LLG Ministries

The Grace of God

Last week we were left to reflect on the grace of God as we continue to consider the will
of God. It is a deep concept. Who can fathom the depths of grace? Who is worthy enough
to receive grace? Not one we are told. Not any. Woe be to man. I am not worthy to
receive grace but I plead for mercy. And when he gives mercy he gives grace. And with
grace comes revelation. (Grace = God gives us what we do not deserve)
 

The revelation itself is an act of grace. The "a ha!" moment when he pulls back the veil
to show us a glimpse of who He is. The revelation of God is something that must be
pondered. It is like standing on a tight rope, being balanced only by the wind. Where
does grace come from, when does it go. But by the grace of God go I, said the poet.
 

Who can be saved except that they become stripped naked and bare their souls pleading
with the Almighty to cover, hold and nurture them like a swaddling. Who can know the
grace of God until they are led by the Word which became flesh in Christ and humble
themselves so their ears can actually hear His voice and inhale His Spirit into their very
soul. I tell you, this thing called grace is a mystery.
 

Only those whose heart were turned to him before the ages are given grace and mercy,
worthy to be called his children. Who can be worthy? He searches the heart, and finds his
sheep. He hears the bleating and looks to see who calls. Separating goat from sheep, he 
sees not the thief, killer, or cheat – as the world sees - but the man of valor.

 

Who can know the heart but God. How can God get the glory if any man through his own will
states he has become a child of God? God will not be mocked. Man will get no glory. All
glory must be to God. And the glory comes from His gift of grace.
 

Consider this and ponder daily brothers the great mystery of grace which has been
revealed in Jesus Christ. Grace is a gift from God unto to those who have faith in God. A
pre-requisite of faith is belief. But belief has no pre-requisite, thus you have some who
believe but have not faith. Be warned brethren, examine yourself to see if indeed ye be
in Christ or not.
 

From the Canaanite woman, to the Roman solider, to Job, to the laborers at the eleventh
hour. We see that grace is given to those who have faith. What is faith brothers? We
know not if we truly have it until the times of testing. Pray for strength to have faith
brethren when you are tested. Without faith our Lord knows ye not. Woe to the man
without faith.
 

Father have mercy on us of little faith. Strengthen us so we may follow you even unto
the death of our bodies which is life unto you. Praise our merciful Lord. May He have
mercy and grace to the humble in Christ Jesus.
 

God’s Will

What a profound meeting we had this week. We delved deeper into the knowledge of
God’s Will. We find that it is (1) God’s will that man be conformed to the image of the
Son; (2) it is God’s will to bless those called according to His purpose; (3) it is God’s will
that the elect be united in Christ as in marriage, not separate but one flesh; (4) it is
God’s will that His children live in His perfect will through the Holy Spirit.

Then we really drilled down into what it means to be transformed and to live in the image
of Jesus Christ, as the Lord has decreed. Multiple scriptures describe and define
meekness. It is God’s will that the elect be meek – humble, yield to authority, fear the
Lord, understand their wretchedness in light of a holy God, be selfless. It is God’s will
that the elect empty themselves of ego – that they submit mind, body and soul to Him. It
is impossible for the proud and carnal to do this. The worldly man seeks to walk in
power, to destroy, to wreak vengeance, to rule and to take captive prisoners. This is not
the will of God.

We ended the session considering the intensity of God’s love and blessings, which will be
continued next week. The world including many believers seek and pray for God’s 
blessings from the perspective of personal desires. These blessings don’t lead to
satisfaction and are often times not in God’s will.

The Sermon on the Mount served as the platform to see how and whom God wants to
bless. Blessed are the poor in spirit - who are contrite and understand their lack of
stature and emptiness in relation to God (e.g., the tax collector in Luke 18:13). For they
shall inherit the Kingdom of God. Be conformed to the image of Jesus who put himself
under God and was submissive to the Father unto death.

Blessed are those that have faith. For without faith there are no blessings to be had.
Faith is the substance and hope of things not seen. Joseph had faith even though the
promises of God were not visible for years and life seemed to be going downhill. As
brothers we are practicing and building faith and trust with one another.

To walk in God’s will means we believe, have faith and 100% live by the four major
foundational cornerstones of God’s promises that all things work for the good (of the
elect) according to God’s purposes and will.
1. God is in control (of circumstances)
2. God will meet my needs
3. God is always with me
4. God loves me eternally

So if you spend 20 years in prison, because you refuse to renounce your faith in Jesus
Christ as did a man in China, as told by Dr. Charles Stanley recently, then it is God’s will.
When this man was released from prison, his testimony of faith was great and we can
only assume how many were led to Christ because of his faith.

Many of the most holy people called by God have uncomfortable lives. Yet no matter
what happens in life, we must press deep into God to have unwavering belief in the four
cornerstones of our faith. That if we walk by faith and not by sight and are living
according to God’s will for our lives, all things work to our good.

 

Praise the Lord whose ways are not our ways. Whose righteousness is beyond comprehension.
Thank God for the mercy he shows us, for as it says in the Psalms he knows we are of
dust. It is His grace and His grace alone that keeps us from falling into the precipice of
darkness and death. Praise God. Take great pleasure and satisfaction in knowing, and I
really mean knowing you have been chosen by God Almighty to serve according to His
will. Amen.
 

What is the Will of God?

We begin this season focusing on the will of God (Yahweh). What is the will of God? To
glorify Himself. And what is the will of God for man? For man to glorify God. When we 
examine the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, as if it were a novel with a theme,
plot, characters, and an ending, we come to understand God’s purpose and plan.

 

It was His plan from the beginning to create man in the image of His Son through the work of
the Holy Spirit. And like a father whose son is born in his likeness, God would become
exalted by his own reflection.

As I look back on my walk, and the situations I have been in, I see how the Lord has
crushed me like an olive so He could squeeze good oil. And it has been in the crushing of
whom I was that the anointing has come to do good work in the Kingdom. All praise to
our Lord whose ways are not our ways and whose will is righteous. Amen

The dispensation of grace comes when we position ourselves according to His will.
Whether it be in the receiving of wisdom through revelation in the Bible, sharing and
preaching the Word, fellowship with the saints, or service to the church. Are you
positioned to receive His grace?

The enemy of man seeks to knock every saint from the path to an abundant life. He
cannot steal your salvation but he will want to make your life miserable, void of the rich
blessings each saint is promised. Satan does this through temptation and distraction,
based on your weaknesses. Thus it is very important for each saint to examine himself
daily, to live in the moment, putting on the armor of God each waking day.
 

Beautiful Feet
 

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" Romans 10:14. Men it
is truly a wonderful feeling to know that our Father in Heaven considers the work and
preparation for discipleship a blessed thing. Whether your ministry is serving food, film
festivals, street evangelism or ministering to your own family, your walk is blessed by
God Almighty and you are a thing of beauty in His eyes.

Let us ask the Lord not for small things, but big things according to His will and see the
fullness of His glory in those who serve Him faithfully.

Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in
the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to
do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that
works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations
forever and ever. Amen."

​

Obedience

God commands us to be obedient. However by faith we must have obedience. Faith in
obedience to God and our Lord Jesus Christ. As we go through our personal struggles, we
must ask ourselves, are we trying to fix the problem ourselves, or are we giving it to
God? No matter how much confidence we have and what we think of ourselves, only the
power of the Holy Spirit can bring the heart of man into submission to the Lord.

 

So all our problems, struggles, and temptations we are told to bring to the Lord. In fact He says
to give Him all your burdens. It seems a little foolish, but in the things that seem silly to
the world lies the power of the Lord. Let God deal with your problems. Old folks use to
say, "the problem today is people think too much, just pray and give it [whatever the
problem is] to the Lord."

Discipleship

The development into disciples for Christ involves Teaching (Biblical knowledge),
Showing (seeing what a God-fearing man looks like), Coaching (accountability partners
and teachers), Releasing (practicing what you have learned, identifying your
weaknesses, confessing when you mess up, knowing God’s will for your life, serving in
your assigned ministry – repeating the process until you are walking in the ZONE,
growing in Christlike character), and Reproducing (discipled men now making disciples
of other willing men).

We have been blessed to have a Teacher in Brother Rich and to have men share their
experiences and testimonies. So we are being taught (Teach) and we are getting to see
(Show) what God-loving and fearing men look like. The next phases will involve men
dealing with their accountability partners in a more structured way and practicing and
living what is being taught (Coaching, Releasing).

Examine yourself

This past week and for the next few weeks we are asked to examine ourselves through
introspection, meditation and through prayer. Where are we in Christ? The main
component of becoming holy – set apart for God – is obedience to the Word of God.

However, each man has a stumbling block, a thorn in the side that keeps him from
completely surrendering his will to God. What is your stumbling block and how do you
deal with it? The Holy Spirit is faithful in bringing each man to repentance and knowledge
of the things they must work on. Personally it’s taken me a year to work on one thing but
thank the Lord I see improvement.

Surrendering to God’s will is never easy, especially when we are living in a world in which
compromise seems to be the right thing to do by community and global standards. 

However, it is for such a time as this that the Lord wants righteous men to step forward
to help the saints endure.