grace – Page 28 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: July 3, 2012

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“I am God, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely.” Leviticus 26:13 (MSG)

God identifies with us and calls us His own. In order for us to experience the blessings of communion, there had to be a divine rescue. The attachments of old held us as slaves to another. It was our condition and geographical location. We were in our Egypt and joined to the culture of Egypt. What where once were was so much a part of us that our objective was to further conform to what we were able to see. But God’s love sought us out and reminded us that we were in a place that we did not belong. The dissatisfaction within our souls not to settle was His mercy and grace reaching down to the lowest parts in order to lift us up above the slavery of Egypt. Then He ripped the harness off our necks enabling us to move about freely. Now that we have been set free after having been given the will to be free, let us not return to the house of bondage. We are now free to worship and free to serve God with our whole heart, soul, and strength. We have been freed that we may move freely.

29 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: June 29, 2012

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“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” Philippians 1:12

The trials of the Apostle Paul was sent to destroy him on the part of the enemy, but allowed to prove him on the part of God. Faith is not a mere idea of the mind, but a disposition of the heart. It is able to withstand the onslaught of challenges that would otherwise wear one down. When we are tried and pass the test, on the other side of that victory is a special grace useful in the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can then all the more identify with the price He paid by enduring much more than we could ever face in this life. There is a message preached by some who are void of experience that may stir the emotions and impress its hearers. But there is another message deeply rooted in experiences aligned with the sufferings of Christ. That message is able to make a deep impact upon its hearers because they not only hear it but see it. We live our message much louder than we speak it. There were things Paul wanted them to know. He wanted them to know that things that happen are not isolated incidences. Everything serves a purpose in the overall plan of God. He uses it all as a means of building within us a message that can reach and transform the hearts of others if we are totally committed to His purpose.

09 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: June 9, 2012

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“It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb.” 1 Peter 1:18-19 (MSG)

The grace of God has been freely given to us but it is not cheap. Love requires sacrifice. And the more we love the greater the sacrifice. Since God is able to see the depth of our sinful state, only He would be able to convey to us what we needed in order to be set free. The naïve may think that a moderate adjustment is sufficient to stop the free-fall to destruction. But who independent of God is able to know the affect of even apparent innocent acts upon the character? This is the environment in which all were raised. No one knows any other life than this. But God knew of our need for help. And He supplied it before we had the sense to desire it. Jesus Christ, God’s Son redeemed us with His blood while we were yet sinners. Now all must apply what has been appropriated for us if any is ever to benefit from such great a sacrifice.

06 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: June 6, 2012

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“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Ephesians 4:7

The Lord has dispensed to each member of the Body of Christ a measure of grace. We have been enabled to function as a whole but yet dependent on every part doing its share. It is from the wholeness of the Body of Christ the witness of Jesus is made known to the world. A fragment may have an effect to a degree, but the full effect can only be experienced when we come together as a whole. Coming together and sharing together as one is the prayer of Jesus Christ. The enemy’s attempts to divide the Body may have delayed the witness but can never destroy the witness. There will be a people equipped for service with understanding of the times, and a clearer knowledge of purpose in the last days. They will not hoard their gifts as exclusive to their party, but see the whole as being greater than the sum of all its parts. It is through the synergized efforts of the Church that the world will know that Christ has come down from the Father. Then the love of God can be shed abroad in our hearts by way of the Holy Spirit impacting the world in areas where the need is the greatest.

04 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: June 4, 2012

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“For He says, In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation, I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; and behold now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

When the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard, the day of salvation and the accepted time of deliverance come. Eternity is interjected into time in order to produce within the soul what would otherwise be impossible. It may appear to be so simple and often is taken for granted and generalized among many other statements that are made when not fully understood. But something more dynamic has happened, but its entrance is so subtle that those seeking the spectacular will often miss it. The grace to become what the Lord has promised is introduced through such simple words as these. They prepare the heart and soul to be with Christ and to reign with Him throughout eternity. We have been given the assignment and the authority to deliver salvation to a dying world. As the Holy Spirit so directs us, we can speak His Word with power and at that very moment a life-changing experience occurs among the hearers. We cannot afford to be silent. God will use somebody. Why not us?

01 Jun 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: June 1, 2012

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“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” Luke 12:48

God expects a return on His investments. The gifts of God are given to each person in order for all to profit as result of His distributions. It is not based on what most would consider as the criteria for God’s judgments. God is not equal in His judgments, but He is equitable. Grace is freely given, but God determines who will receive what is being distributed. Yet we may covet what we deem as necessary, but it must only be for the advancement of His kingdom and not our own. When our hearts yearn to do more for God and we feel powerless to fully participate with Him in what He wills to do, it is in order to seek Him for the empowering gifts that would further qualify us. Yet in our earnestness to receive, it does not obligate Him to any measure to give us what we consider to be necessary. He will give us what He knows is best for ourselves as well as others. But the warning is not to frustrate the grace of God. What God gives must be used as He wills for it to be used. God requires faithfulness of His servants. Only then are they obedient and not wicked.

13 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

April 2012 Article: “The Mind and Body”

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Articles

Grandiose ideas, however tall, are unfulfilled among a people who lack the means of fully expressing them. How many dreams are frustrated due to visionaries abandoning the cause? The future generation inherited the mantle and received the call by God to guarantee a continuum of progress. However, somebody dropped the ball for a distraction, leaving their children with the task of having to decide what they believe is best.

The origin of the dream has roots that extend deeper than a few preceding generations. It was the original idea of God for mankind. He allows some to get a glimpse of what He knows in this present age placing them in the category of revolutionaries. Although the zeal for righteousness burns deep within their souls, if there are no bodies to act upon their words, theirs would become a dream deferred for another time.

God so loved His creation of man as to view him as the extension of His own thoughts and ideas. He gave Adam the ability to name every animal He created by a scientific description. Thus man was to rule over His creation, giving further expression of God’s thoughts. But when the body refuses to cooperate with the Mind, disorder and confusion result. Man was intended to be the embodiment of the thoughts of God. Love is not love without a means of expression. First, He loved His only Begotten Son. Then, His love was extended to man and through man, thus providing proper order among all things made. Yet the rebellion and dysfunction of the body inhibits the flow of the original intent of the mind. The generation that rebels against God is a mindless generation.The wild man of Gadera in the Scriptures was unclothed and violent dwelt among the tombs. No man could control him as he caused harm to himself. Even though his body was out of control, he saw God’s order through His Son, Jesus Christ and he immediately worshiped Him.

Jesus asked him a profound question; “What’s your name?” There was a dream buried beneath the disorder of the wild man. There is a purpose for each life rooted in the origin of every creature. Man has lost his vision and cannot fulfill the ancient dreams of the past because he has taken on too many identities. The demons within the wild man answered, “I am Legion, for we are many.” The preoccupation with ideas, plans, and people apart from an exclusive commitment to God divides man’s personality into many. Identity is often determined by occupation, possessions, or vices rather than the thoughts of God. When we worship the Lord, the first question He will ask is “what is your name?” Our sanity is regained when our purpose for living is singular.

Jesus came to restore to us our true identity. Our inability to do because we were too insane to realize our demise as result of sin positioned God Himself to come in bodily form to redeem us. “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:”Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.”(Heb 10:5) He came to both illustrate and demonstrate how the Mind and Body should function as one unit. When we take on His identity, God’s thoughts flow to us and through us to the world, thereby reestablishing God’s mandate for creation. Only then will His love cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.