You Can’t Meet Your Own Needs for Love, Acceptance, Worth and Security

God created you with certain needs of the heart which only He can fully meet.  I, and my staff have seen that these needs are universal, whether here in the USA, or in places like Zimbabwe, Chile, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Croatia, Ukraine or England. 

Every person needs love because God is love.  Every person needs acceptance because that is what unconditional love from God truly is.  Every person needs worth because we are valuable enough for God to create us and for Jesus to die for us.  Everyone needs security because we need to know we can’t mess up the love we have and only God’s grace in Christ can provide that.  We use the acronym LAWS to help people remember their needs.

I want you to imagine four plastic buckets sitting in front of you.  Each one has a different name on it.  The first says LOVE.  The second says ACCEPTANCE.  The third says WORTH.  The fourth says SECURITY.  God made you to live with those buckets full.  In fact, you can’t live very well unless they are full.  Yet, because we don’t know they are already full, we work hard at trying to fill them ourselves. 

What are some of the ways we do this?  We may perform so people will like us.  We may manipulate people.  We may expect people to meet these needs such as in marriage and when they don’t, we get angry and start an argument.  We may look on Facebook to see what people are saying about us.  We may try to get our kids to meet these needs by making us proud for the wrong reasons.  We may try sex outside of marriage.  We may fantasize through porn.  In other words, we try to control our personal universe by living independently of God, by looking to others or things in trying  to meet these needs.

God says it this way in Jeremiah 2:13.  For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water. (NASB)

God was speaking of Israel at the time, but it’s still an applicable illustration of what our flesh wants to try to do for us.  First, we turn away from our real Source who will abundantly satisfy our heart like living waters.  Second, we work hard to get our buckets filled but our buckets have holes in them just like Israel’s cisterns did.  (A cistern was a hole you dug into the ground and hoped rain water would fill so you could have water to satisfy your thirst.  But Israel’s had cracks in them so that the water didn’t stay very long.)

You can’t satisfy your own needs for God given LAWS, no matter how hard you work or who you try to get to meet them.  The little that you do strive for will not last and you will have to go out and work hard the next day to get it again.

If you are a Christ follower, you are united to the God who is love and He created you so He could love you.  Do you believe that?  We all get tested in this area when someone disappoints us or we disappoint ourselves.

Why don’t you thank God this week that He is the only one who can adequately meet those needs and ask Him to make them real in you?

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!

Do I Have a Civil War Inside of Me?

Do you ever feel like there are two equal powers inside you with completely opposite desires?  This is a very common feeling, which seems to explain how we struggle to live a life which pleases God.

For example, when a sexually lustful thought enters your mind, it’s not that you know you shouldn’t do that, it’s also in your new heart that you don’t desire to do it. (Ezekiel 36:27)  Yet, there seems to be a sinister opposite desire to do it, though you know you will regret it.

Another example would be when a thought of not measuring up enters your mind.  Though you know God loves you and you want to stand on that reality, there is this other thought which urges you to agree that you don’t measure up and to either give up, or try harder.

What or who is this other player inside of us?  Is it the old nature, a.k.a. your old identity in Adam, or is it something else?

Romans 6:6 tells us, Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

The Greek language here, is much clearer than what we read in English.  The verb, was crucified, means that our old self (nature) was crucified once and will never rise from the grave to haunt us ever again.  It was left in that tomb where Jesus was buried.

Here’s our problem.  When we read Scripture, we see that something called the flesh is what we battle with.  And, if you are like me, I was never taught that the flesh and the old nature were different, but they are.  The old nature is gone but the flesh is not.  To muddy the waters ever more, the New International Version Bible translated the flesh as sinful nature, which sounds a lot like old nature, doesn’t it.  (They did correct most of that in their most recent edition.)

The old nature (old self or old man that remained in the grave) was the deepest core of who and what we were in Adam.  This is what made us sinfully rotten to the core. (Jeremiah 17:9)  It died and was replaced with the new nature a.k.a. our identity in Christ. (Ephesians 2:6,   2 Cor. 5:17)

The flesh is strategies we have developed from living, as if we are separated from God, though we are united with Him.  We had some of these before we were saved but we may have developed new strategies since then.

I remember a good pastor friend of my saying, “So what?  This is just semantics.  It doesn’t really matter.”  Actually it matters a lot.  Here is why.

Because we only have one nature, our identity in Christ, our new normal is a heart that desires to live a loving, holy and righteous life.  It’s not to sin, contrary to popular opinion. This means it’s normal for you to live a pure life, rather than a sexually lustful life.  It’s normal for you to live with a Biblical self-esteem, rather than a fleshly one of trying to measure up. None of us will ever do this perfectly, but it is still the deepest desire of our new heart, that is our true identity – our identity in Christ.

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!

The “I’ve Always Felt This Way” Deception

 Most of my life of I felt inadequate.   These feelings went all the way back to my childhood.  Though I achieved quite a bit in life, deep down, I was convinced this was who I was… Mark, the inadequate.

My dad could fix and build anything and so could my younger brother, but not me.  I could hardly hammer a nail or saw a straight board.  Each time my dad enlisted us to help him with one of his new projects, like adding a room on to our house, I kept hearing in my head, “Something is wrong with me.  I’m not like my dad and brother.”  Little did I know at the time, this was the enemy was putting thoughts in my vulnerable child’s mind.  Each time we all worked together, they seemed to do everything just right and I did most of them wrong.  My feelings of inadequacy only grew.  It also happened in other areas of life.  Through it all, I kept getting stamped with an identity of being inadequate and every year it seemed to be confirmed more.  Do you see how feelings follow whatever thoughts we believe?

Many years later, when my Heavenly Father began to reveal to me who I am in Christ from the Scriptures, I was able to finally confront those feelings and the beliefs behind them with Biblical truth.  As I did, they were eventually replaced with peace and a confidence that I could do anything that God wanted me to do, as long as Jesus lived through me.  Philippians 4:19 says it this way.  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. NLT  I still get those thoughts and feelings some days, but now I have Biblical truth to hold up against them.

Many people today are looking to their feelings to tell them who they are.  And if they have felt them most of their lives, they may conclude, “That is just who I am because I’ve always felt that way.”  Yet, what they don’t realize is that those feelings are being driven by lies Satan planted in their minds over and over, often going back to when they were children. 

The Accuser often plants these lies through how our family treated us growing up.   He may also plant those lies from terrible rejections we have experienced, including abuse.  Or, he can just use a normal situation, putting his twisted spin on it for us to agree with.  He will take any opportunity he can find with you, hoping you agree with him! John 10:10 records Jesus saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

It has become mainstream culture to define yourself based on how you’ve felt much of your life.  We see it on television, in the movies, in school, at work and in some churches.  We also see it every week in our counseling, conferences, training and groups.  By the time they get to us, many are being overwhelmed and terrified by these thoughts and feelings that they believe define them.

Feelings are a gift from God.  They are one part of our soul.  The other two parts are our mind and will.  Feelings were given by God so we could experience love, joy, peace and more.  The scary thing about feelings, which are attached to thoughts, is that they seem like they are telling us the truth, even if they are not.

When two of my cousins were teens, they thought they would prank their mom one day while at the community pool.   The oldest one got on the phone and frantically told her mom that her younger sister had drowned in the pool.  My aunt went into hysterics.  She truly believed her child was dead.  But it was a lie. My cousins thought it would be funny.   Her feelings didn’t know it was a lie, they simply responded to the thoughts in her mind that she was believing.  By the way, my cousin quickly told my aunt the truth, realizing her mom might die from a heart attack if she didn’t!  

Be aware of your thoughts and feelings and don’t let your feelings define who you are.  Let the Biblical truth of who you are in Christ define whether your thoughts and feelings are accurate.  

Sometimes, we need someone to help us let God show us the lies that our feelings are using to define us, that disagree with what God says about us.  Go to our website and see if we can help you, no matter where you live.  www.GraceLifeInternational.com

What are you going to believe this week as the Biblical truth about who you are?  What you feel?  Or, who your Heavenly Father says you are, when He transferred you from the sinner identity in Adam and into your saint identity IN Christ, giving you a NEW PAST!  Romans 5:19 is as clear as it gets on this topic when it says, 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. NASB

Your Identity In Christ

Because I am a child of God…

I Am Acceptable

Accepted by God   Rom. 15:7

Righteous  II Cor.5:21

A Saint   I Cor. 1:2 Eph. 1:1

Complete in Christ Col. 2:10

Not Condemned Rom 8:1

Completely Forgiven Col 2:13

I Am Significant

His Masterpiece   Eph. 2:10

Chosen   Eph. 1:4

God’s Treasure   Matt. 13:44-46

Seated in Heaven    Eph. 2:6

A New Creation   II Cor. 5:17

Designed by God   Ps. 139:13-16

I Am Loved

Dearly Loved    I Thess. 1:4

Beloved   Rom. 9:25 (Used more in the NT to describe us than any other term)

Loved Like Jesus Is   Jn. 17:23, 26

Jesus’ Friend   Jn. 15:15

Hidden with Christ   Col. 3:3

Can’t Stop God’s Love   Rom. 8:37-39

As you talk to your Father each day, remind yourself of who you are in Christ and ask Jesus to fill you with His love and to live through you in the power of the Holy Spirit.

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!

God is Real when Life is Hell

There are chapters in your life story when all you can say is "life is hell."  I'm talking about not just one bad circumstance but one on top of another and another and another before you can catch your breath from the first one! Or, it may be a time when what you are dealing with goes on and on and on - for months or maybe even for years, with little change or resolution. My family has been experiencing both of those to some degree. So, if you are there or you have been, as they say, "I feel ya."

 

For any of you who do not have any kind of real relationship with Jesus, my heart really goes out to you. In fact, I don't know how you make it through those tough times! No wonder people medicate themselves for the stress and pain they experience by abusing alcohol, drugs, food, etc. 

 

Please don't misunderstand me.   I don't want to come off as saying there is anything wrong with legitimately needing medication for depression,  anxiety, etc.. It may offend our religious thinking when Proverbs 31:6 says, Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. (AKJV) These were the medications of the day when it was written.

 

It may very well be that some people need appropriate medication for them to understand if they know Jesus or not. But this particular issue I'm writing to you about, goes deeper than that. It's about the ability to tap into our own flimsy strength and into an inner strength far beyond our own.  

 

For those of us who have Jesus living in us, He is the only One we can rely on when life is hell. And He is real.  Another way of saying it is, Jesus can be our inner heaven when life on earth is hell. Does that mean we should always feel peaceful and wear a smile on our face? No...we can rely on God in us and still cry sometimes or feel overwhelmed. Yet, deep in our spirit, there can be peace even when our emotions are swirling like a tornado, when there seems to be no end in sight for our problems.

 

One of the great things about the New Covenant is, it teaches us that we are united to the entire Trinity through our faith in Jesus. We were created for this. It's what God had in His heart and mind from the beginning. He created us so we could enter into the same fellowship (intimacy) with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...the same as they have had between themselves, for all eternity. And we can also be supported by the fellowship of other believers as well.

 

One of the temptations during great times of hell on earth is to think we have to be religious.  What I mean by this is, thinking we just need to pray and say all of the right things. It's so easy to put ourselves under this kind of erroneous religious expectation, believing it's the spiritual thing to do.

 

The truth is this. Because we are united to God, Who sits on a throne of grace and not judgment, we can come to Him with all of our raw emotions, doubts, fears, anger, etc., or when we just don't have the words to pray at all. Do you know where that usually leads us?...into a place of honest trust....this allows God to draw us into a deeper fellowship with Him, in whom we are united.  Could this be part of what it means to, cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us? (1 Peter 5:7)

 

Somehow, God remains both sovereignly in control of our circumstances, while at the same time, being relational and loving. He can use His these difficulties to draw us deeper into a fellowship with Him that we could not know otherwise. I'm reminded of this wonderful Scripture. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1: 9b-10 NLT)

 

As we are comforted by God in our own personal hell, we are able to let go of our smug judgementalism of those who suffer their own hell on earth and, instead, freely give the same comfort that God has comforted us with. (2 Corinthians 1:3)

 

If you are reading this and you don't have a genuine relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, invite Him into your life, to live in you, to forgive you. That doesn't mean if you do, everything will improve in your difficulties, but it does mean you will be able to face them relying on Him and not yourself and He will never leave you or forsake you.

 

If you do have Jesus in you, be honest with Him about how you feel and don't turn away from Him. Turn to Him. He is more than important to you. He is enough for you.   He is in you. Ask Him to send some other Christians to support you too, if you don't already have them in your 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 but feel free to pass it on!

Resurrection Reset!

                                  

Have you ever wished you could push the "reset" button on your life? Probably all of us have had that thought after a major failure. If you've ever felt that way, I have some awesome news for you!   God already hit the reset button and you can celebrate it this Easter!

It pleased God to reset who you were by crucifying you and burying you with Jesus on the cross. He crucified the identity you received from Adam, of being spiritually dead, a sinner, and shameful. (Romans 6:6) Then, it pleased God to bury that messed up you with Jesus when He was buried and He left that person, you didn't like, in the grave. (Romans 6:3) Good Friday truly is good because Jesus was crucified and buried and so were you!

God was also pleased to hit the reset button when He included you in Jesus' resurrection. God did not raise a dead Jesus, nor did He raise a messed up you. He resurrected you as a completely different person in your spirit, the place of your true identity. Ephesians 2:4-5. You are now, today, at your core, a child of God, a new creation, the righteousness of God, a saint and more. You are a lot more than you may think and a much better you, than you may think.

It pleased God to give you a new past, a new present and a new future in Him. Your past in Adam was erased and replaced with Jesus' past. Your future in Adam and of hell was erased and replaced with Jesus' future and heaven. Your present was replaced with the daily presence of God, in you and of you, with a new pure, pristine, amazing identity in Him.

A man, I once knew, who was addicted to cocaine, started believing in his own resurrection reset and overcame his addiction.  How?  He realized he wasn't an addict in Christ but an awesome son of God.

I met another man at a pastors' conference where I spoke, whose entire future was remade when he realized his past no longer defined him.  He placed his faith in Jesus' past and future defining him. He ended up marrying a fantabulous Christian woman as a result and now, they have three beautiful children.

Don't let your past be the defining moment of your life. Instead, let Jesus' resurrection define you as you embrace your resurrection reset!  We have much to celebrate. 

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!

Farewell Mr. Spock: Live Long and Prosper

This past week, one of the most recognized actors in our day, Leonard Nimoy, died at age 83.  Most everyone in the United States will remember him primarily for his role as the beloved Mr. Spock in the 1960’s TV series, Star Trek, a series which continues to be shown on TV to this day.  Mr. Spock was known primarily for three characteristics.  1. He lived by logic and reason with little or no emotion.  2. He could render an enemy unconscious with his Vulcan Nerve Pinch.  3. He used the Vulcan Salute accompanied by the words, “Live long and prosper”.

What most do not know is that the Vulcan Salute and the words, “Live long and prosper” originated from Leonard Nimoy’s upbringing in an orthodox Jewish home.  The salute he used in the Star Trek series was created by Nimoy himself from the Jewish Priest’s hand pose as a blessing that he saw over and over as a child.  Numbers 6:24-26 was the blessing which accompanied that sign which Nimoy translated to “Live long and prosper.”  Who knew all of that was Biblical in origin?

Another hand symbolizes the blessings God has given to us as well as Christ followers.  That hand is the nail pierced hands of Jesus Christ because of His death on the cross for our sins.  The ancient text from Psalms 22, especially verse 16, accurately prophesied that Jesus’ hands would be pierced for us, along with His feet.

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.

This piercing of His hands which held His body to the cross provided removal of our sins.  This made it possible for God to give us the greatest blessing we will ever receive, a blessing which truly will cause us to live long and prosper, not only in this life but in the one to come.  That blessing is Jesus Christ uniting Himself to us, bringing us from death to life.  He is our life right now, according to Colossians 3:4.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Jesus Christ in us is our only functional source of life, meaning He is the well from which we are to draw life from so our earthly existence can have true meaning, making it work and then blessing others.

Included in this blessing is eternal life which is something we already possess because we are united to Jesus Christ according to 1 John 5:11-12.

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

And more importantly, because we are united with Jesus Christ, we have a never ending treasure for now and for later.  Jesus Christ in us is our greatest treasure.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7

How can we better enjoy Jesus as our treasure and as our functional source of life for everyday living?  We choose as an act of our will (regardless of our feeler at times)  to proclaim Him  often,  reminding ourselves that Jesus is our one and only true  source for 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 but feel free to pass it on!

Grace-Onomics: God’s Exchange Rate for Shame

In 2002, staff members, Sandy Witherspoon, Dan Ascher and I traveled 24 hours to get half way around the world to Kyrgyzstan so we could teach the New Covenant message to the staff of a large Christian ministry.  While there, we were all shocked at the monetary exchange rate.  For example, $10 US dollars exchanged for about 600 SOMS which would buy an enormous amount of beautiful Kyrgyz goods.

In our world, there is also an exchange rate for an issue called shame.  Shame in this case is not being ashamed of something you did or some sin you committed or the ones committed against you. This kind of shame is more about an inner sense of being defective.  It is the overwhelming thought, “Something’s wrong with me!”  It’s a cousin of guilt, feeling very similar but not quite the same.

For those outside of Christ, there truly is something wrong with them.  Their core self, called the “old self” according to Romans 6:6 is all wrong.  It is an enemy of God and evil through and through.  We can praise God, though, that once a person is placed into Christ through faith in Him, that old self is crucified with Christ and removed permanently.  Then it is replaced with the “new self”, your New Creation identity.

Yet, if we don’t constantly remind ourselves of our identity in Christ, this world we live in can mold even in us shame based messages.  It often comes from thoughts the Accuser places in our minds or from people who criticize by throwing identity statements at us like:  “You’re stupid.”  “You’re crazy.”  “You can’t do anything right…and more.”

Let’s make this practical.  Do you know the central lie you believe about yourself which your shame based identity is wrapped around?   If not, would you stop and ask the Lord to show it to you right now?  Here are a few I’ve heard through the years.

I’m not a very good Christian.

I’m very inadequate and inferior compared to other people.

I must be the best to be important.

I’m too stupid to get my life together.

Once you know what that central lie is about you, then you can let God’s truth replace it with the genuine reality about who you are.    That is you can be renewed – change how you think – about yourself.  Here are some good examples.

Who Am I? (Taken from our Grace Life Conference) 

Matt. 5:13 I am the salt of the earth.

Matt. 5:14 I am the light of the world.

John 15:1, 5 I am part of the true vine, a channel (branch) of His (Christ’s) life.

John 15:15 I am Christ’s friend.

John 15:16 I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit.

Rom. 6:18 I am a slave of righteousness.

Rom. 6:22 I am a slave to God.

I Cor. 3:16; 6:19 I am a temple of God. His Spirit dwells in me.

I Cor. 6:17 I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.

I Cor. 12:27 I am a member of Christ’s body.

II Cor. 5:17 I am a new creation.

II Cor. 5:18.19 I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation.

II Cor. 5:21 I am the righteousness of God in Christ

Gal. 3:26, 28 I am a son of God and one in Christ

Eph. 1:1 I am a saint. (See I Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2)

Eph. 1:4 I am holy and blameless.

God has exchanged your shame-based identity for a grace based identity (Gal. 2:20) (Col. 3-1-4) which is dependent on what Jesus has done instead of what you have done!  Are you tired of your attempts to remove your shame through “try harder religion teachings?”   Spend time this week proclaiming the truth of who you are in Christ, and enjoy resting in the exchange of your shame for God’s grace. 

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!