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.

1. Both parties must see a need to reconcile.
2. Both parties must be willing to reconcile.
3. Both parties must take responsibility for their part of the problem.
4. Both parties must admit to what they didto the other person.
5. Both parties must be willing to work on their part of the relationship.
6. 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

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.

Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding

Grace for the Legalist

    When I was a legalistic Christian, I understood grace to be the power God gave me to obey the 10 Commandments. Rather than grace being relational, it was the power to keep the rules. This stinking thinking meant that the more rules I kept, the more pleasing I would be to God. The more pleasing I was to God, the more I believed He would bless me for my obedient performance.     

  

   I was so much of a legalist, I believed I needed to obey the dietary laws of the Old Testament in order to please God. I recall one time when Ellen and I were first married, we were on vacation at her grandfather's beach house. We went out to eat at the local seafood restaurant only to realize that every item on the menu was forbidden by the Old Testament dietary laws. We left frustrated, angry and hungry!

   When I had a revelation of Christ in me and my identity in Christ according to Galatians 2:20, I experienced incredible healing and freedom. However, I also believed that I now had the power to keep the 10 Commandments and couldn't understand why I kept failing at it. This is the exact same thing  the Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 7:14-25. Here he shares his own testimony of his habitual faliure to keep the law in his attempts to stop sinning.

   God continued to reveal more of what the entire Gospel really was and I soon began to see in the Scriptures that Christians have zero obligation to keep the 10 Commandments. Not only can it not save a person, it cannot prevent a Christian from sinning, nor can it help them grow spiritually.

   Romans 7:4 says that when Jesus died on the cross, we were united to Him so that we died to the Law with Him. If you die to something, it means that you no longer have any relationship to it. For example, if I died today, I would no longer be obligated to keep the laws of the United States.

   2 Timothy 1:9 says, "Realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person." The only righteous people are those in Christ. That means that the 10 Commandments are not made for us. Instead of the Law, we are now under grace.

   As I understood this, my freedom grew. My intimacy with God grew. My love for people grew. My freedom over sin's power grew. And I even lived a life more pleasing to God than when I had lived under the Law. Grace transformed this legalist into a gracist!

   To all the legalists out there, God's love and grace is what you need and really want deep down. You just may not know it yet. Your Father loves you and His grace has placed Christ in you and you in Christ. Let go of legalism and embrace grace. It may feel strange at first but it's the only way to live a victorious Christian life!

Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Passionate Dating: Are You Ready?

   Are you ready to date? Is your teen or single ready to date? Here are some practical thoughts on dating from the perspective of grace for you to consider before you answer.

   Dating is really not discussed in the Bible. It is a modern invention of the western world.   In the time of the Bible, parents chose who you were going to marry. That may sound totally crazy to us today. However, we parents know our kids better than anyone else and have a good idea of the type of person who would be a good fit for them.

   I'm not suggesting that we go back to parents arranging who their kids marry. But I am saying that people who are dating would be very wise to ask their parents what they think about the person they are dating. Most parents are good at discerning the character of a person fairly quickly. Are you willing to do that?

   How is your love relationship with Jesus?   In other words, is your heart already filled with God's personal love for you? If so, you are prepared to date if God leads you to do so. Jesus' love for you will be a deterrent against you trying to suck the life out of the other person to meet your God-given need for love. This can be a major stumbling block in dating and in marriage.

    Depending on Jesus to live his life through you is the only way to mature as a person and a Christian. Nothing can better prepare you for dating than this. Jesus says in John 15:5, "Apart from me you can do nothing" which includes dating.

   Learning that your identity is in Christ is important too. Otherwise you will attempt to derive your identity from the person you are dating. That's one of those things that can sabotage your relationship quicker than playing a game of Call to Duty.

   Have you decided on your non-negotiables in dating? I covered this very extensively in my blog/devotion two weeks ago. I hope you have at least decided that you are only going to date someone who loves Jesus as much as you do.

   When you do decide to get engaged, believing God has brought that special person into your life, do yourself a favor and get some quality Christ-centered counseling. We offer great pre-marital counseling in our office and through Skype but we also know of other ministries around the country who can help as well.

Live Free In Christ, 

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

Passionate Dating: Safe Sex

   When our children were growing up, Ellen and I both believed that it was our responsibility to talk to each one about sex.   Sadly, in today's world, most children are familiar with sex long before they become teens.  They have heard all about it from their friends and many have seen a perversion of it because of internet and TV pornography.

   Let me share an example of what I mean.  I took each of my three sons on a father/son weekend to talk about sex when they were in the 6^th grade - the first year of Middle School. (I also took them in 9^thand 12^th grade.)  Ellen talked to our daughter.

   On one of those 6^th grade trips, my son said, "Dad, I already know all about sex.  You don't need to tell me anything."  My response?  "You probably do but you need to hear my perspective on it and especially God's perspective on it."

   You see, sex was designed by God to be great ... in marriage.  He designed it for procreation and for pleasure.  Sex was God's idea, not the Devil's!  It's not dirty in marriage.  It's a gift from God.

   The statistics are very compelling that parents still have the greatest influence in the decisions that teens and young adults make about sex before marriage.  That is not a guarantee that they will live like who they are in Christ in this area but it is still our God-given responsibility to talk with them and guide them in this area.

   The best thing we can do for our kids in teaching them about sex is to challenge them to make some decisions before they ever start dating.  If not, they will most likely make the wrong decision later when they are on a date.  Here are some of those decisions.

  Safe sex for the Christian is no sex prior to marriage. See 1 Corinthians 7:1-5  Today, you have to be very specific about what you mean by sex.  A decision that will help a single person is to agree that any area of the body below the neck is off limits while dating.  An exception, of course, might be holding hands.  And in reality, most people regardless of their age, cannot sit around and kiss very long without being tempted to do more.  Why?  Because God designed passionate kissing to be one of the first steps towards the beautiful act of sexual intimacy in marriage.  If a single is going to kiss at all while dating , they need to decide how much kissing they are going to involve themselves in.  If you have kids, I encourage you to share this with them whether they are 13 or 30. 

  Don't advertise.  Make sure your girls know that they can dress in style with being immodest. For example, a girl who shows cleavage is advertising.  A girl who wears shorts, skirts or dresses so that her butt cheek is showing or almost showing is advertising.  And some guy will be tempted to take the merchandise.  She needs to save all of that for her husband in private after she is married. 

   Another thing kids need to know is that the Bible tells them to treat the opposite sex as if they were their brother or sister.  Read these words to the single pastor, Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:2. "Reverently honor an older woman as you would your mother, and the younger women as sisters."  That is another great decision for those who are dating to make.  In fact, if they treat the opposite sex as a brother or sister, then a friendship may occur which one day might lead them to the one God has for them to marry.  Passionate Dating is definitely about safe sex when you live like who you are in Christ!    

    

Live Free in Christ,    

Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Free to Obey By Grace

    I remember in my years as a legalistic Christian how important obedience to God was to me.  In my mind, it was THE issue upon which all Christianity stood.   My entire relationship with God was centered on obedience.  When I read the Bible, I was only looking for new ways to obey God where I wasn't obeying him.  This belief that obedience was THE issue in Christianity led me into such burnout that when I read the Bible, it gave me a stomach ache.  I don't think reading the Bible is supposed to do that! 

   I am not diminishing obedience to God in any way.  1 Samuel 15:22b says "To obey is better than sacrifice".  So, obedience is extremely important but it is not THE issue in Christianity.  THE issue in Christianity is Jesus Christ and to take it further, it is Jesus Christ in us, as Paul shares in Colossians1:27. 

   The Apostle Paul said it this way in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ."  Knowing Jesus Christ in us through intimacy with Him is THE main thing.  Again Paul said in Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

  Knowing Christ and making Him known is the essence of life.  Obedience to God is the fruit of knowing Christ and making Him known. 

  Anytime we are told in Scripture to obey God, we can be sure of a few things.  First, obedience to God is an expression of our love for Him.  Second, obedience to God is not a checklist but an expression of our identity in Christ.  Third, obedience to God is completely dependent on our dependence on Christ in us.  Forth, obedience to God glorifies our Father when done by grace!

..Here is an example.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 29:18-20 to go into all the world and make disciples.  This is known as known as The Great Commission.  So it's not optional but it's also not to be done from legalism.   I remember that for many years, I shared the Gospel with those who did not know Christ because I was motivated by guilt.   As I came to understand the completeness of the Gospel, that all changed.  Now as I abide in Christ, I watch for opportunities the Holy Spirit opens for me to share.  It's so much more exciting to live this way. 

  This happened the very day I wrote this.  Ellen  and I were away speaking at Montreat College and were relaxing in town for a couple of hours.  When we visited a running store, God showed up big time!  I asked the owner how business was and he shared with us that it had been good until recently when his father died.  Ellen asked him if he had any kind of faith background.  As a result, we thought we might get to share the Gospel with him and we were ready.  It turned out that he was already a believer and God had sent us to pray for him and comfort him.  What a great way to live life!

   The complete Gospel frees us to obey God in such a way that we experience the reality of what Jesus says in Matthew 11:29-30, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

   Let's obey our God as we live out of our freedom in Christ.  We may not always feel like obeying but we can.  It's not a heavy burden but a light one because we are yoked with Christ.  We are in Him and He is in us.  Hallelujah for obedience by grace!

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

 All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Dealing with Feeling Shame

   Shame is sometimes confused with the feeling of guilt. Guilt is the realization we have done something wrong. Shame is a feeling of deep angst in the recesses of our soul. Because of our mistake, our sin or someone else's sin, we wish we could evaporate away from being so embarrassed. It is fueled by the belief that there must be something really wrong with us to have done something like ________.

   When I was in junior high school, we had a pep rally for the basketball team of which I was a part. I was placed under a blanket with my legs crossed during the entire pep rally until just before the end. At that moment, I was supposed to jump up and throw the blanket off and the crowd in the gym was supposed to go wild. What actually happened was that my crossed legs became numb so that when I jumped up and threw the blanket off, I fell down in front of hundreds of a packed gym and could not stand for about a minute. The place erupted with convulsive laughter. Talk about feeling shame!

   On a more serious note, before I knew Christ as my Life, I had some real bondage to lust and pornography. It was my inner secret that I hated. Being married during this time and being in full-time ministry, I definitely felt devastating shame at times.

   Today, I discovered that even in the midst of writing this, I had a place of shame I was unaware of. I made many mistakes parenting one of our kids, who are now all adults. I reluctantly faced those mistakes and sins a few years ago when Ellen lovingly told me what I was doing. I had asked for her forgiveness and my child's. And God began to change me in this area as Christ lived through me. Yet, there it was today as Ellen and I talked about that child. Shame was lurking in the shadows of my mind having hidden there for years. I had not recognized it until our conversation. Thank you God for your love in revealing this as I was writing this!

   How does God want us to deal with our shame? For me, I immediately remembered that Jesus had already forgiven me for these parental sins and mistakes. Though I told Him a long time ago that I was sorry for these sins, today I said, "Jesus I accept your forgiveness for them". We know that when Jesus died on the cross for us, we were forgiven for every sin - past, present and future. Colossians 2:13, "You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins". NLT Next, I forgave myself by saying, "Mark, I forgive you for the mistakes you made with ______." Why? We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Mark 12:31 Finally, I acknowledged to God by faith that Jesus' death on the cross has already removed my shame. 1 Peter 2:6, "For it is contained in Scripture, "See, I am placing on Mount Zion a Cornerstone, chosen, and held in honor, and he whose faith rests on Him shall never have reason to feel ashamed." WEY

   How about you? Have you let the good news of the Gospel of grace pluck your shame from your soul? If not, how about settling that right now? Don't let shame have a place in you any longer! Jesus has exchanged your shame with His forgiveness and peace. Why don't you pray something similar to what I prayed above? If you can't get through this or feel shame about something someone else has done to you, please contact us so we can walk with you.

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2013 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

Pornography Problem? There's an App for That! (Part 1)

50% of Christian men admit to being addicted to pornography. 20% of Christian women admit to being addicted to pornography. 37% of pastors say they struggle with pornography.

These statistics are heart-breaking more than they are shocking. It's no surprise that the main source of porn viewing is on the Internet.

Sadly, the rise of the wonderful tool of technology has also opened the door for the fall of many into the darkness of pornography. Yet, we cannot blame technology alone for this epidemic addiction. There are other forces at work.

Romans 1:18-32 describes the woeful fate of a nation or culture which rejects God as their Creator. This description is not speaking about Christians but those outside of Christ. Every person is given two evidences that the Creator God is present and desires a relationship with them. In Romans 1:19-21, the first evidence is an inward intuitive knowledge everyone is born with. The second evidence is creation itself.

An eventual result of a nation's ongoing rejection of God as Creator is that He "gives them over" to sexual sin. A nation's rejection of God eventually destroys the family. Why? Without being in relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, men do not lovingly lead their wives and children. Women do not respectfully submit to their husbands. Children rebel against their parents. These dysfunctional families eventually implode and change the entire nation. The result? God's intended design for sex within marriage begins to spill outside of marriage. The USA experienced this social phenomenon in the 60's during the Hippie era. It was called the "free love" movement.

As our culture today continues to spiral downward into darkness, Christians are being sucked into that vortex in the area of pornography.

Why are Christian men and women addicted to pornography? The short answer is that they are attempting to meet God given needs apart from their love relationship with Jesus Christ. More specific answers include these reasons. Spouses may feel angry, disillusioned or unfulfilled in their marriage. Married couples don't make time for frequent sex. People want to feel something other than their emotional pain, such as, stress, guilt, anxiety, fear, depression, loneliness, rejection, boredom, etc. People accidentially find Internet pornography and make it a habit. People want something which stimulates them for the purpose of sexual release.

At its core, involvement in the sin of pornography is false intimacy with a fantasy partner. In other words, God made all of us with the need to feel loved, accepted, worth something and secure. Pornography involvement is a human attempt to meet those legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. Yet, the sexual sin of pornography cannot fulfill the deep needs of the human heart.  

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding,

President and Founder GraceLifeInternational.com


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

Are We Really Righteous of Does God Just See Us that Way?

In our ministry, week in and week out, we teach people from Scripture that through their faith in Christ, they are righteous. Over time, most cannot deny that the Gospel, as explained in the Scriptures, is clear that God has declared us to be righteous. (See Romans 3:21-22:5:15. 17, 19, 1 Cor. 1:30, 2 cor. 5:21, Heb. 5:13.) However, we sometimes discover that though they believe this, their understanding of it may not be complete.

In our Grace Life Conference, which we teach in our office monthly, and in churches or groups hosting the Conference, we spend quite a bit of time clarifying this Biblical reality. I am going to share today what we teach about this. It is called, "Deceptions Regarding Our Righteousness".

Deception 1: God says I am righteous because, I am covered with the robe of righteousness. This is Biblical, but misunderstood. Many wrongly believe that under this robe God sees a sinner.

Deception 2: God says I am righteous because I am covered by the blood of Christ. Thank God for the precious blood of Christ shed for our sins! Yet, similar to #1, many wrongly believe that underneath the blood of Christ, God still sees a sinner.

Deception 3: God says I am righteous, because Christ is my filter. The erroneous idea here, is that God hides me behind Jesus Christ, because He can't bear to look at me.

Deception 4: God says I am righteous because of my position in Christ. This one is tricky because we are certainly in Christ. Yet, the way it is usually taught is that, this really means God sees me as righteous, but, I won't really be righteous until I go to heaven. So, He is kind of "pretending". That completely negates the new birth that has already happened!

Deception 5: God says I am righteous because when He looks at me He only sees Christ in me. Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is in us! But, for our holy God to live in us, He had to prepare a place to live. He had to cure once and for all two problems...remove our sin, and the sinner. He also had to replace our sinner spirit with a new creation spirit, which is righteous. Only by doing this, can God live in us.

Deception 6: God says I am righteous because, He has completely forgiven me. The forgiveness we possess in Christ is incredibly powerful. However, forgiveness only removes my unrighteousness. It does not give me righteousness.

One pastor exclaimed after understanding that he had believed all of the deceptions, "I knew I was saved, but I didn't know I was that saved"! Oh, how many of us could probably say the same thing!

Are you willing to pray and thank your heavenly Father for revealing these deceptions, and agree with Him, that you are righteous through your faith in Christ?

Be Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President Founder 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!