Pastor’s Blog Pg 7

Posted on Dec 26, 2025 in Uncategorized |

Was Life Worth Dying For? 

Jesus thought so. But it was more than just the value of your life and my life that He counted. It was the value of relationship and fellowship and existence and the Unconditional LOVE of the Heart of our FATHER GOD!  He so desperately wanted to love you, be close to you, be able to have supper with you (Revelation 3:20), and invite us to share in HIS reality or Kingdom again that He sent His Son Jesus. Himself wrapped in human form and died for our Life. Not just the heartbeat, the breathing, the 78+ years we would live here on earth…but for all eternity! A reality that stretches far beyond the scope of what we can comprehend! (Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us …”)
But not just any death. A tormenting death. A criminal’s death to Mankind. But a Sinners Death to God the FATHER. His very SOUL was pierced, not just His hands, feet or side. His body was stripped with whips of blood and tissue torn, yes, but His heart was broken into pieces! He bore every ugly thought, evil deed, hateful word, unthinkable act, lie, theft, abuse, murder, rape, divorce, drug habit, sexual immorality and orientation… It was all crucified on that OLD RUGGED CROSS we decorate with today or hang around our neck. It was ugly! Deadly! Demonic! Yet also Godly! Because God fooled everyone! He HIMSELF determined that LIFE was worth Dying for! Your life. (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; John 3:16). But that was not the end! How could Life be worth dying for without our eternal Savior there to enjoy it with us? So He rose from the dead! Victorious over Death, Hell and the Grave! He Lives so we might live! He Lives to prove that He is God and that He is LOVE incarnate! Hosanna! Glory to God in the Highest Way! Praise to His Wonderful & Precious Name! He lives! Now Live, because His sacrifice is worth Living for.

A lot of Religious people of the day, including a lot of Christians, are trying to work hard to be good enough, do enough penance, do enough good to erase their bad, do enough right to cover up their wrongs…so that they can earn heaven. But true Christians understand that this is IMPOSSIBLE! (Ephesians 2:8-9) There are not enough “Hail Mary’s” one can do, pray, or perform to erase our wrongs and sins. The very best these could be called is “outward fluff”. But Jesus proved that He had more than outward fluff. He had an inner knowledge of God that He put on display every day. Matthew 7:28-29 “By the time Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were awestruck by His teachings, because His words carried such great authority, quite unlike the religious scholars.”  The religious can only achieve religious fluff. But God can produce real spiritual growth inside of the humble man or woman who is totally reliant upon God and God alone. Jesus taught from an inner knowledge of God and His word, for His teaching emphasized obedience to God from the heart, not just outwardly keeping laws or rules.
If there is true Godly growth inside our soul and spirit, it will produce a desire to be obedient to God. And of course, that will lead to more and more good work that leads to glorifying God…not earning a place in heaven. I’m so thankful that burden was lifted when Jesus paid the price for me to enter heaven! Jesus has made the way for us to enter Heaven. And if you remain IN CHRIST, there is nothing that can change that. Praise the LORD! This is part of the Victory that we enjoy living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and I’m so thankful! Let this understanding free you to enjoy living for God! Rest in His Righteousness Provisions. And do what you do out of Love for Him! Afterall, this is true spirituality, true ministry and true “religion”.  (James 1:27)

FEBRUARY

 

As we prepare to welcome several new members this month in our church, I feel compelled to focus on the overall vision of Grace Family Fellowship. We have not talked about it in a while, yet it is so important. Our overall main theme (not annual theme, that’s different), is: “Grace Family Fellowship exist to REACH the lost for Christ, TEACH the word of God, CONNECT people with other believers, and RELEASE them to do ministry.” In short: Reach – Teach – Connect – Release.
It is a mandate, command and commission by God for us to Reach out to the lost. Mark 16:15 says “And Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
Jesus also instructed us to make disciples by teaching them His word in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus also modeled the ministry of connection and fellowship for us when He called Zacchaeus out of that Sycamore tree and went to his house. Zacchaeus was a changed man. But we are also called to help connect new believers to mature believers. Those who have been following the Lord for many years are called to help mentor and encourage younger believers. (Titus 2:3-4)
Jesus also modeled the practice of allowing His students, followers, disciples to go and do as they had been taught and seen Him doing. (Matthew 10:1; Mark 6:7–13; Luke 9:1–2). 1 Peter 2:9 is appropriate to illustrate how much stock God places on us to go out and proclaim His kingdom. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

So as you see, God loves His church. He gave us His Holy Spirit. He has given us clear instructions to what our ministry should be. Everyone in the church can and should be doing some part in helping fulfill some or all of these goals. To REACH the lost, Teach God’s Word, Connect people with other believers, and Release them to do ministry. As each one of us are on our Journey to grow spiritually and learn to love God more, let us not neglect these important goals. God bless you and thank you for all you do for the Lord. I love you.

A “Lordship Believer”

Christians, just like most people, start out the new year with the intent on setting goals, “new years resolutions”, with the desire to do better this year than last year on a broad spectrum of habits. Well, this year I would like to issue a challenge to view your goals from a different perspective. Instead of trying to “do better”, what if we did them to please the LORD. The Bible says: “Delight yourself in the
LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 We have discussed before that this does not mean God grants wishes, but that He causes our desires to line up with His, thus giving us the correct desires. You see, if we delight in what delights the LORD, we are achieving goals for a different purpose. Instead of achieving them just to make ourselves better, we are achieving them to please the One we are in love with. We should be in love with our LORD.
A Christian believer can be motivated by many things. A religious “check list”, a desire to improve, a desire to get God to do something for them, the idea that if we do “good deeds” God will give us more righteous points…on and on it goes. But I submit to you that if you aim to love God and do good out of a desire to please Him, that is more inline with God’s delight. A “Lordship Believer”, I’m calling them, says “I will live today to please the One I love, my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Because I love Him, I will be driven by God’s purposes and see victory in my life because I operate under His loving Lordship. I don’t mind at all when God instructs me or tells me not to do something because I know when He gives me commandments, it is because He loves me enough to speak truth and protective direction into me. He will never lead me astray. And today I will obey because I love Him”. 
John 14:15 “If you love Me, obey My commandments”. This is what Jesus said to us and I read in one commentary that what He was saying is: “Loving Me empowers you to obey My commands.” That’s it exactly. When you really love someone, really love the LORD, it will give you all the motivation you need to fulfill the goals this year that will please Him. Blessings upon each of you in 2026 as you embark on a journey to celebrate Victory under His LORDSHIP.

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