Christian Myth #1 - Get More Committed to Jesus

   Often we are under the impression that we would live a less sinful life if we were more committed to Jesus.  Being more committed to Jesus means we will try harder to live for God instead of for sin.  If we have bought into this myth, we have realized it leads to failure upon failure.  Why?  Because being more committed to Jesus actually puts us in a position to live in our own religious strength instead of His divine strength.  Being more committed to Him causes us to act as though we are separate from Him. That would be like pushing our lawn mower over our yard without any gas in the engine in hopes that it would cut the grass.  No wonder many people give up on the Christian life completely.   

   God does not want us to get more committed to Him.  What may surprise us is that the words "commit" and "committed" are used 99% of the time in the Old and New Testaments in the context of committing sin.  They are never ever used to tell us to get more committed to God.  

   Then what does God want?  For we who believe, He wants us to daily surrender to Jesus in us.  This puts us in a place of dependence on Him and not ourselves.  Rather than living as though we are separated from God, we live from our union with Him. Take a quick look at a few scriptures describing our union with Christ.  1 Corinthians 6:17 "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."  Romans 7:4 "...you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."  Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ..."

   Surrendering to Christ so we can live from our union with Him is saying, "I  am willing to do whatever You want me to do today and I am depending completely on You Who lives in me to do those things through me".  Do you see how different this is from being more committed to Him?

   I have had the privilege of mentoring all three of my sons.  One said to me, "I just can't live the Christian life!"  As we talked through it, what became obvious was that deep down he believed the myth that being committed to Jesus Christ would result in living a life which overcomes sin and he was failing over and over.  You see, he was so focused on his behavior that he was missing the wonderful relationship of our union with Christ.  I encouraged him to focus more on that and in time the behavior would follow.  

   The good news for us today is that we can stop trying to be more committed to Jesus and can surrender to Him, since we are united to Him - He is in us and we are in Him.  Are you willing to begin right now?  Go ahead and tell Him.  Even if we don't feel any different or see an immediate change in our behavior, let's not give up.  Over time, we will be transformed.

  

    

 
Live Free In Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder 



www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Freedom from Bitterness

 
   Hebrews 12:15 "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."  Bitterness is our unawareness or unwillingness to deal with the offense inflicted on us by another person.  When we live in bitterness, we often fantasize about what we really would like to say or do to that person if we had a chance.  We think of how we would make them pay for what they did to us or to someone we love.  You see, it is OK to feel but it is not OK to get stuck in that hurt.  If we get stuck in the hurt, it turns into bitterness.  This bitterness eventually spills over into the relationships of those we love who haven't even hurt us. 

   On the trail where my wife and I run, there is a plant called Kudzu.  It was introduced to the USA from Japan in 1876 as a forage crop and believe it or not, as an ornamental plant.  Southeastern farmers were encouraged to grow it to prevent soil erosion.  What no one knew at the time is that the climate conditions in the southeastern United States are perfect for the super duper growth of this plant and it has no natural predator.  By 1953, the Department of Agriculture declared it a "pest weed".  In other words, it has grown out of control on millions of acres of land and there is no way to stop it! 

   Bitterness is just like that.  It was introduced by Satan to the human heart back in the Garden of Eden and there is no human way to stop it.  It will overrun your entire life!  But God has a way to kill it.  When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him to bitterness (Romans 6:6-7)  and we were raised with Him as new creations who are "forgivers".  This is our identity. 

   God's remedy to bitterness is to live out of our identity.  This means we need to sit down with God and tell Him all the reasons we are bitter towards that person and how we feel about that person, even if we "hate" them.  We need to go on and tell God that we forgive that person though they don't deserve it, just like we did not deserve God's forgiveness in Christ.  Ephesians 4:31-32 says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." 

   I have learned that we need to also confess our sin of bitterness to God so we can experience the full freedom of our forgiveness in Christ.  Without this, we may not experience complete peace. 

   So what are we going to do today?  Are we going to let bitterness grow inside of us like Kudzu?  Or, are we going to live like who we are in Christ, agreeing with Him and forgive?  The choice is up to each of us.  When you choose to forgive, schedule a time on your calendar or you may keep putting it off! 

   If you need someone to walk with you through the forgiveness process, we can help.  Contact GLI at 704-522-9026.  Also, please pray about signing up for the Lay Aside Every Weight Conference scheduled for Sept 7-8 at the Steele Creek Church of Charlotte.  You can get more information and register by contacting our office.  

Live Free in Christ,

  

Mark Maulding, Founder and President

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

The Pain of Rejection

 It is said that there are only two things which are certain in life - death and taxes.  I want to add a third one - rejection!  You don't have to live very long in this life before someone rejects you.  And when they do, wow, does it ever cut so deeply into our soul.  It really hurts!

Why do people reject us?  It is a symptom of the sins of their own flesh.  Real quickly, how should we define sin?  Romans 14:23 (...everything that does not come from faith is sin) tells us sin is any time a person is living life without depending on God.  What is flesh?  It is the patterns of sin we develop when we do not depend on Christ in us.  For example, perfectionism may arise from a desire to do things perfectly to try to control my world.  If you are a neurosurgeon, please be a perfectionist!  That is OK.  If we are parents and we require perfection of our kids, that is not OK!  It communicates rejection.  We are trying to control them.

That is just one example of how the flesh can inflict rejection on a person.  A sin can convey rejection to those around us.

How do we deal with rejection?  First recognize that you have felt rejection.  Second, sit down with God and be honest about the rejection, then choose to forgive the person who rejected you.  Finally, in prayer affirm to God that He unconditionally accepts you because He made you acceptable by giving you your new identity in Christ.

We may also need to lovingly confront the person about their rejection behavior.  Before we do this, let's make sure we have really prayed about it to make sure that is what our Father wants us to do in this situation.  Sometimes, all we need to do is forgive.  Other times, we need to forgive and confront in love.  Read Matthew 18:1-17.

If you are stuck in your feelings of rejection, we would love to walk with you to help you experience God's healing.  At Grace Life International, we have all been there and are available to help you in person, by phone or by Skype.  For more information, please call us at 704-522-9026.  You can also visit us on the web at www.GraceLifeInternational.com

Live Free In Christ, 


Mark Maulding, President and Founder 



www.GraceLifeInternational.com 
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Identity Theft

    Every minute, 19 people have their identity stolen.  Identity theft means someone takes your identity away from you without your knowledge and uses it for their own devious purposes.  Most often, it is a way for that person to benefit financially at your expense.

   A few years ago, I was a victim of identity theft in the Amsterdam airport on my way to teach a retreat for some leaders in Central Asia.  YOU have also experienced identity theft.

   In Genesis 3, all humans had their identity stolen by Satan.  Our identity was far more valuable than billions of dollars.  The identity God had given mankind was stolen from our original parents, Adam and Eve.

   We have all been searching to recover identity ever since.  Where do we look to try to find it?  Parents, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, sex, jobs, performance, religion, appearance, past successes, failures, opinions of others, clothes, money and to many other sources.  The problem is that none of those can adequately define us.  If we let any of those define us, we are living with a false identity.  What we need is an identity that we can not mess up and no one can take away.

   Jesus Christ came to give us back our identity.  In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that his problem is that he has the wrong identity and needs a new one.  That is what Jesus meant when He said to him and to all of us, "You must be born again."  

   Through our faith in Christ, we have been given a new identity!  We are sons and daughters of God who are righteous, holy, alive, givers, forgivers, beloved and so much more.  God does not just pretend to see us this way.  And God does not just see Jesus in us.  He sees us for who we are in Christ.

   1 John 3:1 says, "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us!  Just look at it--we are called children of God!  That is who we really are.  But that is also why the world does not recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He is up to."  (MSG)

   Let go of all of the messages you believed to define your false identity and embrace who your Heavenly Father says you are.  At the end of the day, only His opinion counts.  Why don't you take some time to pray and tell God that you have been searching for your identity all of your life.  Ask Him to show you the source of the false identity you have been living from.  Then make a choice to accept Him as your Source for your identity in Christ even if you don't "feel" the truth of this. 

   If you have never attended our Grace Life Conference where we explain this from Scripture very clearly, I urge you to attend.  If you cannot attend a live Conference, we have it on DVD's and CD's that includes the Conference workbook.  Simply contact our office at 704-522-9026 and we will be happy to assist you. 

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Pray that Jesus Will Love Someone through You Today

Years ago, when our Father began to free me from legalism and sin, I had such an incredible desire to love other people that often I would pray, "God, please love someone through me today".  You see, God does not heal us and free us only for us to have peace.  He frees us so we can love people!  If you believe in grace, yet it has not produced a desire and ability to love people, you may be falling short of the grace of God. 

 

Galatians 5:13 (MSG) says, "It is absolutely clear that God  has called you to a free life.  Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows." 

Recently, I was on the phone with my cell phone provider working on a technical issue with Kimberly.  As we waited for my phone to "reboot", she began to tell me that she lived in Colorado where they were having a number of fires due to the summer drought.  She went on to say that she lived not too far from where the gunman had killed and injured all of those innocent people in the movie theater.  I sensed the Lord wanted me to ask her if she would have gone to heaven if she had been one of those killed in the theater.  As it turned out, she was a Christian who was experiencing deep hurt in her marriage.  She seemed delighted for me to refer her to one of our affiliate offices near her for counseling but I also told her if it did not work out to please call our office at 704-522-9026.  We offer Skype counseling and phone counseling. In the midst of trying to take care of a cell phone problem, God had another agenda.  He wanted to love a lady in Colorado through me who needed to know her Heavenly Father was pursuing her.

I have observed Jesus living through my wife, Ellen, in many similar situations.  She loves people, especially those outside of Christ, so unconditionally that more often than not, she is able to share with them how to become a Christian and most of them do.  Her relationship with them is so authentic that they are very open to her when she broaches the subject of the God who loves them.

Most days, the people He wants us to love are already all around us in our families, jobs, neighborhoods or churches.  I wonder what would happen if we prayed each day for God to love someone through us?  Oh, we would still work hard but who knows what incredible impact that would make in our world.  Wouldn't we all like to have people around us who were asking Jesus to live through them to love us?  Then we look for opportunities to do that?  That would be heaven on earth!  

How about you?  Would you be willing to ask Jesus to live through you to love someone each day?  If so, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

 

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder



www.GraceLifeInternational.com

All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

The Olympics is Like Heaven

If you are like me, you loved the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics this week. What an incredible sight it was to watch all of the athletes from different nations parade into the London Olympic stadium. Each nation showcased their beautiful colors and is present in hopes of personal and worldwide glory.

As I viewed the stadium after all the nations were in place, I turned to my wife and said, “That reminds me of what heaven is going to be like”. Why? The word, “nations” in the Bible is from a Greek word from which we get the English word, ethnic. For example, Jesus commanded us to “make disciples of all nations” literally meaning every ethnic group in the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV).

In Revelation 7:9 we get a little glimpse into heaven when we read, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”.  If we are not careful, we might think that this scene in heaven has all of these different ethnic groups divided into different sections around God’s throne. Most likely that is not true. I’m sure these ethnic groups are mixed all together rather than segregated. There will be all kinds of ethnicity in heaven!

In Christ, we all have the same identity regardless of our ethnicity. We are sons and daughters of God. Our ethnicity no longer defines us. Jesus changed all of that at the cross. “For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” Ephesians 2:14-16 (NLT) Let me put this in modern terms. In Christ, there is neither Jew, Arab, European, African, Latin, Asian, black, white, brown, yellow, red, mulato, etc. We are either in Christ or in Adam.

Let’s all pray that God’s will “that what is true in heaven will be true in our lives”, meaning that, we will see every Christian through the eyes of their identity in Christ instead of their ethnicity. What an incredible blow that would be to Satan’s theology of prejudice! When Jesus freed us FROM sin (Romans 6:6) and FROM the Law (Romans 7:6), He freed us TO love! We need Him to live through us to see every brother and sister in Christ not according to our skin color or ethnicity, but as those who are one with us in Christ! We also need to see those outside of Christ as those we want to invite into God’s family regardless of their ethnicity. Why don’t you ask God to show you if you have an issue with prejudice? If He says, “Yes”, confess your sin to God, accept your forgiveness, ask Jesus to live through you to love without regard to ethnicity and ask God to bring you a friend who is of a different ethnic background.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder




www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Discover God's Special Purpose for You

As I was listening at our church recently to Sean McDowell, son of the great apologist, Josh McDowell, preach "Has Science Disproved the Bible", I was overwhelmed by the incredible knowledge and wisdom our God has.  Sean shared that a well known scientist stated that the flagella (tail) of a certain bacteria is the most complicated machine ever.  We know Who designed it.  Later that day, my mind drifted to Ephesians 2:10 which says, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in."  (ESV)  As I pondered that, the Holy Spirit seemed to give me an even greater awe at how each of us in Christ was created by God.  Just as flagella were designed by God to propel bacteria, God uniquely designed each of us for a unique special purpose.  Let me explain.    He created your physical body for His purpose.  Psalm 139 tells us that God divinely designed your body.  Your response?  By faith, tell God you accept your body and even the things you do not like as a perfect gift from Him.  Secondly, take care of your body since it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Tools to help:  healthy nutrition, exercise, proper sleep and tell God you accept your body as His gift to this world to express Jesus!  You may want to consider a Christian health and wellness coach.

   He gave you specific abilities and talents.  Luke 19:12-27  Your response?  Understand them and develop them trusting Christ to live through them.  Tools:  Read a book such as, "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath.  Also, list the things you really enjoy and are good at.  

   He gifted you with certain spiritual gifts.  Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 14.  Your response?  Understand what they are and use them with love.  Tools:  Take a Spiritual Gifts Assessment such as offered by PLACE Ministries at www.placeministries.org.  What gifts have others affirmed in you?   

   He gave you your unique personality.  Psalm 139  Your response?  Understand it and accept it as God's unique instrument for expressing Himself to those around you.  Stop trying to be someone you are not.  Also, let God free you from any "fleshly" aspects of your personality type.  Tools:  Take the DISC Profile and/or 4 Temperaments Assessment such as offered by PLACE Ministries.  

   You have had experiences which have prepared you to fulfill God's purpose.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Sometimes this includes your failures as well as your successes.  Your response?  Write down the experiences in life you have had and ask God which of those He might want to use.  Tools:  List them.  

   He has given you specific grace/passion.  In Galatians 2:7-8 Paul writes that he had been given specific grace by God to minister to the non-Jews.  You too have been given very specific grace to minister.  This is why you are drawn to certain types of activities/ministries over and over.  Tools:  Passion assessments such as by PLACE Ministries.      When you are trusting Christ to live through you in all of these areas, whether you work for a business or a ministry, you are living in your divine design.  It is your "sweet spot".  There you will be the most fulfilled, the most effective, and the most fruitful.  And God will be the most glorified.  That is what it means when we believe Philippians 1:21 "For me to live is Christ..."

   If you want to learn more about living in your divine design, I highly recommend a wonderful ministry, Crossroads Career Network, by my good friend, Brian Ray.  I have taken his course and it was fabulous.  Find out more at www.crossroadscareer.org.

(Please note:  While I was editing my devotion last week, "6 Primary Stages in Our Spiritual Journey", I inadvertently deleted the following very important sentence,"These are also based on the book, 'The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith' by Janet Hagberg and Robert A Guelich, along with several other articles and books.)   

Live Free in Christ,  

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

 www.GraceLifeInternational.com
 All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding