Mark Maulding's Blog

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Do You Believe in a Religious Jesus or the Real Jesus?

At age 19, I was ambushed by religion and unwittingly began to believe in a religious Jesus. The results over the next several years were devastating as I became a casualty of war. It is war in the sense that Satan and his demonic armies have a mission against all of us in Christ. Since he can’t own us, he schemes to influence us with the mission to kill, steal and destroy us and those we influence. (John 10:10) In my case, he executed this mission by filling my mind with lies about who Jesus genuinely is, making Him out to be religious. If he can’t get us to follow the world system, he simply changes tactics and gets us to become religious. He is happy with either direction we go as long as we don’t know the real Jesus.

How do we distinguish between religious Jesus and the real Jesus? By what the complete Gospel tells us about the real Jesus. Let’s compare the two.

The Real Jesus

Desires intimacy with me in my best times and in my worst times. Romans 8:15

Said “It is finished” and wants me to rest in that. John 19:30, Hebrews 4:10

Wants me to pray throughout my day in addition to any designated time. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Did everything to make me acceptable to God. Romans 5:1, 17, 19

Died so that God will never be angry with me again. 1 John 2:2

Replaced my old nature with a new nature giving one identity – my identity in Christ. Romans 6:1-11

Disciplines me to get me back on track of trusting and surrendering to Him because He loves me. Hebrews 12:4-11

Accepts me just as much when I sin as when I obey. Romans 8:1

Tells me to obey God as an expression of who I am in Christ. Ephesians 4:17-32

Uses difficulty to get His character which is already in me to come forth more. Romans 5:3-5, Colossians 2:10

Wants to live His life through me so I can live for Him. Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:15

Wants me to come to Him when I sin because He died for my past, present and future sins. Hebrews 4:16, Colossians 2:13-14

Does not condemn me but reminds me that He loves me when I sin. Romans 8:1, 35-39

Tells me that all of life is worship when He is living through me. Acts 17:28

Loves me as much as His Father loves Him. John 17:26

Wants me to live a life that pleases God as an expression of the Gospel I believe, but not to be more accepted by God. Ephesians 4:1, Philippians 1:27, Colossians 1:10

Wants me to rest in the truth that our Father made me as righteous as Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:10

Wants me to understand that holy living looks like love. Romans 13:8-10

Wants me to focus on Him because He is in me so I can overcome my sin. Hebrews 12:1-2

Wants me to know that the law has been written on my heart, i.e. my identity in Christ, so that I live from the inside out, not based on the external law or rules. Hebrews 10:16

Wants me to know He does not hold my sins against me nor withhold Himself from me when I sin. Hebrews 10:17

Depends on Christ in me and what He has done to me so I can live by faith out of a reverent fear. Philippians 2:12-13

Wants me to live by faith, depending on Him in me. Colossians 2:6

Wants me to live in fellowship with believers who are not of my ethnicity. Ephesians 2:11-22

Religious Jesus

Desires intimacy with me only when I am obeying Him.

Tells me to tell him everything both good and bad that I am thinking.

Makes me think prayer is all about saying the right thing and having a daily designated “quiet time”.

Said “It is finished” but wants me to believe I can never do enough.

Makes me believe I have to please God in order to be acceptable to Him.

Died for me but makes me believe God still gets angry with me.

Added a new nature right beside my old nature so that I have an identity in Adam and an identity in Christ.

Punishes me to make me pay for what I did because He is angry with me.

Accepts me more when I obey than when I sin.

Tells me to obey God to become a better Christian.

Uses difficulty to try to build character in me because I am incomplete without this.

Tells me to be careful what I tell Him.

Tells me to live for God to the best of my ability.

Wants me to show Him how sorry I am before I come to Him when I sin.

Condemns me, telling me what a terrible Christian I am.

Tells me that worship only happens for me when I am in a church worship service or in my prayer time.

Loves me but not even close to what His Father loves Him.

Tells me to live a life pleasing to God so He will love and accept me more.

Tells me to believe that God sees me as righteous but I really won’t be until I get to heaven.

Tells me to believe that holy living looks like a restrictive, heavy burden that causes me to be self-righteous and judgmental.

Tells me to focus on overcoming my sin.

Tells me to obey the law and rules.

Tells me to obey God out of a fear of punishment.

Tells me to depend on God when I can’t do it myself.

Wants me to believe that segregated churches are best because “they” are different than us.

There is much more I could write but the main point is this: As you compare these, which Jesus are you in relationship with? Religious Jesus or the Real Jesus?

The best way to get rid of Religious Jesus and enjoy the Real Jesus is to understand the New Covenant, that is the complete Gospel, and ask God to renew your mind with it.

Believe it! It’s the Gospel!

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Forgiveness and Reconciliation Aren't The Same

I remember the first time I bowed my head and prayed for God to show me the people He wanted me to forgive. The Holy Spirit led me very specifically to write down with pen and pad several names. I forgave each person but soon began to ask myself. "Does this mean I have to reconcile with some of these people?" I've found through the years, that my question is a very serious one asked by many. Without a Biblical answer, it can stop some in their tracks preventing them from forgiving.

It's helpful to remember that forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. Forgiveness is something God always wants us to do according to Ephesians 4:32. "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." NASB Reconciliation, is another matter.

Reconciliation is always God's heart for two people but is not always possible because it takes both to make it work. This is true even of God and people. He has done everything necessary for us to be reconciled to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20 "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." NASB However, someone's reconciliation with God will never happen unless a person is willing to admit their need for Jesus and place their faith in Him.

There are essential elements, if reconciliation is to take place between two people.

Both parties must see a need to reconcile.
Both parties must be willing to reconcile.
Both parties must take responsibility for their part of the problem.
Both parties must admit to what they didto the other person.
Both parties must be willing to work on their part of the relationship.
One or both parties must give time for trust to be rebuilt.

Because our identity is in Christ, our new heart's deepest desire is to reconcile with another person. Being willing to do so is living from that new heart. It might help to review the essential elements to see if we are ready on our side to pursue reconciliation, if it is possible.

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Romans 12:18 NASB

Believe it. It's the Gospel!

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding

Friday, June 6, 2014

God Will Not Give You More than You Can Handle

I can't remember how many times I have heard this through the years but it is significant. It's supposed to be a comforting statement for people when they are experiencing a time of great difficulty. The idea is that God knows how much strength you have so He will not allow difficulty to become so heavy that you fall under it.

I suppose this is a misunderstanding of 1 Cor. 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (NAS) The ability mentioned here is not our ability but God's ability, because without Jesus we can do nothing.

God will give you more than you can handle because, He wants to handle it through you with His strength instead of yours. As a matter of fact, He will give you more than you can handle because He is jealous for you to get to know His Son, Jesus Christ in you. That means He wants you to talk with Christ in you as you rely on Him more, instead of talking to yourself so much as you rely on yourself.

The Apostle Paul knew how it felt to have more than you can personally handle.

He thought he was going to die but he tells us God had a purpose in it. "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:9 ESV)

Learning to rely on Christ in you through overwhelming difficulties is necessary if you are going to spiritually mature, for it not only blesses you, but others as well. What a cool plan God has in place! You get to know and experience Jesus in you more and then others get to know Him more as He lives through you. "For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you." (2 Cor. 4:11-12 ESV)

Are you going through great difficulty? Tell God you give up on your own strength and ability! Then become enamored with Jesus by focusing on and relying on Him!

Believe it. This is the Gospel!

Saturday, May 31, 2014

How to Know if Christ is Living through You

Years ago, I was privileged to counsel a 15 year old teen. Several sessions into our counseling, I challenged him to begin living by faith by depending on Jesus Christ to live through him. I asked if he was willing. He ruefully said, “What is that going to look like?” I smiled telling him I did not know except that it would probably look different than what he was experiencing.

A week later, he sauntered into my office and we began to discuss how his week had been. I asked him if he had been asking Christ to live through him and if so, if he had noticed any difference. He put his hand on his chin to think, then he shared the main difference was that he felt more peace. I’ve heard that a lot through the years. A lot of people would eagerly pony up thousands of dollars to experience more peace.

One of the Gospel truths we joyfully convey at Grace Life International is that not relying on Christ to live through us is the number one reason we struggle. Why? Because Jesus said, “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing.” TLB When He is living through us there is fruit, which includes, but is not limited to, the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

Does that mean we will always experience love, joy, peace, etc., in our emotions? I wish it were so, but that’s not realistic. We don’t always live this way and even when we do, God intends for us to live by faith and not by feelings.

So, how do we know Christ is living through us if we can’t feel the flow of His life pulsing through us? We ask Him to live through us and then live our daily lives believing He is doing so, until He informs us otherwise. That’s called living by faith.

One person became upset when they began living by faith in asking Jesus to live through them when they experienced all hell breaking loose around them. Instead of realizing our common enemy in his attempts to bring resistance to our living by faith, they wrongly concluded that asking Christ to live through them didn’t work and they ceased… for a while. Later they resumed and were encouraged.

Are you depending on Jesus Christ to live through you today? If not, start right now and live by faith. Life may get harder or easier. You may experience more or less peace. Regardless, persevere and keep living by faith for “…without faith it is impossible to please God...” Hebrews 11:6 NIV

Believe it. This is the Gospel.

Godly Affirmations: Value Yourself

A few years ago, a family decided to go to a yard sale just for fun. They weren’t looking for anything in particular but were drawn to a certain bowl. They pulled $3 out of their wallet and took the bowl home happy to have gotten such a good deal. They displayed it in their living room for several years not giving it much thought, probably storing items in it such as candy. For some reason, they decided to have someone assess it. As it turned out, the bowl was a 1000 year old treasure from the Song Dynasty in China. Sotheby’s estimated it would sale for $200,000 - $300,000 at auction. The actual selling price was $2.2 million!

Sometimes you don’t know the value of something until an expert sizes it up and realizes its true worth.
In the same way, we don’t realize our true value when we are using the wrong measure of our worth. We compare our abilities, performance, successes, failures, possessions, money, and people’s opinions, to name a few, to determine our worth. However, each of those is ever changing. There will always be someone better than you and someone worse than you.

In order to discover our true worth, we need to put ourselves up for auction and find out how much someone is willing to give for us. Sadly, many men and women auction themselves off to people for the very low price of sex or companionship. Jesus showed how much we were truly worth paying the price of His own life so He could redeem us. To redeem means to buy back. Romans 8:32 says, “Since He did not spare even His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also surely give us everything else?” LB

Though none of us is worthy of salvation, God says that you have such great worth that He gave the most valuable possession He had to purchase you, His Son, Jesus Christ. I encourage you this week to pray to God often and affirm this by saying,: ”God, because you say I have worth , I say I have worth.”

Believe it. It’s the Gospel.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Godly Affirmations:Forgive Yourself

Years ago, a young couple, who were in a lot of trouble, came in for counseling. From a sheer human perspective, it seemed very unlikely that they could hold their marriage together. She had committed serious adultery producing a chasm of pain between them that neither of them could traverse. The one glimmer of hope was that their pastor had led her to faith in Christ before he referred them to me and the husband was already a believer.

After listening to their heartbreaking story, I asked them the questions we often ask couples with marital problems, "Do you want your marriage to work?" and "Are you willing to let God work in your lives to do whatever it takes to heal your marriage?" They both answered "Yes".

There was much to help them with over the next few months. One was the need to forgive Biblically based on the Gospel. We spent a lot of time understanding that the good news of the Gospel meant that Jesus had died for every sin they had committed, including her adultery and his lack of loving leadership. For example, Colossians 2:13 says, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." Please notice that we have been forgiven (past tense) for all of our sins. The challenge is twofold. First, do we believe God has forgiven each sin, especially that one we are so ashamed of, such as adultery? Second, have we forgiven ourselves for that sin?

Some balk at the idea of forgiving ourselves saying it isn't Biblical. However, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves includes forgiving ourselves just as we would our neighbor. And more importantly, forgiving ourselves is rooted in God's forgiveness of us. Since he has forgiven us, we can forgive ourselves. In fact, it is prideful not to forgive ourselves since God has already forgiven us! Colossians 2:14 says, He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross.

When I challenged the husband to make a list of everyone and to Biblically forgive, I have to admit that I was surprised to hear from him that the person he struggled to forgive the most was not his wife, but himself. It took him several weeks before he was ready to forgive himself. Wow! But once he did, even his face looked different because the burden of unforgiveness towards himself had lifted.

Why don't you affirm this week that Jesus died for every one of your sins by sitting down with God and forgiving yourself. Tell God what you have done and how you feel about yourself, then forgive yourself. You'll be glad you did!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Gospel Affirmations: Loving Yourself Correctly

There is an optical illusion which you may have seen. Depending on how you look at it, you see an old haggard woman or a young attractive woman. I have included the picture above. Take a look at it for a moment. Which one do you see?

The same is true of how you see yourself. You may see yourself as a messed up Christian or as a “made wonderful” Christian. Just like the picture of the woman, it all depends on your perspective. You either see yourself the way Satan wants you to see yourself or you see yourself the way God sees you.

Satan says, “You are who you are because of what you do, what you have, and how you look.” God says, “You are who you are because of what Jesus Christ has done, what Jesus Christ has given you and how you look to Jesus Christ.”

He has crucified the old you, buried the old you, and raised up a new you. He has given Himself to you so you can be united together forever. To Him you, look like His beautiful, perfect, bride clothed in righteousness. He loves you unconditionally and He wants you to love yourself unconditionally.

To love yourself in a God-centered way is to love yourself because He loves you. This week, I encourage you to pray something like this every day, even if you don’t feel it is true. “God, because You love me, I love me.” I think you will see yourself differently as you pray this.

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