God Loves Jesus More Than He Loves Us, Right?

If we compare the perfect trust and obedience of Jesus to our own, our immediate conclusion is that God the Father loves Jesus infinitely more than He loves us.  It is difficult to believe it's possible that we are in the same league as Jesus when it comes to who God loves.  I mean, who do many parents tend to love or favor the most, the child who is the most obedient or the child who is disobedient?

Most Christians are unconvinced that our Father loves them apart from their behavior, attitudes etc.  It's easy for them to believe in the deep recesses of their minds that God is keeping score, doling out His love more when they obey and withholding it when they don't.  I was once one of them.  Though I could recite to you the fact that God loved me unconditionally, I still functioned as if I could get God's attention through my obedience so He would love me more.

Jesus turned this thinking on its head when He prayed an amazing prayer for His present disciples and the ones who would come later. It's found in John 17:26 "I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Jesus says that He has made the name of the Father known to these who followed Him while on the earth.  To make known the name of the Father is to reveal Who the Father is, which results in Christ followers knowing how much they are loved. 

Can you receive this today?  Can you receive that our Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus, regardless of your good or bad performance? Jesus prayed for this and I am confident that Father always answers Jesus' prayers.

Here is a prayer of faith I challenge you to pray, even if you don't feel or believe you deserve it.

Father, because Jesus prayed for me that You would love me just as much as You loved Him, I believe that right now.  Please deepen my understanding and experience of Your love for me.    Remind me of this on my good days when life is good and on my bad days when life is bad.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Rest in God's love! 

Warmly in Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

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

Grace Works!

"Grace Works" seems contradictory.  It seems more like an oxymoron than a liberating truth.  It is actually what is called a double entendre, in that, it has two powerful meanings.

First, it means God's grace in Jesus Christ works to be the true source of change in us.  Self-effort rarely brings permanent change in anyone's life.  The flesh is the source of self-effort.  The flesh includes all of the strategies I have learned to try to cope with life apart from dependence on Christ in me.  The flesh is also distinct and unique for every person.

For example, you may have learned to use self-confidence to impress people so you can feel important.  That's a fleshly strategy.  Someone else may have learned to people-please, so that they agree with anything another says to them as an attempt to avoid rejection and elicit some type of twisted acceptance.  That is also a fleshly strategy.

Grace works to free us from those kinds of strategies so that our only strategy is Christ in us.  Often, the way God accomplishes this is not by delivering us from our situation, but by delivering us from ourselves! That is, our reliance on our flesh!  As this happens, our enjoyment of Christ in us and who we are in Him transforms us from glory to glory.  That is one way "Grace Works".

Grace works in a different way, also.  As we rely on Jesus in us more and more, the Holy Spirit brings forth good works through us.  Those works are not the religious works of the flesh but the relational works birthed by grace.

For example, because you are a Saint (Ephesians 1:2) which means a holy one, doesn't it make sense that you would want to live a holy life instead of a sinful one?  Since you are righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21) in your identity in Christ, doesn't it make sense that you would want to live a righteous life instead of an unrighteous one?  Since you are a child of God (John 1:12), doesn't it make sense that you would live a life of love, just like your Heavenly Dad, instead of a self-centered one?

I believe you agree that the answer is "Yes," and the power to live like who we are is found in the Holy Spirit filling us with the life of Christ, so He can live through us.  (Ephesians 5:18)

For many, many years, I prayed to be a Godly man.  I worked hard at doing the right actions and works that I thought would make me a Godly man.  It was intense and I was inebriated with the wine of self-righteousness.  One day, after I began to understand the New Covenant, I was riding alone in my car and heard the Lord speak to me deep inside.  He said, "Mark, you are already a Godly man, so you can stop trying to be one."  It was a liberating moment when I realized, that I was already a Godly man in my identity in Christ.  What a relief!  I could finally relax.  The results?  I stopped working to be one and began to live the good works of who I already was...a Godly man.

Rest in God's grace this week which works!

Warmly in Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

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

When Your Problem Is Not The Problem

"My husband doesn't show me love,  and I feel so hurt."  "My wife is always telling me what to do, and I feel so angry."  "Why won't God answer my prayer and bring me a spouse?"  "I so often feel defeated and worthless."  

These are the legitimate problems Christians face every day along with many more.  We see these brothers and sisters at our conferences and in our counseling.  If you relate to any of those statements or have other struggles such as pornography, addiction, or a negative self-image, you are not alone.  All Christians struggle with something, and I mean ALL.  No one escapes because Jesus said, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows" (John 16:33 NLT).

I hope what I am going to share next will give you some hope and encouragement.  Very often your problem is not the problem.  It doesn't mean that the problem is not real or painful.  It often is, but there can be much more at play. Jesus gives us a little clue about this when He continues in that same verse by saying, "But take heart, because I have overcome the world."   What does that mean?

Our Father is jealous for His Son, Jesus, to be the center and source of each of our lives.  He will not allow anything or anyone else to take Jesus' rightful place in our lives.  He loves us too much to allow us to have an idol, because it is damaging to us.  An idol can be something we are relying on to do for us what only Jesus can do. 

 Most of the time it's an attempt to get our "LAWS" needs met, meaning Love, Acceptance, Worth and Security.  It's enjoyable if others meet those needs in addition to Jesus, but as Sandy Witherspoon, our Director of Training says, "Jesus is the cake, and people are the icing."  Yet we easily get those confused.

Because Father is jealous for His Son in us to be revealed to us, He will allow our strategies for trying to make life work, run their course and either fail or fail to meet our needs.  Is it beginning to make sense that your problem is not necessarily the problem?

Father's goal is for us to learn to live by faith in Christ in us, rather than just the fact that Christ is in us.  I believe that is what the prayer in Ephesians 3 means. Paul leads us to pray that we would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith (not just fact).  Most Christians are confident Christ is in them, but they don't realize that their problems are God's messengers to allow them to know how to live by faith in Christ in them.

So how do we deal with our problems when life seems so hard?  The best thing any of us can do is tell God He can do anything He wants, to us, for us, and in us to give us a deeper revelation of Christ in us as our All in All.  And continue by affirming to Him that we believe that we have been crucified, buried and raised with Christ, such that He is not only our Savior and Lord but also our Life.

If you are struggling today, would you stop and pray just that?

Warmly in Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

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

How the Resurrection Buried My Doubts

At age 19, I experienced a great deal of doubt as to whether the whole Christianity thing I had been taught since childhood was actually true. I wondered what made it any different than all of the other religions of the world. I read many different opinions about it but none of them satisfied my ongoing doubts.  Then I happened upon the writings of historians and others who lived during the same time period of Jesus Christ. What got my attention was their references to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a historical fact.  I had read about Jesus' resurrection in the Bible but that could been something someone wrote to make a fascinating fairytale. But now I was faced with historians who were not Christians writing about the resurrection of Jesus as fact, not mythology.  I finally realized I had a choice. Believe that Jesus Christ was who he claimed to be, the Son of God and Savior of all who believe in Him, or deny that and turn from the undeniable facts. I chose to believe and it changed the course of not only my life, but the lives of thousands of others whom I have had the privilege to help. So today, on this Easter Sunday, I revel in the transformative power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Will You Follow The God-sized Opportunity Before You?

There are a few times in our lives when our great God places an opportunity before us which is so God-sized, it takes complete trust in Him to believe He will accomplish it. This can only happen if we will follow His lead. I am writing this week to ask you to do just that here at GLI.

At GLI, we find ourselves in a very similar position today.  Our amazing God has placed an opportunity before us to reach out globally 24/7. When it's beyond your ability and He's leading you to do it, that makes it God-sized.  

Nine months ago, we were approached by the President of Wildfire Marketing, Rob Eagar, who challenged us to take GLI to a whole new level of ministry.  The Board of Directors and the Directors of Ministry were very excited and saw the great potential. After praying, it was decided it wasn't the right time, until Rob approached us again with an even better ministry tool.

The ministry tool is an amazing digital marketing plan which will include a state-of-the art website, new branding and the potential to make GLI one of the leading voices of the New Covenant today 24/7.  It will provide a weekly digital newsletter/magazine, free teaching resources, inexpensive e-books, audios, videos, webinars and more.  These will all be focused on the New Covenant and how to live it in a practical way in everyday life.

To take this step of faith, we need pledges for the $25,000 needed to hire Rob and his highly sought after team no later than this Monday, March 28, the day after Easter.  Why so quickly? Rob is in demand but is holding this spot because he is so passionate about the grace message and how it changed his life.   We already have $7250 and with a 5% discount from Rob,  we only need $16,500.

One person who already donated wrote this: "Richard and I would like to give toward this campaign in the amount of $500. As a millennial, I recognize the importance of making these changes and how they will allow GLI to have a greater impact in today's culture.  I'm excited to see how God will use these changes to continue to grow this powerful ministry.  I hope others feel the same."  Iris

If this ministry has impacted your life and others you know, I challenge you to stretch your faith and give towards the God-sized opportunity just as my wife and I are doing.  You can give in two ways:  Immediately or by pledge.

1. Give immediately online CLICK HERE TO DONATE or by mailing a check.   Or send your check to Grace Life International 1337 Hundred Oaks Dr. EE Charlotte, NC 28217.  All gifts are tax-deductible and are exclusively for this ministry project.)  
2. Make a pledge of the amount you want to give and send it in later.

I look forward to reaching, what we estimate will eventually be, up to 10,000 people per month with this ministry tool!  

By His Grace and for His Glory,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

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

How Many “Jesus Points” Do You Have Today?

If you smoke marijuana, you get -3 Jesus points.   If you read your Bible, you get +1 Jesus point.  If you spend time in prayer, you get another +1 Jesus point.  If you say a cuss word, you get –1 Jesus point. If you share the Gospel with someone, you get +2 Jesus points.  If you attend church you get +3 Jesus points.  To get a girlfriend, you have to have at least +6 Jesus points.  To get into heaven, you have to have +7 Jesus points.  So, you may have to choose between going to heaven and getting a girlfriend depending on how many Jesus points you have.

This is the hilarious offbeat humor my son, Andrew, and his buddies would kid each other about during their many summers as Christian camp counselors.  Of course, it was all in good fun.

Yet, each week behind the smiles and “I’m fine” automatic responses of many Christians, the idea of earning “Jesus points” is no laughing matter.  I doubt most are aware of this underlying belief because it’s a system of thinking that has infiltrated every one of us.  We inherited it from Adam, whose mind was negatively reprogrammed with it when he ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

It was a real tree which represented one of two ways to live in a relationship with God.  The second and and optimum way to live was to be found in the Tree of Life.  The first tree was all about adding up our +’s and –‘s to determine our acceptance before God. (Genesis 2:9)  This is living with a “law mentality”.  The second tree was also a real tree which represented living from the life Christ in us in delightful intimacy, which was to spill over as unconditional love with other people.  This is living with a “grace mentality”.

Unfortunately, the “law mentality” doesn’t automatically leave us when we become Christ followers.  I wish it  did. Don’t you?  This is why Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23 exhort us to reprogram our minds with grace and truth from an understanding of the “full” Gospel taught in the preceding chapters of each letter.  This is what God does to transform us more and more!

Why is it so easy for us to say to a young child who does something good that they are a good boy or good girl?  Why is it so easy to default to believing that God loves us less when we sin?  Why is it so easy to jump to the conclusion that God is mad at us because bad things are happening? It’s because of the “law mentality”.  Living from a grace mentality thinks and lives the opposite way.

When I asked a 13 year old girl if her dad, a pastor, was any different since he’s learned the grace message in our ADT, she said with a smile. “Oh yes!  It’s like he won the lottery.  He’s so happy now!”

When our family notices we are different, that’s the “grace mentality” of Christ in us!  

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!

Jesus Can Heal Your Grief and Sadness

Grief is about loss.  We most often think of grief being about those who lose someone in death.  That is certainly a great grief but there are many other losses we may grieve about. When our daughter was born with Down syndrome 24 years ago, my wife and I grieved deeply that we had "lost" a healthy child.  Others grieve over the loss of their own health, the health of someone close, a reversal in their financial situation, the heartbreak of a wayward child (at any age), experiencing a divorce, betrayal and much, much more.

Most of us have heard appropriately that there are stages in grief that a person often experiences.  These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  Yet, the deep sadness of loss may go on long after.

There is a somewhat surprising Scripture regarding our griefs and sorrows. It describes something Jesus did on the cross for us.  Isaiah 53:4a says, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.  The Hebrew meanings of griefs and sorrows are just what they say.  They are connected to the sufferings we experience in this world.  The verse says Jesus has already borne our griefs and sorrows.  If Jesus has already borne these for the believer, then how can we experience this in real life.

I was discussing this with our Director of Counseling, Tom Short, recently and he was sharing what God was showing him about people's griefs and sorrows.  In a time of prayer, he asks the Lord to show this person their emotional pain. As the Lord takes them to the event(s) surrounding any grief or sorrow, he instructs the person to speak out loud the deep sadness that he/she is feeling about that deep loss. Once they have, he asks the person to give all of that grief, pain and sorrow to the Lord and to let Him take it away.  He and the counselee stay in this time of prayer until God replaces those with relief and peace.  In fact, Tom and his wife spent some time praying through some grief in her life several months ago and God used it to heal her physically.

This may not be the only way we experience God's comfort during grief, but it is helping many, including me.  Before I even knew Tom was using this in his counseling, I recently spent some time talking to the Lord, asking Him to show me my places of grief and sorrow.  Much of it had to do with my daughter's present and long lasting illness.  I told the Lord all about it.  Then, I gave it to Him based on Isaiah 53:4 quoted above.  Little by little, I sensed the burden of a lot of it lifting from me.  I'm asking Jesus to show me if there is more.  I hope you too, by faith, will ask God to show you your losses, that you may not have thought about. Then tell him how you feel about each one and spend time giving them to Him until you sense His peace.

If you realize now that you are stuck in grief and would like someone to talk to, who can lovingly help you give your griefs and sorrows to the Lord, please contact us at 704-522-9026.  

Warmly in Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

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