THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS IS FOR BOTH - THE BODY AND THE SOUL

Jesus announced his kingdom with preaching and healing. The salvation he offers is both for the soul and the body. Any teaching that emphasizes soul at the expense of body or body at the expense of soul is in danger of distorting Jesus Good News.

GOD...GRACE...YOU

Prove yourself. In today's world, that's what you constantly feel you have to do, right? On the job, among friends, even at home you're always working to win the approval you need. Working to convince those around you that you deserve the salary, the friendship, and even the love they give you.

Is there any escape?

You better believe there is! It's called grace. Unearned and undeserved favor and acceptance. And there's only one place you can find it--in the heart of God Himself.

God hasn't based His relationship with you on your worthiness. He's based it on His love for you. You don't have to struggle to prove yourself to Him. As far as He's concerned, you're a proven success.

BEING EFFECTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ  - 2 Peter 1:5-8

ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

AS YOU COME TO HIM, THE LIVING STONE - REJECTED BY MEN BUT CHOSEN BY GOD AND PRECIOUS TO HIM - YOU ALSO, LIKE LIVING STONES, ARE BEING BUILT INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE TO BE A HOLY PRIESTHOOD, OFFERING SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. 1 Peter 2:4-5

FAITH AND GOOD WORK = RIGHTEOUSNESS

JAMES 2

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

A person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone...As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the

blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the

night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this

experience because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts

must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm.

The wind blew the grass and earth and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never

removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.

He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father

is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes,

all we have to do is reach out to Him.

NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU !!!

WE BELONG TO THE LORD

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.  - Romans 14:8-9

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May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice    
                                                                                            - Psalms 141:2