Our salvation is 100% based on the performance of obedience,holiness, faithfulness, righteousness, and sinlessness…

…of Jesus. And not of you yourself that you may boast.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10

It is because of His ability to perform and obey the law flawlessly you are saved.

It is because He was faithful you are made faithful.

It is because He is Holy that you are holy.

It is because He is Righteous that you became righteous.

It is because He was sinless but became SIN that you become sinless in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

“In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.“ 1 John 4:17

Isn’t it awesome that we can rest in the finished work of Christ and not have to rely on our own performance! Glory! And if it was based on our performance? We all fall short and would go straight to hell!

That why it is called the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus! Now isn’t this news worth sharing? Praise the Lord!

Now, because He obviously first loved us by being faithful in His performance and saving us I can’t help but want to spread the good news about His good works and do what ever I can to do what pleases Him, because I am thankful for His saving Grace.

Doing it out of thankfulness and gratitude makes it very easy. I could never accomplish it out of my own obedience. I would continually fall short.

Glory!

“Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good–not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.” Matthew 11:29-30

Thank you, Jesus for swapping yokes. You took my heavy one and gave me your light one.

Russell Lavigne

Consider the implications of the following verses from the pen of Paul:

“FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men… For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Saviour, Who wishes all men to be saved … For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all … I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands.” (1Tim 2:1-8 AMP)

Prayer, our prayer, is a holy partnership with the High Priestly Advocate Ministry of Christ in the Heavens.

Jack Hayford says:
“Prayer is essentially a partnership of the redeemed child God working hand in hand with God toward the realisation of His redemptive purposes on earth.”

“Prayer is Invading the Impossible” Quoted from ‘Intercessory Prayer’ by Dutch Sheets.

We must realise that our prayers are essential to God’s plans being outworked in the earth. We cannot not pray! To be “prayerless” is to sin against God, and does despite to that which He has made available through the cross.

Let us stand in our privileged place of prayer today.

God bless you.

About the Author
David Lee Martin is a happy husband and father of three, a passionate minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a lively and insightful Bible teacher with a burning desire to see God’s people (and all people for that matter) walk in the FREEDOM for which Christ has made us free. This article is reprinted from The Power Through Prayer newsletter.  You can subscribe to the newsletter at JesusChrist.co.uk.

Follow David on Twitter: @davidleemartin
Subscribe to David’s Youtube Channel: youtube.com/jclivingstream

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

In your workplace, you probably take coffee breaks, lunch breaks, tea breaks and definitely toilet breaks. Why not do the same in your spiritual life — take time out for breaks, especially love breaks?

What is a love break? It is the time you take to enjoy and feed on the love of Jesus for you. At any time during the day, wherever you are, find a quiet spot and feed on the love of Jesus. Just sit down and talk to Him. Say to Him, “Thank You, Jesus, for loving me. Nothing is going to happen to me that You don’t already know about. Jesus, when I could not save myself, You died for me. You gave up Your life for me. What else will You not do for me!”

Such love breaks are typified in the Old Testament by Aaron the high priest and his sons eating the breast of the animal sacrificed. (Leviticus 7:31) The breast of the animal speaks of the love of Jesus. Today, you are a priest to God. (Revelation 1:6) So spend time feeding on the love of Jesus for you, and see yourself nourished, strengthened and sustained by His love. Jesus is our High Priest today. This means that His food is in loving us. He enjoys loving us and is also “nourished” by His love for us.

But do not forget that the breast was roasted by fire (Leviticus 7:35), which speaks of God’s judgment on Jesus as He hung on the cross because He was carrying our sins. So as you feed on Jesus’ love for you, see Him loving you at the cross. When things around you are not going well, do not allow the devil to say to you, “If God loves you, how come these things are happening to you?” My friend, interpret God’s love for you based on the cross, not on your present circumstances.

During the day, when you are hard at work, when busyness sets in, when problems pile up or when discouragement comes, just stop everything and take a love break with Jesus! Let Jesus love you. Let yourself enjoy being loved by Him. Lean on His bosom, abide in His love and be nourished by His love for you!

About the Author:
Joseph Prince is the senior pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, one of Asia’s biggest churches. He is also the head of Joseph Prince Ministries. You can subscribe to his weekly audio or video podcasts or subscribe to the email Daily Grace Inspirations, from which this article is reprinted.

My goodness, she gave up her boyfriend for the Lord? And she said that he was a wonderful person! I mean if I had a Tom Cruise all packaged as a born-again Christian, can I give him up if the Lord asked me to? That would be pretty tough.

It is very difficult to give up the thing or the person you love the most to serve the Lord. I realized this in my life. The person could have given me the best materially and emotionally but I chose the Lord. The job could have made me very rich but I chose to serve the Lord. Many times I have had to make such painful decisions but later found the benefits of making the right choice.

There were times, before I came to know the Lord, I would give excuses when good intentioned Christians asked me to serve in my church or get involved in anything concerning my faith. I was comfortable being a Sunday pew warmer. Don’t disturb me on other days. God has called ministers, priests, pastors, church or ministry leaders to do His work. I am called to work and go home.

Till my whole world shattered!!!! It took a heart wrenching event in my life to realize that God has a purpose for me and He loves me. The first thing I had to give up was my time. When I was willing to make myself available to the Lord, He took care of the rest.

Every now and then, a heart wrenching incident happens in my life. I call it a “wake up, kick in the butt call”. I know it is God’s way of bringing me closer to Him. Like now.

When Something Happens

When You knock on my door
Lord, help me hear and obediently open
When You tap my hands
I pray – I will raise them up in heartfelt praise

When You whisper in my ears
Lord, help me to respond with my life
When You touch my eyes
I pray – I will open them and see Your beauty

When You call my name
Lord, teach me to recognize Your comforting voice
And when You break my heart
I pray – I will lean on Your bosom for solace

When You take away what I have
Lord, help me to let go in blissful surrender
And when You break my will
Lord, help me to give You my heart and soul

When I fell in love with Jesus my Saviour, this became my deepest desire:

“…To walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord our God with all our mind and heart and with our entire being (Deuteronomy 10:12 (AMP).

Ann Mauritia DCruz

Doubt and dimness surround its origin. Peter, James, and John had just seen Jesus transformed on Mount Hermon, but they missed the significance of the moment (Mark 9:5-6). They returned to find some teachers of the law (people hardly known for believing in Jesus) arguing with the other nine disciples (Mark 9:14). Jesus had authorized His team to cast out demons (Mark 3:14-15, 6:13), but something had gone wrong. A father had brought his demon-possessed son to the disciples, and they were unable to help him (Mark 9:17-18).

Jesus was frustrated by the faithlessness of all involved. He called the boy forward, but the spirit caused him to have convulsions. That’s when the father uttered his desperate plea. “Have mercy on us and help us, if You can” (Mark 9:22).

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus stated (Mark 9:23). Then the man offered what has become the prayer of so many doubting believers over the years: “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). I wonder if the man’s faith had wilted once his hopes were dashed. What I love about the end of the story is that Jesus granted the doubting dad his wish and freed his son (Mark 9:25-27).

I’ve prayed the Doubter’s Prayer often. I’ve lacked faith that God would come through in some matter, but I wanted to believe. Jesus is frustrated by faithlessness, yet He responds to the Doubter’s Prayer. And for that, I’m most thankful.

About the Author:
Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker and broadcaster in Australia. He writes for OurDailyJourney.org, from which this article is reprinted. You can see a list of all his articles by clicking here.

Yesterday, I went into this bookstore in Bangalore and the first book that caught my eye was titled I Dared To Call Him Father.  For several months I have been wanting to read this book but didn’t get around to borrowing it from my prayer centre’s library.  So I bought this book and finished reading it in 3 hours.  I just could not put it down.  It’s amazing how the Lord brings to you something which you really need to know so your relationship with Him is strengthened.

Abbottabad is the place where Begum Bilquis Sheikh, the ex-wife of the Interior Minister, was baptized by an Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist minister.

You see, the Lord appeared to Bilquis in a dream and this book chronicles the journey of her coming to know the Lord through reading the Bible and how she held on to her faith amidst the persecution from her family and friends.  She came from a very affluent background but was willing to give it all up for Jesus.

I was in awe at how sensitive she was to God’s voice and people of different denominations helped her come to know the Lord.   It was her obedience to the Lord that inspired me the most.  When I came to the part where she calls God “O Father, My Father, Father God” I cried because I recognized what she felt.  She eventually had to leave the comfort of her wealthy life, her grown up children and fled to America but the Lord answered her prayer for her to be buried in her homeland Pakistan.

Every time I come to Bangalore a name keeps appearing in different places.  During this trip, the name is on a building just outside my hotel room. When I open the blinds and I see that name.  After reading this book, I am able to love this person only with the love that comes from the Lord and I am able to let go.

As I let go, the Lord reminded me of a song I used to sing so often when I first came to know the Lord.

Remove The Unwanted

Stir my heart O Lord, I pray
To walk in complete submission to You
Consume my steps with holy passion
Remove binding chains and hindering mountains

Burn the dross of unholy desires
Consume my being with Your Spirit’s fire
So I will be purified, refined as precious gold
To serve in total obedience and love

Fan into flame an undying love for You
So I will love no other first but You
Let me experience that fullness of joy
That only comes from being with You

Ignite my soul that unmet needs will die
Severe worldly ties which gratify my flesh
Then will I desire utmost for man’s salvation
And their name be in Your book of life

Till then Father, continue purifying me
So I will always be ready to do Your will

From now, when I see that name Abbottabad, I will remember it as the place where Bilquis Sheikh, a Pakistani Muslim woman was baptized.  And when I see the other name, I will hold on to God’s promise in 2 Peter 3:9 that it is not His desire for anyone to perish but that all should come to the knowledge of Him, so My Father will answer my prayer.

And we are assured and know that all things and in everything God works together for good to them who love God and are called according to His design and purpose. Romans 8:28

And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ – right up to the time of His return developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. Philippians 1:6

And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. 1 John 5:14 Amp

Ann Mauritia D’cruz

He said that before he came to the center for our Sunday Family Ministry sessions with his mum and two sisters, he was so stressed from going to school and having to spend so much time on his homework every day.  He said that after coming to the center, praying the prayers given to him and listening to the teachings, he was no longer stressed and could handle his homework.  In fact, he started excelling in his studies.

I never realized that a child could become stressed.  I thought that some kids just found difficulty studying or doing their homework.  But stressed?  Adults got stressed!  And the most amazing thing was that he realized that when he prayed the Psalm 91, the “Binding and Loosing” prayer and confessed the “Who I Am In Christ” and the “45 Cans of Success”, it had a effect on his life and the problems he was facing.

When he took the Word of God and confessed it over his life, he recognized its power and God’s workings.

He was so honest when he spoke.  It was a short testimony yet had such an impact on me.  His grandma is a fellow intercessor at our place and she was just beaming for joy at how the Lord had answered her prayers for her grandchildren.  Little Justin’s younger sister went forward to the mike and prayed the grace before meal.  It wasn’t the usual “bless us O Lord… from Your bounty.” (I don’t know the full thing).  She quoted scripture and prayed with confidence.

Remembering this brings tears to my eyes – tears of complete amazement at how the Lord touches kids.

These kids are not learning about religion; they are not being “indoctrinated” They are being taught how to have a relationship with Jesus, their Lord and Savior.  They are experiencing the beauty of that relationship and how to turn to Him for every situation in the little lives.

I have no children of my own, only spiritual children.  These children have a very special place in my heart.  It’s the Lord who puts them in my heart.  To these children, I have at one point or another said “Make me proud” and when I said it I meant that it would make me very proud when they loved the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength and with all their mind.

Luke 10:27(NLT) “… love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind…”

Be and Become

Be an Abraham
And leave kin behind
Prove your faithfulness to God
And son, make me proud

Be a Joshua
And lead people into God’s kingdom
Show families how to serve the Lord
And son, make me proud

Be a Samuel
And listen to the voice of God
Speak boldly to kings and nobles
And son, make me proud

Be a David
And go after God’s heart
Kill the Goliaths in people’s lives
And son, make me proud

Be an Ezra
And lead the rebellious back to God
Show love and forgiveness
And son, make me proud

Be an Esther
And know you were born for this time
Risk your life to obey your Master
And daughter, make me proud

Be a Deborah
And speak God’s word to people
Give hope to the broken
And daughter, make me proud

Be a Daniel
And prove your fidelity to God
Counsel the elect out of deception
And son, make me proud

Be a Habakkuk
And restore people’s faith
Reveal the secret of dialoging with God
And son, make me proud

Be a Mary
And sit at the feet of Jesus
Share your testimony to others
And daughter, make me proud

Be a Paul
And bring the Good News to unbelieversHeal the sick, cast out demons
And son, make me proud

Be who God created you to be – and child, make me proud

My prayer for all mums and dads is that you will recognize who the Lord has sent to help your kid and where to go to get that help which actually came from Him and not man.

I am truly blessed because God answered the prayers of my Amma and Acha.  When I have finished my race here, I hope that when I meet them in heaven they will say “Mol, you made me proud”

And little Justin “You have made me very proud.”

Ann Mauritia D’cruz

Because of what Christ did on the cross, we can expect God’s best

All believers want to experience God’s unmerited favor. We all want to enjoy God’s best and richest blessings. We want His provision, health and power flowing mightily in our lives. All these blessings are wrapped up in God’s grace. When His unmerited favor is on our side, nothing can stand against us. But if we can’t earn or deserve it, how can we be confident that we have His unmerited favor?

Our righteousness in Christ is our right to God’s unmerited favor. At Golgotha, the sinless Man became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him. We can ask God for big things because we’ve been made the righteousness of God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things they have to do. If they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous”; when they fail in terms of their actions or behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” This is the wrong understanding of righteousness.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NKJV). We aren’t righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. Christianity isn’t about doing right to become righteous. It’s all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous. Attempting to be justified by good works and trying to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Christ. It’s as good as saying: “The cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”

The grace of God is the unearned, undeserved and unmerited favor of God. When God answers you in your most undeserving moment, that is grace. That is His amazing, unmerited favor. At our lowest point, our darkest hour, His light shines through for us and we become a recipient of His unmerited favor. In and of ourselves, we don’t deserve anything good. But because we are in Christ and in His righteousness, God will not withhold any blessing from our lives today. Our part isn’t to struggle in our own works and be independent from God, but to focus on receiving all that we need from Him.

I believe the more righteousness-conscious we are, the more of God’s unmerited favor we will experience. When the voice of disqualification comes to remind us of all the areas we’ve fallen short in, that’s the time to turn to Jesus and hear His voice, which qualifies us. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can expect good things to happen to us. We can ask God for big things and reach out to the blessed destiny that He has for us and our family members. His righteousness is our right to God’s unmerited favor.

Joseph Prince is Pastor of New Creation Church, a dynamic and fast-growing church in Singapore. He also leads an international ministry called Joseph Prince Ministries, Inc. He is the author of  Destined To Reign and Unmerited Favor.

This morning, the Lord showed me this verse – Psalm 45:12 (AMP) “And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of people shall entreat your favour with a gift.”

And He said “by 12 o’clock I will answer your prayer.”

I worked from home today.  I had some issues in my new apartment as well and this major issue of someone demanding something from me which I didn’t have enough to give and it was no fault of mine that I was to be penalized. No amount of talking or even pleading would change her heart.

I was so disappointed and cried out to the Lord in prayer.  I said “Lord, I know that when You asked me to give towards Your kingdom’s purposes, I gave whole heartedly and ungrudgingly. Please provide for me.”

His answer was “Vengence is Mine.  You forgive” and He encouraged me with this Psalm.  He said “I will send the ravens to feed you.”  Assuring me of His providence in my time of need.

Yes, I stayed home, working and listening to this Christian radio station.  At 3p.m. I received an unexpected call from a close friend whom I had not spoken to a while.  We spoke a bit and then hung up.

He called again later and that’s when I shared about what was going on.  Without me asking, he said he would help, insisting on it.  He believed that was the reason why he called specifically today.

Later, I checked to see what time was his first call and it was around 12p.m. in his country!  The Lord said 12 o’clock – not in my country but in another country.  I was just in awe at the Lord’s mercy upon my life.

Lord, I thank You
For keeping the waters from drowning me
And the fires from consuming me

Lord, I thank You
For sending Your strength to sustain me
And Your love to keep me from despair

Lord, I thank You
For speaking to my silence
And showing me You are on my side

Lord, I thank You
For revealing to me Your providence
And securing me in Your protection

Lord, I thank You
For showing me what Your peace is
And remaining ever close to me

Lord, I have no words, to express my gratitude to You – just the stillness in my soul and my tears…

Ann Mauritia D’cruz

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

God plants this love inside us, and it grows healthy in the soil of abandonment. We abandon our rights, our judgments, our opinions, and our schemes. Jesus is uncompromising in his abandonment of the privileges of his position as the only begotten son, and he expects no less from us when it comes to abandoning anything that sets us in rebellion to the Father.

Like the man who found treasure hidden in a field, he sells everything he has in order to buy the field. He holds back nothing because he knows the treasure is worth more than anything he has. Abandonment means realizing that following Jesus is worth everything we have and so holding nothing back.

Costly grace requires that we come to the end of ourselves, that we abandon our current lives in order to begin new lives with Jesus. Costly grace means, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Costly grace means we refuse to “set aside the grace of God” for the lesser things of this world (Galatians 2:21).

Abandonment is possible because you have Jesus within, helping you to love and obey. Let him lead you to that place where your heart begins to beat so closely with God’s that it’s difficult to distinguish between the two.

Love God, and in the intimacy of that love, obey his heart.

Jon Walker is the author of Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ and Growing with Purpose. He has served on staff at Saddleback Church and Purpose Driven Ministries and is currently the managing editor of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotionals and the Ministry Toolbox. Contact him at ">. This article is copyrighted 2011 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.