Want God WITHOUT Religion? There's an App For That!

Religious legalism prevents us from understanding and living in the peace and freedom Jesus gave to us.  Let’s compare religion to what God actually says.

1 Religion says “You have to earn God’s acceptance”.

God says “I accept you because of your faith in my Son, Jesus Christ, who made you righteous”.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. NKJ  God gave you His righteousness the day you placed your faith in Jesus Christ so that now you are righteous.

2 Religion says, “If you obey God He will love you more”.

God says, “I love you the same when you obey Me and when you sin”.

Rom 8:38-39  I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away.  Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT  

3 Religion says, “If you try harder, you will be a better Christian”.

God says, “Stop trying harder and ask My Son, Jesus, to live HIS LIFE in and through you every day in all you do.”

Galatians 2:20  I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. NLT

4 Religion says, “God punishes you with bad circumstances when you sin”.

God says, “I punished Jesus on the cross for ALL of your sins-past, present and future.  So I am not going to punish those in Christ.”

1 John 2:2  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. ESV   Propitiation means that God punished Jesus for all of our sins so we would not have to be punished.  So God will never be angry with you again.

5 Religion says, “What you do defines who you are”.

God says, “I am your Father who defines you based on your birth”.

1 John 3:1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! NLT

Conclusion,  do you want to live in religion and legalism, or do you want to have a real relationship with the true God who loves you?  Are you ready to stop believing in religion and embrace the true God the Bible tells us about!

Until next time, remember, He loves you!      

Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder



GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Anger Problem? There's an App for That!

     When my children were much younger than today, I got so angry that I flung a bowl of popcorn from our counter all over the floor. They were all stunned and so was I! I had never done that before.  Two of them had been trading Yugio cards and had stolen a few from their friends. It really got to me big time! Today we all laugh at it when we remember it.

      But anger is no laughing matter. We all get angry. It is a common emotion. Those who say they don’t ever get angry also have a problem with lying! When we feel angry and stuff it, we get depressed.  When we explode with anger, everyone around us gets depressed! When we deny that we are angry, depression eventually tracks us and others down.

      Anger robs us of inner joy and intimacy with others. Other words for anger are frustration, irritability, bad mood, agitation, rage.

     There are two types of anger. First, there is righteous anger which is appropriate. We see this with Jesus when he cleansed the temple of the people who were ripping people off. They were doing so by selling items and animals the Jewish people bought from them to sacrifice to God. When I read that in Scripture I’m like “You go Jesus!” We sometimes feel this kind of anger when we see injustice such as

a person with a disability being rejected by others.

     At times, we all struggle with sinful anger. Why do we get angry? Here are some of the reasons. Fear - fear of rejection, fear of losing our money, fear that someone does not love us. Control - when we feel out of control, we want to get back in control. When we can’t get back in control of others or the situation, we may feel angry. Unforgiveness – every one of us gets offended. We then feel hurt and often angry. Shame – this is when I feel that “something is wrong with me, I am defective.”  Expectation of others – when we place expectations on others to meet our needs for love, acceptance, worth, etc. and they fail us, we feel angry.

     How do we deal with anger? First and foremost, we need to take our anger to our Heavenly Father and ask Him why we are responding in anger instead of the LIFE of Christ within. Then we need to listen. Once we understand why we are angry, we need to respond God’s way to the anger. Most often, the very first thing God wants us to do is sit down in prayer and forgive the person. (Ephesians 4:32) Other times, we may realize that our anger was not caused by someone else but by our own doing. At that point, we need to admit to ourselves and to God what we did. Then we need to confess our sin to God. Being confident that Jesus died for that sin, we can thank Him or ask Him for our forgiveness. (Colossians 2:13) God may also make clear to us that we need to talk with the person who offended us and try to work through the situation with them. (Matthew 18:15)Usually, when we have anger towards someone, we find that we are also resentful. Going to God with our sin of anger is liberating for us. Mostly, don’t forget to ask your Father about how He wants you to respond to the reason He showed you that you are angry.

     If you really get stuck, give us a call and let one of our staff walk with you through your anger. We have all been there so we understand. Keep in mind that we not only disciple and counsel people in person but through Skype on the internet.

 
Until next time, remember, He loves us!
 
Live free in Christ,
 
Mark Maulding, Founder & President
Grace Life International
 
 


Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

A Rap About Our Identity in Christ!

Our Teens, Millemials, and Generation Xers are dying to learn about their Identity in Christ.  Please watch this great cutting edge music video by Lecrae and pass it on to one of them.  The song is called, "I'm a Saint". http://tinyurl.com/I-mASaint-Lecrae   

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder
GraceLifeInternational.com

All Content Copyrighted ©  but feel free to pass the blog into to others
2012 Mark Maulding

Nightmares? There's An App for That?

     Have you ever awakened from a dream in the middle of the night and felt extremely afraid because you were having a nightmare? Like me, you have probably had that unnerving experience and it is definitely no fun to say the least! The only thing worse is when one of your children screams out in the night and you jump out of bed to race and find out what is wrong. The child usually tells you of a terrible scary dream they are having.

     In either case, most of the time we convince ourselves that the dream was just a bad dream or maybe the pizza we ate. My wife and I used to think the same way until we became more aware of the spiritual battle all Christians are engaged in. (See Ephesians 6:10-18) God changed our paradigm and we began to wonder if many of the nightmares might be spiritual in nature. 

     This led us to begin to pray over each of our children and ourselves each night before we went to bed. As we did, the frequency of the nightmares for all of us decreased dramatically. We have continued that practice for the past 20 years and we have all slept much better. I am not saying we have never had any nightmares in the last 20 years. We have. Just a lot less than before. And when we do have one, we pray the same way as when we go to bed.

      As I have discipled and counseled parents and pastors through the years, I have often taught them the necessity of praying spiritual warfare prayers over themselves and their children each night.

     Here is what I teach them. God has already given us victory over our enemy because of Jesus Christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seating at our Father's right hand. As a result of us being in Christ, we can tell satan to leave us alone. James 4:7 says, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

     Here is the typical prayer my wife and I pray each night over our family. And it is important that you pray this out loud since our enemy cannot read our minds. "In the name and through the blood of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I bind and rebuke you satan from (each family member's name including me) and I command you to go where the Lord Jesus Christ sends you, away from my family and my home. Heavenly Father, please send your angels to protect us since You say that there are ministering spirits created to serve Your children (Hebrews 1:14). Thank You for Your love and care. In Jesus Name, Amen." I usually ask the Holy Spirit to come and dispense peace and comfort.

     I encourage you to begin to pray this right before you go to bed whether you are single, married or have children and watch the God who loves you work! Sweet dreams!

Until next time, remember He loves us!

Live Free in Christ,



Mark Maulding, Founder & President
GraceLifeInternational.com


All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding

Pornography Problem? There's An App for That! (Part 2)

What is God's "App" for overcoming pornography?  It is Jesus Christ and the Cross!  That is why understanding what happened "to" you at the Cross is incredibly important. The gospel is more than Jesus died for you sins. It also means you were also crucified with Him!  (Galatians 2:20 and Romans  6:6)   The "you" whose bent was toward sinning, died and was buried in the grave.  "You" no longer exist.  When Jesus rose from the grave, He recreated "you" as an entirely different person.  Do you understand what this means?  Your new identity in Christ no longer allows  your sins to define you!  Your Abba ("Papa") defines you.  So, the new "you" in Christ, is not a lustful person.  "You" are a righteous child of God regardless of how many times you have lusted.


So, where do you start?


First, stop rationalizing it.  Call it what it is.  It is sin.  And, if you are viewing it with any type of frequency, even once a month, you need to admit to yourself that you are addicted.  Stop denying you have a problem.  Stop deceiving youself by thinking, "I am not addicted.  I can stop any time I want."  That thinking is demonically inspired!


Next, go to your Heavenly Father and confess your sin of lust through pornography.  The wonderful news is that you can run to Him with your sin because He loves you and is not mad.  And, best of all, Jesus already died for those sins.  God is not surprised by your sin of lust, but He wants you to live free from it.  As you confess this to our Papa, you never have to wonder if God has forgiven you because of Jesus' death on the Cross. So, either ask Him to forgive you or thank Him for forgiving you.  (Heb. 8:12)


When tempted to look at porn, tell yourself the gospel truth.  "I am not a lustful person.  I choose to agree with God, regardless of my feelings, that I am a righteous child of God!"  Also, at the Cross, "you" died to the Law, meaning that the 10 Commandments nor any other "law" provides power to overcome any temptation.  So, when tempted, take yourself out from under the Law in your mind by saying, "I am not under the Law about lusting.  Because I am under grace, if I lust and look at pornography, God will still love and accept me."  Isn't this true?  And most of all, you have Jesus in you to live through you to meet the deepest needs of your heart and to conquer each temptation you face.  Daily, and when tempted, ask Jesus to fill you with His love for you and to live His life through you.  So, upon agreeing with God that you are not a lustful person,   you may find that you also need to take authority over Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, and tell the spirits of lust and pornography to leave you and to go where Jesus tells them to go.


Most of all, you need to prepare yourself for your next sexual temptation. Satan is no dummy.  He is going to try to deceive you to reengaging with porn.


You may need to have someone else put a filter which prevents pornographic sites on your computer and phone. Only they will have the password.


Finally ask the Holy Spirit to heal your soul. Pornography warps our perception of people and God's gift of married sex.


How do I know that Jesus is sufficient to overcome the temptation of sexual lust?  It is because about 20 years ago when He gave me understanding about the entire gospel, I was freed from my own sin of habitual lust.  I know He is sufficient for you too!

Need More Help?


If you would like for someone to help you or someone you know with your pornography, our Christian counselors are excellent in helping you overcome this sin.  If you do not live in our area, we may be able to counsel you over the phone or by Skype. Call us at 704-522-9026 or visit our web site for more info on our counseling www.gracelifeinternational.com.

Recommended Reading Winning the Battle Within:  Realistic Steps to Overcoming Sexual Strongholds by Neil T. Anderson


Until next time, remember He loves us!


You may pass this content on to anyone or make copies to use for yourself or others.  However, it may not be published in any form without the written permission of the author.
 All Content Copyright © 2012 Mark Maulding