The Devil

Be sober, be vigilant; because your advisory the devil,  as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour..

1 Peter 5:8

I hope you are aware of that fact, that statement is absolutely true. His attacks come in many different forms, sometimes they are quite obvious and other times we can be deceived. Generally speaking the enemies attacks are the same as they have ever been…

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.(1 john 2:16)

I wrote the following "Poem", it's inspired by CS.Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters". If you haven't read that book, and I suggest you do, it's about a demon talking to an underling demon and training him on how to tempt and destroy man. Everything in the book is obviously thus backwards, God is considered the enemy and light is an abhorrent thing. 

The "poem"(of sorts) that I wrote is more about satan whispering in your ear, and trying everything to keep your eyes off God, and he will do that anyway he can, wether thats by puffing you up or tearing you down. He doesn't care either way, the enemies goal is not so much about you as it is stealing glory from God, and if he can take your eyes off God and from giving God all glory then he has done his job.

The point of the poem isn't to glorify the devil and his works, it's more of a warning.

For we know, we have full assurance in the heart that..

"if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

1 John 1:7

This is something the devil hates, and doesn't want us to have confidence in, that we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ! The devil is really just a pathetic prideful little worm that has already lost the war but still persists on fighting and taking as many down with him as he can.

The anti-Christ the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing, the dunce that tempts you with temporal things when you through the blood of Christ are promised eternal things!

You're ever so exquisite, so precious and yet oblivious

just how much you are like a little puppet controlled by proverbial strings.

I can play you so easily, dragging you deeper into self indulgence, blinded by the lusts of your own mind, the self-will far out weighing the surrendering one. You self destruct from your own doing,swallowed hole,ruptured and self defeated by your own flesh, and all I have to do is give you just a little push.

Aw…but in comes your repentance, despicable how He even bothers to listen. How can He forgive you? This cross, sacrificial lamb and grace you don't deserve overwhelms me with utter rage.

it's no bother really, for you are so easily swayed I can turn this very abhorrent  grace into something you yourself won't be able to comprehend. Go ahead and repent….get on your little knees and pray to Him, I'll wait for the right time when you are not so quite focused on Him. 

Repent..haha…fool…do you really think He can forgive you? YOU!? I mean look at you, how many times are you going to slap Him in the face? you just asked for forgiveness didn't you? ooops…looks like you just messed that up again, why even bother to pray to Him?

I bet He's sick of hearing from you and your broken promises and sorries begging for forgiveness, your first compulsion will always be the flesh don't be fooled by your false regret.

You really think you are smart, think you know how I work? just when you start to catch on, I switch the attack and come at you with different ammunition.

Feeling pretty close with Him now? think you are putting all this flesh behind you huh? that's when Ill say good job, you are such a good person, you are so Holy and pure. I'll pierce your very soul with self righteousness, have you disgusted with the very site of other christians, after all, they are not as good as you, look at so and so he didn't even go to church this week, and look at that women gossiping, man these people are so underneath you.

Ill grip you in any way that I can, I'll have you so focused on you that you don't even think about HIM. You'll weigh people down with your own standards that they can't possibly stand, hopefully dragging them down along into your self righteous sin, then i'm killing two birds with one stone. You see, you really are my son. Well done my good and faithful servant.. 

Maybe that's all to easy, maybe you'll come out of that. I could always just overload you with confusion, have everything you see and everything you read turn into a contradiction, because you are easily pulled by worldliness. You want to live and be accepted by them so you hold to their abrasive self pleasing accusations, all the while claiming to follow His word, but I'll use them to blind you! So instead of being changed by the word you will change it to fit the world

Then I'll keep playing you like a fiddle, and you will think you are walking in light, but really you are just blind. You'll be covered in lukewarmness thinking you are on fire, not realizing that you're really just reinforcing my empire. 

So innocent and naive…it's almost too easy

Least of these

Yes many are: liars, thieves, fornicators, druggies and alcoholics and they deserve to be where they're at.

But God, if we all got what we deserved

we would be facing your wrath.

I'm a king on a throne with a castle I call home

They sleep underneath a bridge with cardboard

as padded foam. 

Onward Christian soldier as you ignore

the man begging for a dollar.

Druggie or drunk you tell yourself

so you refuse to help,

rather sit in your church and count your wealth.

Feed the least of these and when you do you feed me,

said Christ.

So how come this is such an oversight?

The homeless person needs Christ

just as much as though's who dress nice.

I'd help... you say; "if I knew he wasn't going to use it

for alcohol or drugs!"

But who died and made you judge?

Maybe you just think it's your christian duty

to use your wealth for yourself, instead of using 

it to buy food for someone asking for help?

After all God wants you rich,

He just must not love that man sleeping in the ditch.

Prosperity has got you blind,

since when was the gospel about getting whats mine?

You give your money to those who can give back to you.

Tithe a percentage that really doesn't effect you,

all so God will bless you.

Rather give your money to wolves in sheep's clothing,

then to a man who has absolutely nothing.

A man struggles with an addiction, drinks himself to sleep because he doesn't think anyone loves him.

There you sit, in your car with a christian fish,

can't stand to look in his direction, all the while

claiming to know all about grace and salvation,

the only solution to penetrate this mans addiction.

But as long as you know Christ…

that's all that matters right?

That drunk doesn't even deserve to eat,

just let him die without seeing mercy

that sounds very Christ-like oh absolutely.

You're forgetting that without God's merciful perpetual plan,

The Son taking the wrath you deserved,

you would be just like this drunk homeless man

only inward.

Why I LOVE and support Israel

Does Israel matter today? A question on many minds here in America "Land of the confused Christian". With it being voting season, it's a topic that comes up all over the place, specially in this particular season when you got a person like a Ron Paul. Now I know there are a lot of Christians who don't like diving into political issues because they don't want to;

A. offend anyone

B. don't think it really matters where you stand

Well if you want to read such or listen to such or have your ears tickled then go to your local westernized American church, they're not hard to find. I on the other hand live to offend, Jesus is offensive and standing by God's word will offend and piss people off hence why I am offensive(I offend because I stand by His word). I'm not mr.political or anything, but I'll plainly state what is right and what is wrong and I do think it matters who you support. The following is something I wrote and I feel it explains why I love Jewish people and the land God gave to them(Israel). I also included a radio broadcast that I urge you to listen to by Dr.Michael Brown that has to do with the question "Does Israel matter?"  my reasons and his for standing behind Israel and God's chosen people are very much the same, he just explains it better then I could(although If you read my blog consistently you would have already seen my reasons, but i'll explain them here again)

The question "Does israel matter?" I find to be a stupid question. I can't help but to have an overwhelming appreciation for Jewish people, God's chosen people, when I read God's word. Am I insane? Am I missing something? or maybe just maybe we are suppose to have such feelings towards the Jewish people. Jesus(Yeshua) was Himself Jewish(just incase you missed that or were confused by the images portraying Jesus as very roman looking) 

"He did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them."- by the way that's biblical, Yeshua said it Himself in Matthew 5:17-18. He also said He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel, and almost didn't heal a gentile woman's demon possessed daughter until he saw her faith- that's also biblical it's 

Matthew 15:21-28.

Yeshua doesn't contradict the "old" testament and prophets He fulfills them, He stands by God's word because He was there when it was formed.

Also biblical read John 8:58. 

While Yeshua was Jewish in the flesh, He is also God, not a god.... but GOD.

He and the Father are absolutely unequivocally ONE through the trinity, three distinct persons Father/Son(Yeshua)/ Holy Spirit as GOD.
 That my friends is biblical for several reasons…

1. Yeshua says it Himself: "I and [my] Father are one" (John 10:30)

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

(John 14:7-10)

and two because the bible over and over again says there is only ONE GOD

(Isaiah 43:10-11) "Before me there was no God formed nor shall there be after me" is just one example. Now you may be saying something like;

"Oh absolutely I totally agree Jesus is God in the flesh, but what does that have to do with Israel and Jewish people?"

It has everything to do with it, if God is one, Then Yeshua is obviously God and that means they would not contradict each other and when it says that the jewish people are God's chosen people then that means they are Jesus's chosen too. Or are you saying that when God said "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" Genesis 12:3 are you saying Christ Jesus doesn't agree with that statement? of course He agrees with it, Jesus was there at the beginning of time, and He only does the will of the Father.

Now, just to make a clarification… if a jewish person doesn't recognize Yeshua as LORD and Savior then just like a gentile they will be forever separated from God. So yes, they must surrender to Christ like everyone else. They however are the roots of the christian faith, God chose them to work through not because they are a superior race, He chose them because He chose them;

For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people:

But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

(Deuteronomy 7:6-8)

Lets also not forget that the disciples were jewish. Saul or better known as his greek name Paul had a burning desire for the jewish people to turn to Christ, they were his brethren and countrymen. He even wished he himself could be accursed for their sake(Romans 9:2-4) Paul also says God didn't cast away His people who He foreknew(Romans 11:1). That of course is a given to anyone who actually reads the bible, God made promises to Israel and God keeps His promises.

Paul was the one whom Christ appeared to, and Christ told him to preach the gospel to the gentiles. Paul in preaching to the gentiles wished to drive his brethren to jealousy(Romans 11:13). You see as Romans 11 continues to emphatically state….we as gentiles have been grafted into the tree, the tree that has it's roots set in God, the tree that God chose to sprout through Judaism. God has through the Son grafted us gentiles into this tree, and Paul warns us not to mock or boast against the natural branches (The Jews) this is simply stated in Romans 11:16-21.

I've run into plenty of people who completely ignore this and they hate Jewish people with a passion, I shouldn't have to state just how unbiblical that is. Because if you read the bible and then hate jewish people and you become hostile towards them and wish for their death you are a not only completely blind…you're also completely stupid.I personally don't care how much you claim to "know" Jesus, if you hate Jewish people  then you don't have a clue about Jesus.

I have a heart.. a love for my brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world, they need to recognize Yeshua Hamashiach and I pray for them and I support them not because I feel like it, but because GOD tells us to. I'll bless them because we are called to and I refuse to support or stand by those who don't support the lost sheep of Israel.(cough) Ron Paul (cough)

Listen to this awesome broadcast from Dr. Michael Brown on this very subject he explains way better then I can, it's about two hours but it is well worth your time. Reasons like this is why I stay on Facebook, I would like to thank a new friend who sent me this broadcast through a friend request(Rick Estrada) who probably wont read this but still, give credit to where it is do.

Dr. Michael Brown's Radio broadcast on Israel

Did Jesus hate religion?

The video above is from Jared Duba aka Jesus Disciple(www.Depravedwretch.com) his video is a response to Jeff Bethke's video "Why I hate religion, but Love Jesus"


Now for those of you who are not on Facebook, first of all…good for you.

(I've debated several times on deleting my account) anyways if you don't have Facebook you most likely have not seen a video that has gone viral, even if you have Facebook you might of missed it. It's a video by Jeff Bethke, I'm not trying to put down Jeff, for he seems like a pretty legit guy, after all as Kevin DeYoung said in his blog(and I agree with him) Jeff isn't a fan of "Love Wins" the abhorrent book by Rob Bell(Mr.Universalist).

Bethke's new video has him reading a poem he apparently wrote, and the title is "Why I hate religion and Love Jesus". on the surface level that probably seems right on to a lot of you, to be honest doesn't seem that bad to me either. Of course this all depends on what your definition of "Religion" is, I'm not going to get into all the details... simply put because, a few already have and they can write/speak much better then I can on the subject.

Heres Bethke's video… watch and listen, and try to watch and listen as if you were hearing of Jesus Christ for the very first time.

Now ladies and gentleman, if Jeff was speaking directly to you from this video what belief would you come out with? what would your overall thought of this Jesus guy be? well…

1. Jesus Hates religion

2.Jesus came to abolish religion

3. Jesus also doesn't like rules

His video speaks a lot of "Christianese" it suffers from a lack of explaining certain things. It's like going up to someone who has never heard of the gospel and just quoting John 3:16 and walking away. Is John 3:16 true? yes it's scripture after all, but to not expound on it more would be on the dangerous side.

I guess one way to state this is this; Jeff's video doesn't effect me because I know(and even believe he knows) that just believing Jesus was a person at one time and died for my sins doesn't give me the excuse to continue living for myself and sinfulness. However the question is, does the non-christian who watches this video understand that? does this video put into the non-believer a Galatians 2:20 type of faith, a surrendering of self, a changed heart to walk in the light as He is in the light kind of faith? That Christianity literally means "Following Christ" and not "I believe He existed at one point and died so I can continue in sin". 

The kind of people that will like the notion "Jesus hated religion" which to a point I would say is true, but the kind of people that will mis the whole point of why Jesus came and what the gospel means, are the kind of people who think;

1.Jesus was just a good teacher of morals(and preached you can believe and do whatever you want as long as you believe I died so you could)

2.Jesus came to abolish hate

3.Jesus's whole message was a message of tolerance

1-3 are all completely false. The fact is God abhors(HATES) sin so much that He crucified His own perfect un-sinful son on a cross for our sins. God took Jesus who had NO SIN absolutely spotless and perfect and poured out His holy righteous wrath onto Him in the form of the cross. There is no tolerance for sin in the bible, and Jesus was not tolerant of it Himself, for He went to His death for it WILLINGLY. Jesus didn't come so you can continue living in sin, He came to free you from the chains of sin completely! He came to save you from sin, to turn Christ into somebody who tolerated sinfulness and preached the continued living in sin as ok is a complete lack of understanding of scripture.

Again, I don't think whatsoever that Jeff Bethke believes sin is ok, or that it is ok to continue living for it and your self. I just think in his video that can be easily missed by someone who doesn't know that.

I'll let someone more gifted and knowledgable speak further on this, Kevin DeYoung the same man who wrote "Burning down the shack"

go here to read his blog on what he thinks of Jeff's video and also see what he liked about it.

Story of Hannah

The birth of Samuel the judge/prophet of Israel is interesting to say the least. In 1 Samuel 1-11 it talks about Samuels father who's name was Elkanah, and he had two wives one named Peninnah and the other named Hannah. Now Hannah didn't have any children as it says the Lord shut her womb(1 Sam 1:6) but Peninnah on the other hand did have children, and she would make Hannah feel bad because she did not.  It says Hannah would weep and refuse to eat when they would go and make offerings at the house of the LORD because of the ridicule from Peninnah(1 Sam 1:7)

One year Hannah was in such despair that it says she went alone to pray to the LORD in bitterness of soul weeping in anguish(1 Sam 1:10) the word bitterness here in the hebrew is "Mar"  to be in pain or heavy laden/discontent, in this case it is saying her soul was in much pain she was heavy laden weeping in grief. In this moment Hannah asks God to grace her with a son, she makes a vow with God that if he would indeed give her a son she will offer him to God for all his days. (1 Sam 1:11)

Now notice Hannah a woman of God, in all the despair and sorrow she was in didn't curse God, She went before the LORD GOD Almighty and asked to receive His grace and His mercy and promised to give this child to God. Interestingly enough Hannah's name means Grace and God did show her grace by giving her a son which she named Samuel(1 Sam 1:20) [ later He would also show her more grace when Hannah; who had begged for a child..wept and pleaded for one, and the LORD gave her Samuel, she did what she promised and gave the child up, and The LORD blessed her with more children (1 Sam 2:21) ] after Samuel was born Hannah gave all glory to God:

And Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is

exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.

"No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any 

rock like our God.

"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth,

For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.

"The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with

strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and the

hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble.

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap,

To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory.

"For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He has set the world upon them.

He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

"For by strength no man shall prevail. 

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;  From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed."

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Amen Hannah..Amen! All glory to GOD!

†..On Your Knees..†

"The Word of GOD brings us to our knees before it gives us peace."

What I mean by this is quite simple, please don't get it twisted…does GOD

and His word bring peace? Absolutely! but before it does that, it better bring you to your knees. Yes, all glory to our LORD and Savior for bringing ultimate peace(everlasting) before we ourselves even realized we needed it. All honor glory and righteousness to the one who was and is and is to come!-(Revelation 4:8)

But if you are seeking peace without falling to your knees you're missing the TRUTH, missing the whole point of the gospels.  Jesus said in Luke and Matthew

"Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it"

Luke 17:33

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Matthew 16:24-25

A confusing statement from Jesus, specially if you are one of those who think

the gospel is centered around you and is about your glory and about giving you peace and comfort. The Gospel is not meant to bring peace with yourself it's meant to make you an enemy of self. Peace only comes through Christ, it comes when the gospel makes you see it's not about you, it's about what was done in spite of you. It's all about Christ, and God forbid if I should glory in anything except in the cross of our LORD Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world-(Galatians 6:14)

Do you not know that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify GOD in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The bible does not say YOU deserve peace & prosperity and a life without tribulation…..

BUT all Glory to Christ God our savior Holy of Holies, King of Kings for His ultimate everlasting peace that far outweighs any tribulation, and far outweighs all the riches of this world. YOU can keep your prosperity and life, just give me CHRIST!

The †GRACE† you don't deserve.-[PART-2]

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned

Romans 5:12

All have sinned, all fall short of the Holiness required.(Romans 3:23)

Sin entered the world/our human lives by one man(Adam) and sin was defeated and conquered through one man(Romans 5:15) that being Yeshua Ha'Mashiach(Jesus Christ)

We are not all punished because of one mans sin,  we are punished for what Adam brought into Gods perfect creation, the disposition that we all hold on to, and that is we have a right to ourselves and we are our own god. We either realize that we are not our own (Romans 14:8, 1 Corinthians 6:19) and fully surrender to who we ultimately belong to (Christ) or we just continue living in our natural state, our natural disposition which is ultimately selfishness.

Now to fully grasp forgiveness, to understand who Jesus Christ was, His purpose, and why His sacrifice means anything, we first have to understand the need, we need to understand what we are forgiven from right? We say God is a loving God, we say He is fully of mercy, and make no mistake about it.. He is. However at the same time we also say He is a Holy and Pure and a righteous judge.

"The LORD is righteous, For I rebelled against His commandment. Hear now, all peoples, And behold my sorrow; My virgins and my young men Have gone into captivity.- Lamentations 1:18

We see through out the bible that He is completely both. Holy and pure beyond what we could ever comprehend, He is absolutely a God of justice. The question you should be facing is; 

How can a Holy Pure Righteous God look at us with anything but wrath and anger?" and rightfully so! His word says several things about us that should make us understand just how undeserving of Grace we are…

"the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"

Genesis 8:21

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

Psalms 51:5

"[There is] none who does good, No, not one."

Psalm  14:3

"The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

"For You [are] not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You."

Psalms 5:4

By our fallen nature we all want what Adam & Eve wanted, and no it's not some fruit from a tree, it's what Satan tempted Eve with back in Genesis 3:4-5.

We want the knowledge of good and Evil, we want to be our own god to decide for ourselves whats right & whats wrong. It's selfishness thats what sin is in a nut shell.

So once again we come to the question;

"How exactly can a righteous God who abhors sin, after all how can God be Holy & Pure/ Righteous if he tolerates Evil, how can He show us mercy? Grace? Love?

remember what Romans 3:23 says..

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:8

"But the Scripture has confined all under sin"

Galatians 3:23

Maybe we can please God by works, earn His Grace & Mercy? a noble concept except for the fact that how can one who is born wretched & Evil a sinner (as the bible plainly states we all are) even begin to do a work that would please a Holy Just & Righteous God? Like the fantastic story "Pilgrims Progress" My iniquities are over my head, they are too heavy for me to carry(Psalm 38:4)

But we are all like an unclean [thing], And all our righteousnesses [are] like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6

So we can't ourselves follow Gods laws and commands because we are wicked and want to be our own god, our works are like filthy disgusting rags in Gods Holy sight and to top it all off we are living in a world that's fleeting and will soon pass away, all it's pleasures are meaningless under the sun(read Ecclesiastes).

Sounds like we are screwed, and WE ARE! this is what I want you to see, more importantly it's what God and His word wants you to see, that on your own BY YOURSELF YOU ARE SCREWED. 

That's not what you want to hear is it? and let's be absolutely honest it's not pleasant sounding, and it drives us crazy that we are not in control. This is not something the world is going to advocate, because the world is a self fulfilling place. The world wants you focused on constantly fixing YOU, selling you empty promises of fulfillment and false ways of ultimately fixing yourself, wether that's by giving into selfish desires or taking pills to mask the suffering and struggle you are in. There's no hope and peace in hiding and masking what you are through pills and self help. Again, the fact is YOU  can't help you.

Once again we are stuck with where does Gods grace come in? how can we be saved from our enemy(ourselves)/our very nature(sin). 

Want to know where Gods grace/mercy comes in? His love and grace you don't deserve? Jeremiah 23:6 says "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" He is our righteousness(LORD here meaning The Lord Jesus Christ) and lets remember Isaiah 53

"But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

Grace you don't deserve is God sacrificing the undeserved, the spotless ultimate lamb Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (Jesus Christ).

"Who is the image of the invisible God"

Colossians 1:15

"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Colossians 2:9

Jesus Christ Himself said if you know Him you know the father, He also said;

 He didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

Christ came to be a sacrifice and through Christ we not only see the justice of God(His wrath), but we see His mercy and love too. Justice and wrath in the fact that because of our sinfulness it pleased God to sacrifice His son Jesus Christ(Isaiah 53:10), and   mercy and love in the fact that He was willing to cast all our sinfulness onto Him on the cross instead of giving us all what we deserve.

This and ONLY this is an amazing Grace….a Grace you DONT DESERVE!

All glory to God for His righteousness, His Holiness, His Mercy and Love!

Gods grace, when we ultimately understand it, drives us to want to please Him.

This is a good thing , but it's absolutely insulting when we put "us pleasing Him" above His Grace. Our performance above His sacrifice does nothing but place us above HIM, and it becomes about what we do not what He did.

"Souls are not made sweet by taking [ill tempers] out, but by putting something in - a great Love, a new Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Christ, the Spirit of Christ, interpenetrating ours, sweetens, purifies, transforms all. This can only eradicate what is wrong, renovate and regenerate, and rehabilitate the inner man. 

Will-power does not change men. Time does not change men. Christ does. Therefore "Let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." "

Henry Drummond