Grace! We all have an understanding of what grace is. But, so few of us are walking in the fullness of grace. This is because we haven’t taken the time to really understand this gift. Instead, most of us live our lives the way we see fit. We know we aren’t perfect, but rather than striving to go higher, we continue staying at the same level we’ve been at. In the meantime we slap the title of ‘grace’ on our actions, after all God knows our hearts and His grace covers a world of sins...doesn’t it? Yes, His grace does cover a world of sins but it is not an excuse to remain where we are at.  

Grace is a gift from God.

He sent His only son Jesus to die on a cross while bearing all of OUR sins. That same Jesus was then sent to the lowest pits of Hell to wrestle the devil in order to take back the keys to OUR eternal salvation.

By His grace we are saved! His grace allows us to accept a salvation that we are in no way worthy of. But do we all understand the concept of salvation? We know how it works throughout most churches in America. It consists of saying a recited prayer and hearing of all the Jesus has done for you and all that He has for you. While all of this is true and is most definitely a part of salvation we commonly forget a very important part of salvation and that is the COST!

Luke 14:28
 28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? In order to receive full salvation we must first count the cost. The cost is our lives! Matt. 16:24 says, "then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me". Dying is our first step towards Jesus and when we CHOOSE to lay down our lives we will then be able to OBEY and pick up our cross and follow after Him. No longer serving ourselves, but serving Jesus. Once we're dead, we will have the GRACE to walk out the plans He has for us in obedience to His will.

When we are truly saved we are in Christ and He is in us! Salvation means that we KNOW Jesus. 1 John 2:3- Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. So how do you know if you are saved? OBEY His commandments! When you are truly saved you have laid down all your rights and have taken on the nature of Jesus. The nature of Jesus is laid out for us by His commandments. How do you OBEY His commandments? ….THROUGH GRACE!

GRACE IS NOT A COVER UP for sins, allowing us to continue living a worldly lifestyle. GRACE is the very component that ENABLES US TO OBEY and walk our salvation!

A recited sinners prayer is not the only component of salvation. It’s just a step! This is why Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:21-23 -“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
If we are not obedient to do what Jesus has told us then what we are doing is by our own hand and it is called lawlessness.

If we are not careful we will be found at the judgment seat thinking we have been saved. When in reality all we have to show for ourselves is our disobedient works.

I urge you today to take a close look at your salvation. Have you laid down your life and your rights and taken up your cross? Have you chosen to OBEY what Jesus has commanded? Are you walking in the fullness of His Grace? If not it’s not too late to turn around and make the necessary adjustments. I encourage you to keep your hands on the plow and to continue to persevere and endure the good fight!

The possibilities ENDLESS!

-Rachel

Recently the word "Surrender" came to me as I was driving in my car. We know the song, "I surrender all" and we've all probably prayed it at one time or another but do we really know, understand and better yet live the definition of "Surrender"? I had to ask myself this question and dig deep to find the answer.

Below is what Wikipedia says about Christian Surrender:
The second issue of surrender in Christianity is allowing Christ to "take our place" through the believer, in other words, the emptying of self so that God may live through the believer as evidenced in Phl 1:21.

For me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain [the gain of the glory of eternity]. Amplified Bible

Another doctrinal principle central to the Christian Concept of Surrender in line with the other two, and often expounded more, is the concept of surrender to God's Will. Surrendering to God's will entails both the "surrender of our will to His in macrocosm", in which His plan prevails over man's and the adversary, and secondarily to the surrender of one's will for individual life to "His will for our personal lives in microcosm." This is done through the emptying or dying of self, the "putting self aside" in favor of divine influence. This includes the idea of surrendering to a call (the word "vocation" is rooted in the Latin vocare, referring to God's voice).

True surrender is "putting self aside". You are yielding yourself to the will of the Father so that His will might be accomplished and so that He will get the glory. It is a true form of humility not only to surrender yourself but to surrender yourself for the glory of someone else. God is so good and so faithful and so loving that He makes sure when we surrender to His will and His work that we are well taken care of. It says in Proverbs that a faithful man shall abound in blessings; how can you be faithful unless you are sold out and surrendered to His will? Look at what the last sentence says in the Wikipedia definition:

The corollary of this personal surrender is obedience, and obedience to God is denoted as bringing about His will, having lasting effects, and often associated with earthly and divine blessings.

We know that we don't give with the motive to get but it is good to know that God is more than willing to take care of us as we go about His will and His work on the earth.

I believe it is important to surrender ourselves over and over again to His will and purpose because this world is full of distractions and the enemy is ready to throw us off course. Before we know it we are headed in our own direction and have completely lost track of why we do what we do. The next time we pray that consecration prayer let us remember what it really means to surrender our will to His. I am convinced that when we truly 100% surrender to Him He will be able to use us in ways we never could have imagined!

-Pastor Katie Ruiz



Luke 4:1  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,  2  Being forty days tempted of the devil
 
 Luke 4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went  
 out a fame of him through all the region round about.
 
One day while reading this familiar passage of scripture, I saw the reality that Jesus “returned” in the power of the spirit.  He returned after being led by the Spirit of God into the desert to be tempted of the devil for 40 days and nights.  I believe God is calling us aside so we can return to a place of more effective service.

Today, the Church is facing situations that a large part of its membership is not so familiar with.  Standing at a crossroad where the Spirit is trying to lead, are we really listening?  We are so preoccupied with life and circumstances that are loud and very hard to shut down.  In our lives personally and in our churches, it seems that God has been directing us to come away with Him, so we can be led by the Spirit into a place where we can focus and prepare for the next phase of life.  It is a challenging phase but one that will be productive, helpful for the Kingdom, and bring us to a place of protection in our own lives.  
 
Luke 4:1 says Jesus, being full of the Spirit, was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil for forty days. 

If the Spirit led us in this manner, most of us would say that this is an attempt of the enemy to keep us down or defeated.  God led His own son into a wilderness so that He might stand His ground and prove the power of God.  It was actually part of a plan to defeat the enemy and simultaneously prepare Jesus for what was about to happen in his life and ministry.  Are we willing to do the same?  As I take a personal evaluation of my own life I see that even though I spend quality time in the Word and with God, it is not enough.  Am I willing to spend days fasting, praying, seeking God with such desperation that all of heaven has to take notice of my cries?  Or will I just settle with my confessions of faith and promise but not really put any action to that confession? 
 
To encourage you, I want to remind you of the two key parts of the Bible's "faith message";  confessing with your mouth and believing with your heart.  Faith without works is dead.  If I really believe it I will put actions to it.  We need to be a people who are filled with the Spirit, not to show off or to be “somebody” in this world, but to be like Jesus and do what He did.  His fame spread throughout all the land after he had been in the presence of the Lord and overcome the temptations of Satan.  Now He could speak to them about God with a reputation.  When we spend time with God and face our adversities, the “fame” of Christ can also work for us to bring the good news with authority to the lost.
 
One more point.  After the devil had tempted Jesus and been rejected, he departed for a season.  Just remember, no matter how severe your  temptation, if you stand your ground according to the Word of God, the enemy WILL eventually leave.   We must resolve to stand no matter how hard it is or how many times we feel the pressure of the enemy.  A new season is coming for God's people.  We are being prepared for a time like never before; will we take the challenge to come away with God, to be strengthened even in the midst of a storm?  God is calling you!

--
Pastor Bobbi Veach

What comes to mind when you hear the word desperation?  

A desperate or dire situation, one without hope?

For instance the desperation we see in the nation of Haiti. 

Perhaps we think of a person in serious need, someone who is struggling just to get by, or an individual who is fighting for their life battling a serious illness. 

Generally the word desperation implies a situation that is beyond our control, beyond our ability to fix, mend, repair, or make right. As human beings there are few things in our lives that we fear more than those in which we cannot control. 

In our minds desperation often suggests weakness, which Webster defines as “an inadequate or defective quality” 

Oh how we strive to be inadequate and defective in our lives. 

However when it comes to our relationship with God, being desperate and vulnerable before Him is exactly where we need to be. 

The word Desperate/Desperation is defined as 

1. Having an urgent need or desire

We probably don’t have to look too far behind us to remember a time in which we had an urgent need or desire. It is all too natural for us to try and find the answers ourselves, but the beauty of being truly desperate is knowing that He is the only solution.  

A great example of this is found 2 Samuel, when we find David in the midst of a greater need than we have likely ever experienced. On the run and in danger of losing his life David wrote 

Psalm 3:3-4  “But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the lifter of my head, I cried aloud to the Lord, And He answered me from his holy hill.” 

2. Reckless or Dangerous because of despair or urgency

The state of the church and Christians in general is ineffective as a whole. We have grown comfortable in our walk with God, in our call as believers, and our position in the Kingdom.

We have failed to identify the urgency in the time we live in and the despair of the world around us. 

It is time for us as believers to become reckless and dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. Not by our own strength but though His.   

“When King Jehoshaphat prepared for battle, he took the position of getting on his face to worship God. That is the true position of warfare”

–Pastor Bobbi Veach  

3. Ultimate effort, giving all

When we truly become desperate we position ourselves to be used most effectively for God.  True desperation brings true worship, it is in that place we are able to give our all. 

Psalm 84:2  "My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." 

-Sam Edwards