean, clear, and concise answer to the question we asked earlier in the article.

Did this actor’s foul language from behind the pulpit affect his salvation or his righteousness? The answer is no, it did not. Righteousness is a gift of God and not a result of any work that man can do (Romans 12:1) and is simply being in proper relationship with God. His eternal salvation was established when he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Drs. Larry and Loretta Ollison

Dr. Larry Ollison’s book, The Power of Grace, has given the reader a clear understanding of what Grace really is.

Grace is not only Salvation for the sinner and forgiveness for the Christian, but also guidance for our daily lives.

Grace is presented with Old and New Testament backup from the writings of the prophets and the words of Jesus and the apostles. Instead of teaching that grace is a license to sin, Dr. Ollison has presented grace as the power to save us from sin and to keep us from sinning.

Downloadable Product - ISBN: 9781606836675 Harrison House Publishers, Tulsa, Oklahoma USA

So, What about

GRACE?

by: Dr. Bill Hanshew Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “8 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.”

I cannot thank Father God enough for giving me something that I did not deserve, and for Jesus, who paid a debt He did not owe, even though I could not pay it. This is exactly why we must have a proper understanding of grace.

Too many people today still refer to the preaching of grace as a license to sin, or as having a free-pass from telling God, I’m sorry for messing up. We must never think that grace is neither a license to sin or a freepass from saying I'm sorry.

Grace has never been either of those things.

Grace is God’s supernatural empowering through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to receive and live with everything that He said in His Word that He has done. There is nothing about God’s grace that will be, but it is all about what has been done. And everything grace has

provided is accessible through faith and not by the works of the flesh, just so our flesh can never brag about it.

Therefore, you and I can live free from sin, completely because God said through the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you” or the right to control you. And then Paul says, “for you are not under law, but under grace.”

The law brought a necessary bondage at that time and for the purpose of showing mankind his need of a Savoir. Yet grace never brings bondage, but reveals the truth which enables people to live free from the controlling power of sin. The law showed mankind himself, so man sees his sins. Grace shows mankind the sacrifice of Jesus, so man can see what Jesus did in his place.

Notice these important words from Romans 6:6-11, “6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who

has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.

Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Grace is what God did; faith is what you did or is what you use to receive or accept what God did.

So, which is greater? What you did or what God did? When you accept Jesus as your Lord, He no longer holds one single sin against you. You are completely

forgiven. It now becomes pointless to sin. However, everyone can be tempted to sin, but sin no longer has the power to trap you into sinning. So just because a trap has been set for you, which is what the devil does; that does not mean you have to walk into the trap. Even more than having the ultimate knowledge of avoiding traps, you have the empowering of God’s grace, which enables you to overcome every trap that will be set by the enemy of your soul.

Obedience to the law is what you do. The grace to overcome is what God did.

Yet, many people are opposed to the preaching of grace simply because of the rumor or gossip, or even because they heard someone preach grace inaccurately. But in my lifetime, I have heard about and have personally seen many people cross the center line of the highway while driving in their car. However, I have never found it necessary to stop driving my car just because some have messed up or failed to follow the rules of safe driving. In like manner, the Bible is filled with rules or instructions about interpreting God’s Word.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV says, “Study to shew thyself

approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If we look at scriptures in the light of what other verses of scriptures are saying, then see them in their proper context, while asking the Holy Spirit to help our understanding of what each verse means; then we will hear correctly and able to interpret and preach it accurately.

So to restate; grace is not, nor has it ever been a license to sin, and grace has never been a freepass or excuse from telling God that you blew it. Just admit it and receive the forgiveness that has {past tense} already been given to you. But most of all, understand that none of this is by or because of any of your efforts. It all comes because of the efforts or sacrifice of Jesus.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” You do not have to sin and you do not need to brag about your ability to avoid sin. It is not because of you; but it is all a work of God’s grace.

Now, many will still preach and

say, just don’t sin. But the ability to not-sin is not because of your ability to not-sin. Once again, it is because of His grace working in you, that empowers you can accomplish anything that is written in your Bible. On the day that Jesus said, “It is finished” or it is completed, your redemption was paid for.

So if you are struggling with sin today; know that sin is not your problem. The problem is having a proper understanding of what God’s grace did for you. His Grace empowers you to do supernatural things like walking in a revelation of His love for you; thereby empowered not to sin. You can do everything that God said you could do in His Word, simply because of His grace.

Grace truly is wonderful and amazing; but it is one thing to sing about Amazing Grace, and another to embrace the reason grace is so amazing. And that is because it had nothing to do with any decision we made.

You and I do not deserve it and did nothing to earn through any merits of our own. It is all about what Jesus did for you and me in His finished work, and then learning to walk in that finished work, by faith. …Think about it!

AMAZING

GRACE

by: Rev. Dan Corse

1. Few if any topics in Christianity have recently garnered the attention that the topic of grace has. On the one hand, for those having little or no understanding of grace, where they have received sound teaching that can and often has been a very good thing. On the other hand, for those encountering and embracing some of the out of balance and scripturally errant teachings that have appeared related to the topic of grace that has not been a good thing. With that understanding in mind, let’s briefly consider the subject of grace, hopefully revealing or reinforcing sound teaching on the topic while exposing and debunking some of the out of balance and errant things that have been said.

We shall start by clarifying the meaning of the word grace (charis) as used in the

New Testament related to salvation and spiritual growth. Thayer’s GreekEnglish Lexicon of the New Testament defines grace as “good-will, loving-kindness, favor.”

Furthermore, Thayer’s notes that the word grace “contains the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved.” Expanding the definition Thayer’s states, “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues” Focusing upon the idea of grace being good-will or favor, something granted which we did not earn, Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJ) quickly comes to mind: “For by grace you been saved

through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Clearly, this passage reveals that salvation is by faith alone (sola fide) with the realm of grace alone (sola gratia). The doctrine of sola gratia or salvation by grace alone is imperative in that it reveals to us that God saved us based on His mercy and goodness alone, not because we by virtue of our own inherent goodness or deeds were worthy of salvation.

Throughout the history of Christianity there have been those who have rejected sola gratia, in doing so making salvation dependent not on God alone but also on what man does via works, keeping the Law, etc. In his letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul dealt with Judaizers who sought to mix the Law and grace, thereby creating another gospel which Paul said in effect was not a gospel (Gal. 1:6-7). The Law, which reveals to us our sinful behaviors and identifies our need for a salvation not possible via our own resources or works, served as a schoolmaster or tutor to bring us “to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal. 3:24-25, NKJ).

Salvation by grace through

faith alone excludes the possibility of salvation by keeping the Law. Galatians 3:11 (NKJ) reminds us of this truth, “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’”

Those who reject salvation by grace through faith alone spurn the only gospel by which God brings salvation to mankind, which leaves them with no Biblically supportable hope for salvation. Related to the gravity of the eternal outcome for those who follow false gospels, it is no wonder that Paul said of those who bring such false gospels, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8, NKJ).

Expanding our discussion of grace to its role in Christian

growth, 2 Peter 3:18 (NKJ) comes to mind, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Having entered the realm of salvation by grace through faith, it is apparent that healthy growth also exists solely within the sphere of grace.

Christian growth is not about experiencing spiritual regeneration or rebirth and then embarking on the pathway of spiritual maturation apart from grace.

Having entered the realm of salvation by grace, we are to continue and finish by the power of grace, by God’s unmerited favor to us as it applies to maturation. Within that sphere of grace and dependent on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we add to our “faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7, NKJ).

Adding these things to our faith in an abounding way within the sphere of grace, Peter tells us we will not be “barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of or Lord Jesus Christ,” adding, “if we do these things you will never stumble” (2 Pet. 2:8, 10, NKJ).

Having briefly considered grace at it applies to salvation and spiritual growth let’s now turn our attention to some benefits associated with modern grace teachings. Many of those teachings rightly steer us away from a performancebased Christianity, that performance aimed at earning us a place of right standing with God, of somehow enhancing God’s love for us. Our performance neither gains us a place of right standing with God not does it affect His love for us, as we should remember that Christ’s love for us motivated Him to die for us while we were yet sinners, revealing we did nothing to earn it nor do we have to perform to maintain it.

Coming to know Christ as Savior, we are justified in the sphere of grace, justified being a legal term identifying us as righteous, in right standing or relationship with God. Furthermore, such teachings, in that they correctly focus our attention on being made righteous by His righteousness, help to create in us a

righteousness-consciousness, freeing us from the bondage of condemnation.

On the other hand, some grace teachings, though they rightly reveal our right standing or relationship with God in the sphere of grace, create stumbling blocks to our growth by embracing an “anything goes” mentality.”

An “anything goes” atmosphere is one where healthy discussions of sin are viewed with disdain and sinful behaviors are sometimes ignored or discounted. Such teachings often negate the need for repentance or confessing our sins to God. Such teachings do not accurately portray God’s grace. Passages like Titus 2:11-12 (AMP) assure us of this inaccuracy, “For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward

(appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind. It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in the present world.”

Grace, from a Biblical standpoint, is obviously not about an “anything goes” mentality. Romans 5:20 (NKJ) reveals, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded grace abounded much more.”

Though God’s grace abounds much more than sin, nowhere in Scripture are we told to trivialize sin or participate in it that grace may abound. Paul, in Romans 6:1 posing the question if we should sin that grace may abound, in the next verse concludes, “Certainly not!

How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Though some embrace a grace message that permits them to

flaunt sinful behavior, may we never espouse nor embrace such a view. Upon recognizing that grace is not a license to sin or to be an atmosphere where sin is ignored, let us desire to accurately embrace grace as it relates to salvation and maturation. Grace is God’s unmerited or undeserved favor to us as it applies to salvation and growth. It is

God’s power revealed in His drawing us to Christ, and, having embraced Christ as Savior, it is the power by which we grow, being continually conformed to Christ’s image, “from one degree of splendor to another” (2 Cor. 3:18, Goodspeed).

Meditating upon the wonders of this grace inspired John Newton to write the words of a song

that has blessed millions since its creation. Though some of us may not be familiar with the name John Newton, many more are familiar with his song, “Amazing Grace.” Like Newton, may we by meditating upon God’s grace grow in our understanding of just how wonderful it is.

1.

Understanding the

Grace of God by: Leon Gosiewski

‘See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God’ (Hebrews 12: 15 RSV) The context of this opening Scripture from Hebrews chapter 12 is found in a dialogue about the relationship between faith and the believer. It is a message speaking directly to the church; to all believers.

This is a context about God’s grace that we, none of us can afford a shred of ignorance about.

We are tragically surrounded by a diluted gospel message and Bible teaching that ‘hides’ truths such as, by the Spirit, I am going to reveal here.

The twelfth chapter of Hebrews begins by talking about our example, our rolemodel Jesus. What He did, how He lived and what He experienced is what Christian believers can expect to experience and live to one degree or another. In fact if we do not experience some form of persecution,

tribulation, hostility and struggle against sin there is something amiss in our spiritual walk! To put this in a modern vernacular, ‘it goes with the territory’!

The chapter goes on to explain that as children of God we will be chastised and disciplined by Him. Why? It is because as a loving Father He wants to keep us moving on the right track. He wants us to develop spiritually and walk as He intends, in supernatural power and rightly handling His gifts. If this chastisement and discipline is missing from our lives we are ‘illegitimate children and not sons’ (verse 8).

With all of this understood the chapter continues with an appeal to endure and tolerate what befalls us in our faith walk. Like Jesus we are called to love, seek peace and live lives of holiness; allowing no bitterness or

slipping away from our first love. It is here where we find those opening words to this article: ‘See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God’ It is in our faithful and committed walk with Jesus that God’s grace is found. It is this walk from which we must preserve our faith, holding tight to it so that we do not fail to obtain God’s grace. This is why we read these words of caution, ‘Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God’ (Hebrews 3: 12). Yes, we can fail to obtain God’s grace! Yes, we can fall away from God!

In the last days we are warned about apostasy. Dear reader, hold firm to the faith.

It is tough, we need one another. We need God’s grace.

The apostles of Jesus were so committed to Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit that we read, ‘And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 4: 33). Wow! That is exactly where you and I should be.

But listen to what follows: ‘And great grace was upon them all’ (Acts 4: 33 RSV) The fact that we have found Hebrews 12: 15 speaking about God’s grace on believers and Acts 4: 33 talking about great grace suggest there are different levels or experiences of grace. In fact this impression is enthusiastically supported

by Paul’s comment to the church in Ephesus where he says, ‘But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift’ (Ephesians 4: 7). And again we discover a link between gifting and grace in Paul’s letter to the Roman churches where he speaks of, ‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us’ (Romans 12: 6). And yet again, Peter also makes this

point by saying, ‘As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace’ (1 Peter 4: 10).

Clearly God bestows grace in different measures with some receiving gifting that requires more grace to accomplish. To put this in another way, some people are specifically recognized

by God as worthy and trustworthy recipients of His increased grace. So if this is true what is grace?

Well, when we turn to the Greek translation for grace we find the word charis, which refers to the overwhelming generosity of giving a gift; a good-will gesture that shows an act of love, favour and blessing.

This favour and blessing is also something that brings the recipient into a place of joy, pleasure and a depth of love that causes them to speak with a genuine gentleness, sweetness and charm.

The Hebrew translation for grace is the word chen, which specifically means to show favour leading to charisma and sophistication of character. Grace is then God choosing to show or reward His favour and

blessing toward and upon a person. The purpose and impact of this favour on the recipient is to bring them to a place of joy and charismatic or infectious love and sweet mindfulness, which Proverbs aptly describes in this way: ‘The mind of the wise makes his speech judicious, and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body’ (Proverbs 16: 13, 14) These two aspects of grace shouldn’t really be unexpected because they embody who God is. God is love. God’s grace is freely available because that is who He is. He cannot help being a God of grace. To put this in a modern-day way, grace oozes out of His veins.

We become partakers of God’s grace when we freely choose to become diligently connected to Him through Jesus. The closer our connection and commitment to Him, the more of His grace we become infected with. In this sense what we become infected with contaminates us with God’s holiness, and holiness becomes who we are to such an extent that we begin to act and speak in ways resembling God-like

attributes.

John explains these points in this way: ‘So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world’ (1 John 4: 16, 17) A classic example of God showing grace, why He does so and how it can even include others is found in the book of Genesis where we read, ‘Noah found favour (grace) in the eyes of the Lord’ (Genesis 6: 8). This declaration came when everywhere God had looked He could only see the wickedness of people but in Noah he found a man who believed in Him, a man of faith and it pleased God. Actually we also find this sentiment expressed clearly in the New Testament book of Hebrews where we read, ‘without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him’ (Hebrews 11: 6).

Noah was compassionately rewarded for his wholehearted faith in God.

But there was more behind Noah’s belief and faith.

As we read a little further in Genesis we discover that, ‘Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God’ (Genesis 6: 9). What a lovely picture painted for us. Noah walked with God. That picture brings to my mind a happy parent – child relationship. The parent loving the child and doing all they can to protect and give what is daily needed and the child not only feeling loved and contented but given gifts and blessings. A child so attached that they mimic the parent. The picture of walking with God is further enhanced when we discover that the Hebrew word for walk used here is halak, which actually means to follow, pursue, imitate and to live the same way of life. It was Noah’s pursuit and longing to live in God’s ways that brought him abundant blessings, even to the point where his family were also favoured.

It is our act of wanting to live lives pleasing to God that shows His willing pursuit to favour and do good things for people by bringing us closer to Himself.

These points are again clearly expressed for us in these words, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2: 8 - 10). Here Paul explains that the activation of God’s saving grace comes through faith. These concise words bring us to God’s original intention. We were lovingly created by Him to walk with Him in perfect harmony and holiness. The blood of Jesus has been freely offered as what we might call today, a ‘grace and favour’ or goodwill gesture offered to a faithful person.

It is because of the good-will of God that we are graciously empowered to walk as Jesus walked. It is because of the grace of God that we can pursue holiness.

By the grace of God we have a doorway to salvation made possible through Jesus. It is a gift, it cannot be earned but it can and is freely received through faith. In fact this is the only way in which it is openly received. ‘If you confess with your lips that

Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved’ (Romans 10: 9, 10). It would be wrong however to think that it all stops here; thinking we have received God’s gift and our sins are completely wiped clean.

The grace of God is all about bringing us to Him and into the kingdom of heaven. It is all about daily walking in His grace. How can we walk as Jesus walked or walk with Jesus if our minds and thoughts are not in harmony with Him?

Walking as I have already said implies movement and so standing still for the Christian is not an option.

Each day is new. Each day is growth and each day is a pursuit in holiness and moving closer to God. Although God’s love and forgiveness flow easily His grace is not an excuse, license or ‘free ticket’ to carry on living as we have always done in our sinfulness and union with worldliness. To abuse God’s grace is to openly abuse God and the work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Scripture in fact tells us about ‘ungodly

Leon is available to speak, sign books at conferences, and hold healing meetings.

You can contact him by email at: Renewedlifehealing ministries@gmail.com

persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ’ (Jude 4). The abuse of grace is the denial of it.

Let us fully understand, there is coming a day when the grace of God will end. There is coming a time when God will call time on the opportunities that He has given. When Jesus returns those that have not taken advantage of God’s grace and walk in it will be left behind. We cannot think that we can abuse God’s grace by carrying on with our old nature of sin; thinking we can simply just say sorry only to do the same again.

The spiritual condition of a Christian believer is clearly seen through the grace, blessings, gifts and favour of God in their lives.

If you have been stirred by this article or you need pastoral help on these issues please contact: BillHanshewMinistries.org or Renewedlifehealingministr ies@gmail.com

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Empowered by His by: Kim Miller

GRACE

Ephesians 2:8 says, “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” God did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves.

That's grace! His Grace doesn't stop at salvation. He's given us everything we need for life and godliness. It says this in 2 Peter 1:3! He saved us and didn't leave us powerless to fend for ourselves.

All of His power is available to us, it’s right inside of us. We tap into His power as we put His Word first place in our lives and spend time with Him daily. We must make a decision to put off our way of thinking and living and renew our minds with His Word. Jesus took care of the sin problem.

Romans 6:14 says, “For sin

shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. His grace has delivered us from sin's bondage over us”. Romans 6:1 says, “What shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” v2 says, “God forbid!” Grace isn't a license to sin, but just the opposite. His Grace empowers us to live a life free from the bondage of sin.

We must begin to see ourselves the way God sees us. Romans 8:11 says that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us. We are saved by His Grace and His Grace empowers us to live in resurrection power. We lve in this natural world, but we serve a supernatural God! As believers, we are

not to see ourselves as defeated and powerless.

That's not who we are! His grace empowers us to succeed. We are born of Him and He knows no defeat or failure. He doesn't talk defeat or failure either.

Speak His Word; speak who you are now in Him. Begin to live on the outside who He has made you to be on the inside. Continue to look in the mirror of His Word and see accurately who you are now in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The old person you used to be has been crucified with Christ, but that's not all! Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” We were

raised up with Him too! His Grace empowers us to live a new life in Him. This is not due to our own doing or ability, but His Grace. His Grace empowers us to do what we can't do for ourselves.

Our Father doesn't see sin, defeat, or failure when He looks at us. He sees the power of His Grace at work in our

ives. Don't allow the guilt of your past to hold you in bondage any longer. Walk in the new life that His Grace has empowered you to live.

This New Year of 2015, take hold of God's Word and receive His Grace like never before. Remember, every day of your life, in all you do, and in everything that you face; you are empowered

by His Grace. Happy New Year!

Kimberly Miller, has a powerful testimony of the healing and delivering power of God. Kimberly desires to touch lives everywhere she goes. Her love for truth and candid personality has led many to their path of freedom in Christ!

Kimberly lives in the Midwest with her husband Gary, and her two daughters, Briana and Brooke.

You can find Kimberly’s books on Amazon.com Get these books while they are still available!

You will enjoy them, and they will touch your life!

by: Kathy Weddle I was at my computer, looking for the perfect background for my computer.

Usually, I search under “Christmas” or “Christmas lights” and a myriad of choices pop up. I have to have exactly the right one with the right look, so I spend the next 30 minutes poring over my choices. Today was different. I googled “Jesus is born”.

The very first picture stopped me in my tracks. It was a picture of a beautiful church in sparkling Christmas lights, so bright, it rivaled the stars in the sky above it. But that isn’t what got my attention. It was like a window back to that first Christmas night. Joseph and Mary and my Jesus outside. Not in God’s house. They were outside. Like that first Christmas night, there was no room in the Inn. I was struck by the irony of it. We go to such trouble to celebrate Christmas with the lights, decorations, and presents….for others…we sing special Christmas themed songs, “carols”. But what do we do for Jesus?

Don’t get me wrong. All of the things we do for Christmas are fine; nothing wrong with them at all. I, for one, am notorious for having trees in every room of the house; all a different theme.

But looking at the picture, I thought, how much of all this effort I go to points to the real reason for Christmas? Will people who come into my home think I’m celebrating Christmas, or Christ?

Later this morning, I will join other women in our church and team up with another church that has a ministry to single mothers. They come to receive help for their babies; diapers, formula, clothes, toys. We come with our best baked breakfast goodies to show them Jesus. It is a real joy to see their faces; amazed that we loved them enough to take time from our busy schedule and serve them a plate of goodies along with words of encouragement and the love of God. What a blessing….for us!

I began to think of all the ways I could celebrate Jesus to others, all the time. By the time you see this, we’ll already be rushing through 2015. Look up Matthew 25:35-40. I encourage you to take a moment; pray about ways you can make the way you present yourself to other more about Jesus. You will be blessed!

What is

Grace?

by Anna Martin

Hey kids! So, today we are going to talk about the Grace of God. Now, you might be wondering what that is. Well, I'm here to tell you! The Grace of God is God's gift of salvation granted to sinners for their salvation. This means that when someone makes a mistake, God doesn't stop loving them, he doesn't stop caring for them. It means that they are forgiven by God of their sin so long as they ask for their forgiveness. Now, don't go making mistakes intentionally. That is not a mistake. If you do make a mistake, ask for forgiveness and it shall be yours.

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The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

The Kaleidoscope See yourself as God sees you! by: Rev. Richard Hanshew, Sr. It is my most sincere prayer that by the time you finish reading this article you will have a different outlook of yourself and God's love for you!

The bible has many stories that may be applied to a sermon about how we see ourselves. Whether it is the prodigal son and his inability to see himself as worthy to be called a son, Peter after he fails in his prideful assurance that he would never deny his Savior, the woman caught in adultery or Mary as she washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. The point is that the main issue these all had at one point was the way they saw themselves. They struggled to see themselves through the eyes of a loving, caring, forgiving Savior and were only able to see themselves based on their works or deeds. This, in my opinion has been and is one of the biggest problems facing Christians today. It is the reason we see so many fall away from the church after God has delivered them from so very much. Many of us have known someone with poor self-esteem, lack

of self-confidence/worth or just feel like they can never seem to keep it together or do it right. This is the prodigal condition and it starts with your vision. Just like corrective lenses most Christians deal with sight impairment. Let's read: 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 9 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect.)

10 But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded.)

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality]. as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part

(imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].

As you can read, even in the state of salvation that we are in after accepting Christ, we still don't have a complete view of ourselves the way we will. Many of us though struggle with our salvation by "Grace through Faith".

We are so use to the "do good get good, do bad get bad" mentality we have obtained by either the world’s standard or even what we've been taught over the year in many churches.

Our ability to see ourselves through the new covenant

that came through Jesus Christ, salvation by God's Grace through our Faith is most of our problem. But, grace. Many ministers get hung up on this teaching.

They are either Micro-Grace or Macro-Grace. We have to come to an understanding of just really what this grace of God is. Let's look in the book of John.

of the New Covenant, all that dwells in Christ for men.

John 1:16 (KJV) 16 We have all received from his fullness, yes, grace upon grace.

Romans 3:20 (Amplified) 20 For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [[a]not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character].

John 1:16 (Amplified) 16 For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary has this to say about this passage; 16 of his fullness—of “grace and truth” resuming the thread of John 1:14.

Grace for grace—that is, grace upon grace (so all the best interpreters), in successive communications and larger measures, as each was able to take it in.

Observe the word “truth” is here dropped. “Grace” being the chosen New Testament word for the whole fullness

ALL that dwells in Christ for men!

That's a pretty powerful statement. Grace, we all know means, God's unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor. Here we find some clarity of just that from JFB's Commentary of this verse:

The law works to show us our failures, our sins. How about that? How do we get to where we can see ourselves correctly pastor?

Well, let's look at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 (Amp).

21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [[g]endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved

and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].

Before I share a little bit about what God has done for me, let me just share one more verse that has helped me to see that by DWELLING or taking up residency in my failings or sins, they haven’t developed dominion over me. Is it by my works? No, it is by Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Proverbs 24:17 (Amp) says, “16 For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

Put this verse next to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and you’ll see that it’s because of what Jesus did that you are made and seen as righteous and not of your own self efforts. It is therefore within your abilities by the power of God within you to GET UP! Romans 5:20-21 and 6:1-4: 21 So that, [just] as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favor) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord.

6 What shall we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in

sin in order that God’s grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow?

2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?

3 Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

4 We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life.

As you read my testimony attached at the end of this article, know that it is not a fictional event. This was an encounter with the Father two weeks before my wife and I pastored our first church. After being raised as a preacher’s son my entire life and having acknowledged a calling on my life, I had found my self years later in what I considered the “Pig trough.”

This is what God spoke to me before we had our first service. You can also listen to “The Kaleidoscope” message on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=iYI3G6znAs4 I want you to know that no matter what you're facing, no matter what you've gone through, if you'll just turn

from it, get up and turn toward God you'll be able to see yourself based on what Jesus HAS done for you and not what you did.

TESTIMONY I was asking God, "How can you use a mess like me? I have made such a mess of my life I can't see how I could be much use at all."

God then showed me a kaleidoscope. As I looked at it, it came apart into pieces.

God then said, " You feel like those pieces of plastic there don't you? as I looked at the pieces that had been in the end of the toy. He said, You feel useless, of no real value." Yes, I said. He then said, I need you to see yourself as I see you, through my eyes. I don't understand Lord. He then proceeded to say, you see my son I don't see you that way anymore. I sent my son Jesus, whose body was broken, bruised and bore stripes for your health,

healing and wholeness. He shed his blood for the cleansing and purification from sin. He went to the cross and I put all sin for all time upon him and then took out my punishment of that sin on him. He went to the grave and on the third day I raised him up as he overcame death and the grave. He came back to heaven to enter into the tabernacle not made with human hands as your high priest. With his own blood he, like the priests of the law consecrated the ground with his blood seven times, and then made atonement for all man once and for all for ALL TIME. You see my son, the lens represents the complete work of my only begotten son and the finished work of the cross. When I look at you through my eyes which are representative of the view finder I see you on the back side of the cross.

Although you don't feel of value to me you look beautiful, my RIGHTEOUSNESS. I watched as the toy began to be put back together. He then began to turn the cylinder at the end of the toy and say, "And as you see my son, no matter how life turns you or how many times you fall I always see you as beautiful, My RIGHTEOUSNESS!"

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Kimberly Miller, has a powerful testimony of the healing and delivering power of God. Kimberly desires to touch lives everywhere she goes. Her love for truth and candid personality has led many to their path of freedom in Christ!

Kimberly lives in the Midwest with her husband Gary, and her two daughters, Briana and Brooke.

You can find Kimberly’s books on Amazon.com Get these books while they are still available!

You will enjoy them, and they will touch your life!

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