Mark Maulding's Blog: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Grace for Struggling Marriages

I understand what it is like to struggle in marriage. Mine did for the first 6 years primarily because religion prevented me from experiencing God's love.

During that sixth year, God revealed to me His unconditional acceptance of me as promised in the Gospel. Our marriage began to improve dramatically.

Most marriages struggle because people enter marriage not being full of God's love for them. Then they believe the person they marry is going to meet their God shaped need for love. It doesn't take long to become disappointed and disillusioned. Some never even get past the honeymoon. For others it's a months later.

And as my pastor, Derwin Gray says, after a while, "the wife starts wearing granny nightgowns to bed and the husband farts all of the time". If there was any flicker of romance before, that puts it out!

God designed us to drink deeply from His love daily. This is the only way marriage really works. Otherwise, we can suck the life out of our spouse leading to conflict and frustration.

No wonder Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be filled with the Spirit before the marriage roles are discussed. Being filled with the Spirit also fills us with God's love for us.

I encourage you to join me in praying the prayer found in Ephesians 3:14-21 often whether married or not. It is a prayer for you to experience Christ in you in a deeper way.

We counsel more struggling marriages than any other issue. Call us for a free consultation.

Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com

All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding (but feel free to share this with anyone!)

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Grace for Failures

Years ago, I failed at starting a church but God used it to bring me to spiritual brokenness. In 1994, I believed He wanted me to start a new ministry known as Grace Life International. I put feet to my faith and moved the family from Georgia to NC.

Though I knew I was not a failure in Christ, there was a defining moment which would set the course for the ministry. I was talking to Father and said, “You know I failed when I tried to start a church. If you don’t lead this ministry through me, we are going to be in trouble.”

I come back to this place over and over as God keeps growing us into a powerhouse He works through, to heal the hurting and help the spiritually hungry with His Gospel of grace! It’s not that I haven’t made mistakes through the years for sure. But I don’t believe the ministry would be where it is unless Jesus had kept me and our staff in a place of total dependence. I’m still amazed seeing the thousands He has transformed.

Each of us was made by God to live every moment dependent on Jesus Christ to live in us and through us. Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Failure is an opportunity to depend on Christ to live through us each moment. Contact us if you need help.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, Founder & President

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Grace for the Broken

Someone recently gave me a 10 year old car as an answer to prayer! Yet soon, it became apparent the car had transmission problems. The people who gave it were not aware the car was internally broken, since it looked fine on the outside.

Many of us are broken, too. We may put on a happy face and look good on the outside, but internally (emotionally) we are broken. Some of the signs of internal brokenness are consistent depression, anxiety, anger, insecurity, pride, saying all of the right things, difficult relationships and feelings of rejection. (This is not the same as spiritual brokenness.)

Our brokenness is the result of the sins of others. Such as not telling us they love us, or saying we will never amount to anything, or sexually abusing us. I experienced some of that growing up. Our brokenness is also the result of our own sins which hurt us and others. The good news is that we are not defined by our internal brokenness but by our identity in Christ!

Understanding the complete Gospel has healed me of a lot of this kind of brokenness. Isaiah 61:1 says the Gospel includes healing broken hearts. How? Jesus lives in us to love us. We are in Him giving us confidence that we are forgiven, loved, accepted, righteous and holy.

Are you ready to stop living as a victim and start living as a victor in Christ? Contact us if you need help.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Grace for the Prideful

My friend, Lee LeFebre, says that pride is the mother of all obstacles to grace. He originally shared this with me when I asked him to counsel me a few years ago. 1 Peter 5:5 says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble”. NKJV

Pride is there when we believe we can handle an area of our life. Because our Father loves us, He is going to resist us, meaning He is not going to let this continue. Sometimes He allows us to fail so we will humble ourselves and admit we need help.

Husbands, do you need to admit that you need counseling because you cannot fix your marriage? Wives, do you need to admit that you need counseling because you are trying to fix your husband?

Pastors, are you struggling but keeping it hidden? You can wait until your life blows up or you can submit yourself to counseling now.

It takes humility for a Christian leader to admit he needs help. Though I lead a large ministry and am a counselor myself, I had to humble myself and admit I needed counseling. I’m so glad I did. The counseling, rooted in the gospel of grace, helped me see my own pride so that I could experience God’s liberating grace.

Are you ready to humble yourself and get help? Contact us here at GLI for more info. We provide local, long distance, and one week intensive counseling.

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