Why Do We Need to Forgive Those Who Hurt Us the Most?

Many of you may not know that one of my four children has Down syndrome.  Her name is Bekah, and today she is 25. Bekah went to public school in elementary and middle school and was in normal classes and had lots of friends. Later, she attended college.

Many years ago, Bekah wanted to try out for

cheer leading.  My wife and I were amazed at how she learned the routines - jumping in the air, doing splits, and yelling out the cheers. Unfortunately, she did not make the team which was very disappointing for her and us.  She had a really hard time understanding that she could no longer cheer with the other girls.

Soon afterwards, we received a letter from the coach explaining Bekah was not cut from the team because of her disability but because...she kicked, hit, yelled and cussed while in line with the other girls.  We were stunned, no shocked, because Bekah had never exhibited any of those behaviors ever in any situation.  

At a sleepover a few weeks later, which Bekah hosted in our home,  several of the girls who had made the team asked my wife why Bekah had not made the team.  My wife gently told them about the letter.  They all immediately cried out, "Ms. Ellen, that's not true at all.  Bekah didn't do any of those things. In fact, she did great in the tryouts." Ellen called for me and asked me to come hear what the girls were saying. They repeated it all again.

This person had not only lied but had impugned Bekah's character and we were angry!  What had been done to our daughter was dastardly.  The question afterwards was, "What are we going to do about this?"  We knew we could not pull these girls into a dispute with this coach.  So, we had no recourse.  This coach had hurt a person who could not speak up for herself due to her disability and there was nothing we could do about it...except forgive. 

Did this person deserve to be forgiven? Absolutely not.  But we were not going to allow a root of bitterness to grow within us that Hebrews 12:15 warns about.  We were not about to give this person power over our lives.  We were not about to give Satan power over us.  Was it easy?  No! Everything in us cried out for justice but there was none to be had.

So, we trusted Christ in us, the greatest "forgiver" of all time, to live through us so we could forgive. We wanted to live like who we are in Christ, "forgivers", in obedience from the love in our hearts for our Father.  We wanted to "forgive one another just as God had forgiven us in Christ" (Ephesians 4:32) So, we sat before the Lord and poured out to Him our anger, our hurt, and our desire for justice. Then, because God had forgiven us for all our sins we did not deserve to be forgiven for, we forgave this person; meaning, we released the person from the debt we believe they owed us.  In this case, the debt would have been an admission to us and especially to Bekah of the wrong they had done.  

A few weeks later, would you believe that we saw this person at a church we were visiting?  We were both so glad we had been honest with God about the hurts we received from the offense and then chose to forgive. We live free today from bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness.  Praise God!

How about you?  Do you have someone in you life who doesn't deserve to be forgiven?  Don't give them or Satan power over your life?  Don't live in the prison of unforgiveness.  Live like who you are in Christ and forgive. I believe you will agree that Jesus has forgiven us for a lot more sins in our lives than any of us can comprehend. Besides, unforgiveness goes against our new nature.

Don't allow Satan to use your feelings against you and wait until you feel like forgiving.  If so, you will never forgive.  Do it by faith,not feelings. Go before God and tell Him everything that person did. Tell Him everything you feel about that person and event(s). Then tell Him that just as you did not deserve to be forgiven by Him for your sins, this person doesn't deserve your forgiveness. Tell Him that you choose to release them from what they owe you.  Then ask the Lord to heal you.  It may take some time for your emotions to catch up with your choice to forgive but they eventually will. Let us know if you get stuck and need help from one of our wonderful discipleship counselors. Remember, forgiveness is a gift FOR US from Father to live more freely in Christ!                                            

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2016 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Obssessive Christianity Disorder

In his book, The Naked Gospel, my friend, Andrew Farley, writes about a debilitating disorder that is spreading among many Christians.  It's called by the same title as the first chapter of his book, Obsessive Christianity Disorder.  Let me share a few excerpts from that chapter.

MEDS, THERAPY, AND A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY - THESE WERE the solutions I was offered. One counselor suggested that my condition wouldn't change for the rest of my life and that I'd always need medication.  As desperate as I was, I just didn't buy it. There had to be some other answer to my problem.  After trying several Christian therapists, each of whom employed a different approach, no one could alter the patterned behaviors I was stuck in.

After all, obsessive Bible study and street evangelism are not your run-of-the-mill symptoms. (p 19)

Soon all of the exertion with no payoff took its toll. I began spiraling into a deep depression.  A few months later, I found myself lying on the floor of my apartment, sobbing for hours on end: "God, I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, and I still don't feel any closer to you. In fact, I feel worse than ever!  How could this have gone so wrong? I can't see any way out.  Help me!"  (p 22) 

It's been seventeen years since I lay sobbing on the floor of that apartment. Today, I wouldn't trade my relationship with God for anything. In fact, I would wish my relationship with him on everyone! Through my desperation, my surrender to God for real answers, and my willingness to leave behind everything I had presumed before, I was introduced to the "naked" gospel. (p 23)

Maybe you can relate though your story may have different details.  It's a story we hear every week at Grace Life International. Christians living in a state of "have to Christianity" instead of "want to Christianity."  And the solution is that same "naked gospel" with no man-made additives.   We share this to help other Christians experience the internal rest God always wanted us to have from the start.  After all, we are human beings, not human doings!

Andrew Farley has written four other books, is a pastor, a nationally known respected teacher, and has his own radio program on Sirius XM radio.  He will be the keynote speaker at Grace Life International's 20th Anniversary Celebration on October 3rd.   I invite you to be our guest that evening.  You will not only hear him speak but will have great fun as well.

To sign up and for more information, Click Here

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Grace-Onoimics: You Can't "Out-sin" God's Grace!

I was a sophomore in high school who loved competing in basketball for our team.  I had a key to our gym and played almost every day, even during the summer.  However, everyone on the team was also required by the coach to play a second sport; so, I chose to run track.

I was 6'4" and as skinny as a bean pole but for some reason I was fast, that is fast enough to be on the one mile relay team. That meant that all four of us had to run around the track one time and then pass the baton to the next person.  I ran the third perlegon a team of very fast seniors.

One day, we were competing against a rival team and I became nervous when I discovered I was running against the fastest guy in our region.  He was a muscular football player and I wondered how this was going to turn out.  In the race, I received the baton about 30 feet ahead of him.  My plan was to run at 5/6's speed until I reached the final turn, then go as fast as I could. About half way, I heard his steps and he was gaining on me.  Now I had to change my tactics.  I needed to match his speed to keep our distance.  When he ran faster, I ran faster.  When he turned on his final sprint, I turned on my final sprint... and, it worked.  He never did catch me no, matter how fast he ran.  I passed the baton to our last runner and we won the race. It was a great day.

Romans 5:20 gives us the picture of a similar race in our own lives.  It is the race of sin versus God's grace. 

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. (The Message)

The sins of someone who has not received Christ is never greater than the ability of God's grace to save that person.   In the same way, the sins of someone who is in Christ are never greater than God's grace to keep that person 100% acceptable to God.

Some worry that if we tell Christians this amazing truth of the New Covenant, they will see grace as a license to sin.   However, our identity in Christ tells us that God's law has been written on our hearts according to Hebrews 10:16-17.  This means that God's character is the very core of who we are now.  Though we can sin, our deepest desire is to live a life consistent with who we are in Christ and who He is in us.  When people have a growing understanding from the Holy Spirit of who they are in Christ, they don't live for sin but rather they live for Jesus  - relying on Him to live through them.

I remember one man telling me a few years ago that the more he understood grace, the more he was able to live more faithful to his wife as he overcame pornography.  Another man was delighted to understand that he could now live in the freedom of holiness instead of his bondage to cocaine because of God's strong grace.  God's grace is always stronger and faster than sin!

How about you, do you believe you can't "out-sin" God's grace or do you live in fear that you might?  Let's believe the New Covenant this week according to Romans 5:20 and grow spiritually so we can live free and holy in Christ.  

          

For the Freedom of Others,

Mark Maulding 

President and Founder

                               

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Free to Be Yourself

   Our desire for acceptance is so ingrained that we will often try to become what others want us to be in our quest to define our identity. It reminds me of a scene in the movie, "The Bourne Identity". Jason Bourne, having amnesia, is desperate to discover who he really is. He ends up opening a safety deposit box in hopes that his true identity will be revealed. As he unpacks the box, he is surprised by a stack of passports. To his dismay, each one has his photo on it under a different name. He is obviously shaken and puzzled as he realizes he has been a different person in different parts of the world under a different name each time. He leaves no closer to knowing who he is than before. We often allow ourselves to take on the identity of the people we associate with. It might be one with our family, one at work, one with our friends on Facebook and another at church.

   One blessing in understanding the Gospel of grace is that we discover we have an unchanging, unshakeable identity in Christ. We are the beloved children of God. "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it-we're called children of God!" 1 John 3:1a As God's sons and daughters, we are holy, chosen, blameless, forgiven, accepted and so much more.

   Let me put it another way, our new nature is our identity in Christ. Our new nature is the new norm for defining us. Let that sink in. It's not our past, our successes or failures, our sins, our Biblical knowledge, the opinions of others or our performance in any area of life.

   I've been teaching a more complete understanding of the Gospel for 25 years. The more I share it, the more I realize that understanding our identity in Christ frees us to be our true selves. We are each unique in our personality, spiritual gifts, God-given talents, personal passions and even body type. Ephesians 2:10 says it this way. "For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in."

   When we rest in our identity in Christ, we begin to discover and rest in our divine design. We can accept our personality type as the way God "hard-wired" us rather than wishing we were someone else. For example, if you are a high C on the DISC Profile, then God designed you to be very conscientious. Yet, many with this temperament wish they were high I's who are extroverts and tend to be the life of the party.

   It's like a lighting store our Director of Counseling, Tom Short, told us about recently. It displays every shape and color of light bulb you could ever imagine: each one showing the light within uniquely. In the same way, God designed you to be a special shape and color to express Himself through. Isn't that freeing?

   Why don't you tell your Father that you are standing firm in your identity in Christ today and that you accept yourself as the unique person God designed you to be. Christ in you is a gift to the world. Being confident in your identity in Christ will unleash the unique you to influence this world for God's glory, other's transformation and your joy.

Live Free In Christ,


Mark Maulding, President and Founder


www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Free to Live a Life that Pleases God

   If you previously burned out because of religious legalism, you may think that phrases like "pleasing God" are no longer necessary. In fact, you may consider the very idea of pleasing God simply another form of legalism. I understand what you mean. I, too, was a casualty of legalism, burning out emotionally, mentally and physically. It got so bad that when I read my Bible, my stomach hurt because I was focused on all the things I wasn't doing to please God that I thought I should be doing. After I began experiencing the freedom we have in Christ, I struggled with the idea of pleasing God because of my previous motivation. My incomplete understanding of the Gospel had tricked me into trying to please God so He would accept me more.

   Paul fiercely defends our freedom in Christ in Galatians. In fact, 5:1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Our freedom from obligatory law-based obedience is clear. We must never go back there. On the other hand, we may be tempted to use our freedom for selfish motives which can actually be destructive. Galatians 5:13-14 warns against this saying, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."

   It is incredibly easy to confuse pleasing God with earning God's acceptance as I once did. That is why we are so passionate at Grace Life International about helping people gain a greater understanding of the Gospel. The Gospel of grace is clear that God unconditionally accepts all who are in Christ because He has made us righteous. That is settled. When the Holy Spirit turns the light on so we see we are in the room of grace, it frees us to live a life that pleases God from acceptance not for acceptance.

   Here is the New Covenant or Gospel expression regarding this. "So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it." 2 Corinthians 5:9.

   If one of my three sons said "Dad, you are a great father and I really love you", I would enjoy that. But if I later said, "Son, I want you to take out the trash" and he said, "I'm not going to do it because I know you love me", I would wonder if his declaration of love for me was genuine. When we love someone, we want to please them, especially our Heavenly Father.

   As you read this, you have some choices to make regarding living a life which pleases God. You can dismiss it as legalism. You can do it to try to get God to love and accept you more. Or being confident of God's acceptance, you can let Christ live through as you, to live a life which please God, demonstrating your love for your Abba Father.

   We are free through God's grace to live a life which pleases God. How else can we, who have a new nature from God, express the very life of Christ in us?

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Free to Love

   I do not remember my dad telling me he loved me until I was 19 years old. Even then, it was a response to me telling him first. Looking back, I believe he loved me and would have laid down his life for me. As we have both gotten older, he tells me often of his love for me. He was a loving father but it was not expressed clearly for many years.

   Our resurrection with Jesus has made us loving people by replacing our old nature with a new nature. Romans 6:3-4 tells us the old selfish nature has been crucified and buried with Christ being left in the grave. 1 Peter 1:3 describes it this way, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Do you see it? Jesus resurrection = our new birth (nature).

   This new nature is not an improved old nature. It is a nature which is like God because it is from God. 2 Peter 1:4 proves this where it says "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

   God is love. It is His nature. Because our new nature is like God, it is a loving nature. Every person who is in Christ is a loving person. Loving others does not make us a loving person. We became a loving person the moment we placed our faith in Christ. Just to be clear, our new nature does NOT make us God. "As He is in the world, so are we."

   A lady politely argued with me about this at a recent F4T Conference. Though she knew many Scriptures about our identity in Christ, she still believed the lie, "What I do defines who I am" rather than the truth, "Our identity in Christ will determine what we do." Driving home from the conference one night, the Holy Spirit filled her with such an incredible awareness of the truth that she was overwhelmed to the point of sweet tears running down her face.

   We all need to ask the Holy Spirit to renew our minds with this reality. Because our new nature is like God's nature, we are loving people. That is why when God tells us in His Word to love one another and to love our enemies, He is not telling us to do something that is contrary to who we are. He is telling us to live like Him, the One who loves us and who loves His enemies enough to sacrifice His Son for their salvation. To love like Him is to live like who we already are in Christ. In fact, to love this way is our new normal so we need to ask the Holy Spirit in us to love through us.

   Our resurrection with Christ has freed us from sin as our master (Romans 6:6), freed us from the Law (Romans 7:4) so we are free to live with passion. We have the freedom to love because that is the deepest desire of who and what we are! We have been freed to love God, ourselves and others.

   A young married man recently shared with me that God had been speaking to him about this. He told him that as a son of God, he was already a loving husband and father. He is being so transformed that he says he and his wife have the closest relationship ever in their five year marriage! What is so remarkable about this is eight months ago, he was contemplating leaving his wife. That is the freedom to love!

   Whether you feel it or see it demonstrated in your life, would you stop right now and thank God that you are already a loving person in Christ? Then ask Him to remind you of this. Like the man above, you might be surprised at how this transforms not only you but your relationships.

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Is Your Life "Rooted" in God's Love?

You may be surprised to learn that I have a degree in horticulture.  Though I do not use that degree, I do know some things about plants and trees. Take Azaleas for example.  There is nothing more beautiful in the spring than a yard full of these colorful flowering plants. One of the greatest displays of them is often seen on television at the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

One of the fascinating tricks to growing beautiful healthy Azaleas is to make certain the soil they are rooted in is acidic. The acid must be the correct kind or it will destroy the roots which will then wither the plant possibly killing it.

In Ephesians 3:14-20 there is a terrific prayer I often pray for myself, my family, my staff and all those we minister to.  The prayer is basically one where we are asking God to give Christians a deeper revelation of Christ in us.  One of the results of this will be that we will be rooted and grounded in God's love for us.

Ponder the picture God gives us of roots from our soul being in the best soil they could ever be in, the perfect soil of God's love.  To have the roots of our soul drinking deeply from God's love is indescribable.  I not only say that from personal experience but mainly from the conclusion of that prayer.

So where are the roots of your soul today?  Here is a reality check. If those roots are not first and foremost in God's love, then they are somewhere else vainly attempting to get our God-given need for love met in a person, a possession or a position.  When we live like this, over time our soul withers and we may even feel like we are dying.  No spouse, child, parent, date, friend, house, car, clothes, job or anything else can provide our soul with the love we need.  Only God Himself, Who is love, can constantly nourish our soul with the perfect kind of love we need.

All of us at times seek to meet our deepest need for love in the wrong place.  This will eventually lead us into disappointment, emptiness or frustration.  Don't get me wrong, it is great to be loved by someone else, to enjoy our possessions, and to look forward to our job.  The reality is that we can actually enjoy those more when we are rooted in God's love; then we can be OK when those sources dry up.

Why don't you pray that prayer in Ephesians this week for yourself and those you care about?

Until next time, remember He loves us.

Live free in Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

What is the Key to the Christian Life? (Part 2)

   We are continuing to answer this question originally posed last week. In Isaiah 40:31 we are told that living from our union with Christ enables us to "renew" or "gain new strength" which literally means to "exchange". If we live from our union with Christ, we will exchange our strength for His strength.  

          Three beautiful word pictures are given to us to help us visualize this truth. The first says, 'They will mount up with eagle's wings".  An eagle lives in high places. He unfolds his wings and flies on the strength of the wind. Daily, we are to unfold our wings of faith and ask Christ to live through us.

          The second says, "They will run and not get tired. My wife is a runner and she tells me there is something called a "runner's high" runners sometimes experience. The runner feels so strong that she believes she could run forever. As we depend on Christ in us, we will be able to run in this life and not get as tired emotionally and mentally.

          Finally, "They will walk and not become weary." There are many places we must walk every day. We need to get out of bed each day and get dressed, get the kids ready, go to our job, walk in obedience to God's Word, and love people. Only as we depend on Christ to live through us in the power of the Holy Spirit can we walk through life and not become so weary.

          I have asked a question to thousand of people through the years.  The question is "Would you be willing for the next seven days to ask Jesus to fill you with His love and live His life through you"?  I cannot guarantee that we will feel any differently, but if we will do this by faith,  I believe we will see God work in and through us in new ways.   Will you take the challenge today?   If so, why don't you tell the Lord and ask Him to remind you for the next seven days?

          Until next time, remember He loves us!

Lies Seem True the Longer We Live in Darkness

Years ago I led a mission trip to Bermuda. Yea, I know.  You are thinking a mission trip to a beautiful island? Well, people there need a relationship with Jesus, too.     One night I was walking back to the home where I was staying during the trip. There were no lights as I walked and every sound produced fearful thoughts that I was about to be jumped. Soon, I saw a dark figure headed straight for me. My thoughts raced just as fast as my heart. "Here it comes" I thought. I am definitely going to get jumped. As this island native approached, I prepared for fight or flight.   Then...he said, "Hello" and kept walking.  I had believed lies because in the darkness of the night my thoughts seemed like reality. While believing those lies, my feelings were following right along and made what I believed seem even more true.    This story illustrates our spiritual lives. The longer we live  in darkness in any area of our lives, the more the lies in our head seem true. Let me give you some examples of common lies Christians believe. "I have to obey God for Him to bless me and love me."   Not true. We obey God because we are responding to our confidence that He already loves us and has already blessed us in Christ with everything we need to live our lives.  "What I do defines who I am."  Not true. My spiritual birth defines who I am. My faith in Christ gave me a new spiritual birth. Knowing who I am in Christ will directly affect my behavior and obedience to God."  "I am sinning and disobeying God because I am not committed enough to Him."   Not true. While we certainly need to be 'submitted' to God, being more committed to God often means deciding that we will try harder to obey Him. Instead, we need to ask Christ to live His life through us so we can obey God and His Word. Jesus said in John 8:32, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free".  If His truth sets us free then what keeps us imprisoned?  Obviously lies!   Why don't we ask God to show us the lies we are believing about Him, ourselves and others so He can replace those with His truth.    Until next time remember He loves us! 

Be Free in Christ,