EXPRESSING HIS LIFE

"We don't fully understand how much we are loved by Him. It is only when we understand that our lovableness isn't because of our performance but because of Christ in us that we will FEEL the love of God for us. God doesn't love you IN SPITE OF you. He loves you BECAUSE OF JESUS and what He has done IN you by making you a new creation. You are no longer unlovable! Christians will never be able to effectively express God's love to others until we have embraced His love for us. We must see ourselves as citizens of GRACE LAND, and that we are dearly loved by Him.

John Eagen said, 'Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God's love for you and his choice of you constitute worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life . . . The basis of my personal worth is not my possessions, my talents, not esteem of others, reputation . . . not kudos of appreciation from parents and kids, not applause, and everyone telling you how important you are to the place . . . I stand anchored now in God before whom I stand naked, this God who tells me, YOU ARE MY SON, MY BELOVED ONE!'"

from GRACE LAND by Dr. Steve McVey HARVEST HOUSE

HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?

"God's intended pattern for our lives is displayed throughout the Bible. He wants to be the SOURCE of all our behavior. His desire is that we live by His life, depending totally on Him to enable us to be all that He has called us to be and to do all that He has called us to do. God delights in our dependence upon Him.

To understand that we don't need to struggle to live a godly lifestyle -- but can simply trust Jesus Christ to be Himself in and through us -- takes tremendous pressure off those of us who have been struggling under the burden of religious rules. Grace means that God does it all!" --
from GRACE LAND -- Dr. Steve McVey

"Grace means that in the middle of our struggle the referee blows the whistle and announces the end of the game. We are declared winners and sent to the showers. It's over for all huffing, puffing, piety to earn God's favor; it's finished for all sweat-soaked straining to secure self-worth; it's the end of all competitive scrambling to get ahead of others in the game. Grace means that God is on our side and thus we are victors regardless of how well we played the game. We might as well head for the showers and head for the celebrations." -- Donald McCullough

What a beautiful picture of God's grace as we celebrate this Lord's today, February 27, 2005. ENJOY HIM TODAY! Celebrate His amazing grace in your life as you worship today.

DON'T ASK FOR WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE?

I continue to learn so much about the principles of living victoriously in a fallen world. I am having to re-learn concepts that I have engrained in me since my early days of being saved.

I have often found myself praying for victory in my life -- victory over a bad habit -- victory over sin. I spent time praying for victory or trying to find the right thing to add to my list of disciplines that would help me develop victorious living. I need to re-program my thinking because the victory is already there!

Author and Bible teacher, Dr. Steve McVey in is his book GRACE LAND reminds us that "victory in any area of life doesn't come to the believer by finding the right method. Rather, victory has ALREADY BEEN GIVEN TO US in the person of Jesus Christ (see Romans 8:37; I Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14). We experience victory in life as we understand that when Christ gave us HIS life, we gained victory as we appropriate by faith that CHRIST is our life and trust HIM to animate our actions (see I John 5:4). What a liberating day to discover that it isn't necessary to STRUGGLE to get to the place of victory."

Watchman Nee said, "Think of the bewilderment of trying to get into a room in which you already are! Think of the absurdity of asking to be put in! If we recognize the fact that we ARE in, we make no effort to enter."

"The bottom line is that because we are believers in Christ, we are CONTINUALLY in the place of victory! As Christians we aren't fighting FOR victory, but FROM victory." from GRACE LAND by Dr. Steve McVey Rejoice in the victory that you have IN CHRIST today, my friend.

PRIORITIES

Life sometimes gets out-of-control, doesn't it? Ever find yourself feeling like you are on a treadmill or merry-go-round and just can't get off? Do you find yourself frustrated with too much too do and too little time?

I find that too often my priorities are mixed up. When I am the most stressed or fatigued, those are the times that my priorities get out of whack. We tend to lose our focus, and if we aren't careful, this is when we can get trapped in areas of life-dominating sin. For me -- this is when I have the greatest struggle with wanting to eat!

As I continue to learn about what it means to live a victorious Christian life, I need to remind myself that apart from Christ living HIS life through me, it will be impossible to live the Christian life. We can fall into the trap of trying to put Christ on our priority list -- you've probably done the same as me: Christ first, family second, work/ministry third. But that isn't the way it works. HE WANTS TO BE OUR LIFE!

As Bible Teacher Steve McVey reminds us "For the Christian there is no number two. Jesus Christ will not be denigrated by being on anybody's list. He IS the whole list because He is our whole Life. For the Christian there is no life apart from Jesus. For us to live IS Christ (Acts 17:28; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:24). Jesus didn't come to take a place in our lives, even first place. He came to BECOME our life. He is number one, number two, and number three! He's the whole list, the source of everything." -- from GRACE LAND by Steve McVey

Oswald Chambers said "Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, 'In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but
You."

FLESH & VICTORY

"Flesh will always be flesh. Flesh won't improve through Christian maturity, spiritual warfare, or anything else. The only remedy for flesh is walking in the Spirit. I have found that when I rest in Christ's sufficiency, I experience victory; and when I don't, I experience defeat. It's that simple. Flesh will always respond to the law of sin and death. But abiding in Christ causes us to experience the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, enabling us to soar above the temptations of the flesh.

We experience victory in the Christian life as we receive God's gift in faith. It might seem logical that victory would come by a fight, but fighting for victory is the surest way to experience defeat. God has determined to give it to those who will receive it by faith in His Son."

Steve McVey in his book, GRACE WALK, quotes Charles Trumbull, a popular Bible teacher in the early days of the Keswick movement . . . "The great truths that so many earnest, surrendered Christians have even yet failed to see is that salvation is a two-fold gift; freedom from the PENALTY of sin, and freedom from the POWER of sin. All Christians have received in Christ as their Savior their freedom from the penalty of their sins, and they have received this as an outright gift from God. But many Christians have not yet realized that they may, in the same way, and by the same kind of faith in the same God and Savior, receive now and here the freedom from the power of their sins which was won for them by their Savior on the cross and in His resurrection victory. Even though they know clearly that their own efforts have nothing to do with their salvation from the PENALTY of their sins, they are yet deceived by the Adversary into believing that somehow their own efforts must play a part in their present victory over the POWER of their sins. OUR EFFORTS CAN NOT ONLY NEVER PLAY A PART IN OUR VICTORY OVER THE POWER OF SIN, BUT THEY CAN AND DO EFFECTUALLY PREVENT SUCH A VICTORY. . . We are to use our will to accept the gift of victory; we are not to make an effort to win the victory!"

God doesn't intend for us to struggle FOR the victory. As we rest in Him, we ENJOY the victory of His life. It is impossible to struggle and rest at the same time."

God words to contemplate this morning. Are you struggling today to WIN a victory that has already been won for you at the cross?

The book GRACE WALK can be ordered from the Keswick Bookstore. You can order by contacting DeEtta Marsh @ dmarsh@americaskeswsick.org or by calling the KESWICK BOOKSTORE at 732-350-1187 ext 16.

STINKY FLESH -- PART 2

"There may have been created within you a genuine desire to serve God, out of a sincere sense of gratitude to Christ for dying for you; you may be impelled out of a sense of duty as a Christian, to seek conformity to some pattern of behavior that has been imposed upon you as the norm for Christian living; you may be deeply moved by the need of others around you, and holy ambitions may have been stirred within your heart, to count for God; all that has happened is that your sins have been forgiven, because you have accepted Christ as the Savior who died for you, leaving you since your conversion only with those resources which you had BEFORE your conversion, then you will have to alternative but to 'Christianize' the flesh and try to teach it to 'behave' in such a way that it will be godly.

That is a sheer impossibility! The nature of the flesh never changes. No matter how you may coerce it or conform it, it is rotten through and through, even with a Bible under its arm, a check for missions in its hand, and an evangelical look on its face!

Any person whose Christian life is centered on service is doomed to a life of frustration . . . Sooner or later, a person whose life revolves around service will experience burn out. And what a wonderful realization when that day comes -- the realization that human energy and efforts CAN but out, but that THE LIFE OF CHRIST WILL NEVER BURN OUT!

Christian service which doesn't overflow from our walk with Christ is nothing but flesh. God cannot receive glory from flesh, regardless of how dedicated it might be." from GRACE WALK ... What You've Always Wanted in the Christian Life by Steve McVey -- Copies are available for
purchase in the KESWICK BOOKSTORE. Call 800-453-7942 or write to DeEtta
Marsh @ dmarsh@americaskeswick.org.

STINKY FLESH Part I

"The victorious Christian life is nothing less than the life of Christ expressed through the child of God. Any behavior which is not dependent of Him living His life through us comes from the flesh. That suggests that it is even possible to be busy doing things FOR God while our actions still stem from the energy of the flesh. THE EXCHANGED LIFE MEANS WE DEPEND ON HIS RESOURCES, NOT OUR OWN. FLESH LIFE MEANS DEPENDING ON WHAT I CAN DO.

Major Ian Thomas says . . . 'There is nothing quite so nauseating or pathetic as flesh trying to be holy! The flesh has a perverted bent for righteousness -- but such righteousness as it may achieve is always self-righteousness; and self-righteousness is always self-conscious righteousness; and self-conscious righteousness is always full of self-praise. This produces the extrovert, who must always be noticed, recognized, consulted, and applauded. On the other hand, when the flesh is in pursuit of self-righteousness fails, instead of being filled with
self-praise, it is filled with self-pity, and this produces the introvert. A professional "case" for professional counselors.'

Trying to do something FOR God is a flesh trip. It is possible to be sincere in trying to do something Him, yet be sincerely wrong. Religious flesh is often a hard pattern for a person to recognize because it is usually applauded by other Christians. Religious service may cause you
to be pleased with yourself. Or it may leave you feeling spiritually or emotionally drained. If you find yourself in either place, God may be trying to show you the problem. Many Christians today are exhausted because they understand the Christian life to be primarily a life of
service for God. But that isn't true. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PRIMARILY A LIFE OF INTIMACY WITH GOD."

from Steve McVey's book . . . GRACE WALK . . . What You've Always Wanted in the Christian Life

LAW OR GRACE?

"Grace means that God does something for me; law means that I do something for God. God has certain holy and righteous demands which He places upon me: that is law. Now if law means that God requires something of me for their fulfillment, then deliverance from law means that He no longer requires that from me, but HIMSELF provides it. Law implies that God requires me to do something for Him; deliverance from law implies that He exempts me from doing it, and that in grace He does it Himself. I NEED DO NOTHING FOR GOD; that is deliverance from the law." -- Watchman Nee

Bible Teacher, Steve McVey reminds us "what a relief to discover that God isn't interested in WHAT we can do for Him. He can do anything that He needs done! He doesn't want what we can do -- He just wants us! When Christ is allowed to express His life through us, it will be a ministry of supernatural life, not religious routine which leaves us frustrated and unfulfilled. The core of the Christian life doesn't revolve around DOING, but is grounded in BEING. The Christian life is the life of Christ. Our focus is a person, not a performance of religious activities.

Satan knows the best way to defeat Christians is to make them believe that obeying the law is the pathway to victory. It is impossible for YOU to fulfill the law. If you really want to live a godly lifestyle, the focus of your life must be HIM. Not church, not religious activity, not
a moral lifestyle, not obeying His commands. JUST HIM! The only one who can live the Christ-life is Christ."

from GRACE WALK ... WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Good words to ponder on this President's Day -- 2005