CG BS

Justice

-Parable of the good samaritan Luke 10:25
-Love your neighbour as yourself Matthew 22:37-40
-Healing of the paralyzed man Matthew 9
-The little children and Jesus Mark 10:13
-Believers sharing their possessions Acts 4:32
-Ruth and Boaz Ruth

Homework for the week: Find more examples of justice in the bible and focus on one/a few that are applicable to your life

Editor’s note: Recently we were stunned and saddened by the loss of David Beasley, who died in an automobile accident. David was the husband of Sabrina Beasley, who worked as a writer and editor at FamilyLife for several years. David was committed to Christ and to being a man of God. He and Sabrina enjoyed seven years of marriage and have two children: Benjamin, 2, and Katherine, 4 months.

Three years before his death, David wrote an e-mail about his concern over the cultural idea of finding a “soul mate” to marry.

Following are David’s words, used with Sabrina’s permission. We run this to honor a man who, as his obituary said, “enjoyed life to the fullest, died without regrets, and longed to spread the message of Christ to the world.”

I don’t believe that society’s definition of “soul mate” is healthy or spiritual. It’s great for the movies and Hallmark cards, but no one’s marriage is like the romantic movies you’ve seen.

A good friend of ours is divorcing her husband because she bought into the lie that God wants us to “be happy” in marriage and that He would bless the idea that her happiness would be found when she was freed from her current spouse to find her one, true “soul mate.” Like most other people, she has this fantastical, unreal notion that God brings together two lost hearts who experience true compatibility in all the deepest longings of their being. Most people think that your soul mate is someone with whom you never argue and spend endless days of hand-clinching romantic walks on the beach. No hardships, no struggles, just starry-eyed wonder for the next 80 years.

The truth is, a soul mate isn’t someone you find, it’s someone you intentionally and prayerfully become.

Anyone in a successful marriage can tell you that “success” in marriage doesn’t come from finding that one person you were meant to be with. It only comes from giving up the selfish behavior that served you while you were single, and focusing on selflessly serving your spouse instead.

A happy marriage requires a completely different mindset than the 50/50 concept most couples enter into marriage with. The idea that “If I do my 50 percent and Sabrina does her 50 percent, we will have a happy marriage” is ridiculous. Sabrina and I are both imperfect people and we both make mistakes on a daily basis. One of us will always feel disgruntled, thinking that we are contributing more to the happiness of the relationship than the other.

The only way to have a happy marriage is if I take the selfish focus off of myself and put 100 percent of my energy into serving Sabrina and she does the same with me. If I am focused 100 percent on serving Sabrina, I don’t even realize when my needs and desires aren’t being met, because I’m not focused on my needs and desires, but hers.

Nowhere in the Bible does God say anything about soul mates. God gives us the simple details on how to have a great marriage: Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Wives, respect your husbands. Both of these are intentional acts of selfless sacrifice that will guarantee us to have a happy marriage.

Even better than that, God chose marriage to represent Christ’s love for us. Even though we didn’t deserve it, Christ loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself to die for us. Neither Sabrina nor I are perfect, but God has called us to live out the gospel every day by sacrificing for and loving each other, even though we don’t deserve it.

The fact is, if Sabrina showed her love for me only when I did something to deserve it, I would be in big trouble. But Sabrina and I are very much in love. We have a great marriage. But nobody sees us 24/7/365. They only see our public face, not the thousands of times I’ve thrown a selfish temper tantrum because I didn’t feel like her world was revolving around me enough.

Sabrina and I have a very real marriage. We disagree, we argue, and we get frustrated with each other. But even in those times, we work even harder at treating each other with love and respect.

Despite what eHarmony would have you to believe, we are not compatible in every way. There are many times when we have to make changes and personal sacrifices for each other. We’re in love and are soul mates because we work at it.

Most people don’t like the idea of having to work for a soul mate. But you will never speak with a happily married couple that will tell you that they haven’t had to work hard for the happiness they have together.

Credit from Tsunami.com

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 12:19 PM EDT David Shibley Newsletters - Prophetic Insight

SURVIVING   LIFE’S   TSUNAMIS

It seemed like a regular day at the beach. When the blasts of billions of tons of water wrecked the coasts of more than a dozen Asian nations on Dec. 26, 2004, most of the people on the beaches were totally unaware of the looming danger. In its wake the massive tsunami claimed more than 200,000 lives in 14 countries and left millions homeless. It was one of the largest natural disasters in history.

Life can be like that. Suddenly, without warning, you’re hit with a torrent of trouble. Like the psalmist, you cry, “All Your waves and billows have gone over me” (Ps. 42:7, NKJV). Some of life’s “tsunamis” literally hit home. Sudden shock waves jar us, pulling us against our will into a sea of trouble. Suddenly we feel overwhelmed with horrible circumstances. The tranquility of life is disrupted and we wonder if things will ever be the same as they were.

Calamities prompt us to ask, “Why?” There are no pat answers. Yet there are answers for how we can survive these sudden tsunamis. It’s important that we anchor our attitudes in Scripture. Here are several heart attitudes we should maintain when faced with the floodtides of trouble that sometimes invade our lives without warning.

1. Be sure your “house” is built on the rock of faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Jesus warned that waves of trouble would come. But you can prepare by securing your life to Christ, the solid rock. Jesus said, “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matt. 7:24-25).

2. Anchor to what doesn’t move. God promised, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” He guarantees “the removal of those things that are being shaken” in order that “the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” We have embraced an unshakeable kingdom, therefore “let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:26-29, NIV).

3. Remember that your Christ is greater than your crisis. You may feel completely overwhelmed. Right now you may identify with this lament that perfectly describes life’s tsunamis: “The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves” (Ps. 93:3).

No matter how massive the waves may be, let your heart cling to the next verse. It’s the master key to surviving life’s tsunamis: “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (Ps. 93:4, NKJV).

Christ is still in control. His single command of “Peace, be still!” will calm the most violent storms of your life. So live in His peace. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled. … Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Ps. 46:1-2, 10).

About the author: David Shibley is the founder and president of Global Advance (globaladvance.org), an international training ministry that equips tens of thousands of church and business leaders every year in many of the world’s neediest areas. David has ministered throughout America and in more than 50 other nations. He is the author of numerous articles and author or co-author of more than 20 books, including Living as if Heaven Matters (Charisma House).

When we say we are a Christian, it does not mean we are going to heaven and you are going to hell, but rather acknowledging that we are ALL going to hell, but there is a way out.

When we say we are a Christian, it is not an exclaimation to proof we are somebody because of what we have done, but a silent proclaimation that we were nobody but somebody now because of what He has done.

When we say we are a Christian, it does not mean we are perfect and we know the way, but rather we were once lost and now am found…

It is not our love for Him but His love for us that saves us.

Caleb

Roms 4:13 – we are saved not from the law but the righteousness of faith – what does it mean for us as we walk with Him?

Obedience of Faith Vs obedience of Doing
Right. Right believing produces Right doing and results in Right living

Obedience is the fruit, not the root!

The blessings empower us to obey. Rather than obey to earn our blessings!

Blessings under grace came first, this in turn produces repentance

Faith is not a work or deed, it is seeing Jesus!

His blood has qualified everyone of us! For eternity! To receive health and blessings, providence and right living

Rom 4:12 if we inherit the promises of God by the law (by obediedience), there is no need for FAITH! Its never by our obedience, we are trying to earn some we can never earn. Only by Grace, receive.

The law voids faith – the more we try to EARN it, WE lose it…

The centurian and the canaanite woman who asked for healing for her daughter are the only two Jesus said ” Great is your faith” what’s their secret? – its time to stop hearing! Its time to start meditating on His word! —- they are both GENTILES! (Both are Not under the law!! Not law conscious, Just JESUS conscious!)

Our God never downplays sin, in fact it is so great that God has to pay it for us.

Rom 4:16 — Therefore it is by FAITH that it might be by GRACE that the promise might be SURE — by FAITH through GRACE!!

Each time we look at The Cross, remember that it is actually the love of God paying for the Justice of God! Thank you Lord.

Devil takes the law and condemns us, to draws us away…. Grace of Jesus draw us back

Under LAW, the sacrifice is less than the judgement… Sacrifice is insufficient Under GRACE – when Jesus died on the cross!! The Judgement was gone but the sacrifice remained!!! No more judgement, no more condemnation

For every sin that you and I commit

He was punished so we will not be punished
He took our place that we will take HIS PLACE
He take our sins so that we may become the righteousness of GOD!!! Amen!

He received our sins so we will receive His righteousness!!