Dr. Lewis Gregory

Labor Day in the United States has traditionally been a day to cease from one’s labors and rest. God offers a lifetime of rest to all who will cease from their fleshly labors and enter His rest. Easier said than done! It is very difficult for most of us to give up on all our “so called good works.” I know it was for me. My thinking went something like this. “I’m trying as hard as I can, doing all that I can, the best that I can. It may not be the greatest (admittedly I was defeated), but I’m giving it all I’ve got. If all my hard work has only gotten me this far, just think what would happen if I gave up. Why, it would be a disaster, and I would become passive.

Since then I’ve discovered this kind of thinking to be all too common among Christians. Ceasing from our fleshly efforts in order to enter God’s rest is actually shifting from a works-oriented approach, to a grace-oriented approach to living. Ironically, many people have mistakenly thought that an emphasis on grace will lead to a life of passivity. The concern is that a strong emphasis on grace—which declares that the responsibility for our lives belongs to Christ and that He will take care of everything for us—will cause many to become passive. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

When you truly realize your union with Christ, you are not about to sit back and do nothing. Passivity is the last thing on your mind. Once you have discovered what it means to be a new creation in Christ, you are finally ready to do something of eternal consequence. As you begin to realize your true identity in Christ, it actually liberates you to an even greater level of activity—Divine activity. You are fully equipped for godly living. At last, you’re free to do what God has put in your heart to do.

Paul, the chief proponent of this truth, was no slouch. In fact, he was one of the most active Christians on biblical record. Here is what he wrote, “By the grace of God I am what I am . . . I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Did you notice he said he labored much more than everyone else? He is not bragging—far from it. It is merely a statement of fact. Yet, in a sense, it is bragging, though not about himself. Who did Paul credit for such fervent activity? He emphatically stated that it was God who made him who he was, and enabled him to do what he did. He described this remarkable phenomenon as the grace of God. Paul declared that his labors were a result of God and God alone. He was bragging all right—on God!

The grace of God does not result in passivity. Paul made it very clear that this life of grace, as a new creation, is anything but passive. He told the Colossians, “I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29). Paul declared that such a lifestyle is a labor, which involves striving, and results in work being accomplished.

What was the source of Paul’s labor? The energizing source of his dynamic labor was none other than the indwelling Christ! He also asserted that everything he did was a result of God’s work in his life. It was Christ who did the work, but He has chosen to do it in and through human personalities. That’s you and me. We have been granted the marvelous privilege of being co-laborers with Christ. We are the human instruments through whom He has chosen to accomplish His Divine purposes. Divine activity is to be the order of the day for those believers who are living by the grace of God as new creations in Christ.

On one hand, you don’t do anything; yet, on the other, you do everything. You, in your human strength, are not to do anything. However, you, in the strength of the Lord, are now able to do all things! In Philippians 4:13, Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is now your motto.

A young Christian told me this was her favorite verse. When I asked her why, she answered, “It gives me hope and confidence. I am hopeful that things will be different for me as a Christian. I also have a new self-confidence, because God has made me a new person in Christ. Therefore, I am confident of what I can do through Christ, who is now my strength.” May God grant you this same outlook on life!

Once, a friend met a young man who said he had been a Christian for a few years. After determining that the young man had truly met the Lord, he began to quiz him about his Christian walk. As they became better acquainted, several interesting things emerged.

It became evident that the young man’s life was stagnant. In fact, he seemed to just be going in circles. To make matters worse, he blamed others for his dilemma.

When my friend realized the young man was stuck in a rut he exclaimed, “Man you’re sitting on a gold mine, and you’re just letting it go to waste. As a Christian, God has endowed you with a brand new life. Are you telling me that you have Christ inside of you, and yet you are not allowing Him to live His life through you? That’s just not right. It’s time for you to get with the program!”

The same is true for you. If you feel as though your life is going nowhere, then it’s time to get with the program. The transforming truth of the new creation made it possible for the apostle Paul to do God’s work. Likewise, you must be about your Father’s business!

May this Labor Day be the beginning of a lifetime of resting in the Lord. As you do, you will find His grace sufficient for all your labors. And you can rest assured that your labor will never be in vain in the Lord!

Taken from Introducing The New You, to read more – http://www.sourceministries.net/go/resources/the-new-you/

reposted from Strategic renewal

by Troy Keaton

Aug 05, 2016

I’ll never forget my first Monday as a pastor. It was July 1994 and we had moved the previous Wednesday, arriving just in time for the Wednesday evening service. My wife, two small daughters, and I had experienced the excitement of our first Sunday along with 19 other people (most of whom I soon learned weren’t regular attenders). On Monday I walked into the dark and quiet church office. Although there were 400,000 people in this city, it dawned on me that 99.999% of them did not come to this church. This church was a few funerals and a fuss away from being extinct. I had been trained with a ministerial degree, raised in a ministry home, and surrounded by the work of the ministry my entire life. I knew what this church needed. This church needed growth. I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to grow this church! Continue reading…

www.strategicrenewal.com

Since Christian leaders are to equip the saints, and the Body of Christ is to develop though members edifying one another (Eph. 4:12,16), check out this free online workshop by CCEF. It’s on the topic of “You Are a Priest: Considering an Underused Identity” by Dr. Ed Welch. Although Nouthetic Counseling usually operates from a different model of man and of sanctification than this web site’s editorial perspective, this topic is very important to help church members recognize that ministry is for every believer, not just the pastor.  https://www.ccef.org/events/ccef-live

Mike Quarles just published an expanded edition of his booklet on Kindle. It’s titled The Key to the Victorious Christian Life: A Grace Oriented Introduction.

“The Director of Grace Walk Recovery, calls attention to the pervasive need for Christians to live an overcoming, abundant life. In this concise biblical summary, he explains how to experience the victory, peace, freedom and joy God has provided for believers in Christ.”

This week the Kindle edition is on sale for 99 cents. It’s a great opportunity to “gift it” to others (if you know their email address).

From Lifetime Guarantee Ministries:

Jesus said,”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Yet, most Christians are worn out from all work they do. Does the life God wants for us consist of doing more, more, more? Are we experiencing “God’s Rest”? This audio series is a fascinating study from the book of Joshua comparing the crossing of the Jordan River to the believer’s crossing over into the Spirit-empowered life, that has has a lot to do with rest. This is a teaching series by Bill, Anabel and Preston Gillham.

Click here for the free audio MP 3 download!

Lifetime Guarantee is making available as a free download in April– an audio series by Dr. Bill and Anabel Gillham (on staff with GFI in the 1970’s). Rising Above Your Circumstances. “Trials and tribulations are unavoidable in life. You can expect them! So, how do you view your circumstances? Are you reacting or rising above them? Are they the last straw, or will you allow God to use them as His finishing touch in your life? Download here.”

Our associates at Lifetime Guarantee Ministries are making this MP 3 audio seminar available for free download in March. “Explore the Scriptures and find out who you really are. What you uncover is that you are a new creation in Christ. Then learn how to live like the new person you have already become in Him! The Bible teaches that you are a Holy and righteous saint of God who longs to serve and please Him. Knowing the fullness of the Good News and your identity in Christ are the first vital steps toward bringing your behavior in-line with who you are.” by Dr. Bill and Anabel Gillham. Download here: http://lifetimeministries.myshopify.com/pages/free-mp3-download

By Pastor Jesse Andrus

It’s taken me a while to learn to rest in the Lord, but I think I’m there. Don’t get me wrong. I work hard. In fact, I work ten hours a day filling vending machines. Plus I have a window-washing business. But the congregation I pastor, the Christian Praise Church in southeast Washington, D.C., is the work that allows me to rest on a bed of spiritual faith. The Holy Ghost allows me to rest. Faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ allows me to rest.

I first got an inkling of this when I was working as a custodian in a maximum-security correction facility. My job was to clean up the mess hall. I was wiping windowsills when I came across a little card that quoted Matthew 11:28 saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

That was the drawing verse, the verse that made me stop and rethink my life. It was the verse that got me thinking a different way. I always thought I needed to exert myself beyond myself to achieve. I had to strive harder, work longer hours, and get better results than anyone else. Funny, but even after that verse led me deeper into the Word, even after I answered God’s call to magnify His name, I still hadn’t absorbed the lesson. In the beginning, I preached with a heavy hand. I was adamant. I was unyielding.

Because I’m animated by nature, I banged home my points through insistence rather than understanding. As the pressures of pasturing got to me, I focused on force rather than compassion. My yoke wasn’t easy and my burden wasn’t light. Well, when the membership started dwindling and few elders voiced concern, I had to look at myself. Was I condemning rather than loving? Was I coming on too strong? Was I expressing the Word of God through the Holy Spirit or my own ego?

We love to worship Jesus because Jesus is about change. He changes us. I prayed for that change, and glory to God that change came about. The change came out of the Lord’s divinity and my humanity. I had to admit I was messing up. I had to be honest about my life. I had to expose my frailty. It was either that or become defensive and even more arrogant. But building myself up would mean tearing God down. I needed to do the opposite: I needed to build up God. I needed to get up and let Him work on me. I needed to change.

In part, change came by enrolling in a beautiful study at Grace Ministries in Manassas, VA. This formal course in grace gave me the insight to see that the contrast is between force and yielding. Force is law. Force is effort. Force is striving. But grace is yielding. Grace is allowing. Grace is embracing the gift of a love that comes free with faith. We don’t earn it. We don’t achieve it. We simply and gratefully receive it. And once we receive it, love is in action.

The activation of love is linked to resting in the Lord. He’s already done it. We just have to live it. The more we depend on Him, the less we worry about the world. The world will do whatever it does. I can’t change the world. I can’t even change anyone’s heart. Only God can. I see stress as something we impose upon ourselves; stress is when we let the world get to us. But if we let Him, if we trust Him, if we believe His Word, God relieves that stress.

The change is that I no longer worry. With all my responsibilities as a family man, a church man, and a working man, I’ve learned to stay out of the results because the results belong to God. I don’t get anxiety attacks. I don’t wake up in a panic. I sleep like a baby. I rest knowing that I’m a vessel for His use. My hands are His hands. My eyes are His eyes. He is in me. His work is my work. And His yoke is easy, His burden is light.

http://www.undergrace.org/#!march-2016/xhso2

Grace Ministries Manassas VA

The Priority of My Life and Ministry

By Gordon E. Johnson

I have been asked by my students, Why do you always end your letters and devotionals with the phrase: “Yours in the Message of the Cross”? The question is most valid. Allow me to give you the background to this, my priority of life and ministry.

First of all, it is a biblical term in itself: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18 NKJV). A little later Paul says: “But we preach, (announce) Christ crucified, to the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (vv.22,23). Later he adds: “for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). This is how Paul would deal with the open carnality of those in Corinth.

Continue reading five more facets of the priority of the Cross of Christ.
Professor Johnson taught at Rio Grande Bible Institute in Edinburg, Texas

Dynamic Churches International has rolled out a new edition of their web site. It features plenty of strategic, field-tested, free resources.  There are three ways for disciplers to use these materials: good, better & best.

Good: Use the distinctive one-to-one Bible studies to multiply disciples (2 Tim. 2:2).

Better: Use the one-to-one discipleship lessons in the context of a reproducing “Life Group”. See the Explosive Growth Overview.

Best: Leverage the value of one-to-one and cell group ministry by implementing a full “Spontaneous Discipleship” approach. See a blog post about it.

Do you prefer an online recorded demonstration? Check out the audio room under the “Training”menu. DynamicChurhes.org

Thank you, DCI!