Grace

Galatians 2:19-21

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

This is just a piece of scripture that is really shaping my life at the moment.

I am at a place in my life, where I can only say thank you for all the grace that I am receiving. This stretches into everything in my life at the moment, from waking up to going to bed.

We are also busy pondering this very theme of grace in every part of our Christian Community. Be it at church, home church or discipleship group, and I am loving every moment of it.

The one thin however for me is, how complex this whole thing around grace can become, when one wants to start and mix it with the law.

These are just some thoughts from me on this topic, and please feel free to leave your own views on this, as you feel like.

21 July 2009

1 Peter 1:3-5 (The Message)

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

18 July 2009

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

One more thing, friends: Pray for us. Pray that the Master’s Word will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response, just as it did among you.

And pray that we’ll be rescued from these scoundrels who are trying to do us in. I’m finding that not all “believers” are believers.

But the Master never lets us down. He’ll stick by you and protect you from evil.

15 July 2009

1 John 4:7-10

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

14 July 2009

Romans 5:1-2 (The Message)

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

This Ministry

1 Timothy 1:12 (The Message)

I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry.

Hi all. Simply stumbled on to this piece of text while doing a search on eBible on grace. This was just such a wonderful revelation to me, as I know I am standing at the door of a new season in my life, serving Father.

I have been over this, so many times, as I am looking for ways in which I can go into full time ministry, and have heard many things from people stating that it might not be my call, and also telling myself, many times over, that life is so good, with a great salary and plenty of luxuries, but I KNOW that God has bigger plans for me.

It might be difficult at times, and it might be a struggle some times, but over the last couple of months God has brought just too many people over our paths, with the same visions and commitments as em and my wife has, that one can not carry on to ignore this calling.

I still don’t know, when or how it is going to happen, what I do know is that I must be ready and willing.

God, take this sinners heart, carry on changing it, from the inside out, and simply just USE it, for your works. Place Your words on this tongue, like a burning coal, so that I can not sit down in silence any more, when there is a need to preach the Good News.

Father, I love you, and I commit my life and my family to you. We will worship you, in everything that we do, and we will not look back.

This is my prayer over this ministry, which consists of Unsafe Challenge, as well as the worship ministry that I am already in.

I would love for all of you, to join me in this journey, and lets make Unsafe Challenge, the best challenge ever placed on South Africa.

10 July 2009

Todays scripture is Ezekiel 37:1-14

…

12“Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘GOD, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive-O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. 13When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am GOD. 14I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am GOD. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. GOD’s Decree.’”

09 July 2009

OK, the Lord put it on my heart this morning to start a scripture of the day on this here blog of mine. Hope it will mean something to you lot out there

Psalms 86:11 (The Message)

Train me, GOD, to walk straight;
then I’ll follow your true path.
Put me together, one heart and mind;
then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear.