Weekly Grace

We’ve all experienced our own emotional highs and lows. Feelings of euphoria and joy can move us in one direction, while feelings of shame and anger move us in the opposite direction; these can powerfully affect our outlook on life. God gave us emotions as a blessing, but we must be careful because they have the potential to take control of our lives. Thankfully, if we’ve been born again, we’ve been given authority over our emotions.

What we expose ourselves to determines how we think. How we think determines how we feel; our feelings determine our decisions, which in turn control our actions. When we expose ourselves to the Word of Grace, we’re reminded that we’re in control, not our emotions. Without our God-given self-control, we’re like a city broken into and left without walls.   

We’ve been delivered from the curses of depression, rejection, shame, fear, inferiority, and every other negative emotion. As free moral agents, we can choose not to become trapped in them, but to choose joy instead. The joy of the Lord is our strength; therefore, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty.

The sign of true strength is the ability to maintain emotional control when others lose their tempers. A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife. As believers, we’ve been made righteous, but the wrath of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.

We are spirits living in physical bodies and possessing souls, which is where our emotions reside. God’s will is for us to be healthy and prosperous in all things, just as our souls prosper. To prosper is to be whole; God wants wholeness for us on every level, including in our emotions. Understanding this and agreeing with it allows us to maintain emotional control.

Prayer:

Lord, You blessed us with feelings; You also gave us the ability to take charge of them. Understanding Your Word in this area allows us to rule over our emotions and not allow them to sweep us away and ruin our lives. Thank You for giving us authority in this realm. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Proverbs 25:28

Nehemiah 8:10

Proverbs 16:32

Proverbs 15:18

James 1:20, NKJV 

3 John 1:2

Many of us have had times when we struggled with issue after issue and felt that there must be some kind of organized demonic activity behind it all. If you thought this, you were right—believers are in a spiritual battle against Satan, who constantly tries to assert his authority over us. The irony is that he has no authority because Jesus has stripped him of all his power and given it to us. We beat the enemy by actively resisting him while deliberately submitting to God.
Because of what Jesus did on the cross, the battle has already been won; all we need to do now is employ our faith to maintain our victory. By submitting ourselves to God and resisting the devil, the devil will flee from us. We do this with actions and words that contradict Satan and agree with God. Whereas faith without works is dead, we show our faith by our works.
Cooperating with the devil empowers him to work in our lives; we rebel by cooperating with God, instead. The enemy has been reduced to simply making suggestions and putting thoughts into our heads that contradict God’s Word. We fight negative thoughts not with more thoughts, but with our words: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”
Satan fell from heaven like lightning, and believers have power over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing can hurt us. We must have faith in our God-given authority, and not be afraid to use it. Unbelief limits the power of His grace in our lives. During His ministry, not even Jesus could do any mighty works in His own country, because of unbelief.
When the enemy attacks, we mustn’t simply put up with it. Knowing who to resist and who to cooperate with gives us the upper hand. We have what we need to crush the enemy under our feet.
Prayer:
God, You’ve given us dominion over the enemy; therefore, there’s no reason to tolerate his attacks. He has been defeated, and we can maintain our victory by resisting him and submitting to You. Thank You for what You did. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
James 4:7
James 2:17, 18, 20
Psalm 107:2
Luke 10:18, 19
Mark 6:1, 5, 6
Romans 16:20, NKJV

If you’ve ever had a falling out with someone, you probably remember the disconnected, alienated feeling you were left with, and the joy you felt when reconciliation took place. It’s the same way with God. The sin that took place in the garden of Eden cut us off from God and made us strangers to Him. Getting born again changes all that.
To reconcile with someone is to reunite with them, to restore peace between the two parties, or to set aside a former disagreement. Accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior makes us new creatures; old things have passed away, and all things become new. Through Christ, we’re reconciled to God and received back into His favor. This justification by faith gives us peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Being in God’s favor also brings the permanent blessing of righteousness without works. We become righteous when we’re born again, which means that the promise “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” now applies to us. Even when we do unrighteous things, God now imputes righteousness, not sin, to us. Curses have been replaced by blessings, and those blessings can’t be reversed.
This knowledge makes it very difficult for the enemy to trap us in guilt and sin-consciousness. The devil tells us that we are what we do, and that we should be ashamed of ourselves. The truth is that we are who God says we are—His beloved, righteous, forgiven children. God is merciful to our unrighteousness, and remembers our sins and iniquities no more.
Our faith in the grace God’s extends allows us to be the righteousness of God, even when we do unrighteous things. All is forgiven. Our heavenly Father is waiting for us with open arms.
Prayer:
Lord, You give everyone the opportunity to be reconciled to You by being born again. You love us enough to forgive us and forget the past, and You welcome us back into Your presence. We’re thankful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
2 Corinthians 5:17
2 Corinthians 5:18, AMPC
Romans 5:1
Romans 4:8
Numbers 23:20
Hebrews 8:12

Most Christians are simply doing the best they can and operating with the purest of intentions. However, they have no understanding of God’s promises in these last days, and therefore struggle because wrong religious teaching causes them needless pain and heartache. God deals with us through covenants; the knowledge of which covenant is in force gives us a tremendous advantage. Being aware that we’ve moved from the old-covenant Law of Moses to the new-covenant law of grace arms us with the ability to win in life.
The law didn’t just include the Ten Commandments, but more than six hundred other requirements. Obedience to all of them resulted in blessings; otherwise, curses resulted. Whoever kept the whole law, yet offended even in one point, was guilty of all. The law entered that the offense might abound.
Thankfully, Jesus, the game-changer and embodiment of God’s grace, came and perfectly fulfilled all the requirements. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Jesus was the fulfillment of all God’s promises to mankind; as many as are the promises of God, they all find their “yes” in Christ.
We’ve been given exceedingly great and precious promises that allow us to partake of His divine nature. God’s covenant with us is now filled with promises instead of threats. Unlike the law with all its conditions, this new covenant is unconditional, because it’s based on what Jesus did and our faith in Him, not on our own efforts.
Unlike before we got saved, we no longer have to fear the future. We can approach life through the lens of God’s love for us. No matter what happens, God promises that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This knowledge gives us victory.
Prayer:
God, You delivered us from the bondage of useless self-effort to the freedom in Your covenant of promise. We no longer need to struggle to perform; we can now simply believe in Your love. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 28:1-3, 15
James 2:10
Romans 5:20
John 1:17
2 Corinthians 1:20, AMPC
2 Peter 1:4
Romans 8:28

Grace and faith are both important in our lives, but it’s imperative not to go overboard in either direction. The religious definitions of grace and faith we’ve learned may have been taught to us wrong; some churches teach exclusively about faith, while others focus solely on grace. However, anything in the extreme will lead us into error. To achieve any level of success in our lives, we need a balance between both.
Overemphasizing grace produces a passive, lazy Christian who thinks God is in control of everything—even the bad things that happen. Overemphasizing faith produces a legalistic Christian who thinks that their actions will make God do something for them. For us to see His manifestations, faith must be the foundation for our works. Faith without works is dead; genuine belief results in our good works.
By His grace, God’s divine power has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness; faith takes possession of them. Grace promises us healing, deliverance, prosperity, peace, joy, and victory over problems; our faith positions us to receive those promises. Inheriting the promise is the outcome of faith, and depends entirely on faith, so that it might be given by an act of unmerited favor. Our belief in this gives us access to His grace.
Faith and grace always go together. Faith is our positive response to what grace has done. We’re saved by grace through faith. Our salvation isn’t because of anything we do; it’s a gift from God.
The finished works of Jesus Christ give our belief power. Believing is certainly important, but faith is ineffective outside the context of grace. We won’t see any results if we leave either one out of the equation. Combining them correctly gives us the ability to move mountains.
Prayer:
Lord, You showed us grace through Your Son, who made available to us everything we need in life. You also taught us how to position ourselves to receive what we need through our faith in what He did. We’re grateful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
James 2:26
2 Peter 1:3
Romans 4:16, AMPC
Romans 5:2
Ephesians 2:8
Matthew 17:20

For most people, condemnation is a way of life. It’s so subtle, they don’t even notice it. The prevailing mindset in the world is overwhelmingly negative, and demands perfect performance to avoid judgment from others. As Christians, when we see someone struggling to perform perfectly but missing the mark, we need to encourage them, not condemn them.
No one is perfect; we all make mistakes. The woman caught in adultery made a big one. When she was brought to Jesus, He had every right to condemn her, but He didn’t. He instead forgave her, told her in love to stop sinning, and gave her the gift of no condemnation.
Showing grace and mercy to people who fall short is what God wants all of us to do. It’s part of godly humility, something the world lacks. It’s easy to see the faults in others, but harder to see them in ourselves. Before worrying about the speck in our friend’s eye, we must first get rid of the log in our own eye.
Just like Jesus, we’re to show nonjudgmental kindness and compassion to the world. Jesus traveled far and wide to preach the gospel, and was moved with compassion when He saw the multitudes. When He came to the edge of the city and saw a dead man being carried out, He had compassion on the man’s mother and raised him from the dead. Having this character trait gives us new insight and lets us see what God wants to show us.
God knows what we’re feeling when we struggle with condemnation; He gave us His Son, who is full of grace and truth, to help us win over it. Accepting Him frees us from harshly judging ourselves and others, because there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Believing in Him elevates us to the judgment-free zone.
Prayer:
God, You’ve instructed us to show compassion and love, not condemnation, to people struggling to meet unrealistic standards. The world condemns and judges, but this isn’t Your nature. Thank You for teaching us this important lesson. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
John 8:3-11
Matthew 7:5
Matthew 9:36
Matthew 14:14
Mark 6:34
Luke 7:12-15
John 1:14
Romans 8:1, NIV