Saturday, May 21, 2016

Praise Him IN as well as FOR all things

God wants us to praise Him in as well as for all things. That’s a hard teaching, but God told us to praise Him through thick and thin. When you consider the alternatives the choice is a no-brainer. Are you praising God in and for all of the things that God allows to come into your life? I’m not saying God always causes your hard times, but He allows them. Folks, take it from one who practices praising God in and for all things: Praising God in all things will enable you to see miracles.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold ... even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:6-7)

By praising Him in and for your circumstances, you leave God two alternatives: Change the circumstance, or give you so much grace that you’ll actually become glad for the experience. Either way, you’re the winner.


- Bill Gillham

Personal Weakness

The world’s definition of personal weakness is “a lack of individual power or strength—one who must depend on another.” By that definition, Jesus of Nazareth was the weakest sound-of-mind-and-body human who ever lived because He totally depended on the Father in Him.

Examine the temptations He endured. Satan tempted Him to go independent to satisfy His personal need of the moment: to turn a stone into bread when He was 40-days hungry; to kick off His ministry with a bang by diving off the top of the Temple and swooping in for a two-point landing; to throw off the bondage of being under submission to the Father and take over the earth—all of which would have been independent acts! Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not say that He could call down thousands of angels to rescue Himself from danger? “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53, emphasis added). Jesus never lifted an independent hand for 33 years!


- Bill Gillham

"Flawless" (Who I am in Christ)

No more guilt, no more shame
Without spot, without blame
I stand before my Lord sublime
In this life, in this time.

How is sinful man to be
Ever holy unto thee?
How is Perfect Man to be
The sole Life and source of me?

Sinful man ... perfected man
When Perfect Man became his sin
Died as man and rose again
to take His brother to His God.

With God, impossible nothing is
With His great love, He me did kiss

Through His Son; I'm in His Son

by Kim Siles

Feeling Secure

Your emotions will gradually begin to react because you have chosen to act the way that safe people act. You can never get complete control over your emotions. True, you can exercise some control over them, but never total control. It is humanly impossible to do so.

God has created us to be unable to control our emotions. As a saved person, you can control your mind and your will, but not your feelings. God's plan is for us to believe Him and choose to submit ourselves to His loving care and authority regardless of how we feel.

Human beings often cannot understand the peace of which Christ speaks, because the only peace they typically comprehend is a feeling. They want to feel peaceful. They will say that they have great peace of mind, but they don't. It's just that they feel good, so they set their minds on how good they feel. Let adverse circumstances arise, and they'll say they've lost their peace of mind. However, they never had peace of mind in the first place.

It's simply that their emotions have topped the scale, and now they're keeping their minds set on how bad they feel. It was feel peace instead of mind peace all the time.


- Bill Gillham

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Grace Opposers or Jesus Opposers

The Sinning Gospel, sleazy grace, false grace gospel, lovey dovey grace,  license to sin gospel, the lazy gospel are terms that are loosely thrown around by grace opposers who fail to understand God's grace.

Because of the deceptive deception of Satan they have a shrouded understanding regarding the fulfillment of the Law in Christ and that it  is no longer invoke to maintain the believer's relational relationship with God or for nonbelievers to gain a relationship with God.

The Grace and Law mixers are unaware that a stand against the Grace Gospel given to Paul by Jesus is a choice not to believe in God's amazing grace. These grace opposers, without realizing it, are condemning themselves because in refusing to believe in Christ's grace message they are refusing to believe in Jesus Himself. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John (3:18)

The grace opposers are still depending on the Law to let them know what sin is so they can do their best to measure up to some standard by not committing sin.

They freely accuse the Grace Gospel as a license to sin when in actual fact it is entirely the opposite.

"For the grace of God has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for ALL mankind."

"It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world," (Titus (2:11-12)

Grace does not render one a slave to sin...Law keeping is responsible for that.

Grace opposers maintain that grace lovers fail to BALANCE the Gospel of Grace by excluding the Law as part of the complete gospel, causing grace to have run-a-muck. They feel that grace believers will not know what sin is (if they don't point out the sin in people) and conclude that people will begin to “sin like crazy” and feel justified in being a sin-cop. This argument mixes the covenants. It places new wine (New Covenant) into old wine-skins (Old Covenant) which never balances out either message, it mystifies them both and nullifies the truth of grace. (Luke 5:36-39).

When we trust in our own ability to do what is right to avoid what is wrong we are eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as Adam did in the Garden of Eden. We have been taught that the way to not commit sin is to be aware of evil and run hard and fast away from it, let me tell you, sin has outrun ALL who have tried to out run it. Prior to his eating of the tree Adam knew not what sin was, that was knowledge that God alone held. After the the eating the forbidden fruit Adam then had the ability to determine what was wrong and instead of dependence on God he was now trying to make amends for what he thought was sin by his sense knowledge because it felt like sin. This thinking has made its way into Christendom and believers constantly point out all of the evils of the world and warning saints avoid teh evil and condemn sinners to hell if they do not repent of their evil. That message puts all of the responsibility onto the believer and sinner to change themselves. This causes them to do penance when they fail and to place themselves under stricter discipline to keep from doing it again. This is the “spirit of bondage again to fear” (Romans 8:15).

Most believers believe that the grace of God brings salvation, and no one who preaches Jesus, either by law or by grace would question that; "For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind (Titus 2:11). He further states that this grace “hath appeared to ALL men”. The “appearance” of grace is in the man Jesus Christ. John tells us that the law was given by Moses but that grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17).

Notice that when grace appears it appears for a purpose, “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12. This is directly opposite to the charges laid against grace believers by grace opposers. The grace of God teaches us and continues to teach people through the personage of Jesus through His community of the redeemed.

The more sin conscious we are the more we try in and of ourselves to measure up to some expected standard to keep from sinning. The more God conscious we are the more of Jesus is revealed to the believer and the more we are empowered to live above sin. In essence, the more we are aware of Jesus, the more of Jesus' life and character is lived through us.

Contrary to what Grace opposers accuse those who believe the Grace Gospel, no one who teaches the gospel of grace supports believers living in sin. Paul defended his message on more than one occasion, feeling the need to do so because he was being misrepresented. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” he asks. “God forbid,” (Romans 6:1, 2). But note something...he doesn’t say that we shouldn’t sin because it will send us to hell, but rather he asks how can continue to do those evil things seeing that our old man is dead and Christ is alive in us (Romans 6:2-7). Paul is showing us how to live by reinforcing our position in Christ and allowing grace to do its work in each person’s heart.

The grace of God that saved us is also the grace that keeps us. All of us have the Spirit within showing us the way to live. When we fail and sin, the Spirit doesn’t uppercut us to the face or threaten us with hell, condemning our every thought and deed...the Spirit of God is not a condemner...instead, the Holy Spirit reinforces who we are in Christ, causing us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1).

Grace opposers...your accusations are without scriptural merit! Listen to the voice of Grace within your life, believe in Gods grace and allow it to work its work in you to live  God conscious unto holiness rather than sin conscious unto sinning.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Confessions we can Make

I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1:3.

I am chosen chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that I may be holy and blameless before the before the Father. Ephesians 1:4.

I am predestined to adoption as a son or daughter by the Father through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of His will. Ephesians 1:5.

The Father has accepted me in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6.

I have redemption through Jesus Christ’s blood and the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14.

I have obtained an inheritance in Christ. Ephesians 1:11.

I am sealed with the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of my inheritance. Ephesians 1:13-14.

God raised me up in heavenly places to sit with Him in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:6.

I am saved by grace through faith. I am not saved by my own works. Ephesians 2:8-9.

I am God's masterpiece. He created me anew in Christ Jesus, so I can do the good things

He planned for me long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT.

I have been brought to Father by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13.

For He Himself is my peace. He made the Gentiles and the Jews into one by breaking down the barrier of the dividing wall. Ephesians 2:14 (NAS).

I have access by one Spirit to the Father through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:18.

I am strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man according to the riches of His glory. Ephesians 3:16.

Christ dwells in my heart by faith. I am rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:17.

God does exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask or think according to His power that works in me. Ephesians 3:20.

God gives me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:57.

I thank God! He always leads me triumphantly by the Messiah and through me spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing Him. 2 Corinthians 2:14 (ISV).

I have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16.

He made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

I am in Christ Jesus and therefore I am a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

If I sin, I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1 (ESV).
All of God’s promises are yes and amen for me because I am in Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:20.

I am qualified in Christ to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints. Colossians 1:12.


God my Father has delivered me from the power of darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of His beloved Son. Colossians 1:13. 

Turn Over the Burden

How would you like to turn over the burden of living to Jesus?

What if it were God’s plan for Christ to express His life through you similar to flowing water empowering a turbine? What if God rejected the familiar man-developed plan of grading on the curve of world achievement for a new plan, a grace-filled plan—a pass/fail plan hatched in heaven by a unanimous vote of Three to zero? But, that’s getting ahead of the story.

Let me leave you to ponder a hint: The flesh is man’s best effort at facing life on his own—independently—and God makes it very clear in the Bible that He will not share His glory of grace with any man. It was His idea from the beginning, and He is convinced it is the very best way to demonstrate His amazing love.

"If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’" — John 7:37b-38


- Bill, Anabel, and Preston Gillham