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

Free from Sin's Tyranny

    A man at one of my F4T Conferences told me an all too common story of how hearing a partial Gospel left him powerless to defeat sin. You see, a partial Gospel always produces a partial Christian. Not surprisingly, he became so discouraged with his failures; he gave up on ever being a good Christian and left the church. Interestingly though, he worked in an "end of life" area of a hospital where he took every opportunity to tell these dying people about the salvation offered in Christ. Yet, he remained miserable as sin controlled his body and his soul over and over without mercy. Over time, God gave him understanding that there was more to the Gospel than Jesus died to forgive our sins to get us into heaven. I could tell by the peace I saw on his face that day that he was living free from sin's tyranny.

   This freedom from the sin's tyranny is a great freedom God has provided for us in Christ. I use the word, "tyranny", because before we were in Christ, sin held power over us much like a cruel dictator. We were compelled to obey Him when we liked it and when we didn't.

   Jesus gives us hope by saying, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36 NIV Much like my friend above, many of us are surprised at how sin continues to control us, with some of the same old sins, even after we become Christ-followers.

   Has Jesus really freed us from sin's power over us or is that an illusion? Yes! He really has set us free. Here's how. The good news of the complete Gospel is that the part of us which was under sin's tyranny was put to death on the cross with Christ. Romans 6:6 says, "Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him..." The old self was our old nature or old identity in Adam we showed up with on planet earth.

   Romans 6:7 declares, "He who has died is freed from sin". Notice it does not say he "is free from sinning" but is free from sin, meaning free from sin as a power to tyrannize us. Sin referenced here means an unholy power in us but it is not our old nature because that is dead and gone. Sin here is like a generator whose power lines were cut in half when we died with Christ. Being resurrected with Christ as new creations, we have a new power source - union with Christ!

   This is the key to victory when we are tempted to default to that sin we often go to, especially when we are under stress. Do you know what I mean about the particular sin we end up in bed with when we are under a lot of stress? I can almost see you shaking your head "Yes". When we are tempted like this, our old dictator, sin, is offering to benevolent to us so we won't feel so stressed out.

   I have one of those sins which I tend to default to if I'm not vigilant. It's fear. Fear tyrannized my life for many years. And it still can if I allow it. Here's how I am learning to overcome it as my understanding of the complete Gospel grows.

   When tempted to be controlled by fear, I talk to the Lord saying something like this, "Father I know that I am not a fearful person in my identity in Christ. I choose to believe what you say about me rather than what my circumstances are saying. Jesus please handle this by living through me right now!"

   I pray this way based on Romans 8:15 which says, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out 'Abba Father". NASB We all came into this world destined to live a life of fear because our old nature was as a slave of sin. The good news is that our new nature - our new identity in Christ yearns to experience the love of Abba Father which replaces more and more of our fears. Though I know this, I admit to you that it is still a mental wrestling match with circumstances screaming that I should be afraid and the Holy Spirit saying gently, "Mark, you are not a fearful person but a peaceful person whose very nature is to trust Me". This greatly helps reminding me that we are not in a power struggle with sin but a truth struggle.

   How about you? What is that sin which keeps beating you like LeBron James would if you played him in a one-one-one basketball game? Jesus HAS already freed us from sin's tyranny by changing who we are deep within but we have to believe it, and then talk to Him about it when we are tempted. You CAN overcome that sin - not by will power, rules or more dedication to God, but by the power of the cross. Be careful! You don't want to make this a formula. Sin is not defeated through a formula, rather by a relationship with God through our union with Christ. Let freedom ring!

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

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

Dealing with Feeling Rejected

   I remember at age 15 finally having the endurance to mow our family lawn in one day. I couldn't wait to show my dad so he would be proud. When he drove up from work, I ran up to the car telling him to look at what I had accomplished. The only thing he said was "You missed a spot". Then he walked in the house. I felt so rejected because of this criticism and many others. (Believing in honoring our father and mother, I got his permission to share this.) Sadly, I inflicted rejection on my wife, also, through criticism the first few years of our marriage. The rejection I grew up with was passed on to my sweet undeserving wife.

   Why do people reject others? It is a symptom of the sins of our own flesh which impact them so negatively. And it often affects the people we care about the most. Romans 8:6 says it this way, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace".

   Setting our mind on the flesh is what I call our mental default. We tend to default to how we've learned to cope with life apart from Christ in us no matter how many great sermons we have heard, how much of the Bible we've read or how much we have prayed. This produces "death" in our relationships otherwise known as rejection.

   How can we deal with rejection from others? Sit down with God and be honest about how much the rejection hurt you. Then tell God that you choose to forgive them even if you don't feel like it. When I forgave my dad for the rejection I felt growing up, I found great healing. But there may be a bigger issue at play here. Most of us are hoping that another human being is going to meet our deepest need for acceptance. That is what I was looking for from my dad. That is a faulty focus.

   What if we are the ones rejecting others? We need to confess that to God as sin. But just as important, we need to live confidently in God's unconditional acceptance of us. This is part of what it means to "set your mind on the Spirit". When we consistently believe we are unconditionally accepted by our Heavenly Dad, we will live in and from Christ in us. This is the true source of life and peace. Only then can we express that same unconditional acceptance to the people around us.

   I don't believe God wants us to blame our parents for all of our problems otherwise we will live like we are victims. We are victors in Christ! We can face and forgive the mistakes of our parents or others who have rejected us. Christ in us can catapult us into the destiny God created us for.

   Why don't you pray right now thanking God that He unconditionally accepts you? If you are unsure of this, refer back to my devotion, "Does God Really Accept Us Unconditionally"?

If you are stuck in your feelings of rejection, we can help. For more information, please call us at 704-522-9026 or visit us on the web at www.GraceLifeInternational.com.

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Dealing with Feeling the Fear of Failure

   At age 19, I began to run in the "Fear of Failure" marathon. Like any serious runner, it motivated me to strive to always do more. I compared my success to others keeping a record of who was better and who was worse than I. Self-criticism fueled my relationship with God, with people and my work. This marathon eventually produced so much anxiety that it depleted my body of serotonin. Like a runner who "hits the wall" and can't finish the race, I hit the wall of depression.

   Fear of failure is a common malady. The lie behind this is: "I will have value if I succeed but I will be less valuable if I fail". Value is a God-given need. Yet, most of us find ourselves trying to meet this need our way instead of God's way, which usually ends in conflict and frustration.

   Our way is to train our minds to equate our value with our performance. We think that good performance equals greater value and vice-versa. God's way is to equate our value with what He was willing to give to bring us into His family. He gave the most precious possession He had when He gave His Son to die in our place. Romans 8:32 says, "Seeing that He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not through Him freely give us all things."

   Let me put it this way. It is God's performance which gives us value, not our performance.

   This is actually cool because it liberates us from the weight of performance based value so we can live from value based performance. And we do this best when we are depending on Jesus Christ to perform through us by asking Him to live His life through us daily, and believing He is."

   I recently ran in my first 5K trail race. I thought it was just a fun run until a few days before. I run trails for fitness and wellbeing with no desire to compete. When I found out it was an actual timed race, I said to my wife, "Oh no! I didn't want to run in a race." Then I told her I was just going to have fun. When the race started, I had no ambitions of winning nor was I afraid of losing. I simply wanted to finish the race without stopping! As I approached the finish line, I couldn't catch a 10 year old boy but I finished. I was so surprised when they later announced that I came in 3rd place for my age group. I almost fell to the ground laughing! Because my value is in Christ and not in my performance whether running or otherwise, I can joyfully exclaim, "I'm number 3! I'm number 3! I'm number 3!"

   Rest in your value in Christ today and go perform with Christ living through you. You'll be a much better employee, employer, parent, spouse and friend who can actually influence your world for God's Kingdom.

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com 

All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding

Dealing with Feeling Inferior/Superior

   Inferiority slinks into our lives whispering "I don't measure up to ______". Superiority struts into our lives boasting _______doesn't measure up to me". 

   The markers for comparing ourselves to others are: our performance, our possessions, our personality, our position, our appearance, and other's opinions. 

   Years ago, I used to let it "slip" in conversations about how many people I had shared the gospel with or how long I had prayed. It is so weird when I remember back to those days, it's humorous. Apparently, I felt inferior so I worked really hard at being superior. Sick! 

   But I'm not the only one. It seems as though this is very common with everyone. Even the Apostle Paul compared himself to others before He knew Jesus as Messiah. In Galatians 1:14, he writes, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions."(NASB) Then, when Jesus came to live in him, his comparison apparently ceased. In writing about people who were the "rock stars" in the church at that time, he wrote in Galatians 2:6, "...what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality..." (NASB) In another letter, he writes in 2 Corinthians 5:16 "Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore." The Message 

   For each of us in Christ, no one is inferior and no one is superior. Galatians 3:28 says, "In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ." God has not obliterated roles but He now trumpets the joyful reality that all of us in Christ have the same value! 

   When I was living according to my flesh, I prayed and prayed that I would be a Godly man. I worked very hard at becoming my rendition of a Godly man. In 1991, when God revealed that my identity is in Christ and not anything else, I remember Him speaking this to my heart one day. "Mark, you're already a Godly man." Instantly, I knew that the Holy Spirit was telling me that I could stop trying to become a Godly man, because being in Christ made me a Godly man. Now, having my mind renewed, I was free to live like who I already was - a Godly man! 

   How about you? Do you find yourself easily falling into the comparison game? I did it recently. Though Grace Life International is one of the largest ministries of its kind in the country, I found myself comparing it to ministries who are larger or more international. It doesn't matter! If I stopped being the president of this ministry today, I would not lose my identity because it is in Christ, not in GLI. Let's praise God for who we are in Christ the next time we feel inferior or superior from comparing ourselves. Let's live like the conquerors we already are over this sinful insanity!

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder 

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

Dealing with Feeling Discouraged

   Billy Graham is quoted as saying, "The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'"  I am very grateful for the candor of this man whom God has worked through to share the gospel with hundreds of millions of people.  I can certainly relate.  Can you?

   Discouragement means to lose courage, to lose confidence or to lose "heart".  The mental picture I get is that our confidence in Christ and His purposes for our lives is wrestled away from us.

    When I lost my ability to smell several years ago, developed putrid, moment by moment, "phantom smells", and couldn't taste food, I struggled.  I drifted far too long in the fog of discouragement.  Eventually, God led me to blue skies as I learned to be content in Christ without the pleasure of smell and taste.  Eventually, He also gave me a solution eliminating most of the phantom smells.

    Discouraging thoughts are tempting thoughts.  Agreeing with them quickly disheartens us leaving us feeling like an emotional glob of yuck and muck.

   One of my staff recently shared that they experienced several weeks of discouragement over a family situation that was growing worse by the week.  As they sought the Lord about why they felt so discouraged, He showed them that they were agreeing with tempting thoughts of self-blame, self-condemnation and spiritual passivity.  Once they understood this, they claimed their "already won" victory in Christ and returned to experiencing Jesus as their joy.

     We can be discouraged by many things when we agree with our enemy's interpretation of them. Here are some examples:  a negative comment someone made about us; an unexpected financial need; a child's rebellion; conflict; unresolved loneliness; habitual sin; and more.

    What is God's way out of discouragement?  Simply put, it is to start agreeing with God based on the Gospel instead of our enemy.   First and foremost, because Jesus is our Life (Colossians 3:4), no other person or situation is.   He lives in us.  He is our first love. He is our ultimate source of love.  He is our confidence.  He is our provision.  He rules this world with sovereignty.  He loves us.  We can do all the things God has given us to do through Christ living through us.  Based on these truths, we can pray a prayer telling Him we trust Him, even when we don't feel like trusting Him.

     It's an issue of focus.  For example, I run trails for fitness.  Sometimes when I run, I have pains my wife describes as "niggles".  They are temporary and usually go away as the run continues.  When I first started running, I would focus on these little pains wondering if I had hurt myself.  It seemed the more I focused on the pain, the more intense it felt.  When my wife, an experienced trail runner, explained that it was a "niggle", I learned to disregard it, keep running and soon the pain disappears.

     Discouragement is like that.  As long as we focus on the person or situation, the intensity of our discouragement increases.  However, when we seek the Lord about the source of our discouragement, hear His answer and get refocused on Him as our truth, the discouragement is exchanged for Jesus as our peace.

    When you find yourself discouraged, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the reason why.  It's usually not the situation but the lie(s) we believe about it.  Then, claim your already won victory in Christ over it and confess to Him that He alone is your life, peace, joy, etc.  You'll find yourself  "en"couraged.  But if you get stuck, we would love for you to contact us for a free counseling consultation whether live or online. 

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

Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding