Grace-Onomics: Turning Debt into Wealth

In the world of investing, there are basic economic principles you must abide by to gain more money.  For example, the average person must invest at least a little money each month if they have any hope of having any savings for retirement.   Most financial engines predict that a 25 year old who invests $100 per month, will have close to $120,000 at retirement.  I have friends older than me who have never put any money in retirement personally or through their work.  It concerns me because if you start investing $0 at age 25, you will have $0 for retirement. But in God's kingdom, there is something I call Grace-Onomics because it doesn't follow these principles at all.  In fact, in Grace-Onomics, many things are the complete opposite of economics. For example, we have spiritual debt which we all owe God.  This debt is a result of us investing our lives in sin.  Sin is the lifestyle of relying on ourselves rather than Jesus Christ according to Romans 14:23c For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.   As a result, we owe God for every moment we have not lived by faith in Him.  We can't begin to imagine how often this has occurred! When we come to faith in Christ, we give Him our investment in sin which is our debt.  Because He operates from grace, He provides returns that are the opposite of economics.  In economics, if you give your debt to your creditors over and over, you will receive the return of bankruptcy with 7 - 10 years of bad credit.  But in Grace-Onomics, for our debt we give to God, He provides us amazingly positive returns.  In this case, the return we receive is His infinite wealth of forgiveness.  His forgiveness is not only for our past debt but also any debt from our present or future sins.  This gift of infinite forgiveness did not come without a cost, though.  It cost God the death of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross.  Hebrews 9:22 ...all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  Jesus removed our debt.  Then when He was resurrected, He brought with Him this infinite wealth of total forgiveness for us to receive. That's a pretty good deal, even better than one Warren Buffett, a genius in the investing world, could provide for you.  We give our debt to God and He returns to us forgiveness which has no limits! Some people have wealth but never enjoy it or bless others with it.  Hetty Green inherited $5 million at age 30 and turned it into $100 million by the time of her death, making her the richest women in the United States in 1916.  Yet, she apparently never enjoyed any of her wealth, nor did she allow anyone else to enjoy it.  She refused to use hot water, wash her clothes or provide her son, Ned, with decent medical care when he broke his leg.  He eventually had to have his leg amputated as a result!  (Forbes Special Issue; The 2014 investment Guide II and Wikipedia) You and I have the infinite wealth of God's forgiveness in Christ.  (Eph. 1:7)  Let's first revel in it but not only for ourselves, let's pass it along by forgiving those who owe us love but have given us indifference, owe us acceptance but have given us rejection and who owe us respect but have given us shame.  (Eph. 4:30-31)   This incredible forgiveness is not only for us but for others, too. Why don't you stop for a moment and ask God if there are any sins you haven't believed Jesus died to forgive either for yourself or others.  Then jump into the wealth of your gift of forgiveness in Christ by faith.  But don't stop there!  Ask Him if there is anyone you haven't forgiven. Then before God, tell Him you forgive them, for that "thing" they did. 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!

The Next Big Thing!

I have been eagerly waiting to write this blog for weeks!  First, Jesus is the next big thing, the last big thing and today's big thing at GLI, always. But in regard to our ministry to share Him, TNBT is here at GLI and it is all for your enjoyment and benefit.  Here it is!

1. We have an awesome NEW WEBSITE that will bless you and blow your mind!  Take two minutes and take a look.  Then recommend it to your family and friends who are hurting or spiritually hungry.  www.GraceLifeInternational.com

 2. You can be ministered to ONLINE by our incredible staff in these areas, regardless of where you live, whether it is California, Croatia, or the Carolinas.  To find out more, visit our new website.  www.GraceLifeInternational.com

              a. Counseling

              b. Conferences

              c. Advanced Discipleship Training

May 2015 be the year you experience grace instead of legalism, Jesus instead of religion, freedom instead of bondage, love instead of disappointment, emotional and mental healing instead of pain, Christ loving people through you to bless people, instead of the self-centeredness of the deadly self-life!

Believe it!  It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding

Have You Opened Your Two Gifts From God?

Do you have any gifts from last Christmas which you have never opened?  If so, you can send them to me!  The reality is that you probably don't.  Most of us have such anticipation of opening our gifts; we struggle to even wait until Christmas!  One of my own sons always looked at his gifts in stealth before Christmas and then perfectly put the wrapping paper back on them. Sadly, many of us have two gifts God gave that we have never opened.  These two gifts have been provided for the transformation of our lives and relationships.  Interested in knowing what they are?  According to Romans 5:17, they are abundant grace and righteousness.  "Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."  God says if we open these gifts and enjoy them, we will reign in life through our relationship with Jesus.  So, what does this look like in real life? Abundant grace means the limitless life of Jesus Christ is in us.  He is in us to give us the most satisfying intimacy we can ever experience while on this earth.  One of my first staff members was what is often termed as a "complete Jew" because at 16 he received Christ as His personal Messiah.  However, over time, he fell into deep depression and tried everything he knew to free himself from it.  That all changed when he began to understand and live by God's abundant grace so much so that an elder at his church once told me that he was one of the most changed persons he knew.   That's reigning in life! The gift of righteousness means that because we are in Christ, God has made us as righteous as Jesus.  He did this by replacing our former identity of being a sinner with a new identity of being righteous.  Romans 5:19 describes it by contrasting the identity we received from Adam with the one we received from Jesus. "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."   As a result, you are always 100% righteous in your spirit.    I met Billy at a pastors' retreat.  Just before I took the stage, he asked me what I was going to speak on, trying to decide whether he wanted to stay.  When I shared a little of my message, he did stay and discovered that though he had lived a very fleshly rebellious life until recently, God still viewed him as righteous instead of a dirty rotten sinner.  Before, he had seen himself as unworthy of marrying a godly Christian girl.  Afterwards, he realized that was a lie.  Why?  Because he opened his gift of righteousness by believing he was 100% righteous.  It wasn't long before our Papa brought him a wonderful Christian girl to be his wife.  He is now a full-time student pastor with a very fruitful ministry. You can also open these gifts today but only through faith.   To open the gift of abundant grace is to depend on Jesus Christ in you, to meet your deep need for intimacy and then to live His life through you.  To open the gift of righteousness is to believe that your identity in Christ makes you as righteous as Him.  Why don't you open these two gifts right now?  Here is a suggested prayer for you to pray today and beyond. "Jesus, I know that I have tried many ways to find intimacy but I realize none of those will ever satisfy me. I choose to believe that You are in me to be my eternal companion, offering me intimacy far beyond what any human could ever give.  Though I may not feel it today, I believe You live in me to love me, to talk with me and listen to me.  I am also convinced that without You I can do nothing in any area of my life.  I ask You to fill me with Your love for me and to live Your life through me today in all that I do, especially in my relationships.  Finally, Jesus, I believe when You gave me the gift of Your righteousness it became my righteousness.  This is my true identity regardless of how often I have failed or succeeded.   I choose to believe that I am righteous regardless of my behavior, circumstances or feelings.  Please remind me often to enjoy these two gifts which You gave me.  Amen"

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding

Will God Curse You If You Don't Give?

Most of my life, I heard sermon after sermon that if you don't give, God is going to curse you and you will get a flat tire or something even worse!  But if you give, and it has to be at least 10% or it doesn't count, God will bless you financially in ways you could never imagine.  I heard it so much, I believed it and preached it at the first church I pastored.  The main Scripture used for this teaching is from Malachi 3:8-10 (I think he was the Spanish prophet!  His name sounds like a mariachi band.) 8)"Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. 9) You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 10) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."  There are some who will hedge a bit, acknowledging that we are to give by grace, but then make us feel guilty by saying things like this.  "You, who want to say we are under grace in our giving, remember that grace always does more than the law, so you should give more than 10%!"  Sadly, I believed and preached that, for many years, also. However, when God began to show me His economy in the New Covenant, I began to question all of this teaching. As I kept studying Scripture, God affirmed that He definitely wants us to give, but not because of any of the reasons mentioned above. Let's step back for a minute and look at those Malachi verses.  It seems like our motivation for giving is primarily fear.  Fear of financial punishment and fear of not getting a financial blessing.   Also, if we look closely at these Scriptures, they precisely fit the arrangement God had with Israel in the Old Covenant whichwas:  "If you obey Me, I will bless you.  If you disobey me, I will curse you." (See Deuteronomy 28.) Yet, we are New Covenant people who are not obligated to keep the external standards of the Old Covenant Law.  God has placed His Laws on our hearts and minds, meaning He has put His character in us.  This gives us the desire and ability to live from the inside out instead of the outside in.  (Hebrews 10:16)  This applies to our giving as well.   He does not want us to feel obligated to give, or guilty, motivated by Law.  He wants us to give as a result of Who He is in us.  Is our God a generous God? Absolutely! Most teaching on giving causes people to think that they can only be defined as a "generous person", if they give generously.  The New Covenant, however, turns that definition on its head by defining us by what Jesus has done, not what we do.  This means that we are generous people in Christ, whether we give or not.  It's simply who we are deep within, in our spirit, in our identity in Christ. A good friend of mine, Pastor Brad Lynch, began teaching his people that they were generous people in Christ.  His encouragement to them was to embrace this and then to live like who they are in.  He didn't set a percentage for them to shoot for; he simply reminded them over and over that in Christ, they are generous.   Then he challenged them to begin asking God how much He wanted them to give.  In other words, he exhorted them to live by grace instead of law in their giving.  Then, an amazing thing happened.  The giving at the church doubled!  Grace does do more than the law, but not because of guilt; rather because of love. When I was a pastor, I began to understand "grace giving" instead of "law giving".   I stood in the pulpit one Sunday and told the congregation what God had been showing me from Scripture.  I then took them through the Scriptures to unfold it for them.   Then, I paused, told them I was sorry I had taught them "law giving" instead of "grace giving" and asked them to forgive me.  But I didn't stop there.  I challenged them to go home, pray, ask God how much he wanted them to give, and then obey Him.  To be honest, I was taking a huge risk.  This was a brand new church and my salary was directly tied to the weekly giving but I knew I had to be honest and tell them the truth no matter the consequences. Guess what happened?  The giving increased!  Imagine that, when you take people out from under the law, they are then free to listen to God, and live like who they truly are in Christ! How about you?  Do you feel condemned, feeling like you never measure up in your giving?  Or, do you give generously but it's out of fear and obligation?  You died to all of that with Christ on the cross according to Romans 7:4.  God wants you to give cheerfully out of Who He is in you and who you are in Christ.  Let go of a law mentality and live from a grace mentality.   Ask Him how much He wants you to give, and then respond by faith.  You will experience joy instead of condemnation.

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding but please pass it along!

Finding Your Roots

Have you seen the hit show, Finding Your Roots with Henry Lois Gates, Jr.?  It’s a fascinating show where he traces the historical family tree of famous people and surprises them with the results.  For example, Condoleezza Rice, 66^th Secretary of the United States, found that her maternal roots are from the Tikar people in Cameroon.  On another show, Professor Gates revealed to Ben Affleck that surprisingly, he and Matt Damon are cousins, 10 times removed!

My wife worked for months on both of our family trees and discovered some remarkable facts.  My last name should be Smith instead of Maulding.  One of my great, great, grandmothers, last name Smith, had children out of wedlock and took on the name Maulding.  On my wife’s side, she may have traced her roots all the way back to an Englishman, Rowland Taylor, who was burned at the stake for his unwavering faith in Christ. 

Yet, here’s a reality check for all of us when it comes to our roots.  All of us have a great, great, great, great…grandfather whose name was Adam.  We are all related to him and to each other.  This is significant because in God’s economy, He not only views us from our biological roots but also from our spiritual roots.  Let me share with you what I mean.

You were biologically in Adam when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but more importantly, you were also spiritually in Adam.  That means a few significant things.  When he sinned his first sin, you sinned for the first time, also.  When he died, you died spiritually and became a spiritual zombie.  (Romans 5:12) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Ephesians 2:1b) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.   So, because of our roots, we all showed up on planet earth with a much bigger problem than simply needing forgiveness.    We showed up spiritually dead.

Here’s the good news.  When you believed in Jesus Christ for your salvation, God took you out of Adam’s family tree and relocated you into Christ’s family tree.  Your roots are now found in Christ, not in Adam!   This phrase, “in Christ” or its related form is used 165 times in the New Testament.  In Ephesians alone, it is used 36 times.  There are fantabulous benefits from having our roots in Christ.

Your identity in Adam, as a sinner, died with Christ on the cross.  (Romans 6:6) That same identity was buried with Christ and left in the grave forever.  He’s not going to get up out of the coffin!   (Romans 6:3-4).  When Jesus rose from the dead, God created a new identity for you in Christ which is the deepest essence of who and what you are.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Your new creation identity came with the guarantee that you are 100% righteous.  (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Your identity in Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father, where you are unconditionally loved, accepted, forgiven and blessed forever!  (Ephesians 2:6)

The next time you have thoughts from the enemy which tell you how inadequate, inferior or messed up you are, remember your roots are now in Christ!    

Believe it!  It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding

The Longer We Live in Darkness, The More the Lies We Believe in our Head Seem True

Years ago I led a mission trip to Bermuda. Yea, I know. You are thinking a mission trip to a beautiful island? That's really suffering for Jesus.  Well, somebody's got to do it! One night I was walking back to the home where I was crashing every night and there were no lights anywhere.  I started freaking out because every sound caused me to think 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 raced. "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 simply 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 what sometimes happens in our spiritual lives. The longer we live in darkness in any area of our lives, the more the lies in our head seem true.   This darkness is caused by our lack of understanding the Gospel.   Let me give examples of some common lies we may believe. 

"I have to obey God for Him to love and bless me."

Not true. However, this is a very common misunderstanding of the Gospel.  It's part of the toxic Christianity making Christians sick today.  The truth is, it's difficult not to obey God when we are confident that He already loves us with no strings attached and has already blessed us in Christ with everything we need to live our lives.  Who would you most likely obey from your heart? A parent you were afraid of or a parent you know loves you?  (Ephesians 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. 

"What I do defines who I am."

Not true. God uses birth, not behavior to define us.   Our spiritual birth defines who we are. Our faith in Christ gave us a new spiritual birth. Knowing who we are in Christ will positively affect every area of our lives."  Do you have a list of who you are in Christ to read?  Meditate on them and you will not medicate your low self-esteem with food, abuse of alcohol and drugs, shopping or legalistic Christianity!  (John 3:3)

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."

"I sin because I am not committed enough to Jesus."

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 rest in Christ by asking Him to live His life through us.  I remember asking a man in his late 20s to begin doing this and when I saw him next he said, "I experienced God's peace in a very tangible way." People will pay good money for some peace of mind! (Matthew 11:29)  "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."

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 in bondage?  Obviously lies!   Why don't we stop right now and ask God to show us the lies we believe about the Gospel, and ask Him to replace those with His truth.   

   

Believe it.  It's the Gospel!

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding

Are You Broken?

First let me say a big, "Hello" to all of our readers, in the Carolinas, the USA, Ukraine, Russia, France, China, India, Bulgaria, Germany, Pakistan and even the land of Skype!  I am glad you enjoy this blog.

Brokenness - The very mention of the word causes many Christians to shudder inside, though they may nod their heads agreeing that it is something spiritually necessary.  While Scripture makes it clear that this process is essential for optimum spiritual growth, as well as fruitfulness, there remains quite a bit of uncertainly and confusion regarding it.

Brokenness in Scripture - Romans 8:13 makes a startling statement directed at every Christian when it says, "For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."   A cursory reading of it sounds like God is saying that if you are constantly sinning, that is living according to the flesh, God is going to take you to heaven sooner than you thought!  But this is not the meaning at all.  He is letting us know that because of His great love for us, He is not going to permit us to keep using our flesh to cope with life.  He has provided a way of coping with life which is much much better.  It is Jesus Christ in us. 

Brokenness is not -

Suffering  Though suffering is often used by our DAD to bring us to brokenness, suffering alone is not brokenness.   At GLI, we often hear people tell us they have been broken, when what they really mean is that they have been through a hellacious  time of suffering.  It may be a divorce, a tough marriage, a rebellious child, joblessness, money problems, a family blow up, continuous feelings of low self-esteem and inadequacy, depression, constant worry, habitual sexual sin, unresolved anger and bitterness, major disappointment, illness, adultery or other problems.  When we hear the pain of these legitimate sufferings, we listen compassionately.   However, we also realize that though these are no guarantee of brokenness, they can be the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to bring them to brokenness.

Unresolved Pain  Today it is common to hear someone say that they are sexually, emotionally, relationally or some other type of "broken" because of events in their past, which are causing negative consequences in their present.  At GLI, we understand what they mean and don't deny that they are in pain.  We also realize they are stuck in patterns that are causing dysfunction.  Yet, this is not the kind of brokenness spoken of in Scripture.  Having said that, we see people in our counseling with those types of issues. We see them receive great healing from Jesus when they begin to experience Him as their Life, on the other side of spiritual brokenness.

Brokenness is - 1.  A growing awareness that no matter how hard I try, my ability to make my life work is getting worse instead of better.  2.  An orchestrated work of God who loves me too much to permit my fleshly coping mechanisms to keep working for me.  3.  The results of the Holy Spirit moving me to the other side of brokenness so that I am changed by Him, not by my efforts.  4.  A growing experience of the reality of my union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  5. Not a one-time event.  Though many people in our ministry can point to a time when the process of brokenness brought about a huge spiritual paradigm shift in them, they eventually realize that there are other "miniature versions" of brokenness as part of their ongoing conformity to the image of Christ.  See Romans 8:28-29.

How do you know if you are broken?  True brokenness from God will produce lasting transformation in us.  This is a result of a type of death in which our reliance on our flesh is exchanged for reliance on Christ in us, not only as our Savior and Lord, but our Life.  Colossians  4:4 says it this way, "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." 

My personal brokenness -  Every person on our staff has an amazing story of their own brokenness.  I wish I could share each of those 35 stories with you.  But for now, I will give you the brief version of my own. 

I remember thinking one day that my life had become like our kitchen table I was staring at.  I imagined that one by one, the legs on the table were being removed in the same way all of the things in my life seemed to have been removed.  My friends had vanished, my goal of starting a growing church was failing, my ability to overcome sin was ineffective, and my relationship with God was stressful.  These deficits had been mounting for quite some time, culminating in me to finally telling my wife, "If this is all there is to being a Christian, it doesn't work."  I think my Father was smiling with joy knowing that I was finally where he wanted me - broken.  It was there that He revealed Christ in me.  It was in such a dramatic way that I had never felt the depth of His love as I did then.  That is when everything began to change and my transformation received a ginormous jump start.

What to do - Tell God you know that He loves you, so you are giving Him your permission to do anything He wants to bring you to brokenness.  Already experienced that initial brokenness?  Have you asked Him to bring your family members to brokenness?  How about your children - a tough one to pray?  And if you believe you need help walking through your own brokenness, contact us.  We've been there and we can help you or refer you to someone else in your area who can.

Believe it.  It's the Gospel!

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding