Difficult times

Sometimes we experience very difficult times and we come to a place where we feel we want to give up.  We don't have the strength to carry on and we want to withdraw or give up on a certain situation.  It is easy to reach a breaking point as a result of a tangle of emotions that overcomes us.  If you succumb to your emotions you will surely starting to "die" slowly.  It will lead to depression - a spiral obstacle which is very difficult to overcome.  You will be fragile and this will cause you to be blind for the truth of God.  Fear causes you to be afraid.

Take some time out to rest, look after your body and your health as this is a temple of God.  Then after you have rested, choose to stand up for yourself and don't just stare at the problem.  If you can't get over it, go around it, but be sure to pass it.  God is with you to guide you, He is not finished with you.  He has a new way for you to proceed on.  People who felt like this were  Moses, Job, David, Elijah, and Jonah.  God helped them, see Him for who He is, only He can help you. 

The gift of grace and your faith

When we are blessed by God, we receive a measure of faith.  However, it is our responsibility to grow our faith and not God's.  Faith is one of the seeds of grace that should grow normally in everyone until he has a genuine work of faith with power.  You have to continue in faith to get its benefits. 

What exactly is faith then?

• You have to place your confidence in God;
• It's an absolute dependence upon and reliance in the Word of God and of Christ;
• It's full surrender, yieldedness, and obedience to all known truth;
• It's to trust an wholly and unreservedly in the faithfulness of God;

Faith found soil to grow in open and honest hearts.  When you give yourself over to and commit to a new way of life in Jesus Christ, do it with such a heart in mind.  But how should I proceed in this world to grow my faith?

1. Be dedicated in your relationship with Christ.  Humble yourself before Him each day before you start the day by spending quiet time with Him;
2. Abound in love.  This kind of love is spontaneous and has the following characteristics:  patience with others, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, unselfishness, good temper, righteousness and sincerity;
3. This love (even for the self) is patient when it comes to trouble we experience.  Ensure to gather the truth of the Gospel (Jesus and the Word) and you will have the power of it working in our life.  As long as we believe in that truth, we won't feel defeated or lost;
4. Be patient and abound in faith when you go through troubled times.  Persecution as the Bible refers to is troubled times and has never hurt Christ true church (us) and never will if we abound in faith.

Grace is never ending

God is the source of grace and it is available to everyone.  You may be of the opinion that you are a sinner and you will never be worthy of God's grace, but I want to assure you that it is only your opinion and God is not interested in your opinion.  He is interested in your willingness to accept His grace.

But what is grace?

1. It's kindness;
2. It's a gift:  it is a free gift which He gives freely and generously to whoever wants to obtain it, asking for His favour in your heart as He loves you;
3. It's good will:  a favourable act towards somebody:  YOU;
4. It's about forgiveness:  He has already forgiven your sin with Christ on the cross and He wants you to forgive others that have wronged you in the very same way;
5. He has cancelled a debt:  He has released you from what were owed to Him by your sin.  He wants you to do the same for others who have wronged you - as He did.

Once you have accepted God's grace in your own life, you can give grace to others because Jesus Christ came to die on the cross in order for us to receive God's grace.  God loved you first and this is demonstrated by grace.  It's a portrayal of His love for us.

Grace

Charis:  the Greek word for grace.  Why would God's labor be in vain if there was no possibility of Satan tempting Christians, causing them to fall and be lost?  Do we really understand the grace of God or its limitations/impact to those opposing it?

It is true that grace can't be withheld from man because of demerit, lessened by demerit, or be mixed with the law of works.  But this does not prove that there are no conditions men must meet in order to get the benefits of grace.  God is under obligation to saints only when they walk in the light and remain true to the gospel.  Grace teaches men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly on earth.  If men don't obey its teaching grace can go no further.

We may choose to :
-  receive grace in vain;
-  frustrate it in our lives;
-  fall from it;
-  fail of the grace of God;
-  turn it into lasciviousness;
-  sin in spite of it;
-  continue or discontinue in it;
-  minister it to others;
-  grow or not to grow in it;
-  to receive or reject it.

Considering that grace is a free gift from God who loves you dearly and wants you to be His child, what choice will you make?