Weekly Grace

Emotions are one way God blesses us. They can make our lives meaningful and satisfying, but can also cause us problems if we lose emotional control. His grace has empowered us with authority over our feelings so that we don’t fall victim to them. When we feel angry or depressed, we can go on the offensive and maintain our authority in the emotional realm.

We’re not helpless when it comes to our feelings; we have a choice in the matter. Jesus, who successfully managed His own emotions, told His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled…” The phrase “Let not” indicates that we’re in control, not our feelings. When we find ourselves in a situation we don’t like, we must remember that we have the same authority as Christ.
God wants us to be able to rule over our emotions; He wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health, even as our souls prosper. Our souls are where our thoughts and feelings are located. To prosper is to be successful; therefore, the ability to successfully dominate our emotions gives us emotional prosperity.

What we think about affects our emotional outlook. Meditating on the spiritual things in God’s Word, instead of on the things of the world, brings us peace of mind. To be carnally-minded brings death, but to be spiritually-minded brings life and peace. The Words that God speaks to us are spirit and life.

As free moral agents, we can choose any emotion we want. However, God wants us to choose thoughts and feelings that benefit us and enhance our lives, not ones that lead to negativity and destruction. He sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing; He tells us to choose life, so that we and our descendants may live.

God spoke these words to us so that in Him we might have peace. He has already overcome the world. Aligning our emotions with His Word gives us the victory, as well.
Prayer:

God, our emotions can either lead us toward Your will, or away from it. Thank You for giving us Your Word concerning this and reminding us of the authority we have to control and harness them. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:
John 14:1
3 John 1:2
Romans 8:6
John 6:63
Deuteronomy 30:19, NKJV
John 16:33

Have you ever tried to pay attention to something wonderful, but gotten distracted by the noisy environment around you? In the world, there are plenty of things Christians can hear, but not all of them are beneficial. Hearing the wrong thing leads us in the wrong direction; hearing the right thing increases our faith in the truth. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Whatever we spend our time reading and thinking about will be the thing that stays in our minds and gets down into our hearts. If we spend our time meditating on what God says instead of on the junk we see and hear in the world, our lives will be profoundly affected. In the Old Testament, Joshua reminded the people to meditate on the law day and night, so that they could make their way prosperous and have good success. This still holds true today when we continually keep the Gospel of Grace on our minds.

Studying the Word and applying it to our lives changes our hearts and minds, keeps our peace and joy intact, and protects us from the world’s negativity. We have a choice as to what we give our attention to; God’s directions to us are crystal clear in this area. Whatsoever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and virtuous are the things we must think about. Hearing this directive preached, seeing it modeled in other believers, and subsequently doing it, allows the God of peace to be with us and in us.

God wants only the best for us; He has amazing plans for our lives. The thoughts He thinks toward us are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us a future and a hope. Agreeing with Him gives Him consent to start putting those plans in place. There’s absolutely no down side to contemplating this.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Word empowers us to fight the world’s negative influence and be victorious over it. We’re thankful that we can rise above what’s going on around us when we focus on what You say to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Romans 10:17

Joshua 1:8

Philippians 4:8, 9

Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV

As imperfect human beings, we’ve all made mistakes. However, too many Christians have become accustomed to living with regrets while trying to cope with feelings of inadequacy and inferiority on a daily basis. Focusing on our shortcomings causes us to live a sub-par life because we think we have to accept the limitations we impose on ourselves. The good news is that Jesus Christ has changed this scenario by redeeming us from being trapped in our past and calling us to move forward with no guilt or shame.

Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden of Eden resulted in curses that radically changed their perfect quality of life for the worse—and did the same for successive generations. The curses of guilt, shame, self-condemnation, and other negative emotions were born, which the Mosaic Law intensified. When Jesus came, He shed His blood and died to remove the curses and restore the blessings God originally intended for us. By going to the cross, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Only through Jesus do we have forgiveness for our sins and the ability to walk in the confidence that we’re free from our past. No more do we have to tolerate the painful emotions of guilt and shame. God reminds us that whoever believes in Jesus shall not be ashamed; therefore, there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We don’t have to let an issue that’s dangling over our heads cause us anxiety or worry over what could happen, which is the devil’s way of attacking our peace. Accepting what Jesus made available to us means we have authority over the situation. We have power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt us. God’s grace has purchased us back from the enemy’s hand; we can now live joyfully with no regrets.

Prayer:

God, our past sins and shortcomings no longer have the power to dominate or define us. Neither do we have to fear the future. This deliverance from negative emotions is because of the blood Your Son shed; we’re thankful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Galatians 3:13

Romans 10:11

Romans 8:1, NIV

Luke 10:19

The things we focus on have a huge impact on what happens in our daily lives. After getting born again, the most important thing is to renew our minds to the Gospel of Grace. This involves monitoring what we regularly look at, listen to, and think about, which influences how we think and what we do. Focusing on the wrong thing makes us feel guilty and sin-conscious; focusing on the right thing gives us peace and a clear conscience.

The Law of Moses was all about self-effort; failure to keep all the commandments resulted in guilt and sin-consciousness. It was too perfect for imperfect man to keep; its purpose was to point out man’s sin. No man could be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law, because by the law is the knowledge of sin. God never meant for man to keep the law; it was given to show us our need for a Savior.

The law caused people to sin more; the strength of sin was the law. Thankfully, Jesus came and changed everything. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Whereas the law constantly reminds people of their shortcomings, grace reminds people of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.

A relationship with Christ gives us peace of mind. He’s the end of the law for everyone who believes in Him. We can stop focusing on sin and fearing it because it no longer has dominion over us. We’re not under the law, but under grace.

Constantly being aware of God’s favor toward us transforms us. Grace makes us want to live godly, righteous lives in this present world and sin less, not more. This is bound to move us in the right direction on our spiritual journey.

Prayer:

Lord, You knew when You gave the law that no one could keep it, so You sent Your Son to replace it with grace. The key to living right is to focus on Christ and what He did, not on ourselves and what we do. Thank You for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Galatians 3:19

Romans 3:20

1 Corinthians 15:56

John 1:17

Romans 10:4

Romans 6:14

Titus 2:12

The motivations behind what we do are extremely important. They can either help us along in our Christian walk or hold us back and trip us up. The act of confessing is one example. As believers, there will always be times when we need to confess, but we never need to confess in order to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins.

It’s vital to rightly divide God’s Word on this so that we’ll understand why believers confess. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. However, this was written to unbelievers; God calls believers “my little children” and says that if they sin, they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

There was once a need to confess to receive forgiveness of sins before Jesus’ death and resurrection, but thankfully, His finished works changed everything. If we’ve been born again, we’re now already forgiven. We can be kind and forgive one another, even as God for Christ’s sake forgave us. If we quarrel against someone, even as Christ forgave us, we also forgive them.

To confess is to declare or acknowledge something. As Christians, there are plenty of things we can, and should, declare that line up with the Word. We’ve been delivered; let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the enemy’s hand. Communicating our faith becomes effectual by acknowledging every good thing in us in Christ Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with confessing to God—if we confess correctly. Instead of confessing in guilt to ask Him to forgive us, we can ‘fess up, acknowledge the mistakes we made, and thank Him for forgiving us before we were even born. We have redemption through Christ’s blood and forgiveness for our sins, according to the riches of His grace. This knowledge allows us to enjoy our relationship with Him.

Prayer:

God, everyone who has confessed Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior has already received the forgiveness that has been made available to them. This releases us from having to confess our sins, first, to be forgiven. We’re grateful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

1 John 1:9

1 John 2:1

Ephesians 4:32

Colossians 3:13

Psalm 107:2

Philemon 1:6

Ephesians 1:7

Born-again believers live in an environment completely ignorant of the things of God. The world has no concept of being righteous and upstanding before Him. Religion gives us a long list of things to do to be accepted by others, but this is simply relying on our own works instead of on God. The focus is on what we do, not on who we are, but everything changes when we listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

The Spirit of Grace ministering to us reminds us that we’re already righteous. He reveals to us our family ties to God. Our faith in His grace frees us from useless self-efforts to please others. All who believe and accept Jesus have received the right to be children of God.

Our Father loves us so much that He calls us His children, which is what we are. However, those who belong to the world don’t recognize this because they don’t know Him. As His dear children we must remain in fellowship with Christ, our older brother, so that when He returns, we’ll be full of courage and not shrink back from Him in shame. Christ is righteous; therefore, all who do what’s right are God’s children.

Belief in our identity in Jesus makes us righteous without the need to work hard to earn it. All who believe in Him are made right with God. Religion preaches the law, which requires us to do something to earn our righteousness; this mindset is the number one enemy to God’s favor.

To him who works, the reward isn’t reckoned of grace, but of debt. By contrast, to him who doesn’t work but simply believes on the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. When Jesus ended the law as a means of governing how we live, He replaced it with the Hoy Ghost. Letting Him minister to us is vastly better.

Prayer:

Lord, we could never do enough on our own to make ourselves righteous in Your eyes. However, our belief in Jesus and in His finished works not only makes us righteous by faith, but also makes us Your children. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

John 1:12, NLT

1 John 3:1, 2, NLT

1 John 2:28, 29, NLT

Romans 10:4, NLT

Romans 4:4, 5