GOD’s Grace & Mercy

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) 

God’s grace and mercy can be viewed as two sides of the same coin. Grace on one side gives us what we do not deserve; mercy on the other hand does not give us what we do deserve. Grace, often defined as unmerited favor, is offered freely by God, “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). It is offered to us only through faith in Christ so that we may clearly understand that it is not obtainable by any adherence to the law. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The law is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12), but unfortunately it magnifies our sin and shows us how far we are from reaching the perfect standard of our holy and righteous Creator. Thankfully, God’s amazing grace overpowers our magnified sin, as it “super abounds” above our transgressions. “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). God is also rich in His mercy toward us (Ephesians 2;4), as He extends His loving compassion to us despite our sinful condition.

Our salvation is rooted in God’s mercy, as He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3). Grace and mercy are glorious gifts from God that should take us to our knees in worship and adoration. We can bring absolutely nothing to God except a humble and thankful heart as we trust not in our works, but solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5). Thank God that “His mercy endureth forever” (Psalm 136:26)

The qualities of God’s character by which He shows himself compassionate, accepting, and generous to sinful human beings, shielding them from His wrath, forgiving them, and bestowing them His righteousness so that they can live and grow in faith and obedience. Grace and mercy are particularly expressed through God’s covenant with His chosen people and through Jesus Christ atoning death on the cross. Mercy and grace are often confused. While the terms have similar meanings, grace and mercy are not the same.

To summarize the difference: Mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and Grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy and showing mercy to us when we have fallen by God’s grace from our own sins. According to the Bible, we have all sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8). As a result of that sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23) and eternal judgment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God’s mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve, we would all be, right now, condemned for eternity.

In Psalm 51:1-2, David cries out, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin”. A plea to God for mercy is asking Him to withhold the judgment we deserve and instead grant to us the forgiveness we in no way have earned, God is faithful and just. We deserve noting from God. God does not owe us anything. Anything good that we experience is a result of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5). 

Grace is simply defined as unmerited favor. God favors, or gives us good things that we do not deserve and could never earn. Rescued from judgment by God’s mercy, grace is anything and everything we receive beyond that mercy (Romans 3:24). Common grace refers to the sovereign grace which God bestows on all mankind regardless of their spiritual standing before Him, wile saving grace is that special dispensation of grace whereby God sovereignly bestows unmerited divine assistance upon His elect for their regeneration and sanctification that will be earned through Christ. Mercy and grace is best illustrated in the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ.

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“Sharing Your Faith With Others”

To share your faith with others, first you must explain God’s purpose and peace. Most people choose to be separate from God. They don’t have the peace and abundant life God planned for them. God created us in His own image to have abundant life, but He also gave us a freewill with freedom of choice. Therefore, God has provided the only way. However, each person still must make the decision themselves if they desire to receive Christ. It’s each persons own individual responsibility as to whether they will say “YES” to Christ.

We must trust Christ ourselves as our Lord and personal Savior and receive Him by personal invitation. Always talk with the person on a personal level. Again, your story and what God has done in your life is very powerful. It’s not about how “together” you are now; it’s about how you know that despite your weakness. You have met the one that can make all things new. You know that sharing Christ with your friends is important, but it can also be scary. What do you say? What will they think? These are questions that will arise when you think about talking to your friends to share your faith with them.

Well, a few years ago, I had some friends who weren’t Christians, but had no idea how to witness to them. Those friends were lost. They were caught up in their sins and whatever else they could find to fill the emptiness of not having Jesus in their lives. If I had of known the Bible better a few years ago, I could have tried to help them know Jesus. But I was struggling with a few things myself. 

For example, when the Book of Ezra was written, the Israelites were coming back from Babylon after living as captives. Their children no longer knew God’s law. Ezra felt called to help get Israel back on track, but instead of just teaching others about God’s laws, he spent time studying it himself. He made sure he understood it before trying to tell others about it. I have grown deeper and deeper into the Word of God studying so that I could share with others because the Word of God is “sharper than any two-edged sword“! The Word is powerful, so therefore you must know exactly what you’re talking about. If someone asked you a tough question about the Bible, would you know how to find the answer?

You must ask God to help you live out the things you learn  as you read your Bible. One of my friends wasn’t a Christian, but she knew I was. Without my knowing, she was watching me to see what this whole Christianity thing was all about. One day, she told me she’d been paying attention to the way I treated people. She said one of my best traits was that I always helped people and never hated anyone, or at least never acted like I did. I feel fortunate that God is using me as an example of the love Christians have for other people. 

Whenever we show our love to our friends and family, we show people that our relationship with Christ is based on love. And there’s not a person in the world who doesn’t need love. God tells us to love others so that they see His love in us. When we show God’s love to people, powerful things can happen. I always ask God to let His light shine upon me so that others can see the Christ in me. Encouraging each other daily is good to be reminded that you are in a position for a reason. So, let your light shine amongst others so they can see the power of God working through you! 

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“What Does GOD Think Of You?”

“For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee”-Isaiah 54:10

If you don’t feel loved by GOD, you’re certainly not going to offer love to anyone else. It is impossible to be a loving person unless you understand and remember the way GOD loves you. You need to remind yourself every day what GOD thinks about you– not what the world thinks or what you think about yourself. That is what removes your fears. 

Let me give you FOUR things GOD thinks about you, to help you remember why and how to love:

1. You’re completely accepted. We spend much of our lives trying to earn acceptance from our parents, peers, those we respect, those we envy, and even total strangers. But you need to realize GOD has already settled this issue of acceptance: “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life“-Titus 3:7. What Jesus did on the cross made you completely acceptable to GOD-no matter what you’ve done or will do.
2. You’re unconditionally loved. GOD doesn’t say, “I love you if” or “I love you because”. He says, “I love you-PERIOD!” You can’t make GOD stop loving you, because His love is not based on what you do but on who He is. “For GOD so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life”-John 3:16 
3. You’re totally forgiven. Because Jesus died on the cross and gave His life as a payment for your sins, you are totally forgiven once you accept that gift forgiveness. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit“.
4. You’re considered extremely valuable. There are two things that create value: who owns something, and what somebody’s willing to pay for it.

We are all children of GOD and have been “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 7:23). Jesus Christ paid for you and me with His life. That’s how valuable we are! 

When you remember that you are accepted, loved, forgiven, and valuable to the Creator of the universe, then you will be better equipped to show that love to others and build deeper relationships!

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Transformed By GOD

God may call on anyone at any time to serve His will. That person may not even be a believer yet. God has transformed men who were adamantly against the Scriptures into becoming His strongest advocates.

God transforms Paul
The apostle Paul, also called Saul, tells of how he was transformed by God from being a sinner and persecutor of Christians to becoming an apostle of Jesus.
Paul is, probably, the second most important person in the history of Christianity.

Paul speaks to the crowd at the temple
Paul spoke to a crowd at the Temple in Jerusalem. It was God’s will that Paul had been saved for the purpose of proclaiming the Gospel to his fellow Israelites, as well as to Gentiles and kings. Paul told the crowd about his being born a Jew, being zealous for Judaism and God, and how he persecuted both men and women and threw them into prison and putting some to death (Acts 22:3-4). Paul told the story of how on his way to Jerusalem, approaching Damascus, a bright light from heaven flashed around him (Acts 22:5-6).

Jesus appears to Paul
“I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied. My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.”– Acts 22:7-9
“When I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus, He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’ Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.” – Acts 22:10-11
Paul then tells of how he met a man named Ananias who said ‘receive your sight’ and his blindness was cured. Ananias then said to Paul…
Paul’s transformation
“Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice. You will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’”
– Acts 22:14-16
It was from that moment that Paul became one of Christianity’s greatest leaders and advocates.
God can transform you too
If the Lord can transform someone who persecuted and had Christians put to death into one of second most important leaders I Christianity, then the Lord God can transform any and all of us.
“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth.”
– Acts 22:14
The Lord chose the sinner to know His will. God took the sinner and humbled him, enlightened him, and brought him to the knowledge of Christ and His blessed Gospel.
This serves as an example to all of us that God can transform anyone to serve His will.
Renewed in Christ
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”
– 2 Corinthians 5:17

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GOD is Real

The power of GOD shows us that GOD is not a fairytale for grownups, but a wonderful reality. Without the power of GOD, our faith is empty. GOD is not a theory, HE is REAL and full of life and power. The power of GOD must be the foundation for our faith. The Bible says that faith of any believer should not be founded in religious reasoning, but on the power of GOD. 1 Corinthians 2:5 states, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of GOD”. 

We can discuss and reason all our life, but then the power of GOD touches and transforms us and words are no longer needed. Then, we know with every part of our being that GOD is REAL and that HE loves us and wants to heal and save us. Do you long to experience the power of GOD in your own life? JESUS CHRIST walked in incredible power and instructed HIS followers to do the same and to demonstrate the kingdom of GOD. 

Without the love of GOD, HIS power will be destructive. But without the power of GOD, HIS love will be useless. Many Christians have the wonderful love of GOD, but they don’t have the power to conquer sickness, darkness, evil, and powers of the demonic. All they can do is love and lose the battle! We need both love and power of GOD. There are many things to prove that GOD is REAL in my life.

Throughout my life, I had to face a lot of difficult situations and even to this day where GOD has shown himself real in my life. From my own personal experience, when I was 4 months pregnant with my second daughter, I had a dream that I was going to miscarriage at 8 months. At that moment I began to pray to GOD praying for a safe delivery. Fast forward, 8 months of pregnancy I started having complications where I was in so much pain, my stomach had gotten hard as a brick. From my ears, head, teeth, you name it, I was in excruciating pain. While rushed to the hospital, I began to bleed and all I could do was scream and reflect back on my dream, I began to think that I was going to lose my baby. Even in the midst of my pain I trusted and kept my faith in GOD. The doctors performed emergency surgery on me and by the grace of GOD my daughter was delivered within 1 minute and she was healthy!!! BUT GOD!!

Now, here it is 13 years later my daughter is still healthy! Glory to GOD! It is so much I can say about GOD to inform you on HIS existence. There is a GOD, HE is alive, in HIM we live, and we survive. How can anyone deny the reality of GOD when they see a baby? Even when it thunderstorms, I love to listen to the rumbling of thunder. It reminds me of GOD’s majesty and power. The apostle Paul said creation was the best evidence of GOD’s existence. HE wrote, “For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen” (Romans 1:20). 

There are more than 400,000 species of flowers in the world and most of them are not edible. Their job is to simply make the world beautiful. People who choose to deny GOD don’t spend enough time looking at tulips, snapdragons, orchids, lilies, or magnolias. Therefore, it’s important to stop and smell the roses! The Bible itself is proof of GOD’s existence because HE used 40 unrelated people over a period of 2000 years to write HIS unique love letter to us. There is nothing like the Bible because it carries the same consistent message throughout of all its 66 books.

The most amazing thing about GOD is not that HE exists, but that HE loved us so much that HE was willing to send HIS Son to earth to save us from ourselves. JESUS was with the Father from the time of the creation and HIS arrival was predicted numerous of times. Finally, HE came to live among us. JESUS is not an elusive fairytale. HE is the living, breathing, touchable Son of GOD.  I can feel GOD’s love from the day HE created the world. From that action and other creations, I can see GOD’s love since HE could have disregarded us, but HE stays with us and acts as our parent and takes care of HIS own kids. GOD’s love is unfathomable! 

In the Bible we see that one of GOD’s hallmarks is that HE heals people, who can’t be helped by medical treatment. JESUS CHRIST performed thousands of miraculous healings and HE commanded those who believe in HIM to do the same. The apostles of the New Testament saw countless healing miracles take place through their hands, as they preached the good news of GOD’s love for mankind. All through history healing miracles have been astounding proof for the existence of GOD. Do these miracles still happen today? Yes, they do!  Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick. cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ya have received, freely give”. 

One of the most amazing proofs that GOD exists is the radical transformation that happens when a person truly gets to know JESUS CHRIST and accepts HIM as LORD and SAVIOR and start following HIM. The most hateful, selfish, nasty people become tender, caring and honest, who serve others with all their heart. Surrender your life to JESUS CHRIST, with all your heart. Don’t hold anything back, don’t try to stop HIM from working in you. Some people start to weep when GOD overwhelms them – don’t be afraid of HIS presence. If you want to encounter GOD as real as HE is, then you must become real with GOD as well. #ThePowerofGOD

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“How Forgiveness Frees You”

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”–Colossians 3:13

There isn’t a human being alive who hasn’t been hurt in some way, whether unintentional or intentional. There are many people who have been treated unfairly or victimized.For some people, who have been victimized significantly – they feel that the people who have harmed them don’t deserve forgiveness. The idea of forgiving their abuser seems impossible.

Not forgiving allows evil to dwell in your heart

The problem with withholding forgiveness is that, by not forgiving, you hold onto hate. You may have had a pure and loving heart before someone hurt you. Now your heart holds a seed of hate. Until you forgive, that hate will always live in your heart. In essence, you have been changed, and a seed of evil – that wasn’t there before someone abused you – is now part of you. Evil lives within you. That evil seed has a way of growing. You may be consumed with all kinds of hateful thoughts, saying angry words and seeking revenge. You may even think of murder.

How to cleanse your heart

Scripture provides us with the cure for removing this evil someone else has planted in our heart. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”– Ephesians 4:31-32 When you forgive, your heart is cleansed.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood the power of forgiveness very well, summarizing it in the following quote:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”– Martin Luther King, Jr.

JESUS instructs us…
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”– Mark 11:25

In my life time, I have had close friends and family members to hurt me to the core. People who have used me. People who have really just done some things toward me that I didn’t want to forgive them. Sometimes when people hurt us and we say we forgive them, but in reality we are still holding on to grudges and talking about what that person did to us, then that means we have never truly forgiven if we are still latching on to the hurt.

I had to learn how to forgive past hurts fully because I knew that I wasn’t perfect. How could I not forgive others who treated me badly and want GOD to forgive me from my trespasses? When you learn to truly forgive, you will be at peace within yourself. You have to let all the hurt  and pain go and truly forgive! GOD knows the pain you feel but you can’t allow yourself to be filled with resentment. GOD has really filled me with the power to forgive those who truly hurt me and if they were to come to me today and in need, I would help them! 

As Christians, we must continue to do good to those who hurt us. We still must love and whatever hurt us, we must not do the same to them. Matthew 7:12 says, “ Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” Forgiving is not for the other person, it is for you!!!

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