1069. The Will of God for You (Part 2)

It is difficult to experience the peace of God to the fullest if we're steadily or periodically wondering whether we're in God's will. It becomes even more complicated if we're worried what the negative ramifications might be if we become convinced through external sources that we are "out of God's will."

Christ in you, that is God's will for you, and it is a place of peace and rest. He will be with you every step of the way through the earthly journey and through the many decisions being made over the years. If He impresses something unique upon your heart, you can still make choices. If you decide to go a different direction, God is flexible and has been known to be in the re-routing business ... working things together for good and never leaving you.




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1068. The Will of God for You

People can go through all kinds of stress and worry while wondering or trying to figure out what God's will is for their life. It can result in this life becoming heavy and hard instead of light and easy.

Sometimes it's just a matter of trusting God to lead and guide. This becomes easier when we can set aside the magnifying glass and begin to see the bigger picture of God's will for your life being Jesus Christ in you. Rest in that and begin to realize how much God cares for you affectionately in every area of your life. You no longer need to fear if you are "in God's will."




"Clash of the Covenants" book available on Amazon

1024. "Hey God, Come Here for a Minute"

The practice of inviting God into our presence may be something many of us have done and may still do without stopping to think much about it. There are various phrases used when the invitation is extended but they all pretty much imply that God isn't with us, and we would like Him to show up and make some sort of appearance.

God never leaves you. He doesn't come and go. The "worship" environment we try to create within our surroundings has nothing to do with it. Prayer is not meant to be a monologue, nor should it be like trying to leave a heavenly voicemail. He doesn't need to send an RSVP to our invitation because He has invited us into His presence. His favorite thing to do is hang out with His children—at all times—while guiding us into the truth of Jesus and bringing comfort, peace, and joy.



   
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1004. Justified and Saved Apart From Works - Now What?

Many of us were indoctrinated with "popular and mainstream" church sermons which included many things straight out of the Bible ... but the Kool-Aid we were drinking left us thirsting for more. Works-based ideologies and concepts that suggest our eternity is going to be secured based upon what we do after coming to faith and getting saved will leave even the most dedicated of doers in a place of uncertainty and despair.

For those who manage to escape that kind of spiritual and emotional prison, we often hear from people who are euphoric over their newfound discovery of God's unchangeable love and perfect grace rooted in what Jesus did once for all. But it's not unusual to get the question of "what do I do now?" Those who have been mostly limited to having a relationship with religious duty and obligation are trying to figure out how to live the Christian life from a grace perspective.

We can't live it—not on our own. Our life is not our own, but it is the life of God through Christ in us that will lead and guide us by His Spirit. Does this mean we don't seek to do anything or perform actions that are profitable and helpful? Of course not. But a change of mind will change the motivation, and it's a place of rest, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.



   
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1000. 20 Years Later and 1000 Podcasts of Growing in Grace

When we started back in the year 2005, it wasn't exactly the long-term plan to have our 20th anniversary land on our 1000th podcast. In fact, when someone invited us to participate in a new launch of an "Internet Radio" channel, we had no idea if we would do a few programs or if it would go a while longer. But here we are. We just couldn't stop yapping about the good news of grace that has been vastly overlooked in so many popular corners of corporate Christianity and the religious educational institutions who have influenced them.

We hope you'll take a listen as we reflect on the unlikely partnership between two regular guys whose paths crossed in a radio station studio in 1994 and grew into a what would become a seemingly supernatural like-mindedness when it comes to the gospel of grace ... while attracting many thousands of listeners from around the world who have desired to hear such a message of love, assurance, forgiveness, and peace.

The takeaway from this week's program will hopefully bring confidence that God is orchestrating so many things through you—things that you may come to realize at times ... but often will never know in this life. Trust Him to live through you in both the biggest and smallest of ways that will have a significant impact on many you will never meet.

Thank you for your encouragement through the years and for sharing the podcast with someone you know. Your "word of mouth" has resulted in bringing something very special to many hurting people.



   
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924. God's Grace Working Through Us Vs. Religious Rules

We like to tell people salvation is free, but then somewhere along the way—maybe right away—we feel the need to begin rolling out the rules to help make sure the new converts don't wander from what we believe to be the truth. This approach may actually hinder believers in Christ from experiencing the fullness of God in their lives.

It becomes a gospel of "doing" in order to become something that children of God think they need to work at in order to reach a higher level of spirituality or to make themselves more acceptable to God. Not to mention, the "rules" vary significantly from one corner church to the next. Maybe we should begin to trust Christ (who abides in us) to complete the work He began in each of us by His grace.



   
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879. God Is Just a Prayer Away? (It’s Even Better Than That)

The world system where we now live is a mess. It hasn’t been fully redeemed. Bad things happen and physical death still occurs, but it doesn’t change how good God truly is at all times. Yet there are times when we may feel like God is millions of miles away in a far off galaxy. We wonder if He is aware of what we’re going through or why we’re going through it.

It has been said that “God is just a prayer away.” This sounds encouraging on the surface, but on this week’s program, we’ll be taking it a step further to bring a reminder that the gospel provides even better news. Prayer or communion and fellowship with God doesn’t have to be like a type of long-distance phone call where you say good-bye (amen) at the end and hang up until the next time you dial the number. Hopefully we can help bring a new and fresh reality of just how connected you are to God in Christ … all the time. He created the original wireless—no password required.



   
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594. The Lord’s Prayer Part 2: Our Father In Heaven

Continuing with our series on The Lord’s Prayer and why Jesus provided it for Jews to pray; we look at the opening to the prayer, which acknowledges the Father in heaven.  Some have believed the Jewish people under the law would not have understood the concept of God as Father, but there are a number of Old Testament passages that reveal otherwise.  The prayer intro was not a new revelation to His disciples, they understood God as Father, in heaven, and that His name was holy.  However, they didn’t have the concept that we now have in the New Covenant…That is, Christ in you.  A better covenant has revealed to us that God doesn’t abide just in heaven, but has relocated by His Spirit to abide in us.  Another clue this was a guide to be prayed only for those under the Old Covenant - Jesus did not instruct them to pray “in His name” as he would later tell the disciples to do under the New Covenant.



   

520. Teaching the Law Results in Fruitless Discussion

The Apostle Paul stated some have strayed from the good things of love, a pure heart and a good conscience, and have turned to fruitless discussion. How? By wanting to be teachers of law. The law from the Old Covenant had a purpose, but it was not meant for the righteous in Christ. It was a tutor to point people to faith and the promise of life found in Jesus Christ. Now that faith has come, the tutor is no longer needed. Instead of abiding in the letter that kills with a creed of "thou shall not," as believers we have the living God within to bear His fruit, against which there is no law.



   

437. Crossing the (220) Line: Connecting to His Life in You

Electricians install 220 lines to connect to the source of power. As believers we have a 220 line that summarizes the Christian life for us in just a few words. Galatians 2:20: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Paul also stated in verses 19 and 21 that we died to the law that we might live to God... And if right-standing with God comes through the works of the law then Christ died for nothing. Enjoying the benefits of this new life means not only knowing what you've been delivered from but what you were delivered into.

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199. If Not Law and Rules Then What is the Source of Living the Christian Life?

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For the past several weeks we've been getting pretty heavy into discussions about God's Law. We've discussed the purpose of the Law, and how it is the ministry of death and condemnation, and how being under the Law is bondage. We then talked about how Jesus came to FREE us from the Law! For those not familiar with all these things that the New Covenant scriptures say about the Law, this may leave some scratching their heads and asking questions such as, "If the Christian life is not about keeping God's law and it's not about following rules, then what is the motivation and the source of living the Christian life?

If we say that Jesus came to deliver us from the Law, and all we talk about is God's love and grace, won't that cause people to want to go out and sin and live reckless lives? Is that what grace does? (Do we really have the gall to make grace out to be so cheap and powerless and insufficient?) The Law, which is good and holy and perfect, had one main problem. It could certainly lay down its demands of perfection - but yet it had absolutely no power to help anyone live right! Grace, on the other hand, is the ever-sufficient power of living the Christian life. To take it even further, it's not that grace enables the flesh to live a better life, but through God's grace we have died to the Law in order that we may have true life - the very life of Christ in us! Therein lies the power and the motivation and the source of the entire Christian life!

Special Note: Next week marks our 200th Growing in Grace program! To celebrate, we'll spend two or three weeks running highlights of our past programs. This should be a lot of fun as we look back on some of our conversations that have hopefully been a source of grace, freedom and life. Thanks so much for listening and for all your encouraging words!

192. Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

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Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

162. More on the Exchanged Life

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Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!

161. Exchanged Life - Christ's Life In Us

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Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!