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GRACE AND FAITH
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
Welcome to our Cool Confidential Christian Counseling study program. This is our Grace and Faith Bible study on how we are saved by Grace in the Bible story and how it affects your be-YOU-tiful Christian walk.
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HOME PAGE
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STEPPING
STONE #12
GRACE AND FAITH
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
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Welcome back to ...
THE PATH
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Psalms 33:20
Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield. |
The best investments
are ones that are long term.
I trust you're taking one step each day to gain the most success of
your program.
Good to have ya back ... I missed ya.
Did you say 'Hi' to the Holy Spirit today? If you didn't, He is anxiously
awaiting a greeting from you.
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Proverbs 27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. |
GRACE AND FAITH
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
You may not like the things that a true friend tells
you even though they may be for your own good. But that’s what makes
them a true friend, isn’t it?
I just wanted to remind you of this Proverb that I
shared with you back at the GARDEN GATE because the things that I have
to share with you today may seem a bit abrasive. But you have to
admit, warning is a good thing. If you knew there was a camouflaged
ditch in the road that your friend was about to walk down, you’d warn
them about it, wouldn’t you?
As your friend, I caution you ...
You ARE gonna fall down ...
EVERYONE DOES
The devil seeks every opportunity to
attack. His evil offerings may not appear to be bad. He will
package them with ribbons and bows and make them look like a gift
instead of a curse. He is dressed in a tuxedo, not a red suit with a
forked tail, pitchfork in his hand and horns on his head.
His intent is to disguise evil. He’ll try to make
you think he and/or his ideas are romantic, fun, intelligent,
captivating ... Honorable even. Be alert. Be careful how you walk. Walk in the guidance of the
Holy Spirit. Do not be deceived. He does not sleep. He will use
whatever means that he can to lure you into his deceit: television
shows, commercials, movies, books, magazines, billboards, food
packaging, newspapers, mail, clothing, dreams, music, social media, thoughts, even
Christian holiday gimmicks such as Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.
You name it, his purpose is to win your soul away from God, any
way he can. He’s depending on the chance that his repeated
attempts will make you give up the fight for righteousness.
BEAT THE DEVIL AT HIS OWN GAME
How do you do that? Reverse psychology. He’s
depending on your weakness, so he’s going to aim for that. Guess how
you send his arrows crashing to the ground ... By planting good
seed:
The last thing the devil is expecting is that Jesus
will become stronger in you because of his games. So, use it to your
advantage. Lean on Jesus when the arrows are flying. Don’t let
temptation become stronger than the presence of the Lord at any time.
Do whatever you have to do to get rid of it. An even better thing to
do is avoid it in the first place.
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Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth
to his folly. |
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Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and
in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints ... |
GRACE AND FAITH DURING TRIALS AND TRIBULATION
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE WHEN WE FALL DOWN
We’ve
talked a great deal about trial and tribulation all along THE PATH and
you’ve learned many different ways to fight the good fight. But what
happens once you fall?
The answer is simple.
GET UP!
You’re not suddenly a failure because you fell.
You’re not banned from being a Christian. You’re not bad. You’re not
different. You’re not hopeless. You’re not stupid.
(But you do look a little silly if you lie there in
pools of self pity.)
It’s all up to you. God gives you the choice to make
decisions. As long as you feel sorry for yourself the devil is
winning. When the devil shoots
his arrows at you, put up your shield of TRUTH! It’s never too late to
begin again.
Continued efforts WILL complete any task
set before us!
Every day is a new day ... A fresh start. Every
moment is a new moment. No matter what, you aren’t a hopeless cause.
Read the New Testament. Get to know the character of Jesus' apostles
at the beginning of their walk with Christ. They were not all full of
virtue from the beginning. It took time. It took faith. Some of the
un-virtues they possessed were doubt, fear, pride, jealousy ... The
Apostle Paul even described himself this way:
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1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief. |
Peter, the rock upon whom Jesus built His church,
had so much cowardice that he denied emphatically to some girls at a
campfire that he had ever even known Jesus.
Yet, these were His Apostles. Jesus knew that they
would need and depend on the Holy Spirit after He left. Don't you let
the enemy make you believe that Jesus can’t change YOUR life.
It seems impossible? Remember this about miracles,
if you're not asking for something that seems impossible ... You're not
asking for enough. God wants you to depend on Him to make it possible.
You can’t possibly do it alone.
You may think that you have done some unforgivable
things in your life and there’s no way you could ever make up for
them, but that is exactly the reason why our Lord died for us. THAT IS
THE GRACE OF GOD. There is one string attached ... You have to be
genuinely sorry for what you did. Your sins cannot outdo God’s grace, neither in
frequency or intensity.
An extremely cool thing just happened. As you
started reading that last paragraph, your mind went into it’s computer
mode. Searching ... Searching ... File found! And it opened up what you
stored in there about God’s Grace. It didn’t like the word
“unforgivable” because you weeded that out already, and it started
reinforcing the TRUTH right away. Then as you read the second sentence
and the third and the fourth, well, you could practically quote it
word for word!
Now that’s cool!
~It’s working~
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Ephesians 2:8
For by Grace are ye saved through
faith; not of your own doing: it is the gift
of God. |
HOLD TIGHT TO GRACE AND FAITH
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BECAUSE OF LOVE
Grab the Grace, forgive yourself, get up, and
continue to fight ... To the finish!
What if David never forgave himself for killing
Uriah? What if Peter never forgave himself for denying the Lord three
times? What if Paul never forgave himself for persecuting Christians
before his calling? What if Thomas never forgave himself for doubting?
What if they just gave up?
All of these people have a great impact on
Christianity because they fell down, they repented, they accepted
God’s GRACE, forgave themselves, and then THEY GOT BACK UP and
persisted in the cause. They did it for God, they did it for
themselves, and they did it for US!
They are our heroes.
Just think of
the wonderful teachings we could have had from Judas, had he just
forgiven himself. Remember, Judas was an instrument that was used in
God's plan. God sent Jesus to earth so our sins could be forgiven. When Adam and
Eve sinned, God set the plan in motion because He loved us so much. They broke
the covenant and severed the connection to God for all mankind. So, God had to
fix it.
He knew we couldn't restore the connection ourselves and Jesus had
to pay the price for our sin. Judas was a part of the plan. If he had chosen to
accept Grace before he died, we may have had perhaps one of the greatest
examples of grace ever. Judas fell down, but did not get back up, even though
Jesus, His master that he followed, lived with, ate with, traveled with, rested
with, prayed with for three years, in the flesh, taught him that repentance is
THE way of salvation.
Get up and carry on.
You can read more about this topic here:
We are the Lord’s new disciples. We are the
believers ... The saints of this generation.
We fall down, we get up!
CHECK OUT THE SONG
ON THE C-O-O-L CD PLAYER
WE FALL DOWN
Most every spiritual giant in the Bible, faced trial
and tribulation. Our Lord Himself was tempted by the devil. It happens
to the very best, so expect it to happen to you.
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Mark 13:22
For false Christs and false
prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to
seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. |
But, I urge you to take the advice of the Apostle
Peter:
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1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be
revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. |
Trials and tribulations will come, make no mistake.
It’s the attitude in which you choose to deal with them, that makes
all the difference in the world.
If you’re working in your garden, and a mosquito
comes along pestering, shoo it away. If you get a thorn, pull it out.
If you get dirt on your face, brush it off. If you fall down, GET
UP and carry on!
Abrasive? No ...
TRUTH!
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Proverbs 27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
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GRACE AND FAITH HOPE
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BLESSING
Make it a point to be more conscientious of your day to day life. Learn to recognize when you
start to stumble and catch yourself before you fall. Observe other people and identify those that are
fallen. You'll notice in many cases that many don't even realize that
they HAVE fallen because the world is so accepting of sin. Watch for
people falling in movies, identify it ...
Ponder upon it, in your own
mind, or discuss with your spouse, children, or whoever you happen to
be watching the movie with as to how it could have been avoided, and
how it can be dealt with after the fact. It is now your turn to share the Truth that you have learned.
There are many exercises you
can do to prevent yourself from falling. You have to train
yourself, just like anything else in life ... If you practice
it, you'll get better at it. You can even include it as one of
your Miracle Grow activities. What a great idea ... To
practice NOT falling!
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We all make mistakes. We fall. Sin gets in our way. Temptation surrounds us and we don't always resist. But that is exactly why God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and to give us the FREE gift of GRACE! He wants you to ask forgiveness and keep fighting the good fight of faith. When you find yourself struggling with feelings of failure, unworthiness, fear, weakness or shame, just remember that God loves you so very much and He wants you to get back up when you stumble. PERSEVERE! NEVER GIVE UP! If you have a bad day, this study will help you understand more about the liberating GRACE that our Father wants each and every one of us to enjoy.
GRACE |
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STEPPING STONE TWELVE
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Good work today, my friend.
Lay down that twelfth STEPPING STONE
and just look at that beautiful path winding through your
garden! You can see the new seeds you’ve planted are starting to
grow, and you’re doing a fine job keeping all the weedlings out.
Next time we meet on THE PATH, I’ll be sending you on a little
excursion, but for now, it’s time to take a rest and let the
light of TRUTH shine in your heart for a while.
Make sure you talk with the
Comforter Holy Spirit more
today.
He is a gentleman and awaits
the invitation.
MAKE SURE YOU KEEP UP WITH
ALL OF YOUR STEPS. WE DON'T WANT TO TURN AROUND TO FIND
WEEDS COVERING THEM AGAIN.
Continuing in EACH step daily
is so very important.
If you like ...
You may go back over each
completed step as often as you like as to be sure you have
not missed anything.
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MAKE SURE YOU JOT DOWN A LIL SOMETHING IN YOUR
PERSONAL JOURNAL
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YOU HAVE COMPLETED STEP TWELVE
GRACE AND FAITH
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
Tomorrow, return to the Forum page of this program:
And we will proceed to ...
STEPPING STONE #13
And I will meet you there!
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