GROWING IN GRACE?
I love the phrase, “grow in grace.” However, I wonder how many times we use the phrase inappropriately or without fully understanding what it means. What is it to grow in grace? Peter admonishes us in II Peter 3:18, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” Growing in grace is not passive; it is the opposite. It is aggressive action to make forward progress in Christ-likeness. Too many are just
SELF-FOCUSED BUT NOT SELF-AWARE
We are so focused on what we want, what we are doing, where we are going, and how events impact us, that we fail to be aware of how we are impacting those around us and our own walk with the Lord. Recently I studied some wonderful material from Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, that encouraged believers to pray one hour a day. There was a section set aside for confession of sin; that was to be expected. But as part of that discipline, on a certain day of the
THE BLESSING OF ACCEPTANCE
May I pose a question? Does acceptance occur before or after change? Consider the truth that is revealed in Ephesians 1:6, Jesus “…made us accepted in the beloved…,” and then began the process of conforming us to His image! When you and I got saved, it was “To the praise of the glory of His grace…!” It had nothing to do with our acceptableness but all to do with His grace. He was willing to take us where we were and lead us to where He wanted us. As maturing believers, I fear
Decide | Develop | Discipline
Have you ever made a decision that you knew God was leading you to make, only to realize a day, a week, or a month later you had not followed through? I have, and sadly, more than once. Too often a decision alone is not enough! In a service or during a quiet moment when God has our attention and His Spirit is speaking to us, it is easy to see a need and decide to address it. But as soon as the final “Amen” sounds and we walk out the door, it seems there are multiple distracti
{"items":["5fc903ea69f3ee0017672ccf","5fc903ea69f3ee0017672cd0","5fc903ea69f3ee0017672cd2","5fc903ea69f3ee0017672ccd"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_BELOW","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":209,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_15","value":"rgba(65,65,65,1)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","textsVerticalPadding":-15,"targetItemSize":1000,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":209,"externalInfoWidth":0},"container":{"width":670,"galleryWidth":702,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}
