Grace Takes the Pressure Off Of You!

This morning I am going to do something different.  This past weekend I was in Williamsburg, VA and the Lord had me preach a message entitled, “Grace Takes the Pressure Off Of You!”  I feel led to share a few of my notes with you this morning and I pray it will be a blessing to you.

God wants His children to be FREE from:

– Self-effort.

– Performance-based Christianity.

Let’s focus on TWO MAJOR THINGS God gave you IN JESUS:

(Romans 5:17 NIV)  For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

1.  An abundance of Grace (Grace that will not run out)

2.  The gift of Righteousness (Righteousness that cannot be earned)

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ABUNDANCE OF GRACE

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1.  Grace FROM Sin (your past, present and future).

2.  Grace FOR Purpose (your future).

– The devil wants you focused on your PAST.

– God wants you focused on your PURPOSE.

The God of Grace is faithful to you, even when you are not faithful to Him!

(2 Timothy 2:13 AMP)  If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

– Under the Old Covenant, you had to DO right to BE right.

– You had to DO right, in order for God to bless you.

– When you walked away from God, He allowed you to face what you faced without His power, presence or protection.

– Under the New Covenant, He will not DENY HIMSELF – HIS SON!

*** When the devil looks at you, he sees SIN.  When God looks at you, He sees His Son… and He will not deny Himself! ***

Once you are Born-Again, God is NOT HOLDING YOUR SIN against you:

(Heb 8:12 KJV)  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

– God has promised to be merciful to your unrighteousness.

– He is not holding what you did against you.

– What you did is not who you are.

– When God looks at you, He does not see what you did, He sees His purpose!  And He sees His Son!

So:

– Don’t judge your future by your past.

– Judge your future by your purpose!

– Repent, receive forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move on!

– God is not through with you!

– He wants you use you by GRACE!

*** God wants to bless you – NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE SO GOOD – but because HE IS SO GOOD! ***

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THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!

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This is our inheritance from Jesus:

We are made righteous.

(2 Cor 5:21 KJV)  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

– Jesus had NO sin.

– There was NO sin in Him.

– Jesus was MADE sin.

So we could be MADE righteous:

– We had NO righteousness in us.

– We were MADE righteous!

*** Establish yourself in the righteousness Jesus died to give you. ***

*** You are not righteous because of what you do, or what you fail to do.  You are righteous because of what Jesus did! ***

*** You are righteous because you are Born-Again that way ***

In Closing:

1.  God loves you in spite of your flaws.

2.  God wants to bless you because He is good!

3.  God knows you are not perfect, and He called you anyway!

4.  All God is looking for you to do is BELIEVE!  When you BELIEVE and you RECEIVE His Grace, He can flow through you to do the Supernatural and Accomplish the impossible.

5.  The Law was focused on Man working for God.  Grace is focused on God working for man.  Grace takes the pressure off of you!  Your work is ONLY TO BELIEVE!

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for loving me enough to plan my existence before the world began.  You knew WHEN and WHERE I would be born because He came up with the WHY!  I am not a mistake.  I am here for Your Purpose.  You knew I would be born a sinner, with the inheritance of Adam.  But You also knew, in advance, that I would accept the Gospel message and be Born-Again in Christ Jesus.  You allow me to make my own decisions and You planned my life out in accordance with those decisions.  You have made plans to bless me richly by Your Grace.  The more I understand the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness You gave me in Christ Jesus, the more free I am to live and enjoy the life Jesus died to give me.  I used to live my life with all sorts of pressures.  But the more I receive and understand Your Grace, the more I can release the pressures of life over to You.  I know I have Grace to face whatever I encounter and I know Your Grace is on me to WIN every time.  I am not afraid of any man or any situation.  I take the cares of this world and cast them over to You.  I don’t accept unnecessary pressures from other people, nor do I accept any pressure to be perfect.  I know I am not perfect and I am free to be me.  I don’t want to make mistakes, and I always seek to do the right thing, but if I do stumble I get right back up again, not wallowing around in my mistake, and I keep going.  I look to You Father to help me every step of the way.  And I am trusting You to be there for me every day, helping me to get incrementally closer to Your expected end for my life.  So by faith I declare that I am free all unnecessary pressure.  I embrace and enjoy the Grace to be me.  I live my life by faith, fully expecting to maximize the purpose and potential You have placed in me.  I am not a man-pleaser, I am a God-pleaser, and I seek to please You Father all the days of my life.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.