Quotes of encouragement

StriperAddict

Senior Member
20221008_125349.jpg20221008_125349.jpg
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
The law of liberty in Christ is often overshadowed by the law of trying harder,
And harder,
And harder ... to attain something the body of Christ already has: eternal life!

And when all that trying beats ya down you get told to come and rededicate and redouble your efforts to ...
Try again!
Ugh!


Grace is not that exhausting, especially since it's a finished work. Rejoice!
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
I suspect that for RALPHHARRIS. ORG "to be good" might be impossible of an individual, but I don't know.
Note in the post, the part about the (false) need for "moral measurements and estimates to determine spiritual authenticity devotion and progress". This self-righteous, self-sufficient stance is what makes shipwreck of many a believer's faith. Superficial religious good works will look good on the surface, but Jesus himself said, apart from me ye can do nothing.
Both the poster Ralph Harris and the Apostle Paul make it clear that Joy comes with believing.

Horse first then cart, Vine then branches, the Spirit produces the fruit, and then we joyfully get to reflect Christ. We enjoy our relational sufficiency in Christ which is NOT of ourselves, and the fruit flows from the relationship. These are the works of the Spirit Christ produces in and thru us.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound and be overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That's not complicated, just pure Holy Spirit encouragement.

(Emphasis mine)
 
Last edited:

jwf2506

Senior Member
The law of liberty in Christ is often overshadowed by the law of trying harder,
And harder,
And harder ... to attain something the body of Christ already has: eternal life!

And when all that trying beats ya down you get told to come and rededicate and redouble your efforts to ...
Try again!
Ugh!


Grace is not that exhausting, especially since it's a finished work. Rejoice!

What's so great is that "Grace" did not start when Yeshua came on the scene it was long before because Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh, Genesis 6:8
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
Certainly. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. By grace thru faith has always been Father's means to fellowship with Him.
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
“I’ve decided if I had my life to live over again, I would not only climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. . . . I would not only go barefoot earlier in the spring and stay out later in the fall; but I would devote not one more minute to monitoring my spiritual growth. . . . What would I actually do if I had it to do all over again? . . . I would simply do the next thing in love.”

—Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
Run John run, the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings.

- John Bunyan
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
There's a big difference between knowing what something says and knowing what it means. Millions of Christians know what the Bible says. But many do not know what it means because that can only be revealed by the Spirit. Man's pride rebels against the idea that he cannot understand spiritual truth on his own.

We need the Holy Spirit to open our minds to the things having to do with the unfathomable riches of His love and grace, those things that "God has freely given us." Those truths are described in 1 Corinthians 2:9 this way: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."

In order to understand the things that God wants to teach us regarding His grace, we must have a humble, teachable attitude, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Just as the same sun that melts wax hardens clay, the same message of God's grace that softens the heart of the humble hardens the proud. The proud cannot receive grace because the proud will not receive grace. The offer of grace is offensive to the proud heart. That is why an uneducated but humble person will receive far more genuine and intimate knowledge of God Himself than a highly educated but arrogant theologian.

When we humbly and dependently allow the Spirit to teach us, we will know the truth. When we are so busy doing spiritual activities that we cannot hear what the Spirit is saying, then we become candidates for falling into error. That was my problem. I was so busy with spiritual activities - good things - that I didn't realize that error had crept into my thinking. I needed to be still and listen to the Spirit. I needed to go back to the Word with an open heart and hear what God was saying.

That's when I discovered the incredible liberty that we have as Christians. We have been set free to enjoy life in all its fullness! That freedom provides us with the means to become what we really want to be holy people with hearts for God. In our own power, we can never make it. All of our human efforts ultimately end in frustration.

From FB,
THE TRUTH ABOUT ERROR
By: Bob George
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
You are Free

What happened at the cross gives us freedom from sin, freedom from guilt, and freedom from condemnation.

Since we have died to the law, died to the worldly idea of moralistic behavior as the way to righteousness, sin no longer governs us. We are free to behave in godly ways, just as the grace of God teaches us, from the heart. We are free to do as we please, and doing good, walking by faith, and walking in love pleases us—much more than we usually think it will.

At the cross, Jesus died and then He rose again for our justification. Being justified fully by His blood, the giving of His life, our record of sin has been expunged. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself, not counting our sins against us. Justification removed our sins completely and God has chosen to forget about them eternally. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) Since our record is spotless, there is no basis for guilt.

Jesus rose from the dead never to die again. We were raised with Him and, like Him, we are never to die again. We have passed from death to life and therefore there is no condemnation for us. Because we were crucified, dead, and buried with Him our old sinful, guilty and condemned self has been recreated and reborn by the Spirit of God. We've been placed into Christ; sealed there by the Holy Spirit. We've been made one spirit with Him. Condemnation has no relationship to such as we.

Live each day from the truth of this. You may be surprised at how He is changing you.

Grace and peace to you.
Larry

LarryEiss.com
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
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StriperAddict

Senior Member
The devils masterpiece is the Pharisee, and not the prostitute..

Truth.. There is no Pharisee in the genealogy of Jesus, but there is a prostitute !! Matthew 1:5 Rahab
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
The wrong one will find you in peace
and leave you in pieces.
The right One will find you in pieces
and lead you to peace.


Ps 23:5b The Message

You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
 

StriperAddict

Senior Member
Good morning! Here's a bit of refreshment to enjoy.
--------------------------------------------------------

A big error I see believers making, and I've done it also.
Making a super big deal of God's grace like it is a gumball machine. Put our quarter of faith in and turn the knob and get all the goodies we want. Or sugary sweet motivational self talk.
In spite of what I just said, I think grace is a huge deal. And one I won't stop emphasizing.

But where is grace found? In Christ. Indeed He is full of grace. But He is also full of truth.

Grace doesn't need to be balanced with truth, but needs to be explained and understood according to truth.
The truth is grace does NOT force eternal life on everyone. You must choose for yourself. Jesus is a gentleman. Pride says that God owes people eternal life, humbleness says thank you for life that I don't deserve.

Grace doesn't mean God only has super neat feelings towards us all the time and great opinions about our actions. It's possible for us to grieve God. He is concerned about our well being, and He is not insensitive to us harming ourselves with error and hurting others with our words and actions. When we are trapped in a sin, or refuse to listen to His guidance, He is bothered by it because He didn't design us for that. He has much greater and good things for us.

Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and live upright lives. The truth? Apart from His instruction and empowerment we don't know how and to what to say no.

Grace is sufficient strengthening. The truth? We are weak, but we often pretend we are strong on our own. The truth? We are instructed to be strong in the Lord and the power of His strength. When we mess up? The truth is grace is super abounding. The supply never ends.

The truth is we need the grace of God through Christ. But the truth is also that we need truth so that our minds can be renewed and our thinking and attitudes may be transformed to comport with the will of God.

The truth is that we should be honest about weaknesses and ask God for counsel and wisdom and strengthening.

The truth is, grace only works in an environment of humbleness, which takes more truth about who we were, who Christ has made us, and who God really is, and what He has done on our behalf that we never could achieve for ourselves.

This isn't so we can beat ourselves up over our former ignorant ways, but so that we may be joyful in what we have received.
Just know this, in receiving Christ, we have received grace upon grace, but also the fullness of truth. Our wonderful journey is to let Him teach us all about it so that we may become well developed mature saints.


From FB contributor

David Rogers

 

StriperAddict

Senior Member

Great "couple/marriage" questions ...

=====================​

Almost every day, sometimes before we get out of bed, Doug asks me, "How can I love you today?"

First, I should confess...life hasn't always been this way. Both of us lived successful careers in chaotic relationships that tried to connect on achievement and getting things done, but we discovered that didn't work very well.

Now, we're on a never-ending journey to discover what it really means to love one another and to be loved by one another.

When Doug asks me, "How can I love you today?" he means -
❤️
How can I remind you that there's nothing at stake today, Janet?
❤️
How can I give you permission to feel all the feels but not get stuck in any of them, especially if the day ahead is looking pretty challenging?
❤️
How can I remind you that I really see you? and I really know who you are, especially if today includes tasks to complete that seem out of your comfort zone?
❤️
How can I remind you before and after you fail that you are not a failure?
❤️
How can I connect with you so that you won't have a doubt that I notice you and I'm proud of you?

Parents, we can ask this question of our children in the mornings. We can teach them what it means.

We can ask this of our friends.

We can make this a habit in our marriages.

So often we experience each other as if "love one another" was a typo and what Jesus really meant was "law one another."
But He didn't.

It's not a typo. Living loved is so different from living afraid. Together, there is great hope.
----------------------------------------------
From:

Janet Newberry & Doug Newberry.​

January 26, 2023 ·

#storywork #practices #mentalhealth #healing #lifecoaching #christianliving #Kingdom #mindset #perspective #love #thecuratedlife #wellness #BeingKnown #journaling #writeyourstory
 
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