This is a teaching from Joseph Prince on Ephesians 1:3. I found it amazingly simple and true:

Blessed With Every Pneumatikos Blessing
Ephesians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ",
Some people think that the term “spiritual blessing” refers to only non-visible and intangible blessings like peace and joy. To them, God’s promise of “every spiritual blessing” excludes the tangible blessings of health, prosperity, a healthy marriage and so on. They say things like, “Don’t expect God to remove this tumor because our blessings are only spiritual.” Beloved, do you know what the word “spiritual” here means? In the original Greek text, it is pneumatikos, which in this context means having properties and characteristics belonging to the Spirit of God. So if you have the pneumatikos blessing of health, for example, it means that it is of the Spirit of God, and therefore does not depend on your exercising or dieting. A church member had high blood pressure which did not normalize even after he started exercising and eating well. So he stopped being preoccupied with his exercise and diet regimes, and simply rested in the truth that a normal blood pressure was a pneumatikos blessing from God already given to him. In a short time, his blood pressure came down to a healthy level! The same goes for the pneumatikos blessing of prosperity. It is of the Spirit of God and does not depend on our toiling seven days a week or monitoring the stock market closely. A church member, who owns a small company, received her pneumatikos blessing of prosperity when she believed that God would cause her small company to be publicly listed. He did. In fact, the company was over-subscribed seven times within the first week! Later on, it even made inroads into Dubai in the Middle East. For a woman to find favor in a male-dominated society like Dubai, it can only be the pneumatikos blessing of favor, which is not subject to the laws of man. My friend, believe that you have received every pneumatikos blessing, and you will find yourself enjoying blessings that are eternal, just as God is eternal, and of a quality that only the Spirit of God can give!

A Conversation about Sin, Forgiveness and Grace

I was reminded recently of the conversation I had once had with a friend of mine.
She was looking a little worse for wear, tears were streaming down her soft pink cheeks and it was obvious that she had a lot on her mind.
I made my way up to where she sat; half curled up into a ball in the corner of the youth hall.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as I sat beside her.
"I guess so-" came the reply.
"I don't buy it...speak to me..."
"Ah, it's nothing, Brogan. Really-"
"It can't be nothing, can it? I mean, why would you be so bothered about nothing?"
She sighed deeply and lowered her head to her knees, hiding her face from my view.

"Is God judging me? Is He angry with me?"

I sat up. It really was not the response I was expecting. I thought her sadness may be rooted in "boyfriend" trouble or even a problem at school. After all, those were the replies I was most used to...

"Why would you ask that-" I replied dumbly.
"Because I am not perfect...because I fail...because I sin..."
"And now you fear Gods judgement?"
"...Exactly..."
"What did you do?" (Again a dumb question)
"Sin is sin, right? So it really doesn't matter what I did...the Law is a composite whole. You taught me that! If we have broken one commandment then we have broken the entire law. Surely, if God is just, He would punish me for my law-breaking, even if it were accidental?"

I was stunned. She was really thinking. She was asking the important questions. I could not help but smile proudly at her reply.

"I don't think this is funny," she protested.
I cleared my throat and nodded in agreement, "NO I don’t think it is funny either. I am smiling because you have asked such a clever question-"
She grinned, "-and the answer is?"
"WELL, before I answer your question, let me ask you one. Do you believe that Jesus died for you?"
"Of Course-"
"Why?"
"...to forgive me of my sin...to pay the price...to save me from the punishment that was due by quenching Gods anger..."

Suddenly a light went on!

"Brogan, surely not! Are you saying that God won't punish me now for my sin, because he has already punished Jesus for my sin (in my place)?"
I nodded gently, "but you said it, not me!"
"But...what if I sin now after being saved? What if I fail as a believer?"
"Lisa, we all fail, that is why we need grace. But let me ask you this: how many of your sins were covered by the Blood of Jesus on the Cross? One sin? Two sins…"
"No, not just one or two...ALL OF THEM SILLY..."

Suddenly another light went on!
Suddenly she began to laugh hysterically!
Suddenly she brightened up!
And without even thinking twice she said aloud:
"WHOA! That is amazing! Is that the gospel? It all makes sense now! How did I miss it? And to think, I have been living in fear all this time when I could have been living by faith!"

Friends, Jesus died for all of your sins. YOU ARE FORGIVEN. God is not about to punish you. yes, he does discipline his children but it is always in love and through love. Gods discipline is not punishment or judgement. You can walk with your head held high and enter Gods Throne Room of Grace with confidence because you are THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. FOREVER.

Honest Christianity

My first attempts to begin a blog dedicated to GRACE (Gods ability to accept us regardless of spiritual pedigree or qualifications) were scrapped within a matter of seconds. Ironically, this was because I felt un-qualified for the job. Surely if one is to represent GRACE in its entirety they should live a perfect life, have a perfect family and simply be perfect?

I think NOT

The world is not looking for Perfection, they want realism. A dear (unsaved) friend of mine mentioned once that she would accept Christ “if Christians were honest about their struggles and did not try to hide behind social masks.”

I have to agree. It is the unfortunate fact that we have been taught to be perfect before loving God, moving in God or being used by God. This false teaching has robbed many of the joy of their salvation. It has created a burdening load over the shoulders of many Christians.

Many prominent Pastors teach that God only uses those who “act in righteousness and perfection at all times”. This is not true. God uses the weak and foolish things of this world to shame the wise (1 Cor. 1:27).

He does not only use the strong and sinless (for who is truly without sin?).

Rather, God accepts us NOW in our imperfection. No strings attached.

Just as Mark Darcy confessed to Bridget in the fictitious film Bridget Jones Diary: “I like you, JUST AS YOU ARE”

God says to all of us: I LOVE YOU JUST AS YOU ARE

We do not have to be perfect in our own right to be loved, used and moved by God.

If only we could break free from the conditioning of the past and realise that God has qualified us in His Son JESUS. He is not looking at us through eyes judgemental. Rather He views us through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ AS PERFECT FOREVER even if we do mess up.

And so, if you are looking for a perfect blog written by a perfect person then keep looking. What you will find here is reality saturated in the Grace of God; a blog written by a broken man to a broken world. You will find Spelling errors and honesty.

But hopefully, amongst all of the imperfection I or this blog may contain: I PRAY YOU FIND CHRIST AND THE PERFECTION OF HIS LOVE.