GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Who Am I?



When NASA was created in 1958, it was President Eisenhower who decided how the astronauts would be chosen. All would have to be miliary pilots, younger than 40 and under 5'11" (a space capsule couldn’t take anyone larger than that), in perfect shape and an expert jet pilot with more than 1500 hours of flying time.


NASA found 110 men who met these standards. Of these, 56 were picked to travel to Washington for interviews. When they arrived they were given a test to determine their eligibility. One of the questions on the test was: “Give twenty answers to the question, ‘Who am I?”


Years later, astronaut John Glen recalled, “The first few answers to that one were easy. I am a man, I am a Marine, I am a flier, I am a husband, I am an officer. When you got down to the end, it was not so easy to figure out just who you were.”


When I read an article with the information in the preceding paragraphs, I thought about how true his statement is for most people. When they get down to the end, to the bottom of it all, they don’t find it easy to figure out who they are. People tend to define themselves by what they do, not by who they actually are.


All over the world, people ask the same question once they have learned another person’s name and still wants to know more about him. “What do you do?” The answer to that question is often used to determine the value of another human being. If you answer, “I’m a brain surgeon,” you will be perceived in one way. If you answer, “I’m your garbage collector,” the inquirer might have a different opinion of you.


What is your answer to the question, “Who am I?” The Bible has the answer to that question. If you are a Christian, the Scripture says:



You are the temple of God and therefore are holy. (See 1 Cor. 3:16-17)


You are a divine work of art. (See Ephesians 2:10)


You are righteous. (See Romans 5:19)


You are one with Jesus Christ. (See 1 Cor. 6:17)

These are only a few of the ways that the Bible describes the Christian. Will you pause right now and affirm the truth of who you really are? The world doesn’t define you. You aren’t who people think you are. You may not even be who you think you are. You are who God says you are. He created you and He alone can define who you are as a person.


By faith, affirm what He says about you even if your feelings or actions don’t align themselves with His declaration of your identity. God made you to be who you are. Believe what He says about your identity and then live each day from that anchoring truth.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional



Propaganda Villages




Last week I was riding back from the DMZ between South and North Korea during a ministry trip there. The demilitarized zone is the most fortified boundary on the planet. For over 50 years it has been one of the most tense places on the earth. A minefield separates two people, who share the same language and race. It is the exact spot where an evil man who literally thinks he is God is in an ongoing standoff with, not only South Korea, but with the rest of the world.


As we drove alongside the barbed wire fence along the river’s edge, put there to keep out invading North Korean spies, we could look across the river and see North Korea. Our guide pointed out the difference between the mountain range in North Korea and the one beside it just across the river on the South Korean side. “Note that there are no trees on the mountainside in North Korea,” she pointed out. “The North Koreans have stripped the mountain, having to use the wood for cooking and heating.” The poverty in North Korea is horrendous. People are starving to death there every day.


A satellite image of Korea at night shows South Korea well lit, but darkness covers North Korea. They don’t even have the most basic utilities. Their leaders live in luxury while the people there suffer unspeakable horror.


At one point, our guide pointed out a village in the distance. “Can you see those skyscrapers?” she asked. “They aren’t real buildings. They are only facades, intended to suggest that North Korea lives the quality of life known in South Korea.”

On the horizon were what looked like tall buildings, but they were only there for show. “It is called a ‘propaganda village’” our guide said. The people in North Korea live in deep poverty, but their communist leaders want to project otherwise to the rest of the world.


It was a sad sight to see. I had already read about the horrors of life for the North Korean people under the rule of a cruel and wicked despot. I couldn’t help but think about how the plight of North Koreans is similar to that of those trapped in dead religion.


Empty religion gives the illusion of life, but in reality it is nothing but a facade. There is no love or life behind it. All that matters is looking good. Religion insists that we make a good impression, but doesn’t offer anything. Like the North Korean propaganda villages, dead religion projects abundance, but behind the facade is a spiritual hunger that it can never satisfy.


On one side of the river between North and South Korea is wealth, on the other is destitution. On one side is freedom and on the other is slavery. To see the contrast is sobering.

As you pray today, please pray for those trapped in dead religion and know no way out. And while you’re at it, pray for the people of North Korea. They are good people who are being held prisoners by an evil dictator.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”

 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Withdrawal From Flesh Sermons



I was speaking one night in a church around the theme, “God’s Great Gift of Salvation.” I was to spend the weekend there teaching through the book of Ephesians. The particular passage from which I taught talked about how that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and how He has sovereignly bestowed redemption and revelation upon us. The text is one of those times when the Apostle Paul scaled the heights of heaven in describing God’s grace. It is a majestic passage. I taught the text in an expositional way. I dissected what the Bible says, examining the key words in the verse. I used relevant illustrations of what the text taught. I spoke with enthusiasm about the glorious grace of God. The people were responsive as I spoke.


After the service, I was having coffee with a few of the members when someone commented about the message: “That was good, but what we need in our church is something practical.” “Are you aware that I’m teaching verse by verse through the book of Ephesians?” I asked. “Yes,” he answered. “Did I teach what the passage said?” I continued. “Yes,” he answered, “but maybe it would be good to show us more practical application of truths like that.”


I felt frustrated by his remark. I was only in the first chapter of Ephesians. The passage I had taught was doctrinal, not practical. The Bible (Ephesians included) is filled with practical instruction. But it also contains passages which are primarily doctrinal in nature. I wasn’t sure how to respond to his criticism. I wanted to respond graciously, but I wasn’t sure how to tell him that I thought he was wrong.


Later, after I had forgotten about the incident, I was reading the Bible in Numbers 11. God had given His people manna (an Old Testament type which pictures Jesus) to fill their hunger and meet their need. Then I came to Numbers 11:4 where the King James Bible says that the people “fell a lusting” and said, “Who shall give us flesh to eat?” Suddenly I thought about the man’s comment who had spoken to me from church.


“Who shall give us flesh to eat?” Yes, that’s it. Sometimes people are at a place where the manna (Jesus) isn’t enough. They “fall a lusting” and they want flesh. That’s the trouble with legalism – it is never satisfied unless there is an ingredient telling me what I can do or must do. To simply celebrate what Jesus has done? That becomes tasteless very quickly to one addicted to the taste of flesh.


Practical preaching is important, without a doubt. But the insatiable appetite to be told what to do every time we come to the Bible is wrong. Yes, the Bible speaks about behavior – in places. But sometimes we need to forget about what we are to do or not do and simply celebrate and worship Him for what He has done. That can be very practical.


Don’t fall under the deception of thinking that you must be told what to do every time you hear a sermon, under the illusion that you are being “practical.” Maybe those of us who preach the Bible need to just share pure, undiluted grace with the church until Christians are broken from their addiction to flesh and learn that Jesus really is enough. Let’s do it, pastors. Let them cry for flesh, but have the courage to give them only grace.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”




 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Your Daddy Isn't Mad at You



Betsy came to me crying one day. As we began to discuss her problem, she explained that she had committed adultery three times in her life. The last time she had been caught, her husband had divorced her. She had been single again for little over a year. “I know that the Bible says God has forgiven me for all my sins, but I cannot overcome the guilt I feel,” she explained. “Every time I date somebody, if I believe he is a sincerely good man, I find myself thinking that I can’t allow myself to become serious with him because he deserves someone better than me.”


Although Betsy knew that God had forgiven her, she had not forgiven herself. Consequently she was wallowing in the misery of self-condemnation. Many Christians struggle with nagging guilt over their sins. They know intellectually that they have been forgiven, but the truth hasn’t reached their emotions. They underestimate the gentle grace of God. Brennan Manning wrote:


If Jesus appeared at your dining room table tonight with knowledge of everything you are and are not, total comprehension of your life story and every skeleton hidden in your closet; if He laid out the real state of your present discipleship with the hidden agenda, the mixed motives, and the dark desires buried in your psyche, you would feel His acceptance and forgiveness.

It’s true — Jesus isn’t mad at you! I used to think that He must be angry, after all, I would sometimes keep committing the same sin over and over again. Wouldn’t my repeated failure eventually wear out His patience? The answer is an emphatic — no! Remember that God saw every sin you would ever commit as He looked at your spot on the time line of life. He placed all of them into Christ and forgave them all. Don’t believe that your failures can bankrupt God’s grace. You can’t out-sin the grace of God!



“Won’t teaching people that God’s grace has pardoned all of their sins encourage them to commit sins?” many have asked. Absolutely not. To the contrary, the grace of God will teach us to deny ungodliness and to live holy lives (See Titus 2:11). A legalist is afraid of this kind of excessive grace because he has never experienced the freedom to know what sins he might commit if given the chance. The concern that unmeasured grace will lead people to sin isn’t new. Paul faced the same kind of questions in his day. In Romans 6:1-3, after having addressed the matter of justification by grace through faith, he poses the question he knows is on everybody’s mind:


What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

Why won’t the believer who knows that all of his sins for a lifetime have been forgiven go out and live a lifestyle of constant sins? It is because he died to the sin-life and no longer has the desire for it anymore. This doesn’t mean he won’t sometimes sin, but when he does lapse into sin it will change nothing in his relationship to God. He will soon discover that he doesn’t want to live there.



As I shared the truth of God’s complete forgiveness with Betsy, I saw her begin to change in the months ahead. I saw her recently and she told me, “Steve, I am free! What a relief to know that all of my sins have been removed by the cross. For the first time in years, I am really enjoying my relationship with Christ because I don’t feel condemned by Him.”



Are you living under the weight of self-condemnation for past sins in your own life? God has forgiven you. Are your standards higher than His? An unwillingness to forgive ourselves implies that we believe the cross of Christ was not sufficient. Release your guilt by choosing to believe that you are forgiven! God knew every sin you would ever commit throughout your whole lifetime on the day He saved you, yet He still saved you.



Condemnation in the believers life never comes from God (See Romans 8:1). Don’t align yourself with the lies of the enemy that you stand guilty. Your guilt has been removed by the cross, and not only the guilt you had before you became a Christian either. Your guilt for a lifetime is gone! Christians stand completely justified before God.



You are guiltless and free! It’s no wonder Jesus called our life in Him the abundant life. Stop worrying about your past. It no longer exists because of the cross. Now, abide in Jesus and “live it up!”




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”




 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


King of Kings


In The Chronicles of Narnia , C. S. Lewis wrote in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe about an occasion when Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan, the Christ-figure in the story. They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies:


Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the woods and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion."


"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."


"That you will, dearie, and make no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."


"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.


"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."


Two thousand years ago The Lion of the Tribe of Judah came roaring into our small world devouring the grip that sin held on those He loved. With one swipe, He destroyed the power of Satan over your life like a lion crushes a field mouse with one slap of his paw. The authority of hell over you was demolished in a single moment. The power of the world, the flesh and the devil over the life of a believer today is no more than the final whimper of a scared rabbit who is held firmly in the great jaws of the king of the jungle.


The power of our King is awesome. Demons run like roaches in bright light at His presence. Hell quakes in fear at the very mention of His name. He is not only King. He is King of Kings. Others may be called Lord, but He is Lord of Lords. There is no greater authority; no greater power; no greater Force with which one must reckon. One day every creature in the universe will fall before Him in humble submission and awe. He will forever be the Sovereign-Of-The-Universe because He is the Son of "the great Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea."


The only thing that equals His power and authority is His love for you. You are His child. Sin stalked you as a vicious predator which would have totally destroyed you. But the Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah took note of you, His elect cub, and He came tearing out of heaven with a vengeance to defend you. That's what Christmas is all about – the roaring, relentless love of the Great King of the Jungle who came to your rescue through a stable and a cross.


Terrorists threaten and scare some. The DOW Jones average causes others to be afraid. Anthrax? Nuclear warheads in the hands of madmen? They are all field mice to our King. Is our King safe? Oh, no! He is far too powerful to ever be described that way. But He is good – very good to those He loves. Bow before Him. His power would make any sane person tremble with awe, but His love makes Him irresistible. Rest in His shadow and be assured nothing will ever touch you there.


May God bless you and your family with a very Merry Christmas as you rest in the knowledge that the Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah is watching over you every day of your lives.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Good News Of Great Joy



One day Jesus left heaven. He stood from the right hand of the throne of His heavenly Father and laid aside the robes of glory. Laying down the privileges of divinity, He clothed Himself in the garments of humanity and walked through the door which divided eternity from time.


He stepped through the doorway into a fallen world. From majesty to a manger He came. He opened his baby eyes and saw dirty faced shepherds and stinking barnyard animals. And on that night, God smiled. Angels sang. And those whom He came to seek unconsciously sighed a collective sigh of relief deep within their spirits. The account for their sins was finally going to be settled. “Paid In Full!” this baby would one day cry out.


Christmas is the celebration of the day that God came bursting through the door of eternity, bounding into time in the person of Jesus Christ, filled with enthusiasm and on a mission that refused to be deterred. His goal: to do what was necessary to tear down the barrier that separated you from Him (sin) and to bring you into a miraculous union with Himself that will never be undone.


It’s no wonder the angel called the incarnation good news of great joy! That’s the definition of the gospel – “good news that makes the heart of men merry so that they skip and jump and leap for joy.” It’s Christmas – you can jump for joy!


You are one with God through Christ. Your source of life will eternally be Him! His attitude toward you will never change. His love for you will never diminish. He has plans for you that will unfold throughout all eternity. Be happy – the God of the universe loves you!


Your sins have been dealt with by Jesus. They have been put away and God will never bring them up again. Put away your guilt – after all, God did. Shed your guilty conscious. Laugh again. You’re forgiven!


Your future is as secure as the throne of God. He has a plan for you and it’s a good one – a big one – a divine one. Be excited – the end of your story is better than you can imagine!


Good news of great joy – that’s what Christmas is all about to Christians. Terrorism, economic woes, sickness, loneliness, fears, guilt – they all are absorbed into the wonder of His birth. Relax, Jesus has come. Everything will be okay now.


In the midst of our frenzied holiday season, pause now for a moment and reflect on this Jesus who loved you enough to come here to rescue you from the world, from your sins and from yourself. He loves you. He loves you more than you could ever conceive.


Jesus Christ loves you. Feel His arms around you. Hear His voice as He gently whispers into the depths of your being, “It was worth it all. You’re Mine. You are Mine! I love you so much.”


On behalf of all of the Grace Walk Ministries team, merry Christmas.

Steve McVey




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”




 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

New Beginnings


Embedded in the very heart of the message of grace is the promise of the possibility of a fresh start. The book of Lamentations leaves no doubt that the Abba of every Christian is One whose mercy and grace offers the opportunity to start over again and again. God’s prophet promised, “The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never ceases, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Last year is history. The coming year now stands before us like a blank page, waiting for the Author of our salvation to write into time the storyline He has already completed in eternity. Whatever regrets, whatever failures, whatever sins that may come to your mind – anything and everything you regret about yesterday is gone. A new year awaits you. Look to your heavenly Father and anticipate with eagerness the next chapter entitled “2004.”

Your sins have been forgiven. Your mistakes have been forgotten. Your guilt has been discharged. Your failures have vanished into the pages of history. Don’t look backward. Forget those things which are behind and press forward to the treasure of your calling in Christ Jesus.

2004 – Prodigal sons, you can come home now! Wilderness-living Christians, the door to Canaan stands wide open! Guilt-ridden saints, all is forgotten! Move out of the past. Today is a new day. You stand on the boundary line of a new year. Laugh, sing, dance! Your Father has plans for you.


Rush into the new year with your eyes and your heart set on Him. He can’t wait to show you what He has prepared because of His love for you. Whether you find the year ahead to be a gift wrapped in bright or dark wrapping, this year will be a gift to you from Him. Open it in faith and see for yourself that His lovingkindness never ceases and His compassion never fails.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2003,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Self Condemnation


It’s a strange thing to see the affinity that Christians often have for self condemnation. An attitude of self condemnation is nothing less than an assault on the finished work of Christ by seeking to punish ourselves for our own sins. To punish ourselves by self loathing is to imply that when Jesus declared, “It is finished,” He was wrong. “There is still something left for me to do – detest myself,” this attitude of unbelief insists.


Self condemnation is a sacrament to the Christian legalist. It is one way that he seeks to atone for his sins. His rationale may be conscious or unconscious, but it suggests that if he is sorry enough; if he feels badly enough; if he executes enough emotional self-flagellation, and offers up the sacrifice of genuine self contempt, then God will forgive him.


While his demeanor appears to be one of contrition, in reality his attitude demonstrates the worst kind of pride, which is both gaudy and despicable. He actually thinks that there is something he can do to bring on forgiveness. His self centered, pay your own way with the currency of guilt attitude, is an affront to the finished work of Jesus Christ.


He talks a talk that sounds like a godly man to many, but his licentious loathing of himself betrays a brazen and adulterous affair with the law. He may have died to the law so that he could be joined to Jesus Christ, (see Romans 7:4) but his insistence on wallowing in the bed of self judgement with the law suggests a religious hedonism that brings him great pleasure in the darkest places of his flesh.


Jesus came to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” says the Bible. If He didn’t succeed at that, then our hopes are all in vain. If He did succeed, then any attempt to add another word to what the cross has spoken by allowing ourselves to accept self condemnation is an attempt to dilute, and thus negate, its power.


Have you sinned against God by allowing yourself to entertain self condemnation about your sins, past or present? Not only is it unnecessary, but it is a sin itself. Renounce your sin and run into the loving arms of your heavenly Father, giving up both your sins and your self condemnation to Him. Lay it all at His feet and allow Him to simply love you. Judgement day for you is finished. It was over at the cross when Jesus declared it to be so. God has nothing to say to you now other than words of love and acceptance. Don’t struggle against Him, but simply accept the truth.


There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You’re free from judgment. Embrace His forgiveness, rest in His acceptance, and get on with life In Jesus Christ.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”




 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Life on Mars


Amidst cheers and tears of joy from NASA scientists, the robotic rover, Spirit, rolled off its platform and onto the surface of Mars this past week. Scientists planned for it to remain in one spot for three or four days as it began preliminary analysis on the soil and pebbles on the planet’s surface. Many hope that evidence will be discovered to prove that there was at one time an ocean on Mars. Water, they say, may well point to some form of Martian life in the past.


The search for life outside this planet – it fascinates me as much as anybody else. At the same time, I find it interesting to see the widespread obsession with space. Why are humans so interested in exploring the universe in search of life? I think the answer to that question rests on a spiritual foundation.


When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, life as man knew it vanished. Until he sinned, man had possessed zoe. The word is the one Jesus used in John 10:10 when He said that He came to give an abundant “life.” It is a kind of life that is filled with adventure, purpose, fulfillment and an overall sense of well being.


At the fall of man, the zoe kind of life vanished from the earth. From that point forward, mankind was only left with bios, as in “biology.” Man traded an enthralling, blessed life for empty, biological life. Since that day, he has been searching to find what he lost.


We desperately want to find life outside ourselves. In fact, we are driven by that desire. Intuitively we know that there must be more to life than to simply breathe for eighty years and then stop. Something in us understands that there has to be some kind of life bigger than ourselves. We do indeed sense a faint cry from another world, calling us to a life unlike any we could ever know within the confines of pale human experience. We sense that there must be something supernatural out there somewhere. And so the search continues . . .


I don’t want to be misunderstood. I’m not against the space program. I’m simply pointing out the desperate desire men have to find life. Christians are in a good place when it comes to evangelism because we understand that what was forfeited in the garden of Eden can be found in Jesus Christ. He is the life for which men seek.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”




 

[Shammu]

AMEN!! on your last post B.L.

Loved this part.

I don’t want to be misunderstood. I’m not against the space program. I’m simply pointing out the desperate desire men have to find life. Christians are in a good place when it comes to evangelism because we understand that what was forfeited in the garden of Eden can be found in Jesus Christ. He is the life for which men seek.

[Brother Love]

AMEN!! on your last post B.L.

Loved this part.

I don’t want to be misunderstood. I’m not against the space program. I’m simply pointing out the desperate desire men have to find life. Christians are in a good place when it comes to evangelism because we understand that what was forfeited in the garden of Eden can be found in Jesus Christ. He is the life for which men seek.[/b]

[/color]

Same here Bro


<))><

[Shammu]

Lets see if this works, if it does everyone need to look at their last 50 posts. And post your messages in them.

My fingers are crossed, this works.

[Talmadge]

I got so very much out of the book Grace Walk. I wrote to the editor not long ago and did let him know how much I had recieved from reading it . May God's love truely shine through with this man's writing.

 

[Brother Love]

I got so very much out of the book Grace Walk. I wrote to the editor not long ago and did let him know how much I had recieved from reading it . May God's love truely shine through with this man's writing.

 

Thanks Talmadge, I agree

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


What's In A Name



I was watching the biography channel early this morning when a program featured the life story of Saddam Hussein. It was interesting to learn the meaning of the name Saddam. The word means “the one who confronts.” The commentator observed how Saddam has lived up to his name throughout his lifetime.


Hussein’s mother tried to kill him while he was still in her womb by slamming her stomach against the wall. She even tried to end her own life so that he would be destroyed. She saw her unborn baby as an unwanted intruder into her life.


Throughout history, a person’s name has had significance and is often a predictor of their behavior. Jacob’s name meant “one who deceives” and he certainly lived up to that name until he wrestled with “the angel of the Lord” and literally came to brokenness. At that point, his name was changed to “Israel,” meaning “a prince with God.”


When Christ entered the world, it was said that “His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” His given name – Jesus. It was important to God.


When Jesus announced the ministry which would be entrusted to Peter, he changed his name right on the spot. “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,” Jesus said. “I also say to you that you are Peter . . .” (Matthew 16:17-18)


What was the name placed on you early in life? I don’t mean your given name at birth. I’m referring to the name you assumed through the life-messages you received from your family, your peers, those in authority over you. The name may have been spoken or unspoken, but you knew it was a reference to you.


Some people bear the name “Unwanted” or “Unloveable.” Others secretly carry a name associated with shame. Some have come to believe deep down that their name is Ugly or Unimportant. One man I knew even called his wife “Chunky,” – a reference to her weight. He seemed to think it was cute, but I thought it was cruel and wondered how his wife had come to let him get away with such behavior.


Think about the formative years of your life. Based on the life messages you received by how others related to you, what was your unspoken name?


The gospel of grace brings good news about our name. You may not be who you have been taught you are. God calls you by His own pet names for you – names like “Apple Of My Eye, Beloved, My child, My Friend, My Bride.” Search the Bible and you will never find God calling you by a negative name, not even once.


He adores you. With that truth in mind, why not pause right now and pray. Ask the Lord this question, “What pet name will you call me today?” Then see what comes into your mind. You may be thrilled as the Holy Spirit reveals to you how much you are loved and how special you are to God.


He has a special name for you. Own it and then live up to it.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”