Savior & Lord! By Grace, through Faith?

SAVIOR...

Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Romans 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 4:16 Because of this it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, for the promise being sure to all the seed, not to that which is of the law only, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham,

1 Peter 1:5 They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

Romans 3:24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.


LORD...

Matthew 7:21  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

James 1:22  Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

Luke 6:46  "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and yet don't do what I tell you?

Substitutionary Virtue?

If you're a fan of a sports team it's because you have some sort of connection with that team. You identify with the team by geography, or maybe you identify with the team by your participation in what the team represents ie. high School or a college you attended.

You identify with the team in some way. Like by sport; I'm a Packers fan, by school; I'm an Notre Dame fan. You cheer on your team and praise the virtues of particular athletes and their team. You feel good when your team wins. I might say you rejoice when they win, because they earned it. Hard work, teamwork, dedication and stick-to-itiveness. 

Commendable virtues applied and the victory gained. 

You rejoice and feel good? Because your team won. As though their victory was your victory? Isn't that weird?

Addictions 2

 Ad·dic·tion - noun: the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.

We are all addicts of something...

• Alcoholic: addicted to alcohol.
• Workaholic: addicted to work.
• Chocaholic: addicted chocolate.
• Spendaholic : addicted to spending money.
• Sportsaholic : lives to watch or play sport.
• Talkaholic : Incessant talking.
• Tweetaholic : Addicted to tweeting.

The one addiction that trumps them all is the “addiction to self-will”.

"I'm going to do what I want to do!"

It began in the garden of Eden and continues to this day. We are aware of Good and evil and seem to instinctively know when someone has trespassed against us. We don't pay heed to God's guidance and counsel and instead we "trust in our own understanding" as we respond/react to those who have done us wrong. Thus the cycle of self-will reaps ill-will in our hearts and our relationships. And we find all sorts of ways (other addictions) to ease our unhappiness for a moment!

A Relationship Addiction? You think, I need someone to love! 

You really mean "I need someone to love me." Well not really. What you mean is that you want someone to like you. To laugh at your jokes. To want to spend time in your presence. To agree with your perspective and to make you happy. (There's so much more that I could list.) Let's just say you have "Expectations".

God's Will

God's tactical, unique and specific will for you is unlike anyone else's. But His will for you is in the context of Psalm 33:11...

"But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."

God Strategic Will, His plan and purpose throughout history, are revealed "in Christ". The Strategic truths found in the bible are foundational to equip you to understand His tactical will for you and how He's called and equipped you to help Him with His Purpose & Mission; to Redeem all of Creation.

the bread and the wine

What is the bread? The thrashing floor.

What is the wine? The wine press.

The bread of life