Power Of What Jesus Does

Key Scripture:

Power Point:

     When I am blasted with unkindness and unforgiveness, it hurts.  It's not something I am used to.

     What I love knowing about Jesus is that He gets down to where I've been tossed on the ground and He speaks words of admonition, love and grace, and comfort.  His kindness flows over the wounds of unkindness and heals them.  His grace and mercy put me back on my feet, and back into life,                                                                 arm in arm with Him. 

     Do you remember when Jesus looked Peter in the eye and told him that Satan would be trying to tempt him?  Then, after Peter had betrayed Jesus, Jesus looks Peter in the eye, again. Without a word being spoken, Peter is convicted.   He knows the magnitude of his betrayal.  This was his friend, and this was the Son of God.  How wonderful it must have been when after the resurrection, Jesus makes sure that Peter knows he is welcome, and wanted.  "And be sure to tell Peter to come."

     That's what Jesus always did. That's what Jesus always does.  He accepts us, and admonishes us with the most extraordinary grace. And then it’s over; really, really over. He won't mention it again. He's the loudest cheerleader on the side-lines of your life urging you to run your race-and help you to win it. He jumps into the race with you and laughs and says, "Come ON, _________, you can do this!  We've got this!" I'm in it with you.  And I never lose.  LET'S RUN!"

     Do you remember the sack races where you stood side by side with a friend and each of you put a leg into a burlap sack?  You had to learn to run together in order to win. You couldn't run on the strength of your own legs, you had to develop a trust and a rhythm to run together to win the race.  That's what Jesus does with us. He is stronger, but He wants to develop a rhythm with you so that you can run just as He does. And win.

     From the side-lines you can hear all the clouds of witnesses cheering you on.  Those witnesses have experienced exactly what you have experienced. They've failed. They've sinned.  They’ve fallen from grace, but Jesus got back in the race with them too.  That's why they're cheering so loudly.  They KNOW from personal experience how Jesus does things. That's the real cause for celebration isn't it?

      He does not condemn you.  It's not His nature.  He simply says, "Go and sin no more."   Get back into your rhythm with the King of kings.

     Run past your accusers.  They seem very unimportant compared to Jesus, don't they?  Run past your sin.  Looking at it now, through Jesus's eyes, it only makes you love Him more as you realize how He has dealt with it. You still have hope. You still feel loved.  In fact, if you asked Him today about the sins you committed yesterday, He would say, 'Huh?  I don't remember." Maybe that's one reason He's full of joy all the time.

He loves setting people free.  That's what Jesus does.

     Jesus is full of grace and mercy.  You can't upset Him or keep Him from accomplishing His purposes in you.  He knows that when you finally give up on your own self-efforts at righteousness, you'll come to Him and be transformed by his grace and mercy. Beloved, you'll be astonished at the party He throws for you.

Power Thought:

Jesus has always planned a flourishing finish for you. That's just what Jesus does.   Philippians 1:6

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power Of Grace

Key Scripture:  "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Power Point:

     I was thinking recently about the woman caught in the adultery. I cannot even imagine her  distress that day. The Pharisees were the government of Jesus's  time. They had so many rules that people simply could not obey them all.  They controlled every area of the people's lives.  When someone broke a law, they came up with a new on to make sure that it didn't happen again. They kept adding to what God had given them, and no one could keep all those laws. Their whole life was focused on the rules.

     That became obvious when they brought the woman in adultery before Jesus and He kneels on the ground, and quietly says, "Let the one who has no sin, who has not broken any laws, be the one to cast the first stone." Imagine what that must have been like.  They knew in their own hearts that they too had sinned.  Having Jesus expose their failure in front of all their religious friends, and yet not exposing their sin was humbling, but not humiliating. Jesus treated them with the same grace with which He dealt with the woman thrown on the ground before Him.

He didn't condemn them, just as He didn't condemn her.  The Pharisees had been "caught “in their own self-righteousness and He simply pointed it out.

     I wonder where they went when they left the town square that morning.  I doubt that they went to the local coffee shop to discuss what had just happened. They probably wanted to be alone.  I think they were deep in thought over what Jesus had said and how He had treated them. He was demonstrating that ALL have sin and fallen short of God's glory. He showed them grace in action.

     He showed them that God looks at our hearts. And we are to look at God’s heart.

     What happened to the woman?  What did she do after she left Jesus?  I believe that she was so transformed by Jesus's protection, love, and mercy that she went home and transformed her life.  I believe she was a changed woman.  I believe she bathed herself and put on fresh clothing and went out to tell people about Jesus.  I believe that they saw the result of grace in her life and they wanted to know Him too.

     Hopefully, the Pharisees who walked away were transformed too. Hopefully they could see the point that Jesus was making.  You don't expose sin you cover it.  You don't condemn, you release. You don't hate, you love.  You show others the same grace that your Father shows to you. I hope they began to see God with new eyes.  I hope the truth set them free

Power Thought:

Whom the Son has set free is free.  Indeed.

    

    

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power of Continually

Key Scripture:  "His praise shall Continually be in my mouth."  Psalm 34:1

Power Point:

     The word "continually" means that we are to be always, Continually employed in offering up praises to God. In other words, praise is our full time job!  How on earth can we do that?  Does He not realize that there are "hard things" in our lives?  Isn't He sensitive to the BIG issue we're dealing with right now?

Doesn't God understand that this disease, this person, this job, this family, is front and center in our minds?

     Yes, Beloved, He does.  He understands and He's compassionate towards you.  He has every intention of helping you.  But. He has one tiny little requirement; HIS PRAISE SHOULD CONTINUALLY BE IN YOUR MOUTH.  Why?  Because when you are praising Him, your thoughts are centered on Him. When your thoughts are "fixed" on Him, in spite of everything else that is going on, He promises to keep you in perfect peace.  Perfect peace means that your faith is centered on His desire and ability to be with you, be for you, and be faithful to you, and to make you more than a Conqueror (with a capital C!)

     In Psalm 100 David reminds us that the way we enter into God's presence, is by praise and thanksgiving.  Wait.  Does that mean that all my complaining and grumbling about my life will not move God toward me?  Actually Beloved, it does. YES! God wants you to bring all your requests to Him Continually.  He expects that, but the prayer of faith begins with praise and thanksgiving. You are speaking out your faith and adoration for His character. You know you have the requests you've asked for and you know the power of God's love for you. That's a definite cause for Celebration, don't you think?

     Make your request known, but charge the atmosphere with your praise and thanksgiving first. IN everything be thankful.  Thankful for the pain? Thankful for the lack?  Absolutely NOT!  You can be thankful because the God who created heaven and earth is aiming His love and Compassion toward you Continually, as you release your praises toward Him, Continually.

Is it time to change your address from complaining to praising?  What would happen if you absolutely refused to utter one word of complaint today?  What if you made a sacrifice of all those negative thoughts and began to praise God for His goodness and faithfulness?  What if instead of going about with a sad face, and being a "Debbie Downer", you changed your boundaries?  What if, you decided that just for today you were setting your mind on things above, where God is, and began to celebrate His glorious passionate goodness for you?

What if, you brought heaven to earth instead of earth to earth?

What if you really believed God? And were thankful for Him.

Power Thought:

A thankful heart is one that embraces God's character Continually. (With a capital C!).

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power OF Falling From Grace

Power of Falling From Grace

Key Scripture:  “You have become estranged from Christ, ...you who have fallen from grace."  Galatians 5:4

Power Point:

     In the last few years I've had problems with my left knee.  For no reason at all, it would suddenly just give out on me and I would fall.  Until yesterday, I had always fallen gently and would rise unhurt.  Yesterday I had been out doing errands, and was walking toward the door of the local pharmacy. Suddenly, I felt my knee shift very hard and down I went, not gently, but a real "face plant".  Both knees hit hard.  My arms and wrists and right shoulder hit hard.  (I really need to talk to my angels about my promise from Psalm 91 that says they will not let me 'stumble or fall").  My knees are sporting lovely bruises from the impact, My wrists hurt as I type and my left arm is reminding me of the trauma.

     Falling can be devastating, can't it?  Fortunately, I'm bruised but not broken.  Lately, the Lord has been reminding me of a type of falling that can be really devastating-it's called falling from grace.

     God's ultimate goal for each of us is that we grow in grace and in knowledge of Him.  Honestly, until we grow in our understanding of Grace, we will have no real knowledge of Him, because grace is the foundation of who He is and what He does.  Without His help it's WAY past our understanding.

     You probably have had multiple opportunities to grow in grace through the "grace-growers" that God has introduced into your life.  Things would be just fine if "they" were not there, right?

The thing is, on our journey to becoming just like Jesus, grace is the cement that we need to make our footprints in.  When you think about it, Jesus had quite a few "grace-growers" in His life didn't He?  If God's nature is set in Grace, we have to be set there too, don't we?

Without His grace, we cannot love others and we cannot love Him.  Without the Spirit of Grace taking up more room in our hearts, our thoughts will not bear the right kind of fruit or they will bear NO fruit.

     When Jesus walks by your life today, He's looking to see the fruit of grace there.  You may have started out in grace but then something or someone caused you to fall from grace. Now your thoughts taste bitter.  You find yourself engaging in critical thinking. Instead of offering God's mercy and grace, you wall yourself off. Beloved, when you do that, you are walling yourself off from God too. You are sowing "seeds of gracelessness", which you will reap from eventually.

     Is there someone in your life that needs God's grace more than they need your ungracious correction?  Have you forgotten that in your spirit resides the Spirit of Grace, which always offers grace and mercy?  Have you fallen from grace in your thoughts, words and actions?  Well get back up!  Ask His forgiveness for misrepresenting Him.   Ask for His help to follow in His footsteps. Ask for the Spirit of Grace to produce His wonderful fruit in you.  Let the fruit of your lips be His words of kindness and grace. Let the fruit of your prayers be cemented in grace.  Let the fruit of your life represent that grace-full heart of God.  

     When I fell yesterday, God provided a man to help me up and walk me to my car.  When you fall from grace, the Helper will help you get back on your feet again. That's why He's called the Spirit of Grace.

Power Thought:

If you've fallen from grace, get back up! The Gospel without Grace is not Good News.











Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power of God's Way of Thinking

Key Scripture:  "For as  as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."   Isaiah 55:9

Power Point:

We know that as Christians, we are to think differently.  Did you ever wonder why that is?  When God said He was going to make man in His image, it seems that He was including our thoughts.  That's why, as believers we are to think like God. Why?  Because our thoughts are what transform us into the image of Christ.  His thoughts change our lives. We won't necessarily look like Him. My hair may be a different color, and my nose may not resemble His at all,  but Beloved, it is VITAL that we learn to think like Him. God's thoughts cause God's plans and purposes for us to be born.  His thoughts conform us to the freedom of life as His Spirit has it. It's a GOOD THING Beloved to know you ARE Beloved of God. When I first began to allow God to address my thinking, I was totally appalled.  It was much worse than I thought and I didn't think there was any way I could change.  After all, I'd lived my whole life up to that point thinking negatively, and critically.  But Father God was so patient with me.  He began to show me how much better life would be without all those things draining His life out of me.  I began to push into understanding the Love of God and I began to understand that Someone so loving and so genuinely kind, genuinely loved me and wanted to bless me with the same thoughts that brought such abundance to Him.

When I first began to study Philippians 4:8, I thought what a good lesson it was for me. Then one day, I began to think about the fact that this verse is the perfect picture of the way God thinks.  His thoughts are always:

TRUE: He speaks only the Truth and He and He remains true to Who He is.

HONEST:  Sincere and genuine, without hypocrisy. There is nothing false or deceptive, or manipulative about Him.

JUST: God's scales are always perfectly balanced. He is never off-balance, leaning too heavily in one direction or another.  His loving kindness is the foundation of everything that He is and that He does.

PURE:  He is without deception.  Holiness. Goodness. God has a pure heart.

LOVELY: "Having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well as to the eye. Of a great moral or spiritual beauty: a lovely character" When we see Him in heaven, we will be stunned by His beauty.

OF GOOD REPORT:  God always gives a good report of you.  His thoughts are centred on the Truth that He believes about us. He speaks what He knows is possible for us, and what He dreams for us. “Good reports are things spoken in a kindly spirit with good will toward others.”  God is always kind.

If we want to be like Jesus, we have to think the way He thinks. When we do that, the Peace that He left us will guard our hearts and our minds.  Isn't it lovely to know that God is thinking good thoughts about you right now?  He is blessing you and chatting with Jesus about how wonderful you are. Together with Holy Spirit they are planning to overwhelm you with Their goodness and saturate your heart with the lovely and kind thoughts that they think about you all the time.

It's a stretch for me to think I'll ever be as good at thinking as They are, but I know they're persistent, and I know I'm longing to think the same flourishing, life-giving thoughts that They do every moment of every day.  How about you? Don’t you want to be just like Jesus when you grow up?

Power Thought:

Lovely thoughts produce lovely words.

Lovely words produce lovely actions.

Lovely thoughts, words, and actions produce a lovely life.

Copyright (c) 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work