Life Under Grace Deliverance Ministries

10/17/2024

09/08/2024

“He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.” Heb 7:25 NKJV

Transformed from trash into treasure
A Christian leader writes: “The Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari was a poor man. And yet his violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonant sound they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius cannot be duplicated. What may surprise you is that these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood; they were carved from discarded lumber. Because Stradivari couldn’t afford fine materials, he got most of his wood from the dirty harbors where he lived. He would take those waterlogged pieces of wood to his shop, clean them up, and dry them out. Then, from those trashed pieces of lumber, he would create instruments of rare beauty. It has since been discovered that while the wood floated in those dirty harbors, microbes infiltrated the wood and ate out the centers of those cells. This left just a fibrous infrastructure of wood that created resonating chambers for the music. From wood that nobody wanted, Stradivari produced violins that now everybody wants.” You say, “How does any of this relate to me?” Just as this violin maker transformed garbage into treasure, God can transform you into what you were actually meant to be. You say, “But you don’t know how low I have fallen or the things I’ve done. I doubt that Jesus could save and transform someone like me!” Give Him a try. Put Him to the test. You won’t be disappointed. The Bible says, “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him.”

08/12/2024

“Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me…’” Mt 4:19 NKJV

Find a mentor

Most people who decide to grow personally find their first mentors in the pages of books. That is a great place to start. For that matter, it’s a great place to continue. And the wisdom that’s found in Scripture makes the Bible the best mentor’s manual ever written. If you are not reading it daily, you are robbing yourself of the greatest source of inspiration and illumination. And at some point, if you’re wise, you will also look for a role model to mentor you. No matter how gifted and experienced you are, you will go further with the right mentor than you will on your own. Jesus, the greatest mentor of all, discipled a group of men who changed the world forever. “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (vv. 18-22 NKJV). Note the words “follow Me, and I will make you…” Just as the right mentor can make you, the wrong mentor can break you. So you need to pray about this. Then you must do something about it. Why? Because if you follow only yourself, you may find yourself going in circles and getting nowhere.

08/02/2024

“You do not have because you do not ask God.” Jas 4:2 NIV

Keep praying about it

Many of our failures result from our failure to pray. As we examine our mistakes, we discover a forsaken prayer altar and an unopened Bible. James bottom-lines it: “You do not have because you do not ask God.” One Christian leader writes: “As a burned-out, frustrated young Christian, I realized one day that living in my own strength was useless. I needed to take my problems to God. In other words, I needed to pray more!” Found in Matthew 7:7, Jesus tells us, “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you” (AMPC). Sometimes it’s only when we reach the end of our rope that we turn to God in prayer. And even then, when our prayers are not instantly answered, we give up. Over and over in Scripture, we are told to “wait on God.” Why? Because while we’re waiting, God is working. Sometimes He is working on the thing we have asked Him for; other times He is working on us. In such times He may be correcting our desires and attitudes or directing us toward His will. Don’t just pray; pray persistently. Don’t stress out trying to make things happen on your own. Give it all to God as you pray. Remember, He has promised that when you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him (See Jer 29:13). So, put your heart into your praying, wait quietly in God’s presence, and let Him speak to you. You will be delightfully surprised at how He answers your prayers.

07/30/2024

“Go…I am with you always.” Mt 28:19-20 NKJV

Depend on God

The last thing Jesus said to His disciples before returning to heaven was this: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…I am with you always.” When God gives you an instruction or an assignment, it will always require His involvement, His strength, His guidance, and His provision. Will He use your talents? Yes. Will He use others to assist and bless you? Yes. But He will never allow you to depend on anyone more than Him. Back at the point when Jesus sends His disciples off to change the world, there are two remarkable challenges. One, there are now only eleven disciples. Throughout the Gospels, the number twelve reminds readers that the disciples have been selected to be a representation of the redeemed, restarted twelve tribes of Israel. Twelve is the number of completeness, wholeness, and readiness. Now they don’t have sufficient players. But it’s not merely that they have the wrong number. Following Christ’s resurrection, we read: “The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted” (vv. 16-17 NKJV). They already have a quantity dilemma; now they have a quality dilemma. They don’t have enough disciples, and of the eleven that are left, some of those doubted Jesus. Yet God used them mightily. Indeed, the accusation leveled against them by their enemies started with one of their greatest compliments: “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Ac 17:6 NKJV). So, the key to success is not in your ability but in God’s ability to work through you. That’s why you must live each day in dependence on God.

07/22/2024

Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. Ge 12:1 NKJV

When God says go

The two parts to God’s “go” are going from and going to. Ur, Abram’s home, was considered the place to be. Setting out for ancient Mesopotamia, all the trading wealth from around the Mediterranean had to travel through Ur. It was a place of immense affluence, trade, education, and technology. One author writes, “The first written legal code that began civilization was there in Ur.” So, it would have been a hard place to leave—especially if you were going to Canaan. Canaan was unsophisticated, unrefined, and underdeveloped. No one who had enough money to live in Ur, the great center of civilization, would move to Canaan. Here is the point: You must trust God with your future when the path He has called you to take doesn’t look like the obvious one. But if you’re willing to go, you will discover that God has blessings in mind you never dreamed of. He told Abram, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (vv. 2-3 NKJV). The reward God gives you will always be greater than any sacrifice He calls you to make. Has God called you to go, but you want to stay? Is He telling you to stay, but you want to go? Here is the score: If you obey God, you will never regret it. And that’s a guarantee!

07/21/2024

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him.” Ps 91:15 NKJV

How God answers our prayers

If you are battling illness today, God says, “I am the Lord who heals you” (Ex 15:26 NKJV). If you are facing a problem that seems as big as a mountain, Jesus says: “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mk 11:23-24 NKJV). If you are in trouble today, God says, “I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him” (Ps 91:14-15 NKJV). Notice who this promise is made to — those who know “My name.” As a redeemed child of God, that’s you! Here are four things that God has promised you: First, to answer your prayer. Second, to be with you in your troubles. Third, to deliver you. Fourth, to honor you. These are four stages of answered prayer. Whichever stage you are in today, be confident that God loves and cares for you (See 1Pe 5:7). And His willingness to answer your prayer is not dependent upon your performance but upon Christ’s performance on your behalf. “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved [Jesus]” (Eph 1:6 NKJV). Because you are “accepted” in Christ, you can be sure that God will answer your prayers.

07/20/2024

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” Hos 6:3

You have more to learn

Having a “statement of faith” is a good thing because it lets people know your beliefs and values and where you stand on the issues. But it also carries with it a certain danger; you can end up believing you know all there is to know about the subject or at least all that is important to know. The Bible challenges us to keep learning and growing spiritually: “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.” The New King James Version says, “Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.” God wants us to understand there is more about Him to be revealed than we currently know. That’s why you must always keep your mind open. The day you stop “following” God or “pursuing” God is the day you stop learning more about God and growing spiritually. Paul writes: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1Co 2:9-12 NLT). So the word for you today is—there is more to be revealed.

07/19/2024

“The Lord gives wisdom.” Pr 2:6 NKJV

Making the right choice

Maybe you’re facing graduation. More frequently than ever before, people are switching to different jobs and companies and changing their whole careers. In 2014, career specialist Andy Chan observed that young adults will face, on average, twenty-nine jobs over their lifetime. In 2013 Oxford researchers predicted that about half the jobs will be replaced with technology by 2033. So, how do you adjust to a constantly changing environment? Perhaps you’re in a rut. Your life is safe but unrewarding. You want to do more or be more. Perhaps you’re facing an empty nest. You abruptly find independence and time and options that have been unavailable to you for a few decades. What’s the best way to use them? Possibly you’re retiring. What might God have next for you? Maybe you have traveled abroad and seen a great need, or have investigated a problem and want to make a difference. What should you do next? Perhaps you’re considering marriage. How can you tell if this person is the right one? What if you make a mistake? Or maybe you have been agonizing over a lost opportunity in your past. Will God give you another one? In answering these questions, you must keep two things in mind. First and foremost, God is more interested in what you become than where you go or what you do for a living. His goal for your life is “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Ro 8:29). Second, you will save yourself time, trouble, and possible heartache by consulting God before making any decision. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Pr 2:6 NKJV).

07/10/2024

https://youtube.com/shorts/c22t9VcUkuo?si=w9ZC4seZGz1xusm9

07/08/2024

“Let him refrain his tongue from evil.” 1Pe 3:10 NKJV

Speak life

The Bible says, “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good” (vv. 10-11 NKJV). Note the words “let him turn away.” That doesn’t mean you should be rude or insensitive, but be solution focused rather than problem focused. Your mouth is a powerful tool that can help or harm. If you can grasp an understanding of the power of the words you speak, it can change the course of your life. You can either speak positive, uplifting, encouraging things into existence in your life, or words that produce negative, discouraging things (See Pr 18:21). None of us want to be a mouthpiece for the devil. But the truth is, the mouth can be used for blessing or destruction, not only in our own lives but also in the lives of others. Your mouth is like a pen, and your heart is like a tablet. When you say something over and over, it gets on the inside of you and becomes you. It’s not something you have to try to do anymore; it’s who you are. Be a mouthpiece for God. “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary” (Isa 50:4 NKJV). “How forceful are right words!” (Job 6:25 NKJV). “The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom” (Ps 37:30 NKJV). “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph 4:29 NKJV). Today, speak life!