This week we provide a 10-step plan guaranteed to fill you with God’s joy. (Not really.) Like many other things related to our life in Christ, enjoying God doesn’t come with a set of instructions complete with pictures to help you put it all together. We’ve had people write to our podcast ministry feeling as though they weren’t experiencing the fullness of joy in their life.
This week, we bring some encouragement that even the joy the of the Lord isn’t dependent on us or something we do to in order to experience it on a consistent basis. We can live in joy by departing from religious duty and obligation, and by resting in being ourselves and realizing who we’ve uniquely been created to be in Him.
Just a couple of months ago we celebrated 14 years of the Growing in Grace podcast. This week we hit another milestone - our 700th Growing in Grace podcast! To create a special edition of the podcast, both Mike and Joel have dug into the archives to share some "highlights" from past Growing in Grace podcasts. We truly enjoy sharing our hearts every week regarding this wonderful gospel of grace, and we hope you enjoy hearing these gospel nuggets.
Have you ever wondered whether you've done something that would hinder your fellowship with God? Those feelings of doubt about where you stand with God, or the fear of being in and out of fellowship are rooted in dead works and self-righteousness. The New Covenant of Christ is an agreement God made with God, and he cannot deny himself. Whoever has the Son has life. He is our guarantee and you've been called into fellowship with Him.
"God is good!" A phrase that gets thrown around a lot in Christian religious circles. Yet it shouldn't become just a catch-phrase for us. As we grow in grace and our understanding of the good news it becomes more of a reality that we can't be swayed from. Although we may not always understand why things happen the way they do, coming to the realization of the truth that God really is good (all the time) is a key component in regards to our attitude under grace.
Much has been taught and said about something that is referred to as The Great Commission... Referring to when Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world to proclaim the gospel. Some of what Jesus spoke was specifically for the 11 disciples.
Unfortunately, at times believers have been made to feel obligated to share the good news in specific ways that can cause guilt and condemnation when they feel they are not living up to the standard or expectations they think God has for them. We can all be involved in spreading the good news but as different parts of the body we may have very unique functions regarding our participation.
The term "hypergrace" has been used recently by some who apparently believe that grace is being taken to an extreme. We address a few of these concerns from an article in a popular Christian publication. The first thing that needs to be confronted here is the misunderstanding that legalistic religion has clung to and that is the belief that the New Covenant is a more perfect continuation of the Old Covenant. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this line of thinking will point entirely in the wrong direction and will lead to many more misunderstandings regarding the gospel of grace.
God loved you so much that He gave. He gave all He had to give with the gift of His Son. With this gift He has already brought you everything that pertains to life and godliness. He has made you accepted, holy, blameless, forgiven, perfected. The New Covenant will not allow us to try to make things right. He already has. Those who hunger and thirst for more from God can realize that He has done all that is necessary to bring reconciliation between you and Him. He has declared peace with us. Simply believe the good news.
When referring to "the flesh" in the Bible the first thing that comes to mind is probably going to be sinful actions. But walking after the flesh can also at times appear outwardly to be very positive spiritually, and even fruitful. We call it religious flesh. We discuss the differences and offer some encouragement on how to avoid falling into it. Whether it appears to be good or bad, walking after the flesh is ugly compared to life in the Spirit.
Condemnation is a burdensome thing. It may be self-inflicted or it can come from the self-righteous judgment of others. Adam's action brought condemnation. But Jesus' action at the cross brought justification. The act of His sacrifice brought something to us that our world had never experienced... The removal of sin. It was destroyed. Through His blood we not only received eternal forgiveness but sin was taken away once and for all. If you've ever felt guilt because of things you've done wrong, we've got good news for you.
The life and ministry of Jesus while He was on the earth describes many miracles that included a demonstration God's healing power. We begin to see the immeasurable love God had for people through these works being done through His Son. It was a reflection of His desire and His will when it came to physical needs. The subject of healing has caused confusion and wonder among some. Regardless of your experiences or circumstances, our purpose with this program is to try to bring some reassurance and hope as we look at the goodness of God and physical healing through the eyes of grace.
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As a way of celebrating the occasion of our 400th Growing in Grace podcast, we posted the first of three bonus podcasts last week - a series of the highlights (known as "GIGBites") from our last 100 podcasts. This week we're posting GIGBite Bonus Podcast 2, featuring the GIGBites from episodes 336 to 368. Look for the final bonus podcast next Wednesday.
Imagine having the "gift" of being able to determine which scriptures in the Bible are not God-inspired and should be removed. There could be numerous reasons for removing many verses or even chapters. For example, suppose there is one that messes up your existing belief or doctrine. Perhaps it's one you just don't understand or feel that it contradicts with other passages. Just take a black highlighter and Poof! - It's gone. You'll have the Bible down to less than half the size in no time. Maybe even come up with your very own translation.
OR... We have another suggestion on this week's GIGcast.
And in case you missed it, we posted "GIGBite Bonus Podcast 1" this past Wednesday, in celebration of having reached the milestone of our 400th Growing in Grace podcast! Look for two additional bonus podcasts as well, this coming Wednesday and the following Wednesday.
This past Sunday we posted Growing in Grace podcast number 400! The goal of this weekly podcast is to share the simple good news of the gospel of God's grace and peace. Each week, in addition to each full podcast episode, we also post a quick highlight from the podcast (a "GIGBite") to give a sample of the good news that we've talked about. To celebrate our 400th Growing in Grace podcast, we've strung together the previous 100 GIGBites in the form of 3 "bonus" podcasts! This week features the GIGBites from episodes 300 to 335. Look for the next two bonus podcasts on the next coming Wednesdays.
Sometimes we just need to pause and reflect on what Christ has done and what it means for us. Our days are often filled with bad news and it can even carry over into Bible teaching that we're exposed to. It's good to be reminded that God isn't angry with you, that He doesn't hold sin against you, that you are fully accepted by Him through Jesus Christ and that there is no reason to hide or to be afraid. God prepared Jesus with a body for a sacrifice that would be the last but certainly not the least.
And by the way, we've hit another milestone here on Growing in Grace! This is our 400th podcast!!! To celebrate, we've compiled three bonus podcasts that we'll be sharing on the next three Wednesdays. All of the weekly "GIGBites" that are posted with each podcast, to give listeners a tiny taste of the content of the podcast, contain grace and encouragement in and of themselves. The upcoming bonus podcasts will each be 15 to 16 minute mixes of all the GIGBites from the past 100 Growing in Grace podcasts! Look for the first bonus podcast this Wednesday.
Many have been exposed to various kinds of "religious" teachings in the past and it has led them to a place where they attempt to avoid anything to do with God in the present. This would indicate that they either haven't heard the actual gospel or never arrived at a place where they began to understand it. It can lead to a desire to hide from God or act as if He doesn't exist. Of course we really can't hide from the Lord but this can be the mentality that one can fall into. If you've ever felt like you weren't worthy of God or that you couldn't live up to His expectations as good as the "church" people you've been around, we've got good news for you!
I'm very pleased to welcome music artist Allan Scott to the Growing in Grace Together podcast. I think many people will relate in one way or another to Allan's story. After his life had spiraled out of control due to a destructive lifestyle of drugs and alcohol, he knew it was grace through which he'd been saved when found himself being radically transformed by God. However, he would soon find himself in a place many of us are all too familiar with - struggling with an up and down, performance-based relationship with God.
Listen in as Allan shares how he came to find rest from the performance treadmill, as he discovered the gospel of God's grace and the New Covenant. It's very evident that his heart is now overflowing with grace and is focused on sharing this liberating message with the church, both through his music and through connecting with others wherever he goes.
You can find out more about Allan Scott on his website, allanscottmusic.com. I think you'll be greatly encouraged by listening to this podcast and checking out Allan's music!
It's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Bible verses being taken out of context. Of course most don't even realize this is what they are doing. Sometimes when we read or memorize certain verses it can lead to tunnel vision, misunderstanding and confusion. Of course we'll often have different opinions on things from time to time but one of the reasons there are thousands of church denominations, doctrines and cults is due to a general misunderstanding of what the gospel is. And a leading cause of that is taking scripture out of context along with confusing the Old Covenant with the New and mixing them together into one.
As someone once told us: "The Bible can be one of the most dangerous books you'll ever read if you..." (Take a listen to the podcast for the conclusion to this suspenseful cliff hanger.)
On our last podcast we talked about those who feel the need to accuse others of wrong doing and how it stems from a foundation of legalism and self-righteousness. This week we take a closer look at why the law inspires accusations against us and how we have been freed from this. In Christ we have received a brand new nature of righteousness, that is, the righteousness of God has been revealed in us. This is the gospel at its very foundation. It allows us to live free of guilt, condemnation and accusations that would try to come against us and provides us with grace to experience a relationship of love without fear of wondering what God thinks of us.
We take a look at the well-known story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Why was she accused and what happened to her accusers? The devil is called the accuser of the brethren in one passage of scripture. But of the nearly 2 dozen references of accusers in the New Testament, almost all of them are religious people who were zealous for the Law. If you're looking to be accused of wrong doing, hang out with self-righteous religious people.
Yet Jesus did not accuse the accusers. Rather, He pointed out someone who did accuse them of not believing in Him. It turns out to be one of their heroes.
Our discussion centers around making choices in the context of our life in Christ. We have His life and it has brought forgiveness and righteousness. Nothing can ever separate you from Him nor can anything change the new creation that you are in Him. Yet with this incredible freedom remains the ability to make choices. Sometimes we'll make good decisions and other times not. Grace will encourage us to make better choices in life. Bad choices are more likely to occur when we forget our new identity in Him. While all things may be lawful not everything will be profitable. Yet guilt and condemnation have no place in the life of a believer. Never.
